Unbelief In The Promises Of God-Will They Happen Anyways?

[Duncan]

I went with the elders last night to visit a less active lady. A question she asked that I hadn't ever thought of before. Let's say God promses you certain things, whatever they are, and you don't believe they will happen. Yet you live your life with that disbelief but you live a good worthy life anyways. Will these things happen regardless of your belief? I didn't get the gist she was saying you can do whatever you wanted and God will deliver but you do X not believing Y will happen but Y does happen

[Maidservant]

The meaning of belief is not 'strong wishing in the future' with or without the addition of 'trusting that God will give your wishes or the things HE said, even'.

So I think the answer is to realize the fundamental mistake most people make about what belief is.

If she lives the commandments, then she has believed. Believing, again, is not 'being of the opinion', 'being convinced of the truth', or 'strong wishing' or any of these mental activities.

Belief is to operate from a program that is in your body and soul, and if she lives the commandments, she is operating from that program and she will receive the output of that program.

Thus when we say, "Believe in Jesus Christ", we are not saying "Be of the opinion that Christ exists". This is useless. We are saying, "Operate from the program of Jesus Christ, in your life." It's a much more comprehensive invitation.

Edited January 30, 2013 by Maidservant

[Questing Beast]

Yes, of course God makes good on all promises. After we leave here we will no longer see through that "glass darkly", and our covenants will be remembered and understood. Ignorance is the common lot of everyone as mortals. It's a bit like Odysseus at the mast, when he had commanded his men to keep the wax in their ears and keep rowing no matter what he did or said, keep rowing and get out of range of the sirens. Odysseus then subjected himself to the influence of the sirens, and stamped and cursed and threatened his men with death if they did not set him free from the mast, but they remained faithful and rowed him and themselves safely out of range. God is like that with us, we come here to experience opposition and it could derange us easily enough. But "God" does not allow us to experience anything that we did not agree to beforehand, he "has our back" all the time....

Edited January 30, 2013 by Questing Beast

[CV75]

I went with the elders last night to visit a less active lady. A question she asked that I hadn't ever thought of before. Let's say God promses you certain things, whatever they are, and you don't believe they will happen. Yet you live your life with that disbelief but you live a good worthy life anyways. Will these things happen regardless of your belief? I didn't get the gist she was saying you can do whatever you wanted and God will deliver but you do X not believing Y will happen but Y does happen

I think that the realization of some promised blessings are contingent on the faith of the person, and sometimes contingent on the faith of others. For example, Moses intervened for his people. And some blessings have a domino effect and audience; for example, a parent without faith may be blessed for the sake of his dependents, that they may in turn be blessed according to their faith, righteousness, or the Lord's mercy and grace (explained below).

Sometimes I think promised blessings are realized only by grace, that we might repent or situate ourselves to repent. For example, we are all promised a resurrection, despite whatever we do, and we are all given sufficient life to be tested according to the Lord's timetable.

[cinepro]

Ask the Lamanites.

[rpn]

"There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—

"And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated." ^{D&C 130:20-21}