Calling & Election Made Sure

In the book of 2 Peter in the New Testament we read:

2 Peter 1:2-11

2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the ^aknowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,

3 According as his divine power hath given unto us ^aall things that pertain unto ^blife and ^cgodliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us ^dto glory and ^evirtue:

4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious ^apromises: that by these ye might be ^bpartakers of the ^cdivine ^dnature, having ^eescaped the ^fcorruption that is in the world through ^glust.

5 And beside this, giving all ^adiligence, add to your faith ^bvirtue; and to virtue ^cknowledge;

6 And to knowledge ^atemperance; and to temperance ^bpatience; and to patience ^cgodliness;

7 And to godliness ^abrotherly ^bkindness; and to brotherly kindness ^ccharity.

8 For if these things be in you, and ^aabound, they make you that ye shall neither be ^bbarren nor ^cunfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.

10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and ^aelection sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never ^bfall:

11 For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the ^aeverlasting ^bkingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

There verses are not to be taken lightly. They deal with the very important subject of making one's "calling and election sure."

What does this mean? For the Latter-Day Saint, this is the ultimate goal in life. It simply means that your place with God is assured. You have been given the assurance that you will not only be saved, because of the blood of Jesus Christ, but you will be exalted.

Notice that Peter is not talking to non-christians here. He is talking to members of Christ's true church. Some have the mistaken idea that they are a "saved" christian and that once they believe in Jesus Christ they are in a state of grace that they can never fall from. If this is the case, why would Peter tell his "Brethren" of the church to "give diligence to make your calling and election sure." ?

Once a person has been cleansed from their sins through the atonement of Jesus Christ, and has lived and entered into the first four principles and ordinances of the Gospel, they are on the path to eternal life.

But they have only begun. They need to keep pressing forward being faithful to Christ and His commandments until the end. This period of time beyond baptism is where a person goes through the process of sanctification with the help of the Gift of the Holy Ghost.

To be "Sanctified" means to be purified or free from sin: "Sanctify your hearts."

In other words, yes you have been forgiven and cleansed from your sins, but now you need to do the work of changing your very nature so that you no longer desire sin. (with the help of God.)

There are milestones on this journey of sanctification. They are the higher ordinances of the gospel. These ordinances are found in the temple of the Lord. With each ordinance comes a great amount of promised blessings if you stay faithful to the covenants you make with the Lord.

The ultimate blessing one can receive is that their calling and election are made sure. They are assured eternal life. Eternal life is not simply going to heaven. It is not simply the blessing of living forever. These blessings are only part of the blessing of eternal life.

To obtain eternal life is to obtain the same kind of life as the Eternal Father. Literally to live with Him forever. There is no greater happiness than this. You inherit all that He has. He shares it freely with you because He has complete trust in you. You will never replace God, of course! But you can live like God, and be like God as His child and live in His kingdom through the merits and mercy of Jesus Christ.

If you notice the scripture above, Peter gives a specific formula for someone to progress to this point.

The order according to Peter is to be diligent then to add faith, then add virtue, then add knowledge, and temperance, patience etc.

It is not enough to overcome sin, but you must add these specific attributes to your character. The ultimate attribute being charity. (just has Paul said faith, hope, and charity).

God is doing more with us than just saving us, he wants to change us. But He will not change us unless we are willing.

So if you ever ask a Latter-Day Saint if they are "saved" they might look at you a little perplexed. This is because in their minds they are thinking.. well, yes I am saved in that I will automatically be resurrected and I have been baptized so I do have the promise of eternal life if I stay faithful to the promises I've made with the Lord, but I'm not exalted yet. I'm not sanctified yet. I'm repenting and relying on the merits of Jesus as I try to change my heart with His help.

