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Old 06-27-2008, 07:19 PM   #19
Tex
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As it concerned showing people the translation, the Lord told Joseph:

"But as you cannot always judge the righteous, or as you cannot always tell the wicked from the righteous, therefore I say unto you, hold your peace until I shall see fit to make all things known unto the world concerning the matter."

This is the position the church finds itself in judging worthiness. Anyone can come in and say, "The Lord forgave me, so you have to too." Even the most spiritual man with the most divine calling (say, Joseph Smith translating the Book of Mormon) cannot perfectly judge the righteous from the wicked.

Thus the Lord directs his prophets to lay out a series of steps whereby a sinner represents to the church, in the person of the bishop, the repentance and forgiveness process. This shouldn't surprise anyone.

And, as it concerns excommunication, there is indeed scriptural foundation for it, indeed explicit instruction from the Lord. Blotting out the names of unrighteous people is mentioned in Mosiah 26:36, Alma 6:3, and Moroni 6:7. Most references to repentance in the scriptures are for personal application (as it should be) but a few are institutional, such as in D&C 42 where unrepentant adulterers are to be "cast out." One scripture even says that an unrepentant "idler shall not have place in the church"! (D&C 75:29). Fortunately we don't draw up disciplinary councils for idleness.

That's just my off-the-cuff list. In short, there is plenty of scriptural precedence for church discipline. But it is always clear, in scripture and in policy, that repentance and forgiveness are the sole province of the Lord, and he "employeth no servant there."
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Last edited by Tex; 06-27-2008 at 07:24 PM.
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