Lesson from a medievalist

So my French civilizations professor is basically the smartest person I've ever met in my entire life. He is from The Netherlands, so his native language is Dutch, but his wife is from Finland, so he's also fluent in Finnish. Add to that French (obviously), English, German, Latin, Italian, and I suspect he's at least passably fluent in Spanish and Greek. 

He is a medievalist, which basically means that he knows everything about the entire history of Europe. I'm serious. It's insane. 

So the other day we were talking about St. Thomas d'Aquin, and this professor said that he really liked Thomas because he is known for having said something along the lines of, "the only sin that can't be forgiven is the sin that forgiveness is not asked for."

Don't you love that? I was skimming through this book that discusses a few of Thomas's ideologies on sin and forgiveness, and from what I can see, he was pretty insightful and enlightened on the topic: 

"When discussing the question of whether mercy and justice can be found in all God's works, Thomas elaborates the priority of mercy. In God's dealing with us, justice would have been sufficient, but God does give more: out of the abundance of his goodness he gives more than we need. God's dealing with people surpasses expectations." (Reminds me of these scriptures.)

Again, I love that. God is so merciful, and most of the time, I think we just take that for granted. In his talk entitled "The Atonement," Elder Boyd K. Packer mentions a few verses from a hymn:

Brightly beams our Father's mercy

From his lighthouse evermore, 

But to us he gives the keeping

Of the lights along the shore.

Let the lower lights be burning;

Send a gleam across the wave.

Some poor fainting, struggling seaman

You may rescue, you may save.

Dark the night of sin has settled;

Loud the angry billows roar.

Eager eyes are watching, longing,

For the lights along the shore.

I think that's a wonderful analogy for our Father's mercy. Elder Packer goes on to say, 

"It was understood from the beginning that in mortality we would fall short of being perfect. It was not expected that we would live without transgressing one law or another."

Words can't describe my gratitude in knowing that the wonderful plan of Heavenly Father allowed for our mortality. We are, after all, as the expression goes, only human. We are inherently imperfect. And you know what? It's okay, because we have a Savior who makes up the difference between our imperfections and sins, and the indelible law that no unclean thing can enter into the Father's presence. As Elder Packer explains,

"A Mediator, a Redeemer, was chosen, one who would live His life perfectly, commit no sin, and offer 'himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered.'"

Quoting President Joseph F. Smith, "Men cannot forgive their own sins; they cannot cleanse themselves from the consequences of their sins. Men can stop sinning and can do right in the future, and so far [as] their acts are acceptable before the Lord [become] worthy of consideration. But who shall repair the wrongs they have done to themselves and to others, which it seems impossible for them to repair themselves? By the Atonement of Jesus Christ the sins of the repentant shall be washed away; though they be crimson they shall be made white as wool. This is the promise give to you."

Elder Packer again: 

"No matter what our transgressions have been, no matter how much our actions may have hurt others, that guilt can all be wiped out. To me, perhaps the most beautiful phrase in all scripture is when the Lord said, "Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more."

I could not agree more.  

To go along with this, I get these weekly spiritual message emails, and this week's was THIS Mormon Message, which I think is one of the best ones ever made because it talks about the power of the Savior's Atonement to change and heal us. 

So watch it and be uplifted and inspired and then think about what St. Thomas d'Aquin said. 

"O the greatness of the mercy of our God."