I have gained much insight in taking this Book of Mormon class for BYU. One thing that really intrigued me, is that in Mosiah 5:7, King Benjamin praises his people for
their love and acceptance of the Savior. He promises them blessings for their
righteousness and change of heart, telling his people that they have received
in their countenance the image of the Savior. In doing so, they have accepted
Christ, resolved to be better, and made commitments and covenants to the Lord,
as an assurance of their change of heart. It is in this moment that King
Benjamin says to his people that they are born of Christ, for they- in taking
upon themselves His image, His name- have become His blood and His seed. They
are renewed.
Upon reading this, I wondered, what does it mean to become a son of
daughter of Christ, to be born of Him? Are we not born of God?
The scriptures
give great insight and tools to better understand what it means to be born of
Christ, in contrast to what it means to be born of God.
Becoming sons and daughters of
Christ is a process, not an event. There are steps, each with deeper levels of
understanding of the gospel, the atonement, and Christ Himself. The process of becoming sons and daughters of
Christ consists of many steps, the first of which is to have faith in and accept
Christ as the Savior and redeemer of the world. The people in the Nephite
kingdom, at the time King Benjamin preached upon his tower, were willing to
repent of their sins and accept Christ (Mosiah 5:4). They admitted that it was
through faith that they were willing to repent, and through this faith they
were able to accept Christ as their Savior. Through this acceptance of the
Savior, the Nephites learned that their hearts could be changed by only
believing on His name.
Provoked by deep and spiritual introspection, the second
step of becoming born of Christ is to understand a vital concept of His gospel:
The only way to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven is through taking upon oneself
the name of Christ (Mosiah 5:8). To take the name of Christ is to commit with
the Lord that sinful actions and behaviors will no longer be desired. In order
to come unto the Lord at the last day, He requires of His children clean hands
and a pure heart (Alma 5:19). In more literal terms, this means that one must
enter into the waters of baptism.
The ordinance of baptism is critical in
becoming sons and daughters of Christ, because it cleanses the body of all sin,
thus bringing one back into the fold, and closer to Christ. This step of the
process is also meant to being great joy and great blessings, so long as the
baptismal covenants are made and kept. The Lord God and His Begotten Son have
always intended life on this Earth to be full of joy and happiness; accordingly,
they require that some sacrifice be made. The people of King Benjamin must have
had some guilty pleasures, and yet they were so willing to give them up and
follow their prophet, to follow their Savior (Mosiah 5:2).
The
third step of becoming sons and daughters of Christ is to enter into a covenant
with the Lord, in promising to honor and obey the commandments that He has set
forth (Mosiah 5:5, 5:7). The most important of these covenants are those made
in the waters of baptism. The children are invited to come into the fold of
God, and do so when they accept to abide by their covenants. They covenant to
help the children of God around them, to bear one another’s burdens, and to
comfort those who need to be comforted. They covenant to stand as a witness of
Christ the Savior, whatever the circumstances may hold, wherever they may be;
They understand that as surely as Christ lives, they must testify of Him.
Finally,
in order to become sons and daughters of Christ, the people covenant after
baptism to take upon themselves His name, the name of Christ. After they are
lifted up out of the waters of baptism, not only are the sins of the past
washed away, but their old countenances. The light of the Savior has entered
into their eyes, and they have finally become sons and daughters of Christ.
To
truly become a child of Christ is to be spiritually born of God (Alma 5:14). I now understand that this is not a physical relationship
between man and His creator, but a deeply invoked connection between the sinner
and the Savior. It is the deeper knowledge that, without divine help, we cannot
hope to make it back to Heavenly Father on our own; it is the persistent hope
and endurance that leads men and women to change their ways, and to follow the
light provided by the ultimate example. Spiritual birth, becoming reborn of the
spirit, is often indicated by a humbling experience or realization. This
realization must be, and often is, solidified by a solemn covenant to the Lord
to endure to the end, and to remain a worthy son or daughter.
While
being born of Christ is a spiritual process, the act of being born of God is a
physical one. To be a son or daughter of God, is given in birthright; for every
man and woman upon the Earth is a child of God, therefore no effort and action
will be able to change that identity. Just as the earthly fathers and mothers
cannot be changed, neither can the Heavenly Father. As the creator, everything
upon the earth is not only for the benefit of His children, but for their
growth and hope that one day, they will not only be children of God, but
children of Christ as well. Just as the earth was created for the children of
God, the Children of God were created to inhabit the earth (1 Nephi 17:36). The
earth is a physical birthright of His children, born out of space and time,
much like each individual’s physical body.
To
be born at all is to be born of God, and all of His Children will remain so even
until after death and through to immortality. Every Son and Daughter of God
will be forever precious in the eyes of their father, and will have the love of
God forever, despite any of their sins and any of their wrongdoings.
To
remain a son or daughter of Christ, however, one must act in accordance to His
gospel, His standards, and abide by the covenants in which they have made. If
His children choose to abide by these covenants, He promises to forgive all of
their sins. He promises the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost, and promises
His own companionship for those who actively display His light and His image
upon their countenances.
Lastly,
the Lord has made a promise to all the spiritual children of Christ, that they
will be blessed to enter into the Celestial Kingdom prior to resurrection to
live with him, and to participate in the activities of the Millennium.
