Salvation: The Apex of Human Experience

          Three fallen men are standing at the bottom of a cliff, with Jesus standing at the top.  Jesus tells the three of them,

          "Come unto Me."

          The first man tells Jesus, "I believe you can bring me to the top of the cliff."  Jesus waves His hand and the man is teleported magically to the top. 

          The second man says, "I will climb up to reach you, but I know on my own I will fall.  Give me a harness and climbing gear and catch me every time I fall."  The Lord does so and he reaches the top of the cliff in safety.

          The third man say, "I know that Thou canst do anything.  Give me strength to climb up to Thee."  Nothing miraculous happens immediately, but as soon as he starts to climb God begins to incrementally strengthen his muscles.  Sometimes the man slips or scrapes an arm and becomes frightened that he will fall.  Sometimes he doubts his own ability to reach the top of the cliff.  However, he remembers that God has prepared the mountainside specifically for him and feels the supernatural strength he receives, and that gives him courage to keep moving.  With time and the man's repentance the Lord heals his scrapes and bruises so he can continue on without falling.  At any time the man could use his agency to give up and let go, but instead he chooses to move on.  However, it is only the strength he receives from God that makes it possible for him to navigate the increasingly difficult cliff face.  With time, he also reaches the top of the cliff.

          When the first man reaches the top he is in a different place but has not changed at all.  The second man made the choice to climb, but only in conditions of complete safety and with little mental or physical growth.  However, when the third man reaches the top of the cliff he is like God.  He is physically perfect because God prepared the mountain to make him that way.  Even more, he has also learned to trust the Lord in the face of impending destruction.  Though seeming to risk life and limb to reach the Lord, he knows that when Christ is involved, there is no such thing as risk.  During the course of the journey, he came to know the Lord, while the other two only knew about Him.  All three men reach the top of the cliff, but only the third was saved.

          All three of these men are real.  The first is the person who deliberately throws his life into the gutter and keeps it there his whole life despite pleading requests from God.  He may believe in God's saving power, but he doesn't act differently because of it.  He is required to suffer for his sins and is saved in the Telestial Kingdom.  He is at the top of the cliff, but his desires and actions are the same.

          The second man is the person who tries to follow God using only the strength and talents God has blessed him with at birth.  These are naturally imperfect and often lead him to shirk his duty or to play it safe rather than do God's will.  His desires may be originally similar or even superior to those of the third man, but without the help of God they never change on the deepest level, and so he does not change.  He chooses to receive the Gospel but is not valiant in the testimony of Jesus.  His righteous choices allow him to be saved in the Terrestrial Kingdom, but still he falls short of his potential.

          The third man also uses his talents and abilities, but he recognizes that they are infinitely less than they need to be for him to be saved.  He knows that he can fall.  But he also has faith in He who is omnipotent and he does His work.

          My friends and associates:  I wish I could tell each of you individually how badly I want you to be the third mountain climber.  I want to tell you how much I want you to reach your potential.  I used to think salvation was easy; in reality it is the hardest thing we will ever do because it encompasses everything that we do in our entire lives.  

          I bear you my witness that Jesus Christ can save you in every sense of the word.  Salvation is not what you do or where you go but who you are.  Christ taught the souls in spirit prison yet He remained a celestial person.  He drunk a bitter cup without becoming bitter.  Even now He has a plan for you that takes into account every sin you have or will ever commit that, if followed, would make you like Him.  Even now that plan is in effect in your life.  If I could tell you just one thing with such power that it would cause every fiber of your being to tremble and shake, it would be this:

          No matter where you are or what you're going through,

Never.  Let.  Go.