Jesus said our work is to “believe on him whom [God] has sent.”6 Believing in Jesus means learning more about how he is and implementing his example in your own life. When you reconcile yourself to God, you enter into a state of alignment with him. When you are aligned with God, there is no part of you that lies outside of how he would be, up to the limits of your capacity, opportunity, and understanding.7 You align with God by seeking and pursuing his will in all things, all of the time.8 To be fully aligned with God requires you to be an integrated, honest person whose central, transcendent purpose is to learn and accomplish the will of God.
Maintaining alignment with God requires your continual reconciliation with God. We are innocent of the transgressions we unknowingly commit.9 However, we are accountable for every time we fall short of the best we know.10 Increased knowledge of God brings with it the opportunity to become more like him and receive more of his blessings, but also the accountability for living up to a higher standard.11 When you disconnect yourself from Jesus in anything, you distance yourself from him in everything. In order to continue receiving God’s grace for what you do not know, you must continue living up to everything you do know.12
To remain aligned with God requires constant improvement. How willing are you to change your mind about how you believe Jesus to be? Greater knowledge about God does not just consist of additional ideas that stand apart from or build upon what you already believe about him. A great deal of what remains for you to learn about God will include ideas that directly contradict what you already believe about him.
How would you discover limits in your beliefs about Jesus? Discovery of limitations in belief can only come through so many sources; you must be willing to listen to the arguments of others, willing to experiment with their beliefs, and willing to fully live up to their beliefs while honestly assessing if they deliver the promised outcomes. There is no other way of discovering limits in belief, but for most Christians, all three vectors of learning are heretical, and they therefore never discover or correct the limits in their beliefs about Jesus.
Meanwhile, many non-Christians do an excellent job at becoming more like Jesus and gaining reasons for why to do so, at least as far as they can without actually knowing about or believing in Jesus. They do so in the name of improvement—all of which is inseparable from God, whether they realize it or not.13 Just as modern Christians cannot progress to better outcomes until they recognize and progress in attention to how to become more like Jesus and why to do so, nonChristians who are oriented toward improvement will only continue to find it by learning that Jesus is real, that everything good they have found in life is from him, and that everything better that remains is found through explicit belief in him.
Maintaining a growing relationship with God requires you to constantly learn more about him than you knew before and to remain aligned with all he reveals to you.14 To abide with Jesus, you must reach for anything in him that is better than you and let go of anything in you that is less than him.15 If you want to abide with God, you have to constantly seek and do his will,16 instantly changing any time you realize that your present path deviates from what he would think, feel, or do in your place. Correction can come at any moment.17 Disciples of Christ stand ready to receive them, watching and ready to hear and obey18 anything he might say.19 From the moment you rise until you retire, proactively pursue his purpose and be prepared to receive further instructions.
It is possible to live in constant reconciliation with God. Perfection is dismissed by many as an unattainable goal, in spite of Jesus commanding us to be perfect.20 In the scriptures, perfect is a synonym for blameless. It means a person who is living the best that they know. This is not meant to be an exceptional situation.21 Several well-known people attained this state as described in scripture.22 It is meant to be the state in which Christians continuously live. All disciples of Christ are commanded to be perfect.23
It is possible to be in a state where you can’t identify anything in your life that God would handle differently than you do.24 To achieve this state is not the same as being exactly as Jesus is, but to be precisely as you understand him to be.
Footnotes
- 1. And no man receiveth a fulness unless he keepeth his commandments. He that keepeth his commandments receiveth truth and light, until he is glorified in truth and knoweth all things. (D&C 93:27-28) ↩
- 2. And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. (Matthew 19:16-22) ↩
- 3. Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven. (D&C 121:45) ↩
- 4. ...there are many who observe not to keep my commandments. But unto him that keepeth my commandments I will give the mysteries of my kingdom, and the same shall be in him a well of living water, springing up unto everlasting life. (D&C 63:22-23) Do ye not remember the things which the Lord hath said?—If ye will not harden your hearts, and ask me in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you. (1 Nephi 15:11) ↩
- 5. And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given (Mark 4:24) ↩
- 6. Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. (John 6:28-29) ↩
- 7. And the Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name. (Exodus 33:17) ↩
- 8. Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day. (Alma 37:37) ↩
- 9. Wherefore, he has given a law; and where there is no law given there is no punishment; and where there is no punishment there is no condemnation; and where there is no condemnation the mercies of the Holy One of Israel have claim upon them, because of the atonement; for they are delivered by the power of him. (2 Nephi 9:25) ↩
- 10. As it is written, “You will justify all those who live up to their knowledge of your character, and will vindicate all who so do.” And all who say otherwise are wrong. If, however, our unrighteousness continues in spite of the revelation of God’s righteousness, we have no defense. God would be unrighteous to withhold his wrath from such. And for this very thing, the judgment of the world will come. Those who continue faithful to the best they know while their unknown imperfections are revealed through the continuation of the truth of God are free from sin. But those who knowingly do less than the best they know are neither innocent of unknown imperfections nor forgiven of past sins. (Romans 3:4-8, Author’s Reflection) ↩
- 11. For of him unto whom much is given much is required; and he who sins against the greater light shall receive the greater condemnation. Ye call upon my name for revelations, and I give them unto you; and inasmuch as ye keep not my sayings, which I give unto you, ye become transgressors; and justice and judgment are the penalty which is affixed unto my law. (D&C 82:34) ↩
- 12. For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do. (2 Nephi 25:23) ↩
- 13. For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God. (Moroni 7:16) ↩
- 14. I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. (John 15:1-4) ↩
- 15. And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall believe on the Son of God, the same shall have everlasting life....And if ye believe on his name ye will repent of all your sins, that thereby ye may have a remission of them through his merits. (Helaman 14:8, 13) ↩
- 16. The Father will remove from me anyone who ceases to continue to bear fruit, even if they did in the past; He will purge every branch that bears fruit, so that it continues bear more and better fruit. I have purged you through the word that I have spoken to you. Now remain reconciled to and growing in me, that I may remain reconciled to you, and cause you to grow. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, if it does not abide in the vine, nor can you if you do not abide in me. I am the vine; you are branches. I will abide with him who remains reconciled to and growing in me, and he will bear abundant fruit. There is no power apart from me. Anyone who deviates from me is removed as an unwelcome shoot; they dry out and are thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain reconciled to me in every way as I teach you more of my words, you will seek everything you desire, and you will find everything you seek. (John 15:2-7, Author’s Reflection) ↩
- 17. My people must be tried in all things, that they may be prepared to receive the glory that I have for them, even the glory of Zion; and he that will not bear chastisement is not worthy of my kingdom. (D&C 136:31) ↩
- 18. But ye are commanded in all things to ask of God, who giveth liberally; and that which the Spirit testifies unto you even so I would that ye should do in all holiness of heart, walking uprightly before me.... (D&C 46:7) ↩
- 19. But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand. (Isaiah 64:8) ↩
- 20. Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:48) ↩
- 21. And now my beloved brethren, I have said these things unto you that I might awaken you to a sense of your duty to God, that ye may walk blameless before him, that ye may walk after the holy order of God, after which ye have been received. (Alma 7:22) Let your heart therefore be perfect with the Lord our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day. (1 Kings 8:61) I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. (Psalms 101:2) ↩
- 22. For example, “These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.” (Genesis 6:9) When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. (Genesis 17:1, NKJV) ↩
- 23. Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God. (Deuteronomy 18:13) Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. (Matthew 5:48) Therefore I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect. (3 Nephi 12:48) ↩
- 24. In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: (Colossians 1:22) Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: (Colossians 1:28) ↩