V. 16 - "They who are righteous shall be righteous
still, and they who are filthy shall be filthy still..."
This affects my theological thinking because our whole lives we are becoming something. We are going one way or another. We won't just be magically changed when we die. We will keep the same habits and moral struggles or moral strengths. It is like Mormon 9:14. We will continue in the path we have created for ourselves. This will not change by simply passing through the veil.
V. 27 "Wo unto him that has the law given, yea,
that has all the commandments of God, like unto
us, and that transgresseth them, and that wasteth
the days of his probation..."
I never want to be counted among this group. Sadly, I believe that I frame myself as one who has all the commandments and transgresses them. Not all of them, but I do not keep every commandment that I know is right. This is something that I believe I will work on my whole life. However, I don't think I am wasting the days of my probation. I believe that with my constant process of messing up and repenting, my character is being strengthened. And all the while my desire is to become like God - to become more holy. So even though I am messing up along the way, I am generally pointed in the right direction. And have constant course corrections, like Pres. Uchtdorf said.
V. 28 - 29 "When they are learned they think they are wise,
and they hearken not to the counsel of God, for they set it
aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore their
wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. And they
shall perish. But to be learned is good if they hearken
unto the counsels of God."
This is a great passage. My whole life, I want to become more and more learned. I will never stop learning and will never end my education. This is a life-long journey for me. I believe that there is a mix of reason and revelation that is the perfect formula for being endowed with knowledge that is lasting and truth everlasting. Without reason and the ways of learning acquired by the ways of man and the world's lens of education and seeking after truth, you cannot learn as deeply and profoundly. God will not be able to teach you in ways that you would have been able to learn otherwise. It is like the difference between the revelation that Henry Eyring (the world renowned scientist) and a seventh grader. The 7th grader can indeed receive revelation, but the amount of knowledge that Dr. Eyring has would allow for much deeper insights. It's like the classic essay by C.S. Lewis "The Weight of Glory." He describes this very well. On the other hand, those who seek intellectual and rational knowledge alone, cannot make the same discoveries, or find the same truths that those who are inspired and aided by the source of all truth - God. He can quicken any seeker of truth with His Spirit to learn 100 times faster and more than someone who has not allowed for divine aid. Joseph Smith said: "Could you gaze into heaven five minutes, you would learn more than you would by reading all that was ever written on the subject." (TPJS p. 324). There can be a perfect mix of reason and revelation to be endowed with a "perfect storm" of truth.
Here are the others that I will have to talk about later, but that I will type in now:
V. 39 To be carnally minded is death and to be spiritually minded is life eternal.
V. 40 The words of truth are hard against all uncleanness; but the righteous fear them not, for they love the truth and are not shaken.
V. 44 I stand with brightness before him.
V. 51 Wherefore, do not spend money for that which is of no worth, nor your labor for that which cannot satisfy...feast upon that which perisheth not, neither can be corrupted, and let your soul delight in fatness.
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