The Purpose of Guilt

It is interesting that when Alma is giving counsel to his missionary children, he spends a chapter or two on the ones who are doing well, but the bulk of his preaching is for the one who has strayed from the path. It is Corianton who gets four lengthy chapters in the book of Alma. These chapters are not only about his need to repent and the blessings of the Atonement to those who humble themselves, but also some deep doctrine about the events of the resurrection, the role of justice and mercy, the purpose of mortality as a probationary state, spiritual and temporal death and the like. He did not save the deepest doctrine for the righteous sons, but found it appropriate to declare it to the one son who had committed the most egregious sins.

Why was that the case? I suspect that if Corianton had continued to show a rebellious heart, he would never have received this counsel. The more likely scenario is that the depth of his humility led Alma and the Spirit to give him greater depth because he was truly ready to receive it.

In the final chapter of his counsel to Corianton, Alma sees that there is a need to caution the repentant person against allowing guilt to rule their life, never accepting the full blessings of the Atonement. It seems that people either give too little attention to their sins and failings, or they give too much attention to them.

In the Pearl of Great Price, Moses sees God face to face and is given the vision (shared by a very few prophets such as John, Nephi and Abraham) of the world from its beginning to its conclusion. In Moses 1:10 he makes the observation, "...man is nothing, which thing I had never supposed." Then a few verses later Satan attempts to tempt him and his response is, "Who art thou? For behold, I am a son of God, in the similitude of his Only Begotten; and where is thy glory, that I should worship thee?" You are left to wonder at Moses' conclusion. Are we nothing or are we children of God with an expectation of an eternal, celestial inheritance? As Moses correctly observed, we are both.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf addressed this paradox in his most recent General Conference address to the Church. "The great deceiver knows that one of his most effective tools in leading the children of God astray is to appeal to the extremes of the paradox of man." In other words, Satan uses the truth to appeal to our negative natures. In some instances, we find that he appeals to our pride. We are amazing creatures with the abilities of reason, thought, strength, wealth, and experience. We may begin to think that we exceed in some or many of these things over others and become defensive when our abilities or gifts are challenged. President Uchtdorf observes, "To some, he appeals to their prideful tendencies, puffing them up and encouraging them to believe in the fantasy of their own self-importance and invincibility. He tells them they have transcended the ordinary and that because of ability, birthright, or social status, they are set apart from the common measure of all that surrounds them." Falling into that trap we become unaware of, or ignore (sometimes even fear to recognize) the evidences around us that, "man is nothing."

On the other hand, we are aware, sometimes to the extreme, that we are all sinners and come short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23) So short, that we become convinced that we will never measure up to the scorecard of God, so in our depression, we conclude that we might as well continue in our mediocrity, sin and short comings and need not go to the effort and pain of attempting success. In this case, Satan appeals to the opposite extreme. Man is nothing, I am way below other people in my spirituality, physical state, mental abilities, or whatever, so I am less than nothing.

The message of the Savior is that he has descended below all things and has made the redemption applicable to the least of us. That is where we start. He is our foundation. It is necessary to be humble; in fact, in my experience, eventually we are led to be either humbled or humiliated. The choice is ours. The difference is that when we choose to be humiliated, there is no one there to see us through the pain and depression; Satan only takes us lower - we are his. When we choose to be humble, we seek repentance and there is almost immediate assistance from the Spirit. There is also, in my experience, a great battle. The force of Satan's persuasion tries to convince us that we are not worth it, that we are too sinful and that the effort is not worth the price. The Spirit of God, on the other hand, is available to bolster and sustain us as long as we are willing to stick to the basics. Eventually, you win and the effort is worth it. The Celestial Kingdom is not unattainable; it is yours.

In President Uchtdorf's words: "The Lord doesn’t care at all if we spend our days working in marble halls or stable stalls. He knows where we are, no matter how humble our circumstances. He will use—in His own way and for His holy purposes—those who incline their hearts to Him."

Once again, we are invited to place our will on the alter and bend our will to the will of God.