"Upon the cross of Calvary They crucified our Lord And sealed with blood the sacrifice That sanctified his word."
That is the first verse to the sacrament hymn for our ward last week. On subject of hymns, I'm going to start marking my personal hymn book the same way I mark my scriptures, for, as Elder Jay E. Jensen said in General Conference in April, 2007, "...the hymns of the Restoration are, in fact, a course in doctrine!" meaning that they are absolutely literally, scripture! The sacrament hymn we sang today is no different. Last week, for me, one particular phrase stuck out to me in that sacrament hymn, "And sealed with blood the sacrifice that sanctified his word."
To sanctify: To make holy; purify (wordnik.com). If we replace the word sanctified with that definition we get "And sealed with blood the sacrifice that [made holy; purified] his word." Wait, lets focus on the most important part of that, "the sacrifice that [made holy; purified] his word."
There is a good reason why the Bible and Book of Mormon teaches that faith without works is dead. What made His word Holy? His agreement to sacrifice Himself for us, not only in suffering in dying for us, but also in living for us. He was the only man who ever lived what he taught perfectly. His word was made valid, perfect, flawless, complete, holy, absolute, unequivocal truth by means of His works. His supreme sacrifice for all mankind worked as a real power, an actual force of purification, not just for Him, but for all mankind. What He did made Him who He was (two different things, inseparably connected) both before, during and after this life, and gave Him the power He had to do what He did and have total command over His body, mind and the elements.
Now here's the best part about all that. Because He did that, we can to. No that does not mean we will have to or are expected to perform an Atonement for all mankind or anything like that. That would be sacrilegious. What I meant by "that" in "Because He did that" a few sentences ago, is having total command our OUR body, OUR minds and the elements and change who WE are. He is a child of God like the rest of us, so what's to prevent us from becoming like Him? Well, ourselves, but that that's the irony of it all. But the point is that we have, whether we see it or not yet, total power, because of Him, to be purified. When we follow His example, which made Him purified, we ourselves are purified by our ACTIONS through His grace and the power of the Holy Ghost.
So the next time you are faced with a moral decision, just remember that whatever course you choose, it will literally act as a force that either degrades and corrupts you or sanctifies and purifies you and makes your very nature a little more like Christ.