Please note here that Latter-Day Saints do not believe that will power alone will change their natures. We understand and know that it's through the power of God that this change takes place, but we also understand that God expects us to try. He wants us to do all we can while relying on the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I testify that there are greater blessings, enjoyment, and fulfillment found within the Church of Jesus Christ. I testify that our purpose is not to just meet together for social reasons. We are being led by the head of the church, even Jesus Christ towards our ultimate goal. That ultimate goal is to regain the presence of the Eternal Father and to become like Him.

I also testify that you can receive the assurance that your calling and election has been made sure. I invite you to start on the path by showing your faith in Jesus Christ, repenting, and being baptized.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

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Love, Zion, and Home Teaching (talk I gave in Sacrament meeting today)

Good morning brothers and sisters I am grateful for the opportunity to speak to you today. It's always difficult to speak after Jessica because she is able to bring the spirit in so strongly. But I'm very happy to be speaking on a such an important subject.

I would like to start by reading an incredible scripture that turned the world, as it was then, upside down.

In Matthew Chapter 22 verses 35-39 we read:

35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.


With these powerful words Jesus summed up the entire law.

Let's start by talking about the first commandment... Loving God.

The apostle John the beloved said in 1 Jn. 4:19
19 We love him, because he first loved us.

God has given us every reason in the world to Love Him. He created us, He helps us in our daily lives, and He redeems us through the matchless atonement of His Son Jesus Christ.

He has given us every opportunity to succeed. Just like a Child cannot comprehend the love their parents have for them, we cannot fully comprehend His love for us.

The way we come to Love God is through experiencing the Atonement of Jesus Christ for oursleves. We experience the atonement by excercizing faith, repenting of our sins, making a special covenant such as Baptism or renewing our covenants through the partaking of the sacrement, and recieving the Holy Ghost in our lives.



Alma asked the question:

Alma 5:26
26 And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?

Your personal answer to this question makes all the difference in the world in your ability to feel true love towards God. When we feel of His redeeming Love, we will naturally Love Him back. That Love will motivate us to not only Love God, But our to love our neighbors.

If you want to experience the Love of God, it is there for the taking if your will excerise the atonment in your life.


That brings us to the second great commandment.. that of loving your neighbor.


Consider the story of Enos in the Book of Mormon.

His first concern was for the welfare of his own soul, but after he had recieved forgivness of his sins, he immediately was concerned about his bretheren.


In James 2:18 it says:
18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.


So good works are a natural outgrowth of our faith and our love in and for God. If we have true faith in Jesus, have repented, and made the proper covenants we are entitled to the
gift of the Holy Ghost in our lives... then as the apostle Paul taught in Galatians chapter 5 we gain the fruits of the Spirit. Namely, love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, and faith.

These attributes spring up out of us like a well of living water as we follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost.


In the Gospel of Jesus Christ Love should be our ultimate motivation for doing good works. If we are doing good works for any other reason, we will soon tire of it.

I would like to apply these principles to a very specific good work that is Home and visiting teaching.

The larger goal of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been talked about from the begining of the restoration. That goal is simply to establish Zion.

Zion is the gathering place of those who truly Love God and truly love their neighbors.

I believe that this ward has the greatest potential to establish Zion than any other ward I have ever lived in.

Let's be united in our effort and become one as a ward so that we can truly establish Zion.

The Lord said, "If ye are not one, ye are not mine."

The bench is deep in this ward. We have a high level of people who are motivated by the love of God.

Let's use that Love to motivate us to action. Let us turn our hearts towards God and towards each other.

Brethren, let's live up the our privileges as priesthood holders and lead the ward in service and care towards our home teaching families.

The Home teaching program has been around in different forms since the early days of the church.

In the Doctrine and Covenants it describes some of the duties of an Elder:
D&C 20:42
42 And to teach, expound, exhort, baptize, and watch over the church;


Interestingly, President Monson, our current Prophet, was on the committee that was put together by President David O. Mckay that organized the Home Teaching program of the church as we have it today.

Doing our home teaching or visiting teaching is an excellent way that we can show the Lord we are willing to follow His living prophet on the earth.


