How Do I Become a True Saint and Faithful Disciple of Jesus Christ?

My Come Follow Me studies for this week took me to Romans 7-16 in a lesson titled “Overcome Evil with Good.” The lesson was preceded by this counsel: “Only a few of the gospel principles in Romans 7-16 can be included in this outline, so don’t limit yourself to what is addressed here. Pay attention to the inspiration you receive as you study.” The lesson was introduced as follows: 

As he opened his epistle to the Romans, Paul greeted Church members by calling them “beloved of God” who were “called to be saints.” He remarked that their “faith [was] spoken of throughout the whole world” (Romans 1:7-8). Even though Paul spent much of his epistle correcting false ideas and flawed behaviors, it seems he also wanted to assure these new Christian converts that they truly were Saints who were beloved of God. His tender counsel blesses all of us who struggle to feel God’s love and for whom becoming a Saint may feel out of reach. With humble empathy, Paul acknowledged that he had felt like a “wretched man” at times (Romans 7:24), but the gospel of Jesus Christ had given him power to overcome sin (see Joseph Smith Translation, Romans 7:22-27 [in the Bible appendix]). With that power, the Savior’s redeeming power, we can “overcome evil” – both evil in the world and evil in ourselves – “with good” (Romans 12:21).

One of the teachings in this scripture block comes from Romans 12-16: “Paul invites me to become a true Saint and follower of Jesus Christ.” Paul shared numerous principles that can help us to become a true Saint and faithful follower of Christ. Some of those principles are as follow: 

·         The grace of God is the help He gives us through His love and mercy. It is the power by which He enables us to perform works of righteousness and gain eternal life (see Romans 12:6; 15:15; see also Acts 15:11; 2 Nephi 25:23).

·         Before Jesus Christ’s mortal ministry, He commanded His followers to offer animal sacrifices as a way of looking ahead to His Atonement. Today the Lord commands us to offer ourselves as “living sacrifices” by dedicating our lives in obedience and service (see Romans 12:1-3, 9-18; see also 3 Nephi 9:19-20; Moroni 10:32).

·         Each member of the Church has different spiritual gifts. We are like parts of a body, joined together to form a whole. We must each contribute our talents without thinking that we are more important than others (see Romans 12:3-8, 13-18).

·         If we truly love all people, we are fulfilling the law of God (see Romans 13:8-10; see also Matthew 22:36-40; 2 Nephi 31:20).

·         We are not to judge others but should work on being righteous ourselves. We must help and fellowship one another, especially those who may be weaker in the faith (see Romans 14:1-21; 15:1-7).

·         We must avoid those who teach false doctrines and create divisions in the Church. Such people are serving themselves, not God (see Romans 16:17-18).

Paul wrote lots of specific instructions for learning to live as Saints. The lesson suggested that one way to study Paul’s instructions is to look for topics that he repeats. However, we should not expect to be able to apply all Paul’s counsel at once. Instead, we should select one or two principles to start applying.

In similar projects, I have learned to make a list of the possible principles and then ask Heavenly Father which ones He thinks I need to apply. I know that He hears our prayers and wants to help us to become more like Him. I also know that He works with us through the Holy Ghost. As we listen to the promptings of the Holy Ghost, I know that we can apply the needed principles.