September 25-October 1

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Paul is now writing to a new group of people: the Galatians. This means a different set of problems and needs, and so Paul’s focus remains on Jesus Christ but adapts to new circumstances. Here is one of the teachings he sent to the Galatians:

Galatians 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 

I love this verse, and it is a verse that I’ve done a lot of pondering about. This is probably because I had more than one friend growing up who would literally use phrases like, “I’ll repent later.” They would choose to live certain types of lifestyles with the intention of stopping later so that they could still reap all the benefits.

We have seen people who had really rough starts grow into incredible people. We know that this is possible through the atonement of Jesus Christ. There are trillions of examples of how the atonement has turned seeds of chaos into heaven; He does it all the time with each of us. So why doesn’t this work when our intention is to live as we want and repent later? Why does this particular circumstance make it much more difficult to achieve the happiness that we’re trying to reap?

There are a few different reasons I’d like to talk about.

Living in hell here

We all tend to separate heaven and hell from our mortal lives. There is some accuracy to this. Heaven and hell will be different from our mortal lives in a few different ways. However, in many ways, heaven and hell start here. Heaven and hell are byproducts of how we live our lives. To an extent, we are all experiencing heaven and hell in varying degrees at any given time. We are living with the consequences of sin or finding freedom through the atonement. We are living with Christ as a companion, or we’re trying to do it on our own. Some aspects of heaven and hell dissipate in the next life; for example, we no longer experience sickness or the looming threat of death. However, the deepest joys and the deepest sorrows actually come from our choices and those consequences often start here in mortal life. Some people may be able to avoid those consequences for a while, but it will catch up to them (we’ll talk about that later).

If you’re going to make whatever choices you want now and repent later, you’re choosing to live in hell now. Maybe some of the choices you’re making give you a sense of being cool or temporary moments of pleasure, but the loneliness and emptiness remains when those little surges pass. Whether you recognize it or not, these are some of the aspects of hell. 

This also has interpretations on the other side of the spectrum: heaven. The more you choose to live with Christ as a companion, the more heaven you invite into your life. I promise that if you choose to live your life as you want for a while and then repent later (and then you do actually repent), you will one day look back and think, “I was an idiot. Why was I choosing to live like that when I could have been choosing to live like this? Why didn’t I do this sooner?”

God is not mocked; not necessarily because He is directly punishing anyone but because there are results that naturally come along with our choices. 

What we reap, we sow, and it’s not black and white. We sow to the extent that we reap. So make your choices based on what you would like to reap because the reaping doesn’t just come on Judgment Day.

You’re the same person

Another reason why this particular method of repentance (doing what you want and repenting later) doesn’t work is because you’re the same person when you die. 

Let’s give it a timeline so I can better teach the principle. Let’s say our friend, Toby (completely made up) decides that he is going to do what he wants because he knows he can repent in the spirit world. Maybe it will be harder, but once he dies, he will make that effort because time will be running out.  

A couple of things could happen. One, the Second Coming could occur before Toby dies and where does that leave Toby? Two, Toby could get to the other side and still believe he has more time. If he procrastinates here, he will likely procrastinate there. Why rush the repentance when he can repent tomorrow? If he feels he has sufficient time to repent eventually, he will likely feel that way for a long time – perhaps too long. You are the same person when you cross over to the other side; I can promise that you won’t immediately feel some drastic need to repent which means you might not.

That’s not repentance

Another reason this doesn’t work is because people who operate off of this principle don’t actually understand what repentance is. Repentance is not just saying sorry; in fact, that’s such an infinitesimal part of repentance that it won’t get you anywhere. If what you sow is a simple phrase of, “I’m sorry,” you won’t reap much.

True repentance is becoming like Christ. It is doing good actions, healing from bad actions, and drawing closer to Christ over and over and over again until you are completely changed by the atonement to become like Him. If you want to live in the ultimate “heaven,” you have to be prepared to live how Jesus Christ lives. Perhaps you can repent of specific transgressions and become worthy to take the sacrament in a month, but you can’t repent to the extent that you’re suddenly like Christ in such a short time period. That is a long journey; it takes a lot of sowing. 

People who want to choose what they want to do now and repent later are hoping that they can play around and then have heaven bestowed upon them. Heaven isn’t really bestowed. It’s something you grow into. You don’t get to Judgment Day and say, “Okay I sinned, but I said I’m sorry. Give me heaven.” Rather, you get to Judgment Day and you realize that in many ways, you are already living your eternal reward. 

People who experience heaven are people who have forgotten themselves; that’s the secret. It’s a state of mind that you find when you are loving, kind, and full of integrity and peace about who you are. If you’re only repenting to receive a reward (i.e. still thinking about yourself), you won’t find it because that’s not how you get there. It’s like trying to get home but driving in the opposite direction. If you’re looking for a reward for yourself, you aren’t going to run into heaven. 

Not mocked

Paul teaches that God will not be mocked. In many ways, we’ve already discussed this. We can’t be one way and expect to receive something else. In this manner, who was truly foolish on Judgment Day.

But this last reason I want to discuss revolves a little more closely to the idea of “mocking.” Let’s say you pull off your shenanigans to an extent. You do whatever you want, and then you stop acting like that and decide it’s time to run it around. 

If this is the path you choose to take, then you should understand that there is a grand chasm that you’re going to have to pass over as part of your personal repentance. Perhaps it will happen here on earth if you truly start to repent and love your Savior. Perhaps it will happen in the next life when you stand before Him at Judgment Day, remember Him and all of your shared experiences, and remember all the love you have for Him. This grand chasm is the full realization that you chose to play with the blood of the Savior. 

If you know better but want to go out and live in unholy ways on purpose with the specific intent of repentance, you are willingly causing your beloved Brother pain. Maybe you don’t remember Him yet, but you will, and it won’t be pleasant. When you purposefully go out and make those choices, it’s like you’re turning to justice and saying, “Put it on His tab. He’ll pay for it.” 

When you come to this grand chasm, you will realize that God is not mocked. There is a reckoning for flippantly causing the Savior pain, and much of that reckoning will happen internally as you realize what you’ve done.

Let it be clear that the Savior willingly suffered for us. If you’re imperfect and making mistakes but actively repenting and trying to do better, then your Judgment Day won’t be filled with immense guilt. It will be filled with gratitude for the Savior as He hugs you and tells you that you were worth it. 

But if you are actively running in the opposite direction of repentance with the intention of repenting later, you will have to face that chasm. It won’t be fun. That’s not because the Savior is going to rain down pain upon you for being disrespectful; it will come naturally as you realize how you purposefully hurt Him, the One who loved you more than anyone ever did. 

I believe in the atonement of Jesus Christ. I believe that repentance is real and freeing. I believe that we reap what we sow. You cannot sow seeds of chaos, give it fertilizer later, and hope that it grows into something else. It is not reality. You will fully experience the results of who you have chosen to become, and that will feel heavenly or hellish depending on how you chose to live. If conscious and continual repentance is part of your sowing, you will reap the positive consequences of the atonement. If you’re deliberately choosing to rebel, then you will reap that as well.