I have had some of my most sacred experiences since my mission while doing Home Teaching. Other than in your own home, Home teaching will provide you with more opportunities to use the priesthood than any other setting I know of.

I was blessed to have a father who was a great home teacher. I used to marvel at how much he knew about each family he home taught. He was often given the hardest assignments.

He would memorize birthdays, names, and other events. He would reach out in love and end up re-activating many different families in the ward. More importantly, he helped others either make or renew sacred covenants with the Lord through the Ordinances of the gospel.

His influence has followed me in the church.

When I first moved into this ward I went home teaching with brother Watson to a member in the ward. When they heard my last name they asked if I was related to Ron Tanner.

I told them yes that's my Dad. Then they went on to say how much they love him and the he had been a great influence on them in a previous ward they had lived in.

I was proud to be his son that day. But what was more surprising was that I could instantly feel Love from that member in our ward. I could see the Love in their eyes as they spoke of my Dad.

I had felt that love before and recognized it as the Love of God. God had loved my Dad, my Dad took that love to his neighbors, and now I was feeling that same Love extended towards me.

Brothers and Sisters, there are people in our ward that need to feel that love. You don't need to have a father who was a great home teacher to become a great home teacher or visiting teacher yourself.

There are people among us who need the redeeming love of the Savior in their lives. They need access to the ordinances of the gospel and to feast at the table of the Lord. There are others who are amoung us today who just need a helping hand, or someone to help shoulder their burdens.

If you have felt the redeeming love of our Savior, please extend that Love to your neighbor through the Home and visiting teaching programs of the church. President Ezra Taft Benson said that Home Teaching is not just an assigment, it is a sacred calling.

As I have loved you, love one another. This new commandment, love one another. By this shall men know, ye are my disciples. If ye have love, one to another.

In The name of Jesus Christ, amen.

The Sacrament

24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in ^aremembrance of me.

25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.

26 For as often as ye eat this ^abread, and drink this cup, ye do ^bshew the Lord’s ^cdeath till he come.

27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this ^abread, and drink this cup of the Lord, ^bunworthily, shall ^cbe ^dguilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

28 But let a man ^aexamine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.

29 For he that eateth and drinketh ^aunworthily, eateth and drinketh ^bdamnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.

After a person is baptized a member of the church of Jesus Christ, and has recieved the gift of the Holy Ghost, they are eligable to partake what some churches call "The Lord's Supper, or Communion." Latter-day Saints call this sacred ordinance "The Sacrament." Jesus Christ said to do this "In rememberence" of Him. We gain some additional insight about this sacred ordinance from the Apostle Paul who gave us the scripture quoted above.

Paul tells us that partaking of the bread and wine is not a light thing. A Christian should not partake unless they do so worthily. In fact Paul goes so far as to say that if a person partakes unworthily, they are "guilty of the body and blood of the Lord."

He also councils that a person should "Examine themselves" before they partake of these sacred emblems. This is strong language.

If you are a Christian who believes in the idea that one cannot fall from grace these verses should give you pause.

Some Christians read these verses and try to twist them to mean that Paul is talking about people who haven't been "saved." But that is not the case. Paul is talking to the members of the Church here.

It's clear that once one has entered the gate through Baptism, they are not done. There is more. They have entered into the straight and narrow way... now they need to press forward keeping the commandments of God.

If a baptised member of Christ's church falters in sin (which WILL be the case) then they will need to repent before they can become "worthy" to eat and drink the emblems of the sacrament again. Once a person has entered the kingdom through Baptism, they then take the Holy Ghost as their guide in the process of sanctification.

God not only wants to save us, but He wants to change us. He wants us to become like Him. After baptism, we continue to have faith in Jesus, repent of our sins, and instead of being re-baptized, we partake of the Sacrament to renew the covenant we have made with God at Baptism. But repentance must come first.

This is what Paul is talking about. In order to be "worthy".. we must be living in a way that keeps us firmly within the bounds of the grace of Jesus Christ. We must keep the commandments and always have an attitude of repentance in order to progress and become more like the Lord.

