Today I went to the baptism of a sister from our new ward here in Silver Spring, Maryland. Because this week is the fifth anniversary of my baptism, as I watched the ordinance, I felt the spirit really strongly testify to me of Heavenly Father’s love. I remembered my own baptism as well as those baptisms I attended as a missionary. The baptism strengthened my witness that baptism is truly a blank state that helps us to be completely cleansed.

As I sat there, I thought about the Final Judgment when we will all stand before God.  I realized, that when we come before God, he will not be weighing the good things we do against the bad. He will not have a giant scale or ledger. Instead, as long as we have remained faithful and repented of our sins, God will give us full credit for the God and completely wipe away the bad. Because of the infinite worth, merits, and grace and the atonement, our sins however glaring will be insignificant and ignored. When God says he will make us clean, he truly means every whit. While in this life we will continue to experience pain and guilt for our mistakes, when we stand before God we will know that we are fully made clean. Christ’s righteousness will become our righteousness.

            I find this idea really comforting. It’s wonderful to know that even though we mess up our mistakes are completely outweighed by the savior’s grace. As long as we are faithful and regularly partaking of the sacrament, there is no reason for fear or doubt about the judgment. Indeed, that day will be even sweeter than our baptism, because the peace and freedom we feel will be complete.