Perfect in Christ

Elder Juan Pablo Villar told a story in general conference about being saved by his older brother in the ocean. His brothers were diving into the big waves, and as Elder Villar tried to be like them, twice he was taken under by the water and only got out because his brother grabbed him. After this second rescue, Elder Villar told what happened next: “This time my brother invited me to dive with him. As per his invitation, I followed him, and we dove together. I felt as if I was conquering the most complicated challenge. Certainly, it was not very easy, but I did it, thanks to the help and example shown by my brother. His hand rescued me twice; his example showed me how to deal with my challenge and be victorious that day.” Elder Villar compared this experience to how the Savior will rescue us. What his brother did was two-fold: he saved Elder Villar and he helped his younger brother learn how to handle the waves himself. Elder Villar continued, “My brother did not give up on me that day but persisted so I could learn how to do it for myself. He persisted, even if that required rescuing me twice. He persisted, even if I could not get it at first. He persisted so I could overcome that challenge and succeed. If we think celestial, we will realize that our Savior will be there as many times as necessary to provide help if we want to learn, change, overcome, cope, or succeed in whatever will bring true and everlasting happiness to our lives.” The Savior’s goal is not just to save us from trouble but to enable us to change and learn and become even as He is.   

                Elder Villar also related the story of Peter on the water with the Savior. He said, “When Peter, the senior Apostle, ‘walked on the water, to go to Jesus, … he was afraid; and beginning to sink’; then ‘he cried, saying, Lord, save me.’ Jesus knew the faith Peter had exercised to come unto Him on the water. He was also aware of Peter’s fear. According to the account, Jesus ‘immediately … stretched forth his hand, and caught him,’ saying the following words: ‘O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?’ His words were not to scold Peter but to remind him that He, the Messiah, was with him and the disciples.” I remember a religion teacher at BYU discussing this story, and he asked us to consider what happened to Peter after the Savior brought him out of the water. At that point the two of them were standing on the water away from the boat. Matthew’s account says this: “And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased” (Matthew 14:29-32). The wind was blowing, and they went to the ship (the ship did not come to them). How did they get back to the boat? His suggestion, that seems to me the only plausible one, was this: Peter and the Savior both walked back. In other words, Peter needed to exercise faith to walk on the water again and get back to the boat. It doesn’t seem likely that the Savior would carry the apostle back or that Peter would swim back. Rather, the Savior enabled and inspired Peter to get back on the water and walk to the ship. He is not content with just saving us; He wants to make us better and enable us to figuratively walk through the wind on the water.

                This reminds me of Brad Wilcox’s famous talk on grace that he gave at BYU in 2011. In it he said this, “I have born-again Christian friends who say to me, ‘You Mormons are trying to earn your way to heaven.’ I say, ‘No, we are not earning heaven. We are learning heaven. We are preparing for it (see D&C 78:7). We are practicing for it.’ They ask me, ‘Have you been saved by grace?’ I answer, ‘Yes. Absolutely, totally, completely, thankfully—yes!’ Then I ask them a question that perhaps they have not fully considered: ‘Have you been changed by grace?’ They are so excited about being saved that maybe they are not thinking enough about what comes next. They are so happy the debt is paid that they may not have considered why the debt existed in the first place. Latter-day Saints know not only what Jesus has saved us from but also what He has saved us for. As my friend Brett Sanders puts it, ‘A life impacted by grace eventually begins to look like Christ’s life.’ As my friend Omar Canals puts it, ‘While many Christians view Christ’s suffering as only a huge favor He did for us, Latter-day Saints also recognize it as a huge investment He made in us.’ As Moroni puts it, grace isn’t just about being saved. It is also about becoming like the Savior (see Moroni 7:48).” We celebrate that Christ both saved us and that He can change our very natures to be like Him. On the water, Christ saved Peter and then, I believe, helped the apostle become like Him by walking back together to the boat.

Among the final words of the Book of Mormon is this invitation from Moroni to be changed by the grace of Jesus Christ: “Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God” (Moroni 10:32). He doesn’t just want to save us; He wants to make us perfect through His grace. Line upon line, He wants to teach us what He know and help us become even as He is.