Use of James 2:10

[Duncan]

"For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all" I recently heard Elder Mickelsen, emeritus member of the 70 mention this verse, he also said, "There are those who suppose that the Judgment will be like a graph and if the good we have done is greater than the bad, all is well. But with only one un-repented sin, we will suffer spiritual death. James said,

[Nathair/|\]

"For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all" I recently heard Elder Mickelsen, emeritus member of the 70 mention this verse, he also said, "There are those who suppose that the Judgment will be like a graph and if the good we have done is greater than the bad, all is well. But with only one un-repented sin, we will suffer spiritual death. James said,

[BCSpace]

So how do you not become paranoid in examining your life looking for stuff that went wrong?

By remembering that the Lord is interested in the present state of your soul, not the past state. That is why it's possible, for example, to "hide a multitude of sins". James 5:20 for example. I don't need to worry about every little nitpicky sin because they are forgiven if I am on the right path.

[CV75]

So how do you not become paranoid in examining your life looking for stuff that went wrong?

Attend to what you can do right each day. As you grow in the Spirit from doing right, and have occasion to consider your past life, you will do so with gratitude for how the Lord had not abandoned you, even in your sins. Then repent where repentance is indicated, and according to the severity of the sin. But rest assured the companionship of the Spirit is a sign that you don't need to worry about the past, only learn from what you may recall from time to time. This is not a Gospel of fear unto despair but of faith unto rejoicing in he hope we have in Christ.

[Monster]

There is no hope if you take the Scriptures literally. Everyone is doomed by some scripture someplace. Just do your best, it is all you can do. If God is going to condemn us for every little infraction he is not the loving God we teach about.

[livy111us]

I think the best explanation I've ever heard on the subject was written by Stephen Robinson in his book "Believing Christ". He says:

The terms of the old contract, the law of Moses were essentially that if the children of Israel "kept the commandments," that is, observed all 613 commands and prohibitions of the law of Moses God would save them from their enemies and grant them the promised land and a posterity. If both sides kept their part of the bargain, Israel would be God's chosen people, and he would be their God. This covenant was based on strict obedience and on the law of justice.

In practice the rabbis knew that no one keeps all the rules all the time, but they trusted in the mercy of God to somehow atone for mistakes. However, technically there was no scriptural basis for such an expectation. As Deuteronomy 27:26 makes very clear, if you keep the law one hundred percent, you are righteous, but if you break just one of its provisions, you are a sinner, a cursed transgressor of the law. (See also James 2:10.) Still, under the old covenant of the law of Moses individuals theoretically could by their own efforts and merits make themselves worthy by keeping all the rules all the time.

Technically, there was nothing wrong with the old covenant and its law. It was the word of God. It was just and fair. If the people had just kept their end of the agreement, they would have been justified by the law. After all, anyone who does absolutely everything God commands is, by even the strictest definition, just.

Unfortunately, it turned out that nobody could do it. Just as telling my daughter Sarah to save her pennies for a bicycle may have been plausible in theory but didn't really meet her needs in the real world, so justification by law, though it may be valid in theory, fails in practice to address our real human needs in our actual predicament. Because of our human weaknesses and our fallen natures, the terms of the law of Moses the old covenant, are simply beyond our ability and therefore don't justify us. Theoretically they could, but in actuality they don't. Justification by obedience to law, or justification by works, is an impossibility because all human beings but one have been disobedient at some time or other. And we can't claim to be justified by obedience if we are occasionally disobedient.

As Paul points out, trying to keep the commandments is a long way from actually keeping them. According to him, anyone stupid enough to trust his own ability to keep all the rules makes the atonement of Christ ineffectual in his own life. (See Gal. 5:4.) Moreover, anyone who wants to trust entirely in his own righteousness needs to be reminded that righteousness through law requires perfect performance: "For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law." (Gal. 3:10-13;

Paul points out that any claim to righteousness based on one's own efforts to keep the commandments requires a perfect record. One slip and you are no longer perfect, you have become a sinner

[SkepticTheist]

Its stuff like this that makes Mormons go insane trying to be perfect. Forget it. Don't worry about it. Let go of it.

You simply go forward with your life, and keeping the commandments, because God didn't want you to become mentally unstable and trying to be perfect.

