The Law as a Safety Net; The Law as a Glass Ceiling

Transgression brought us out of the Garden and into the Telestial World. The commandments elevate us to a terrestrial world. We know that on the Day of Judgement, many good and honorable people will be assigned to the Terrestrial Kingdom. So what makes the difference between them and celestial folks? Well, if you look at the celestial life of Jesus Christ it looks like rule-breaking/bending, and greater focus on the spirit of the law rather than the rule of law. 

Yes, those same rules that serve as a safety net, keeping us from spiritual death and a telestial existence, might also be keeping us out of the presence of God the Eternal Father. And here's why I think this:


Sabbath
If you keep the law of the Sabbath you will be blessed temporally and spiritually. The Pharisees and Sadducees kept the Sabbath. So did Jesus, but he also healed on the Sabbath day for which they condemned Him. From Mark 3:

2 And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him.
3 And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth.
4 And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.

Purity
Patriarchal cultures put a lot of emphasis on intact hymens. I'm not arguing that the Law of Chastity isn't important, but when presented with the woman taken in adultery Christ was quick to forgive her. From John 8:

10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?
11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

His low key response here and, in contrast, intense condemnation of whoredoms in Jacob 2 in the Book of Mormon makes me wonder if the more upsetting component has to do with consent (i.e the lack thereof). Based on this, I worry less about the girl who "can't keep her legs crossed," than the husband who expects sex from his wife even though she's not into it.

Order
Remember when Jesus turned over the money exchange tables in the temple? I'm pretty sure that was against the rules.

Sometimes things gotta get messy, folks. I bet there were a bunch of people who thought Jesus forgot to be nice in this moment. To them he must've have looked telestial, but of course we know the opposite is true.

Cleanliness, Appearance
Jesus was not supposed to touch anything unclean, but He hung out with lepers and healed them. Similarly, when he was with Mary and Martha he told the latter the dirty dishes can wait (see Luke 10).

This makes me reflect on a lot of clean homes whose inhabitants might be surprised to see sloppy folks passing them by for a higher kingdom because their disheveled appearance came by working on that better part.

In all of these examples, Jesus looked bad in the eyes of law-loving men, but He was perfect in the sight of God. I think we really need to sit with this.

So how do we know when we're bending, breaking, or de-emphasizing rules for good?

The easy answer is: When God tells you to proceed, just like when He told Nephi to slay Laban to get the brass plates.

But women have this natural ability to perceive independent of the Holy Ghost, and that's where things get tricky. Eve illustrates this conundrum perfectly. Her eyes could see more clearly and much before Adam could, and she knew the key to progression lie in eating the forbidden fruit. She did the best thing, but without ratification from God, and was made to pay for it. From thenceforth she had to confirm the good thing she perceived was right with God as judged by Adam, setting off a pattern of compass (compassion) and square (legality) having to balance each other out. At least that's how we see things play out in the temple.

A reference to scripture, however, informs us that eventually the Holy Ghost came upon both Adam and Eve (see Moses 5) and Adam could finally see, and Eve could hear God directly. This is very important because to me this means women can initially perceive when a law needs to be transgressed, and then seek confirmation by the Holy Ghost (not a man) to confirm. If she, like Eve, proceeds without God's blessing then and only then is this problematic.

Meanwhile, men who hear and follow the guidance of the Holy Ghost will not falter, unless distracted by false emblems of the priesthood. These emblems are rules and regulations not from God, but are nevertheless tempting due to the (unrighteous) dominion they could provide in a patriarchal structure.

Hearing and seeing, perceiving and ratifying. The careful use of these principles should light a path to the celestial law that will be clear to the one following the Lord, and baffling to the honorable saint who played it safe, not reaching for the bounds the Lord had set. I wonder if they will find themselves as the servant who buried his talent in the ground, losing even what they had (celestial covenants) while the saint known to be on the fringes receives in abundance.