Abide in the Doctrine of Christ

1.    Read 2 John 1:7 and the institute student manual commentary for 2 John 7, “For Many Deceivers Are Entered into the World” (p. 437). Summarize in one or two paragraphs the false doctrine John warned against, where it came from, and what effect it would have if it were believed.

The false doctrine John warned against was that we should not invite people with doctrines contrary to ours into our home. People that believed that those who were against what they believed in were not a threat to their beliefs had struggles with their faith. Or they had struggle with the people they were once nice to.

2.    Read 2 John 1:8–13. Write one or two sentences explaining what counsel John gave that could help avoid this and other false doctrines generally.

John explained to not wish well to those who disagree with you. He said that "For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds." I am not sure if I agree with this. I feel that we should be kind to all, even if we don't agree with them or they disagree with us. 

Faith without works is dead

1.    Some people teach that faith is all that is needed in order to be saved and that good works are not necessary. James clarified the relationship between faith and works.

o       Your friend, who is investigating the Church, has expressed a question in the letter below.

o       Write a response using counsel from James 2. How could you use Matthew 7:21; 19:16-17; Ephesians 2:10; Revelation 20:12-13; and 2 Nephi 25:23 to help support the truths you teach?

“Dear LDS Friend,

Some of my friends are saying that Mormons are not Christian because you believe that you need to do righteous works along with having faith to be accepted by God. My other friends claim that with the grace of Christ, works are not necessary. They say that if I join the Mormons I would be denying Christ’s grace. How should I respond to them?

-Your friend”

Oh, well it is good to hear from you! I am glad you came to me about this, I hope I can help :) I know that Christians believe in the bible and here are some great teachings from James Chapter 2 where he proves that along with faith we must have good works to achieve redemption. 

- "14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?

 15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of dailyfood,

 16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be yewarmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth itprofit?

 17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

And, us Mormons also read the book of Mormon along with the bible and in the Book of Mormon in 2 Nephi chapter 25, it reads, 

" 23 For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do."

This scripture proves that we believe in the importance of the grace of God. Even after all of our faith and good works we need to be saved by the grace of God. If we only relied on the grace of God, we are not showing our loyalty to Him, but only our trust in Him. When we have faith and good works we show our loyalty and our trust and therefore are able to be saved through His grace.

Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ

1.    In Hebrews 11, Paul recounted the faith of many ancient men and women. Read Hebrews 11 and fill in the chart below listing eight other people and how each person demonstrated his or her faith and what blessings the Lord gave each of them.

Name	Verse	How They Demonstrated Faith	Blessings They Received
Abel	4	Offered a “more excellent sacrifice”	A witness from God that he was righteous
Enoch	5	He had a pure testimony before he was translated	Was translated that he should not feel death
Noah	7	Built an ark	Able to live through the world being flooded
Abraham	8	Went out into the wilderness away from his inheritance	Received into the promised land
Sara	11	Had faith to conceive a child after child bearing age	Gave birth to a baby boy
Abraham	17	Offered up Isaac	Received a stronger testimony and kept his son
Isaac	20	Kept in tune with the spirit	blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come
Jacob	21	Staying close to the Lord	blessed both the sons of Joseph on his death bed
Moses	24	Left his royalty and suffered through persecutions	Passed through the Red Sea on dry ground

2.    Give at least three examples of other individuals found in scriptures or whom you know who could be included in this chapter.

Esther- Saved a kingdom through her (and her peoples) fasting, faith and prayers

Daniel- Survived the lions den through being faithful in Christ no matter what

The three apostles- who loved the Lord and were blessed through their faith to be able to spread the word of God until the second coming

3.    Read Hebrews 12:1–2 and write what Paul encouraged the Saints to do to show their faith.

Paul encourages us to set sin aside from us and run the race of life with patience, always looking to the Lord for guidance and keeping our eye on the prize of being found on the right hand of the throne of God.

4.    Read the institute student manual Points to Ponder sections, “Developing Faith Is Active Belief, Which Is More than Just Belief” (p. 400) and “Fully Developed Faith Is Power” (pp. 400–401). Describe in writing how faith is different than belief.

Those are not sections in the online points to ponder of the New Testament Student Manual for Hebrews 7-12. I can try my best though. I feel that faith is believing in something with your whole heart and doing something proactive about it because of your belief. Belief alone is an idea you think is right without action because of the idea. 

When our faith is fully developed we do have a lot of power in ourselves, but because God trusts us and endows us with power. It can also be power over the natural man, because when we have full faith, it does not matter how tempted we may be, we know what is right and we follow what we believe to be true.

A painting of Esther from the bible. She had the faith that God would allow her to live when she went before the King.

Entering into the Lord's Rest

Read Hebrews 3:8–4:16 and the institute student manual commentary for Hebrews 3:11, “What Does It Mean to Enter into the ‘Rest’ of the Lord?” (p. 383). Write answers to the following questions:

• What group of people was refused entrance into the Lord’s rest? The people of ancient Israel
• What sins caused them to forfeit this privilege? They hardened their hearts
• How does Doctrine and Covenants 84:23–24 help define what is the Lord’s rest? The last phrase states: "they should notenter into his rest while in the wilderness, which rest is the fulness of his glory."
• What sins did Paul repeatedly warn against so as not to incur the same punishment? Paul over and over again told the people to not harden their hearts
• How do you think the warnings in Hebrews 3:12–15 apply to us? I think they directly apply to us. We should have an open heart and share our testimonies with those around us frequently, that way we do not lose them and fall out of the rest of the Lord that is provided to us on this Earth.
• List the counsel found in Hebrews 4 that will help a person enter into the rest of the Lord.

1. Fear the Lord
2. Listen to the words being preached to us
3. Labor to enter into the Lord's rest.

• How do Matthew 7:21–23; John 7:17; James 1:22 help in understanding how the word needs to be “mixed with faith”? (Hebrews 4:2–3). This helps us know that we need to not only do what we know is right, but also believe and feel in what we do.

I feel the most helpful thing to help me understand what the rest of the Lord was the quote given by the Prophet Joseph Smith found in the New Testament Student Manual...

"The ancient prophets speak of ‘entering into God’s rest’; what does it mean? To my mind, it means entering into the knowledge and love of God, having faith in his purpose and in his plan, to such an extent that we know we are right, and that we are not hunting for something else, we are not disturbed by every wind of doctrine, or by the cunning and craftiness of men who lie in wait to deceive. … The man who has reached that degree of faith in God that all doubt and fear have been cast from him, he has entered into ‘God’s rest.’ … I pray that we may all enter into God’s rest—rest from doubt, from fear, from apprehension of danger, rest from the religious turmoil of the world"