"Choose to be Good" (Part One)

"To Draw Closer to God"

by Henry B. Eyring

"..the Prophet Joseph Smith was accurately describing God and sin with these words:

"'And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!

"'For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father--

"'That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God.

"'And this we saw also, and bear record, that an angel of God who was in authority in the presence of God, who rebelled against the Only Begotten Son whom the Father loved and who was in the bosom of the Father, was thrust down from the presence of God and the Son,

"'And was called Perdition, for the heavens wept over him--he was Lucifer, a son of the morning. (D&C 76:22-26.)'

"...verse 29: 'Wherefore, he maketh war with the saints of God, and encompasseth them round about.'

"God, with all his power and with all his love, cannot take us home to live with him again if we are unclean. You, and I, and all of our Father's children will someday know that being with God is being home--and that everywhere else, however beautiful it may be, will be a place where you long for home.

"'Wherefore, if they should die in their wickedness they must be cast off also, as to the things which are spiritual, which are pertaining to righteousness; wherefore, they must be brought to stand before God, to be judged of their works; and if their works have been filthiness they must needs be filthy; and if they be filthy it must needs be that they cannot dwell in the kingdom of God; if so, the kingdom of God must be filthy also. But behold, I say unto you, the kingdom of God is not filthy, and there cannot any unclean thing enter into the kingdom of God; wherefore there must needs be a place of filthiness prepared for that which is filthy. (1 Nephi 15:33-34.)'

"'To every forgiveness there is a condition. The plaster must be as wide as the sore. The fasting, the prayers, the humility must be equal to or greater than the sin. There must be a broken heart and contrite spirit. There must be 'sackcloth and ashes.' There must be tears and genuine change of heart. There must be conviction of the sin, abandonment of the evil, confession of the error to properly constituted authorities of the Lord. There must be restitution and a confirmed determined change of pace, direction and destination. Conditions must be controlled and companionship corrected or changed. There must be a washing of robes to get them white and there must be a new consecration and devotion to the living of all the laws of God. In short, there must be an overcoming of self, of sin, and of the world. (The Miracle of Forgiveness, p.353.) (President Spencer W. Kimball).'"