Don’t wear dirty garments
Footnotes
Failure to live up to your understanding of how God would live in your place is akin to wearing dirty garments.1 All professed Christians believe that they will be welcomed into God’s eternal kingdom after death whether they live up to their idea of how God is or not. Anything about yourself that you believe to be impure will cause seething pain to you in the presence of God2 so great that you will do anything to flee from it.3 If you do not live up to your sincere understanding of how Jesus is, you will recoil from his presence so painfully that you would prefer being in hell.4
Footnotes
- 1. And now I ask of you, my brethren, how will any of you feel, if ye shall stand before the bar of God, having your garments stained with blood and all manner of filthiness? Behold, what will these things testify against you? Behold will they not testify that ye are murderers, yea, and also that ye are guilty of all manner of wickedness?...ye cannot suppose that such can have place in the kingdom of heaven; but they shall be cast out for they are the children of the kingdom of the devil. (Alma 5:22-23,25) ↩
- 2. For behold, when ye shall be brought to see your nakedness before God, and also the glory of God, and the holiness of Jesus Christ, it will kindle a flame of unquenchable fire upon you. (Mormon 9:5) ↩
- 3. For our words will condemn us, yea, all our works will condemn us; we shall not be found spotless; and our thoughts will also condemn us; and in this awful state we shall not dare to look up to our God; and we would fain be glad if we could command the rocks and the mountains to fall upon us to hide us from his presence. (Alma 12:14) ↩
- 4. ...Do ye suppose that ye shall dwell with him under a consciousness of your guilt? Do ye suppose that ye could be happy to dwell with that holy Being, when your souls are racked with a consciousness of guilt that ye have ever abused his laws? Behold, I say unto you that ye would be more miserable to dwell with a holy and just God, under a consciousness of your filthiness before him, than ye would to dwell with the damned souls in hell. (Mormon 9:3-4) ↩