Personal Online Journal

Wednesday, October 08, 2014

What is the Doctrine of Christ?

After declaring the doctrine of Christ, Jesus says this, "And whoso shall declare more or less than this, and establish it for my doctrine, the same cometh of evil, and is not built upon my rock; but he buildeth upon a sandy foundation, and the gates of hell stand open to receive such when the floods come and the winds beat upon them." (3 Nephi 11:40)

This makes me think of these scriptures on what is the priority:
 "Say nothing but repentance unto this generation; keep my commandments, and assist to bring forth my work, according to my commandments, and you shall be blessed." (D&C 6:9)
"And of tenets thou shalt not talk, but thou shalt declare repentance and faith on the Savior, and remission of sins by baptism, and by fire, yea, even the Holy Ghost." (D&C 19:31)
"And now, behold, I say unto you, that the thing which will be of the most worth unto you will be to declare repentance unto this people, that you may bring souls unto me, that you may rest with them in the kingdom of my Father. Amen." (D&C 16:6)

It seems to me that the core of the "Doctrine of Christ" are
- Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
- Repentance
- Baptism, by immersion for the remission of sin and
- The laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

In 3 Nephi 11
- Believe is found 4 times
- Repent is found 4 times
- Baptism is found 13 times
- Holy Ghost is found 6 times
- The chapter heading says, "Christ’s doctrine is that men should believe and be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost"

Some other points of the Doctrine of Christ.
In 1 Nephi 11:1-17, Jesus confirms the faith of many. If it is possible that there were any that did not yet have faith, he offered it to them.
In 1 Nephi 11:18-27, Jesus calls Nephi to be the presiding authority among the people. He gave him power to baptize the people and to call others to. It confirms the need for the ordinance and that authority is necessary to perform it.
In 1 Nephi 11:28-30, he declares that disputations and contention are not of God.

1 Ne 11:31 says he will state his doctrine.
:32 the Father gave the doctrine to him. He bears record of the Father. The Father bears record of the Son. The Holy Ghost bears record of the Father and the Son. This is his declaration that we are to have faith in.
:32 The first commandment he gives here is to "repent and believe in me". It is interesting to me that repentance comes before faith. Although the first half of the verse is also about faith.
:33-34 if we believe in Jesus and are baptized we are saved [from the consequences of sin]. We will inherit the kingdom of God. If we do not, we are damned.
:35 He states again what his doctrine is, to believe in him, and the Father and if we do, the Father will visit him with fire and the Holy Ghost.
:36 They bear record of each other
:37-38 Repent, be baptized, become as a little child. What is it about being as a little child? Humble, coachable, eager.
:39 Declaring again what the doctrine is. And that it is a sure foundation that hell itself cannot shake us from.

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