As far as I know, one's calling and election made sure is not contingent on being perfect, and I know of a lot of people in the history of the church, including Joseph Smith that the Lord declared had eternal life. Many people with second comforter experiences, who had done rotten things here and there and were far from perfect, which means they had their CAEMS prior.

My friend Joshua Mariano is getting his book on this subject published.

I would ignore hyperbole coming from statements like this to a degree, not in the sense of not giving heed to it, but not to worry about it, as if it can be taken out of the context of the principle of repentance. If you are repentant of any truly malignant sins, and you go day by day doing your best, your calling and election will be made sure at some point. It is the consistency that matters. So just go on with your life, do your best, be consistent, and forget about it. When you waiver, then repent, and then be consistent again.

I would recommend Denver Snuffer's book on the Second Comforter, and to seek after that Second Comforter experience in this life. Don't let anyone tell you that it cannot happen in this life, and especially, do not let them tell you that you must wait until after you get the second anointing. That is simply not true. The second anointing is merely an outward manifestation, just an ordinance, of something that is already so inwardly sometimes, and most of the time the Church doesn't even offer it to anybody. Don't let that stop you. Just go after your CAEMS and your Second Comforter experience. Be bold with the Lord and tell him that you desire it more than anything else. REMEMBER, THAT IF YOU DON'T ASK FOR IT, THEN YOU WON'T NECESSARILY GET IT EARLY ON IN YOUR LIFE. Most people are content to get it after death, which they should not be. Sometimes it is the asking and pleading for it that is the factor in the Lord advancing the day for when he gives it to you. Some people wonder if it will ever actually happen to them, when they don't beg and plead for it from the Lord consistently in their personal prayers.

Ed Goble

http://emp.byui.edu/...keCESureBRMcBYU

"For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all" I recently heard Elder Mickelsen, emeritus member of the 70 mention this verse, he also said, "There are those who suppose that the Judgment will be like a graph and if the good we have done is greater than the bad, all is well. But with only one un-repented sin, we will suffer spiritual death. James said,

[BCSpace]

Its stuff like this that makes Mormons go insane trying to be perfect.

I think you can see from my previous response that this is not the case. For sure there might be some who don't understand the doctrine and are driving themselves insane, but there is nothing in LDS doctrine that isn't already Biblically sound.

Forget it. Don't worry about it. Let go of it.

Done! And lo, the LDS Church is stil the only true and God-authorized Church on the face of the earth.

You simply go forward with your life, and keeping the commandments, because God didn't want you to become mentally unstable and trying to be perfect.

Where do you get the heretical notion that repentance isn't one of the commandments of God?

[SkepticTheist]

Where do you get the heretical notion that repentance isn't one of the commandments of God?

Huh? Where did you pull that out of? Where did you read that in what I said?

I have no idea what you are talking about. Of course repentance is one of the commandments of God. Where in the world did you pull that from?

Are you suggesting that if you don't repent of every little last thing you've ever done every second, that you aren't keeping the commandment to repent and that you are damned to hell if you haven't repented of every little minuscule thing before you die? Come on. Repentance is an attitude of broken heart and contrite spirit. Of course you try to repent of things that you can think of that you recognize

And besides, what makes you the judge of heresy?

[Hughes]

"For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all" I recently heard Elder Mickelsen, emeritus member of the 70 mention this verse, he also said, "There are those who suppose that the Judgment will be like a graph and if the good we have done is greater than the bad, all is well. But with only one un-repented sin, we will suffer spiritual death. James said,

[BCSpace]

Where do you get the heretical notion that repentance isn't one of the commandments of God?

Huh? Where did you pull that out of? Where did you read that in what I said?

Because that's what you've been railing against. Has anyone proposed anything different than repenetance and keeping the commandments?

Are you suggesting that if you don't repent of every little last thing you've ever done every second, that you aren't keeping the commandment to repent and that you are damned to hell if you haven't repented of every little minuscule thing before you die? Come on. Repentance is an attitude of broken heart and contrite spirit. Of course you try to repent of things that you can think of that you recognize

Did you not read my first post? Or consider the verse in James I presented?

And besides, what makes you the judge of heresy?

1 Corinthians 6:2