In family scripture study this morning, I read something I found interesting in Mosiah 4:6.
At this point of his address, King Benjamin is addressing a people who had just declared their humility to them. He acknowledges their humility, and he goes on to outline requirements for salvation, which I assume us individual salvation, or exaltation.
Unsurprisingly, he lists faith and obedience to the commandments as requirements.
What I found interesting, however, were God’s characteristics of which we needed to gain a knowledge: his goodness, his matchless power, his wisdom, his patience, and his long suffering.
Not only do I find the qualities themselves interesting, I found interesting the fact we need to gain a knowledge of them.
It seems to me that coming to know these things implies we are familiar with them; we have seen them manifested in our lives. This of course requires effort on our part.
Sure God may exhibit patience or wisdom toward us without our doing anything, but his exhibiting them is not the same thing as our experiencing them.
In the Lectures on Faith, Joseph Smith taught that developing and improving faith in God requires us to have “a correct idea of his character, perfections and attributes.”
Similar to ltbugaf,
John 17:3
3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
We come to know God both by becoming more as he is… but also comprehending his goodness, power, wisdom, etc. even though we may not be able to emulate this adequately.
If we understand the atonement well surely we understand God’s goodness, power, wisdom, and his long suffering.