Forward: My second post in the Heretic Forum. As I mentioned in my first, there are main stream heretical things that doctrine is against. Also, as I mentioned in my introduction, at least half of the content in this particular post was sent to unruly leaders in my former area as part of a rebuke and correction for many things I will not fully mention. A very small part of that is about half or more of this post. The result of this rebuke (invoking a fear of God in them apparently) of wrong leadership and the way I corrected them with the following info resulted in me getting banned from the local church grounds, and getting offered a temple recommend in the same breath among other things. The info here in this post, (and possibly some other stuff) was likely what prompted the recommend bit. Not one of said leaders are still in power if you were wondering (it was long ago), but one who fully repented and made amends later became a stake patriarch somewhere from what I have heard. - Uncle Jack
If you, like nearly everyone else, have believed that confession to the bishop is salvation, or if you have believed you are punished by the church for committing sin, then you have heretic views about the bishop and said process. I suppose the title could have implied bishops that exercise unrighteous dominion, but no, this is just about repentance.
Doctrine is firmly against the bishop being an administrator to the repentance process that grants you salvation. I can almost "case in point" with a single (used many times) scriptural phrase of "...and none other beside me." How then is the bishop the savoir in your mind? He can not save you, nor is that his purpose, even the latest of instructions state his focus is actually that of being his "primary focus is to be on the youth." His secondary (or less) focus is that of hearing "confession" (since we don't have a very applicable word for it, I will use confession...).
Lets delve into the various titles a bishop does hold. Presiding High Priest of the Ward, President of the Aaronic Priesthood, President of the Priests Quorum, Father of the Ward, Judge in Israel, and Common Judge. I don't know about you, but none of these titles scream salvation or savoir to me. They do focus on your next ordinance and if you are ready for it or not, so that would certainly be one kind of judgement, but the other half is like a protective father more then a punishing judicature when it comes to what Bishops are actually supposed to be doing and not doing within confession stuff and what is seen as punishment. They even tried calling them "courts of love" without very good explanations on why it is not a punishment but a protection and an assistance.
To further the of understanding of salvation, the “Work of Salvation” when speaking of missionary work does not mean we are getting people to the bishop or even to the church. Bringing others unto Christ by encouraging repentance, forgiveness and humility is the real goal, so that they too may have joy (plan of happiness) according to their choice. One may look to the eternal perspective to understand that even if they do not wish for exaltation, they will be ecstatic with where they do end up in heaven because it will be where it is “most comfortable” for them. (If you didn’t know that check out Religion 430-431, Doctrines of the Gospel Student Manual, chapter 33 from institute.lds.org or the LDS app under Adults > Young Adults > Institute) Sure, church is where most of such learning will happen, and is great, but it is not the actual end goal. They need repentance in their life as much as we do, that is the goal, so they might have joy. D&C 6:9 is probably the clearest, stating "Say nothing but repentance unto this generation..." or you could take a wild guess how many times the scriptures say repent and just see it as important.
(1) Repentance; the choice of turning your life around, (2) Forgiveness; the act of fulfilling and following through on the choice to repent, and (3) Humility; the act of not returning unto the sin, transgression, burden or negativity. Humility also encompasses thankfulness for the atonement, being teachable, and is counter to all forms of selfishness, pride and victimization alike. This is the path to salvation through Christ alone. Notice all the above happen within you. Now notice all the above happen before ordinances take place, this is what the bishop is basically discerning when determining if you are ready for the next step. If you screw up all three steps mentioned, this is exactly the meaning of all scriptures that say "woe, woe, woe..." one for each step and resulting issues in who you are now.
If the process most of you obviously think administers salvation in the church holds water, then one must consider why there are any requirements to baptism in the church at all if baptism is what administers salvation, why sinful members are asked not to take the sacrament for a time, and why the scriptures say partaking unworthily will bring damnation. If the sacrament is what administers salvation, then why does such darkness as severe depression and anything contrary to the ability to live a plan based on happiness exists to those who speak to the bishop on a regular basis and do all the things? Let alone all the other things like baptism in other churches, and people who have been baptized and do not even accept Christ anymore, or other such things.
