Lately, I have encountered several people who look around at what is going on in the world and marvel at what a sad state of affairs we are in. They can’t believe that things are as bad as they are because they don’t understand what it was that got us to this point. There are others who don’t have a clue as to how bad things are right now and I realize that, as things get worse, at some future date, they, too, will likewise be completely caught off guard and surprised by what they will then see around them.
These things, however, should come as no surprise to those who profess to believe in God and much less to those who have studied scripture. Everything around us is a consequence of what was before. For the most part, we just don’t bother to either find out what led up to the present circumstances or admit and act upon it. There are many things that have transpired that have brought us to the point of disorder and darkness we are now in, but none of those things are as important as the point of origination.
A basic understanding of the fundamentals of the gospel of Jesus Christ takes us to that origination point, so in this 3-part series I would like to address some of those fundamentals. The first is that mankind is in a fallen and sinful state:
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9)
But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption; (2 Peter 2:12)
For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless... (Mosiah 3:19)
That ellipsis in the last scripture is a teaser for the next blog post, but I want to pause there just to make a point.
These are only a few of the scriptures that teach us that our natural state is incompatible with God. While I have found this concept to be one that most Christians embrace, to a fault, believing that they will never overcome their sinful nature, Mormons have a tendency to ignore or overlook this truth. Honestly, I don’t know why this is the case. The only explanation I can come up with is that their belief that everyone here on earth made a decision to follow Christ in a pre-mortal existence translates to an almost subconscious belief that people are predisposed to do good. This is certainly not what we find in the scriptures and it is, most notably, not what we find in the Book of Mormon, which arguably makes a stronger case than the Bible does about the fallen nature of man.
But setting aside the degree to which these groups embrace the concept, let’s discuss, specifically, man’s fallen nature itself. It is something that we should be aware of and, beyond that, should inform the decisions that we make in this world.
On the individual level of self, an admission of one’s fallen nature should lead to repentance. It should lead to a search for and submission to God. Without repentance, the individual is left in this fallen state and all of the misery that attends it. He will not be able to overcome his own nature enough to arrive at the point at which he can reasonably expect to attain the blessings of godliness.
But remember that he that persists in his own carnal nature, and goes on in the ways of sin and rebellion against God, remaineth in his fallen state and the devil hath all power over him. Therefore he is as though there was no redemption made, being an enemy to God; and also is the devil an enemy to God. (Mosiah 16:5)
By extension, then, what will happen when whole societies do not admit and repent of this fallen state? Should we expect improvement? Should we expect prosperity? Should we expect any measurable increase in joy and happiness? Can we justly expect to see peace, good will, kindness, mercy, justice, or any other positive result from our collective fallen natures? No! We can expect captivity, persecution, injustice, degradation, and misery. The devil seeks “... that all men might be miserable like unto himself.” (2 Nephi 2:27) His nature is incompatible with God’s and he desires that ours remain the same as his.
It should come, then, as no surprise that we find ourselves in a terrible situation. The situation around us is the direct result of a lack of repentance. It is the result of pride and an unwillingness to admit that our fallen natures have not served us well. It is the result of our unwillingness to submit to God.
Our fallen natures put us at odds with God to a degree that most people don’t dare to contemplate, much less admit. It takes an extreme amount of trust in God to reach the level of honesty required for the Lord to show you just how fallen you are, to say nothing of the entire society around you. The truth is that what you see already is not as bad as what you do not yet see.
The good news is that a submission to God results in a change in your nature. While the whole world may burn down around you, the corruption in your own heart can be burned out now. You will see the Lord reveal the evil that exists in this world, but you will stand and not be moved because...well, I’ll save that for posts two and three.