Grace
Grace
Moroni first asked Christ to give the gentiles grace (Ether 5:8). Christ could not promise it. Therefore, Moroni asked that we, the gentiles, seek for it. Moroni pled for us to seek grace. It is through grace we obtain charity. It is through charity we can bless others.1 If we receive the light from Him, we receive grace. We become more like Him. We will be more gracious and patient with others.2 How was the Lord able to accomplish all He did? In Abr. 5:4 the Lord explains, I am the Lord thy God, I am more intelligent than they all. He was more intelligent because He grew from grace to grace until He understood all things, because He had been through all things, He had descended below all things, and had risen above all things, therefore He comprehends all things.3 Comprehension of the “doctrine of Christ” is not based on command of a vocabulary or mastery of an argument. It is based on gathering light. Light is gathered by heed (obedience) and diligence alone. [“We consider that God has created man with a mind capable of instruction, and a faculty which may be enlarged in proportion to the heed and diligence given to the light communicated from Heaven to the intellect.…”]4 By following the light you have received already, you grow in light (T&C 36:4). This process leads to the “perfect day” where the light has chased away all darkness. This is how we, like Christ, can grow from grace to grace until we also receive a fullness (T&C 93:7).5
1 Preserving the Restoration, 361.
2 Preserving the Restoration, 332.
3 Preserving the Restoration, 330.
4 TPJS, 51.
5 “2 Nephi 32:4 – 5, Sept. 1, 2010, www.denversnuffer.com/blog.
Other references:
NC Ether 5:6-8
6 And again I remember that thou hast said that thou hast loved the world, even unto the laying down of thy life for the world, that thou mightest take it again, to prepare a place for the children of men. And now I know that this love which thou hast had for the children of men is charity. Wherefore, except men shall have charity, they cannot inherit that place which thou hast prepared in the mansions of thy Father. Wherefore, I know by this thing which thou hast said that if the gentiles have not charity because of our weakness, that thou wilt prove them and take away their talent, yea, even that which they have received, and give unto them who shall have more abundantly.
7 And it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord that he would give unto the gentiles grace, that they might have charity. And it came to pass that the Lord said unto me, If they have not charity, it mattereth not unto thee. Thou hast been faithful, wherefore thy garments shall be made clean. And because thou hast seen thy weakness, thou shalt be made strong, even unto the sitting down in the place which I have prepared in the mansions of my Father.
8 And now I, Moroni, bid farewell unto the gentiles, yea, and also unto my brethren, whom I love, until we shall meet before the judgment seat of Christ, where all men shall know that my garments are not spotted with your blood. And then shall ye know that I have seen Jesus, and that he hath talked with me face to face, and that he told me in plain humility, even as a man telleth another in mine own language, concerning these things. And only a few have I written because of my weakness in writing. And now I would commend you to seek this Jesus of whom the prophets and apostles have written, that the grace of God the Father and also the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost, which beareth record of them, may be and abide in you forever. Amen.
T&C 36:4
4 That which is of God is light, and he that receives light and continues in God, receives more light, and that light grows brighter and brighter until the perfect day.
T&C 93:3-7
3 And I, John, bear record that I beheld his glory, as the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father. He was full of grace and truth, even the Spirit of Truth which came and dwelt in the flesh, and dwelt among us.
4 And I, John, saw that he received not of the fullness at the first, but received grace for grace. And he received not of the fullness, at first, but continued from grace to grace, until he received a fullness. And thus he was called the Son of God, because he received not of the fullness at the first.
5 And I, John, bear record and lo, the Heavens were opened, and the Holy Ghost descended upon him in the form of a dove and set upon him. And there came a voice out of Heaven saying, This is my Beloved Son.
6 And I, John, bear record that he received a fullness of the glory of the Father. And he received all power, both in Heaven and on Earth, and the glory of the Father was with him, for he dwelt in him.
7 And it shall come to pass that if you are faithful, you shall receive the fullness of the record of John. I give unto you these sayings that you may understand and know how to worship, and know what you worship, that you may come unto the Father in my name, and in due time receive of his fullness, for if you keep my commandments you shall receive of his fullness, and be glorified in me as I am glorified in the Father. Therefore, I say unto you, You shall receive grace for grace.
NC Moroni 10:6
6 And again I would exhort you that ye would come unto Christ and lay hold upon every good gift, and touch not the evil gift, nor the unclean thing, and awake and arise from the dust, O Jerusalem. Yea, and put on thy beautiful garments, O daughter of Zion, and strengthen thy stakes and enlarge thy borders forever, that thou mayest no more be confounded, that the covenants of the Eternal Father which he hath made unto thee, O house of Israel, may be fulfilled. Yea, come unto Christ and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness. And if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness and love God with all your might, mind, and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ. And if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God. And again, if ye, by the grace of God, are perfect in Christ and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot.
Denver Snuffer Blog, “2 Nephi 32:4-5,” 9/1/2010