Interesting perspectives, thanks. And "go and sin no more" seems to be a directive of the early church as there were no poor among them because they all obeyed the Royal Law of Love God and your neighbor. The sheep and goats parables spells out doom for people that cannot obey those commandments and heaven for those who can. So I think not sinning would require that. Does the Mormon church have these crucial directives in their temple recomends and judging of Bishops over their flock as the church in the bible did? Remember Saphira and Ananaias were killed for not obeying this directive which lead them to lie to the Holy Spirit. So it seems crucially important to God.
And I just don't see that in the Mormon teachings or the general conference talks. They focus more on covenants and 10 commandments and such.
There's a lot to untangle here, I'll try to get a what I think you're asking, please correct me if I'm getting it wrong.
For talking about sins, I'm going to use an example of my friend "Jess". Jess had an affair. Very knowing it was wrong and doing it anyways. She rode the chemical high of sneaking around, illicit meetings, sexual hormones, feeling valued etc. She justified her behavior-- after all her husband was neglectful, sinning, and hurt her with his actions (those are also wrong, but doesn't justify adultery). She was angry and prideful, snapping at people if they suggested she was in error. Her marriage fell apart, her friendships fell apart, kids were uneasy, etc. Her heart was very much in the wrong place.
Eventually, Jess realized that she was doing things wrong, her life way falling apart, and she needed help. Help from God and her fellow man. She couldn't escape this maze alone. She confessed her sins to her husband and spoke with her bishop. The bishop is there as a judge- lower case "j", only Christ is the Judge. The bishop's role is to be like a coach- helping you navigate these tangles.
Jess regularly came to church, always welcome. She did loose her temple recommend for a time, meaning that while navigating this maze she wasn't able to serve as a Priestess performing rites. But still welcome at church services, participating in lessons, praying, and working with her coach (the bishop) to get her heart in that right place.
And she did! But the grace of God- such an amazing rebirth. Her rekindled her love for God, her husband, her fellow man. Gone was the prideful snappy "I do what I want" witch, and instead this loving caring woman whom now so much deep lover the Savior. Like the woman whom washed His feet with her hair, Jess personally knew love and gratitude for Him so deeply.
What does this have to do with covenants and commandments? Well obviously "don't commit adultery" is a commandment and we do covenant to not commit adultery. But commandments don't exist for "and God just wanted to give me a meaningly to do list". Rather they exist to help us come & stay closer to God-- God's the center of everything. I saw how this affair distorted Jess's heart and how she didn't really care about Him anymore-- to distracted with the hormonal high. I saw it tear her relationships apart, including hers & mine. She didn't care about anyone else. But, thanks to God, she did get back on track.
Notice: no where in this story did I say "and she lost her salvation or exaltation", cause that's not part of the story. Simply isn't.
