Good talks with good friends, and good revelation.

After I got home from class today, I was relaxing for a while before I got into the long hours of homework that will fill the majority of my weekend. Then I got a call from a good friend. Me and this friend often have good talks about life, the gospel, specific doctrines, and our own strengths and weaknesses. I am extremely fortunate to have such good friends in my life. Today this friend was calling with questions about doctrine. In an institute class earlier that day, they had talked about many things, from the garden of Eden, to the millenium. I have always strived to become compentent when it comes to doctrine, and though I have much to learn I feel as if I have a fairly solid understanding of the doctrine.

I am not positive that things didnt die in the garden of eden, but I think they didnt... But that isnt the main point of this post! The Millenium, and more specifically the part about Satan being bound. My friend couldn't quite understand how Satan could justly be bound. It was honestly something I have never thought of before, so like anyone who is confronted with something they dont know, I started shooting off ideas from the top of my head. Maybe it is like the pre-earth life after the war in heaven. We are preparing for the next phase of the test and it is just to not be tempted while we are learning the right? That just didnt quite sound right. It doesnt address why God could justly bind Satan, which would limit our agency.

Then the thought, The scriptures never say that Satan is bound by God, in fact when I looked the scripture up in 1 Nephi 22: 26, It says that because of the righteousness of the people, he cannot be loosed, or in other words he is bound because we wont give him any power to tempt us! Without us giving him power, he has none and can lead no one astray. It is our own personal righteousness that keeps him bound, and it isnt until the second resurrection after the millenium, when the sould of those who did not choose righteousness are resurrected as well, that he is loosed and again has power on the Earth. Whew thats a lot to take in all at once! So lets throw some more on top of it.

The Lord is bound when we fulfill our covenants.
The same acts that bind Satan out of our life, bind God into it.
Jesus Christ and God are bound to each other because they are both perfectly true to their word.
That is why the temptations of Satan had no hold on Jesus in his mortal life (he was bound out the heart of the saviour, who was bound to God.)
Pure light and pure darkness are unforgiving, and absolutes, inclusion of one requires exclusion of the other, being bound to God is by definition binding Satan out of our life.
Jesus Christ , our Heavenly Father, and the Holy Ghost are one because they are all bound to each other
As we align our will with God, we bind him, he binds us, and we all become one
We have the power to bind God, just think about that.
To ever actually bind God, the allure of that power will mean nothing to us, and in the act of becoming bound, we are literally incapable of betraying that bond, because of the power of the bond itself.

Those are just the things I have thought of in the last 15 minutes since having this conversation. This is what is so wonderful about the Gospel, With how many times I had read 1 Nephi, or thought about the millenium, I had never thought of that question. Then because I pondered the doctrine involved I have learned so many things about the nature of obedience and integrity. These are the things that keep me loving this gospel more and more each day.

 Have you learned any new doctrine today? Go and learn something new, it is only then that we can progress in our journey to become bound to our Father in Heaven, and only then that we get closer to binding Satan out of our lives.