The word saint comes from the same root as sanctify and sanctification. Thus a Saint is one who has been sanctified by Christ. In antiquity, as now, all members of the Church of Jesus Christ were addressed as Saints. That is because it was--and is--assumed that, when they were baptized, they had believed and repented fully and were therefore sanctified.
The scriptures speak of two types of sanctification. One is sactification by the Spirit. When we are born again and receive the new Spirit (the gift of the Holy Ghost), we are regenerated or made over into new creatures--least, this process begins. This is possible only because of the atonement of Christ. In a sense the Spirit sanctifies us because the old wicked spirit of the carnal man is "rooted out of [our] breast." (Alma 22:15). Now we are less disposed to do evil, but there is still the problem of satisfying the demands of the law for the sins we have committed. As soon as a sin committed, it becomes a part of the past which must be accounted for. In the present, we may be better. We may never commit that sin again. But no amount of good deeds satisfy the law for the evil deeds that have been committed. This is where sanctification by blood, the blood of Christ, comes in. It pays for the past in the case of the truly penitent. Sanctification by the Spirit and by the blood work hand in hand to purify and redeem our souls.
3rd Nephi 27:19
1st Nephi 12:10, 11
Mosiah 3:11-15
Alma 5:21,27
Alma 13:11
Alma 21:9
Alma 34:8-13, 36
Moroni 10:33
Moses 6:60
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2 comments:
This is a good idea, we'll try it out soon!
As we were reading and pondering this passage and scriptures these were our thoughts. There was a thought given in church and we don't remember which president they were quoting (we think they were quoting Harold B. Lee), but they said that conversion to the gospel must happen over and over again in an individuals lifetime. If we don't allow ourselves to be converted again and again than we will eventually lose our testimonies. Conversion is not something we do once and we're done, it is something we do again and again. It is a process. Repentance is also a process, it is something we need to do regularly. Because we are natural men, we sin, therefore we have need to repent. It is "expedient" for us to repent. Enduring to the end requires us to continually use the repentance cycle. In Alma 5:27 it says, "Have ye walked". Not only is "walked" a verb, it is an action verb. We have to actively be enduring to the end. We are saved by the grace of God AFTER we have "walked" or have done all that we can do.
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