The Book of Mormon gives us additional insight....

Mosiah 4:11-12

11 And again I say unto you as I have said before, that as ye have come to the knowledge of the glory of God, or if ye have known of his goodness and have ^atasted of his love, and have received a^bremission of your sins, which causeth such exceedingly great joy in your souls, even so I would that ye should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own^cnothingness, and his ^dgoodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of ^ehumility, ^fcalling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing^gsteadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel.

12 And behold, I say unto you that if ye do this ye shall always rejoice, and be filled with the ^alove of God, and always ^bretain a remission of your sins; and ye shall grow in the ^cknowledge of the glory of him that created you, or in the knowledge of that which is just and true.

We need to be in a position where we have "retained a remission of our sins" in order to be considered worthy to take the sacrament.

The question then comes "How do I know if I'm clean?" The way you can know is based on your ability to feel the Holy Ghost guiding and directing you in your life. The Holy Ghost will not be with you if you are living contrary to the commandments. You will know that you need to "examine" youself, and repent in order to partake of the great feast and renew your covenants with the Lord.

As you conform your life closer and closer to the Lord, with His help (because it is impossible without His help) you will find that there is more and more that needs changing. More and more to overcome. The most important commandment you can keep is the one that you are not keeping right now.

Those who believe in a "once saved always saved" must wonder, "why am I still here on earth if all is done?" The answer is because all is not done. There is changing, growing, loving, and living to do. There is the process of santification, there are furthur covenants to make to seal your family together forever, there is the refining fire to go through.

The sacrament gives us this glorious opportunity to examine oursleves, to repent, to retain a remission of our sins.

None of this is possible without the grace of Jesus Christ. But because of Him, it is possible! You can change! You can make old wrongs right. You can become completely clean. You can become a new creature. You can overcome your desires for sin. You can become Holy.

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

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Infant Baptism

Infant Baptism is practiced in many different Christian sects and denominations. Latter-day Saints do not practice infant baptism. The main reason we do not practice infant baptism is because we do not believe that babies are born inherently evil, that is we do not believe in the idea of "original sin."

Instead we believe that babies are born innocent, clean and pure. Each child is not accountable for the sin of Adam and Eve and can only be judged by their own choices.

In addition to this, we do not believe that a child is accountable for sin until they have reached the age of Eight. This age has been given by revelation as the age of accountability.

These wonderful babies are found completely within the bounds of Jesus' grace. If a child dies before the age of accountability they are automatically saved through the merits and mercy of Jesus.

The New Testament has no record of Jesus or any of the Apostles baptizing infants. However there is an account of Jesus blessing the little children.

This is the pattern that Latter-day Saints follow. When a child is born to members of the church, they are usually given a blessing by their father (if he is worthy and holds the Priesthood) or by another worthy Priesthood holder.

These blessings are usually done in front of the congregation with the baby surrounded by worthy priesthood holders and one of them acting as voice. The baby is given a name and a blessing. The details of the blessing are given to the one acting as voice by the gift and power of the Holy Ghost.

Later, after the child has grown, and has been taught the gospel of Jesus Christ, they are given the opportunity for Baptism when they turn Eight.

This allows for several things:

1. Babies who die before they are accountable are automatically saved

2. Children are given a chance to learn the Gospel and accept it for themselves.

3. Children are not accountable for Adams transgression.

Who can hold a new born baby and not feel that this baby has just come from Heaven above?

Who can hold a new born baby and say the child is evil? It is an evil doctrine to believe so, and the scriptures do not support it.

This morning I had the wonderful opportunity to stand in the circle and participate in the blessing of my little niece Ada Mae Lisonbee. She is so precious. So beautiful. And so clean. I got to hold her for a little bit. I looked her in the eyes and could see nothing be purity and love.

Children are clean, and pure, and wonderful. They have no need of Baptism until they can make their own choices.

I testify of this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

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