Abide in the Doctrine of Christ

John the Beloved warned that there would be many people who would enter into the world and deceive others.  Their deception stems from a misunderstanding of the nature of God.  At that time many believed in the notion that matter was inherently evil and therefore anything involving matter was evil; the truth that God has a body of flesh and bones would then be blasphemous in their eyes.  In addition, the idea of Christ coming to the earth in a physical body made up of “evil matter” would then make Christ evil.  This could not be, so therefore they concluded that Christ only appeared to have a body of flesh and bone and that his suffering was all in appearance instead of reality.  This is of course false.   If true, it would make Christ a liar which is just as counterproductive as Christ not having a body.

If believed, such a doctrine would destroy men’s faith.  The purpose of Peter and the Apostles was to stand as witnesses that Christ lives in the flesh and that we need to exercise faith in that fact.  If that does not exist, what then do we have faith in?  If Christ had no body, how could he suffer?  If Christ could not suffer, how could he pay the price for our sins?  If Christ could not pay the price for our sins, how could we overcome sin and death?  If we could not overcome sin and death, what is our reason for living?  Ultimately, such a belief would destroy all hope in gaining eternal life, and there would be very little to live for.

To avoid believing such doctrines, John taught us to “[abide] in the Doctrine of Christ.”  In other words, we need to check those things that we hear with the established doctrines set forth by Christ himself and his ordained apostles.  He also said, “look to yourselves” or determine your beliefs based on how it makes you feel and what it inspires you to do.  President Hinckley stated, “Does it persuade one to do good, to rise, to stand tall, to do the right thing, to be kind, to be generous? Then it is of the spirit of God…”  If we follow that counsel, we will not be deceived.

The High Priest of Good Things to Come

                The whole purpose of the Law of Moses was to prepare the minds of the people to live the higher law established by Christ.  Amulek taught that “every whit [of the law pointed] to that great and last sacrifice and that great and last sacrifice will be the Son of God” (Alma 34: 14).   The atonement itself is applied to us by having a “broken heart and a contrite spirit” (3 Nephi 9: 20).  There was to be a stop to the shedding of blood, for as Paul mentions, “it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins” (Hebrews 10: 4).  Christ was to be the last sacrifice and fulfilled the law by making an infinite and eternal sacrifice.  Christ’s atonement allows us to be forgiven of our sins and a chance to really think for ourselves, having the laws written in our hearts (see Hebrews 10: 16).

                Under the Law of Moses, a sacrifice was made once a year on Yon Kippur, the Day of Atonement.  On this day, the High Priest would enter into the Holy of Holies in the inner most part of the tabernacle and sprinkle the blood of a male lamb without blemish before the mercy seat.  This is symbolic of Christ, who is called the “High Priest of Good Things to Come” offering himself as a sacrifice to allow mercy to be applied to all of us.  He stands in the presence of God (the Holy of Holies) and pleads to the Father on our behalf.  He took upon himself the sins of the world, much like how the “scapegoat” was symbolically given our sins and sent to his death.

                Christ truly is the High Priest of Good Things to come because he provided us a means to have hope.  Without Christ, nothing we do would matter and we would have no hope at all.  Every “good thing” that happens in our life can some way be traced back to the sacrifice Christ made as the great High Priest of the New Covenant.  Salvation only comes through the New Covenant established by Christ.