I don't mean to sound like I'm preaching fire and brimstone, but this is a sin that is not alright. I write this in hopes to prevent someone from choosing this path. But remember, there is always hope.
Premeditated sin, also known as planned repentance, is a Great evil that has come into today’s society of religion. It’s the thought that you can sin and have fun now because you plan on talking to the bishop about it later and live your future life according to God’s will. Many people who take this path do it because they are curious and want to experience a lot before they live the proper life. The sad truth about this form of life is that the ‘proper life’ is farther away than anyone might expect.
Sometimes we think we can define what sin is and what sin is not. We fool ourselves into thinking there is a grey area. There is no grey area. And god has clearly defined sin.
It’s true, we are all sinners. But that’s no excuse to sin. God commanded us to be perfect, but we are in a fallen state of existence. Pretty much we are the low man on the totem pole. God said we are as the dust of the earth, but the dust is even better than us because at least it is obedient to Gods commands. Obedience is a necessity from god. The only way we can return to live with God is because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Since premeditated sin is a total Mockery to the Atonement, It is definitely not the way to return to god. Instead, it will distance you.
God sent his son because he loved us. He sent his son to die. He sent his son to suffer eternally; his only begotten son. Who he loved and loves eternally more than any of us are even capable of understanding. If we make a mockery of that. imagine how that would make him feel. How hurt he would be.
Why is premeditated sin a mockery of the atonement? It’s because you think you can repent without consequence. While Christ suffered the eternal consequence. Planned repentance bypasses guilt and remorse. You have forgiven yourself before you ever sinned. With this in mind, you then confess your sins do what the bishop asks and call it good. But you did not truly repent, even if you live a perfect life afterwards. You did not repent because you make a mockery of Christ and did not suffer yourself.
President Spencer W. Kimball taught us the importance of personal suffering, “one has not begun to repent until he has suffered intensely for his sins. . . . If a person hasn’t suffered he hasn’t repented.”
We have been taught throughout the scriptures about the type of person we need to be to be worthy of the atonement. In 2 Nephi 2:7 it says “all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered”.
President Kimball further stated “very frequently people think they have repented and are worthy of forgiveness when all they have done is to express sorrow or regret at the unfortunate happening.”
You might say to yourself “what’s wrong with feeling sorrow or regret isn’t that what I should feel for my suffering? The true answer will come as a surprise to many. In 2 Corinthians 7:10 it talks about a godly sorrow that worketh repentance. It is this sorrow, and this sorrow only that can lead an individual to truly repent. If you have planned repentance then you told yourself from the beginning to repent. Here is why this was wrong.
The story of Cain and Able. Able offered a sacrifice to god from his cattle. And god accepted. Cain offered a sacrifice to God of his crops. God did not accept this sacrifice. It wasn’t because crops were less than cattle. It is because of the reason each offered their sacrifice. Able did it for the love of god. Cain did it for the love of satin. Satin told Cain to offer a sacrifice to god. He should have done it because he loved god and not because satin told him to. This applies to planned repentance. The reason you are planning repentance is because you love the sin more than you love god. So your repentance is really only happening because the devil told you to repent later. You are repenting for the wrong reasons because you set yourself up to do so.
Another reason why this sin is bad is because you are sinning against a greater knowledge. If you know you need to repent from it, then you know it’s bad, if you know it’s bad and still do it you are acting as an enemy to god. This is exactly what satin did before this life when he went blatantly went against gods plan.
A good way to judge where you are is to look back at how you felt after you sinned. Did you have any second thoughts? Any bad feelings? If you did not feel remorse enough to change, then you are not on the right path. Remember to think of god’s love, that he did send his son for you. That there is a path back to him. Even if you have fallen into this net of planned repentance. You can still repent, the road is much harder to follow, you will need to explain your planned repentance to your religious leader (Your bishop for you mormons). You will need to feel guilt for even planning such a thing.
There is always hope. President Kimball said “sometimes... when a repentant one looks back and sees the ugliness, the loathsomeness of the transgression, he is almost overwhelmed and wonders, ‘can the Lord ever forgive me? Can I ever forgive myself?’ But when one reaches the depths of despondency and feels the hopelessness of his position, and when he cries out to God for mercy in helplessness but in faith, there comes a still, small, but penetrating voice whispering to his soul, ‘thy sins are forgiven thee.’”
Isiah 1:18- Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” So don’t be discouraged, Just repent. Truly repent.
Some youth foolishly rationalize that it is ‘no big deal’ to sin now because they can always repent later. … The idea of sinning a little is self-deception. Sin is sin! Sin weakens you spiritually, and it always places the sinner at eternal risk” (New Era, Feb. 1994, 6).
Elder Richard G. Scott explained why sinning now with the idea of repenting later is so dangerous. “The thought of intentionally committing serious sin now and repenting later is perilously wrong. … Many start that journey of intentional transgression and never make it back. Premeditated sin has greater penalties and is harder to overcome” (New Era, Oct. 1995, 8).
