Duncan Posted August 15, 2012 Posted August 15, 2012 Alma 34:31 Yea, I would that ye would come forth and harden not your hearts any longer; for behold, now is the time and the day of your salvation; and therefore, if ye will repent and harden not your hearts, immediately shall the great plan of redemption be brought about unto you.What does it mean that if you repent and harden not your heart then immediately great plan of redemption will be brought unto you? what does it mean immediately?
Rivers Posted August 15, 2012 Posted August 15, 2012 (edited) Perhaps we shouldn't always view salvation and redemption as a future place. I think that redemption is something that we can experience right now in this life. It can be a state of being rather than a physical place. D&C 88 speaks of celestial, terrestial, and telestial glories as being states of being. And they who are not asanctified through the blaw which I have given unto you, even the law of Christ, must inherit canother kingdom, even that of a terrestrial kingdom, or that of a telestial kingdom. For he who is not able to abide the alaw of a celestial kingdom cannot babide a ccelestial glory. Our goal in life is to progress towards a state in which we can become capable of abiding a celestial law. I was once taught that being worthy to hold a temple recommend is equal to being worthy of celestial glory.Heaven is available to us here and now.Doctrine and Coveneants 59:23 states: But learn that he who doeth the works of righteousness shall receive his reward, even peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come. Edited August 15, 2012 by Rivers 1
Rivers Posted August 15, 2012 Posted August 15, 2012 (edited) duplicate Edited August 15, 2012 by Rivers
Ahab Posted August 15, 2012 Posted August 15, 2012 Alma 34:31 Yea, I would that ye would come forth and harden not your hearts any longer; for behold, now is the time and the day of your salvation; and therefore, if ye will repent and harden not your hearts, immediately shall the great plan of redemption be brought about unto you.What does it mean that if you repent and harden not your heart then immediately great plan of redemption will be brought unto you? what does it mean immediately?I was a member of another church before I became a member of the one true Church and in that other church the preacher said something at the close of each sermon to invite all people to come forward to either be baptized into that church or to receive comfort after a confession of sins. That's what Alma was doing, basically.Some people refer to that moment as inviting Jesus into their heart, thinking of that moment as the time they begin to feel God's love and encouragement to move forward in life, and while there are still some things we need to do after that moment, whenever and however it comes, that is the moment when immediately the great plan of redemption is brought about unto us.It all starts when we recognize God's love for us, particularly how and why he sent his only begotten Son to save us.
JAHS Posted August 15, 2012 Posted August 15, 2012 Alma 34:31 Yea, I would that ye would come forth and harden not your hearts any longer; for behold, now is the time and the day of your salvation; and therefore, if ye will repent and harden not your hearts, immediately shall the great plan of redemption be brought about unto you.What does it mean that if you repent and harden not your heart then immediately great plan of redemption will be brought unto you? what does it mean immediately?Perhaps since he is talking about the "plan of redemption" and not just "redemption" he means that you will receive an immediate understanding of it and immediately accept the truthfulness of it in your life.
CV75 Posted August 15, 2012 Posted August 15, 2012 Alma 34:31 Yea, I would that ye would come forth and harden not your hearts any longer; for behold, now is the time and the day of your salvation; and therefore, if ye will repent and harden not your hearts, immediately shall the great plan of redemption be brought about unto you.What does it mean that if you repent and harden not your heart then immediately great plan of redemption will be brought unto you? what does it mean immediately?I think it hearkens back to the "plant the seed" dynamics described in chapter 32.
DBMormon Posted August 15, 2012 Posted August 15, 2012 (edited) Soon as one moves forward towards Christ, GRACE comes in and begins the process of helping one become perfected in Christ. GraceGrace is the help or strength given through the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. Through the grace of God, everyone who has lived will be resurrected—our spirits will be reunited with our bodies, never again to be separated. Through His grace, the Lord also enables those who live His gospel to repent and be forgiven.Additional InformationGrace is a gift from Heavenly Father given through His Son, Jesus Christ. The word grace, as used in the scriptures, refers primarily to enabling power and spiritual healing offered through the mercy and love of Jesus Christ.Everyone on earth experiences physical death. Through the grace of Jesus Christ, all will be resurrected and will live forever (see 1 Corinthians 15:20–22; 2 Nephi 9:6–13).Because of personal choices, everyone also experiences the effects of sin (see 1 John 1:8–10; Mosiah 16:4). These effects are called spiritual death. No one can return to the presence of God without divine grace. Through the Atonement, we all can be forgiven of our sins; we can become clean before God. To receive this enabling power, we must obey the gospel of Jesus Christ, which includes having faith in Him, repenting of our sins, being baptized, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and trying to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ for the rest of our lives (see Ephesians 2:8–9; James 2:17–22; 2 Nephi 25:23; 31:20).The grace of God helps us every day. It strengthens us to do good works we could not do on our own. The Lord promised that if we humble ourselves before Him and have faith in Him, His grace will help us overcome all our personal weaknesses (see Ether 12:27). Edited August 15, 2012 by DBMormon
teddyaware Posted August 16, 2012 Posted August 16, 2012 Doctrine & Covenants 130:20-21 says,20 There is a law irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—21 And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.Among the commandments of God are the two mentioned in Alma 34:11. Hardening not our hearts2. RepentenceTherefore, when one ceases to harden his heart against the will of God and Christ and sincerely repents of his sins, he is obeying these two laws of God. As stipulated above, when one obeys a given law of God, there necessarily follows a blessing to that individual which God, by eternal decree, is obliged and delighted to bestow.In this case, God bestows the seed of faith, which the individual can now plant in the "softened soil" of his heart, and this of his own free will and choice. Now, this man who has planted the seed has a more intimate relationship with God than existed before. Then, if the man repents of his sins, the Lord continues to bestow the further blessings of the remission of sins, a clean & clear conscience, and an even deeper relationship with God through a greater outpouring of the Spirit. What a blessing it is to know that if we sincerely obey these two commandments, the Lord will immediately bless us for doing so! 1
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