Those
who will inherit the celestial kingdom, compared to the sun,
“received the testimony of Jesus, and believed on his name and
were baptized after the manner of his burial ... That by keeping
the commandments they might be washed and cleansed from all
their sins, and receive the Holy Spirit by the laying on of
the hands” (D&C 76:51-52). They “overcome [sin] by faith,
and are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise” (D&C 76:53).
“These shall dwell in the presence of God and his Christ forever
and ever” (D&C 76:62) and are “made perfect through Jesus
the mediator of the new covenant, who wrought out this perfect
atonement through the shedding of his own blood” (D&C 76:69).
Those
who inherit the terrestrial kingdom, compared to “the moon [that]
differs from the sun in the firmament” “are they who died without
law; And also they who are the spirits of men kept in prison,
whom the Son visited, and preached the gospel unto them ...
Who received not the testimony of Jesus in the flesh, but afterwards
received it. These are they who are honorable men of the earth,
who were blinded by the craftiness of men. These are they who
receive of his glory, but not of his fulness. These are they
who receive of the presence of the Son, but not of the fulness
of the Father. These are they who are not valiant in the testimony
of Jesus; wherefore, they obtain not the crown over the kingdom
of our God” (D&C 76:71-79).
Hal
Taylor’s point was that only those who obey the Lord’s commandments
out of love and a simple desire to do good will inherit the
celestial kingdom. Those who obey out of fear of punishment
or hope of reward, while good people, will inherit the terrestrial
kingdom. This can be illustrated in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.
Addressing the Underlying Motivation
In
his sermon, Christ attempted to address the underlying motivation
for various sins prohibited in the Law of Moses. Thus, while
the law prohibits murder, Jesus taught us to avoid its cause,
hatred (Matthew 5:21-26). The law forbids sexual sins, but Jesus
taught us to avoid lustful thoughts (Matthew 5:27-32). The law
forbids us to break sworn oaths, but Jesus taught us that it
was better to avoid oaths altogether and always tell the truth
(Matthew 5:33-37).
Although
the law permitted vengeance for wrongs (“an eye for an eye”),
Jesus taught that it was better to forgive (Matthew 5:43-47).
He also taught, “Love your enemies” and noted that God blesses
both the righteous and the wicked out of love. “For if ye love
them which love you, what reward have ye? Do not even the publicans
the same?” (Matthew 5:44-48). [1]
Taking
things a step farther, the Savior told his disciples to accomplish
certain good works (e.g., giving to the poor, praying, and fasting)
in secret. He noted that some of his contemporaries sought for
public acclaim when they performed such deeds, adding “they
have their reward” (Matthew 6:1-3, 5-6, 16-18). Their reward
is that they drew the attention of others, but Christ may also
have had in mind the eternal reward of those good people who
inherit the terrestrial kingdom.
More Righteous than the Best
Jesus
also declared, “That except your righteousness shall exceed
the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in
no case enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). Modern
Christians often think of the scribes and Pharisees as being
wicked people, but this is wrong. [2] They strictly followed the law of Moses and were
the most righteous among the Jews. Jesus wanted his disciples
to be more righteous than these good people. How could that
be?
Another
puzzling item in the Sermon on the Mount is Christ’s declaration
that “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter
into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my
Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day,
Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name
have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart
from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:21-23). [3]
From
this, we learn that lip service and good works are not enough.
What more is needed?
We find a partial answer in the story of the rich young man
who asked Jesus, “Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that
I may have eternal life? And he said unto him ... if thou wilt
enter into life, keep the commandments. He saith unto him, Which?”
Thereupon, the Savior listed some of the Ten Commandments.
“The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept
from my youth up: what lack I yet? Jesus said unto him, If thou
wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the
poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow
me.” The young man, being rich, was unwilling to give up his
wealth and went away sorrowfully, whereupon Jesus discoursed
briefly on the difficulty of a rich man entering the kingdom
of heaven (Matthew 19:16-26).
There is, of course, nothing wrong with having earthly possessions.
But he who is not willing to forsake all for the kingdom of God cannot, as Jesus said to the
young man, “be perfect.” He also expressed this thought in the
Sermon on the Mount, when he admonished his disciples to lay
up their treasures in heaven rather than on earth (Matthew 6:19-21)
and to “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness;
and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33) [4] and “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father
which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). Hebrews 7:11-12
teaches that perfection came not by the law (of Moses) but through
the atonement of Jesus Christ.