While these things are indeed connected to the salvation of man, none of them in administering salvation take away or replace Christ himself and the process within you that completely requires agency to proceed. The first two (baptism and sacrament) are ordinances that make and renew covenants respectively. According to October 2013 conference, (Carole M. Stephens quoted someone from decades ago) that the sacrament renews all covenants made in the church or made any other way that has been sealed by the Spirit.
All these things are what Christ has asked us to do in return for what he does for us. Do you do the minor things he asks of you in return for what he does for you, without letting him actually do anything for you? Doing theses things, that you know well, without accepting the atonement and literally being free from burdens, stress and woe; that are caused by and related to sin and transgression of the heart or action, will bless you indeed for your obedience to eternal laws, but without being clean will you even have room to receive said blessings? Baptism alone has significant symbolism of being fully immersed in your choice to use the three internal steps, and thus be fully clean leaving nothing out (not by sprinkling here and there washing only what you think necessary in your life). Continuing to do so in life is how you endure to the end.
Do you do things for the possibility of exaltation without understanding salvation enough to be happy now? Well, many don’t, like I didn’t for many years. One cannot go to church and do all the actions of church while ignoring the actual path of salvation within themselves and expect the culmination of love and peace we call joy. The conflict within the heavy unforgiving heart does not understand or comprehend salvation’s role in the plan of "happiness."
In all the things connected to the atonement and salvation, it is always more directly connected to you acting as an agent unto yourself. You choose to be baptized, and are not to be forced into it. You choose to show up to church and take the sacrament. You choose to go to the Judges of Israel and confess and are not to be “witch hunted” or forced to do this in any other way either. Most important, you choose and no one can choose for you, to change your self with the three mentioned things to fully repent and be the New Creature... or Original Creature, as I would prefer to say for more accuracy.
Why do these things exist if they are not directly part of salvation? Because Christ asked us to do them; they make covenants, renew covenants, and even help us get out of our head by having other people assigned and called by God to be Judges in Israel. No one can make you come unto Christ, and such actions are yours and yours alone. Salvation is not up to us, and it is not from us. However, it is our choice to accept it, but it is His forgiveness that administers it. Going against the laws upon salvation will never give you what you expect to get from it; God’s house is never divided. One cannot sin and be free of sin at the same time; God’s house is not divided in administering peace unto the unrepentant.
Judges of Israel are there to help you, assist you, guide and encourage you. They also protect you. It is a protection to you when you are not taking the sacrament, to prevent you from, as the scriptures say, drinking damnation to your soul when partaking unworthily. All consequences thought to be a punishment are preventative measures for your good. If you were to take an oath and make covenants with a God of truth before you were ready, your accountability would be higher then it needed to be when you face your afterlife and final judgment. A higher accountability could even stand in your way of getting better in some cases.
"The last shall be first and the first shall be last" has special meaning when it comes to the final judgement. The last to come to earth will be judged first. The First on the earth (Adam) will be judged last. In this order, one could surmise that we will be able to testify of the good and bad influences that people who have come before us have had on us. Such testaments will already then be heard and on record if you will, by the time such influencing people are judged themselves. There is much to be said about the extents of your actions in this case, and also explains the curses unto the third or fourth generation, and names (like Joseph Smith) that will be had for good or evil for the rest of time. Both are basically when we generally forget about said person or not, and our influence is no longer taking tally from people for or against us when we stand accountable for the extents of our actions.
Why raise your accountability when we are not ready, we all already have a growing list to the extents of our actions that we will be accountable for. Lowering the bar, even removing someone from the church completely is a boon when it comes to accountability and what you are liable for in the end. Use two hands to help you understand. One hand will be the choices you make, the other will be the accountability. Choices go down, and accountability goes up is bad in distance. Now bring accountability lower, the distance is not as great. It helps, it is a protection to your soul, not a punishment to teach you a lesson. God's ways are not our ways, it doesn't work like that, there is not even "punishment" in the afterlife. According to the Book of Mormon, you choose to withdraw after an "awful view of your own abominations and guilt." Punishment by definition is someone else punishing you, multiple other words are used when it is you vs you.
The main take away could be that if you want to come unto Christ, it's on you. Likewise, if you don't come unto Christ, it is also on you. People can indeed suck in life, but as the church has said, why drink poison when angry with others. It isn't up to the bishop, or anyone else on earth that would be "standing in your way" or being abusive to make this happen or not. The ball is eternally in your court, and only you can make that change.
