D&C 14:7 reads, “And, if you keep my commandments and endure to the end you shall have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God.” This is one of my favorite scriptures because it tells of God’s promise to us. If we are able to keep his commandments AND be strong enough to endure to the end, we WILL have eternal life!!

In Romans 12 and 13 Paul gives us counsel on how to be able to obtain that salvation that the Lord has promised us.

In Romans 12 verse 1 Paul speaks of our body and how we need to keep it holy and by doing such it is a living sacrifice to him. In verse 2 he speaks how while we have to be in this world we do not need to be of the world, and that we must be continually learning what is good so we can work towards perfection. Verse 9 is one of my favorites. He speaks of how we need to let out love be REAL, and to cleave unto that which is good and abhor evil. Verse 13 goes along with nine, for if we have real love we will be more willing to give of what we have to those who need it. IN 16 he is speaking how we must be of humble nature, never elevating ourselves above the likes of another. The last verse of Romans 12 is probably the most powerful verse in the chapter. It reads, “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” To me this is a statement that good will always have to power to overcome evil.

Paul continues in Romans 13 verse 1 by stating that there is no power higher than that of God, no man can possess that power unless he is ordained of god. Verse 3 speaks to me in the effect that those who are in authority must be good I nature, if they are they shall receive his praise. Verse 8 speaks of matters of finance, stating that we should owe no man anything. To me this speaks loudly a word of caution pertaining to our wants and needs. We must understand what we need and limit the obtaining of things we want. The last verse in reference is verse 9, Paul speaks of being worthy morally, covenanting to not steal, lie, covet, or be adulterous. And that the main way to obtain salvation is to love our neighbors as ourselves, for if we truly love all, the tendency to wrong them would not exist and we would easily be permitted to dwell with our Father in heaven.

To add to what has already been stated, in Romans 14:1-13 and 15:1-3 Paul talks about the act of judging. He emphasizes that it is not our place to judge our neighbor for that is a privilege that only God possesses. Our duty is to love our neighbor without judging him, for we all will be judged accordingly at the last day. D&C 38:25-27 does a great job at solidifying what Paul was saying. It speaks of how we must esteem our brothers as ourselves, and by doing so can become one, for we can truly have the same goal of returning to our Father.

As Paul stated, we are truly saints of these latter-days. We must act as such and be willing to put all others before ourselves.