The extent to which one must seek to become perfect, in thought
as well as in deed, is clearly indicated by one of the beatitudes:
“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness,
for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6). Who can honestly say
that he desires righteousness as much as he desires food and
drink?
Only
when we arrive at the state where we cannot live without righteousness,
just as we cannot live without air, food and drink, can we be
certain that we have “endured to the end.” Meanwhile, we may
be on the correct pathway, but it will be necessary to continue
walking and improving ourselves on a daily basis until we are
born of the Spirit, which brings about “a mighty change in us,
or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil,
but to do good continually” (Mosiah 5:2). It is this inward
disposition to do only good that can make us like our Heavenly
Father.
The Last Law
The prophet Joseph Smith explained that “God cursed the children
of Israel because they would not receive the last law from Moses
... the Israelites prayed that God would speak to Moses and
not to them; in consequence of which he cursed them with a carnal
law” (History of the Church 5:555).
If the prophet had reference to the Ten Commandments, the basis
of the law written on the tablets given to Moses, then the “last
law” must have been the tenth commandment: “Thou shalt not covet.”
This, in fact, makes perfectly good sense, if we examine the
nature of those commandments.
The first nine commandments are such that one who breaks any
of them can readily be detected. He may be caught doing or saying
something wrong, in violation of one of these commandments.
The punishment for breaking one of the principal commandments
was death, usually by stoning.
But how was it possible to determine if an individual was guilty
of being covetous and thus in violation of the tenth commandment?
Because this commandment dealt with one’s thoughts rather than
with outward deeds and speech, it was impossible to enforce.
And yet it was at the root of the other commandments.
The prophet Jeremiah foresaw that the
Lord would establish “a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah” that would differ from the covenant of
Moses’ time. At that time, Lord declared, “I will put my law
in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will
be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach
no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother,
saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the
least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for
I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin
no more” (Jeremiah 31:31-34). [5]
Thus, the new covenant would involve
the incorporation of the law within one’s own thoughts.
[6] Indeed, the Book of Mormon
teaches that we will be judged on the basis of our deeds, our
speech, and even our thoughts (Mosiah 4:30; Alma 12:14). [7]
From Jesus’ examination of the Ten Commandments and other portions
of the Law of Moses in his Sermon on the Mount, we have seen
that he was concerned not only about overt acts, but with inward
thoughts and intentions. It becomes readily apparent that covetousness
can lead to the commission of other sins. One who covets his
neighbor’s property can be tempted to steal; he who covets his
neighbor’s wife can be tempted to commit adultery, and so on.
Rejection of the tenth commandment meant that the Israelites
were not prepared to receive the higher law, which requires
that we not only have pure acts and pure speech, but pure thoughts
as well. With the coming of Jesus Christ to the earth in flesh,
it was time to once again reveal the fulness of the higher law.
This he did in the Sermon on the Mount.
For
additional material relating to this lesson, see:
- John W. Welch, Illuminating
the Sermon at the Temple
and Sermon on the Mount: An Approach to 3 Nephi 11-18 and
Matthew 5-7 (Provo: FARMS, 1999)
- "The Sermon on the Mount:
Restoration of the Higher Law," Insights 19/2 (February
1999), posted on
the FARMS web site at http://farms.byu.edu/display.php?table=insights&id=58.
A revised version was posted as "The Sermon on the Mount"
on the SHIELDS web site at
http://www.shields-research.org/Scriptures/Bible/Sermon_Mount.htm.
- John A. Tvedtnes, “The Higher
and Lesser Laws,” in Donald W. Parry, Daniel C. Peterson,
and Stephen D. Ricks, eds., Revelation, Reason, and Faith:
Essays in Honor of Truman G. Madsen (Provo: FARMS, 2002)
For
an introduction to the books of the New Testament and in-depth
discussions of each verse in the New Testament, see Kevin L.
Barney (ed.), John H. Jenkins, and John A. Tvedtnes, “Footnotes to the New Testament for Latter-day Saints,” go to: http://feastupontheword.org/Site:NTFootnotes
