Repentance

The word "repentance" is intimidating. When I was younger I always thought of repentance as being in trouble and being reprimanded by my parents. However I have learned that repentance isn't something to be nervous about, it's a good thing! It's how we become better and draw closer to God.

None of us are perfect. We all do stupid things. We all have regrets. We all need to be better. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God"(Romans 3:23). None of us can return to live with God in our sinful state. It's a good thing our loving Heavenly Father provided a Savior for us! Because of Jesus Christ, we can be forgiven of our sins and return to live with God again!

As we learn more about Jesus Christ, we can increase our faith in Him. You can read my post about faith to learn more about that. When we have faith in Jesus Christ, we will want to follow Him. Our faith in Christ and our love for Him lead us to repent, or to change our thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors that are not in harmony with His will. As we repent, we improve ourselves and become more Christ-like. 

We can return to live with God the Father only through Christ's mercy, and we receive Christ's mercy only on conditions of repentance. It is only by grace that we are saved, but we are still expected to do our part in order to access that grace. 

So how do we repent? It's very simple. Actually it's as easy as ABC...and D. Here are the steps of repentance in their most basic form: 

A. Admit. We need to recognize and admit to ourselves that we have sinned. 

B. Be sorry. We need to feel remorse or godly sorrow. We shouldn't feel bad just because we may have gotten caught or have negative consequences. We should feel bad because we know what we did was wrong. This is true for any sin -- big or small.  

C. Confess. Next we confess our sins to God. We also confess very serious sins to God's authorized Church leaders, who can help us repent. We ask God in prayer to forgive us.  

D. Don't do it again. Finally we need to commit to not do that sin again. We also do all we can to correct the problems our actions may have caused; this is called restitution.  

And there you go! Now you have successfully repented of your sin(s). You may have noticed that for Confess I mentioned that you only need to confess to Church leaders if it's a serious sin like a crime or adultery. Repentance is between you and God and you have every right to go directly to God to ask for His forgiveness. You will know you are forgiven when you feel His love and peace come over you and you no longer have guilt.

Repentance brings a change in us. As we repent we can feel God's forgiveness and His peace enters our lives. We realize that we really our His children and that He loves us and is always waiting for us to repent and turn back to Him. Our guilt and sorrow are swept away. We feel the influence of His Spirit in greater abundance. And when we leave this life, we will be more prepared to live with our Heavenly Father and His Son.

We never need to feel like we aren't worthy of His love or can't go to Him because that will never be true. We can always go to our loving Father in Heaven for forgiveness, direction, and love. "And how great is his joy in the soul that repenteth!"(D&C 18:13) 

Even after we have accepted Christ and repented of our sins, we may fall short again. We should continually repent and try to correct these transgressions. That means repenting every day. I think most of us don't commit gross sins every day, but we all need God's help to become better. As we repent every day, we will find that our lives will change and improve. Our hearts and behavior will become more Christlike. We will find joy in repenting daily. 

I'm grateful for the opportunity that I have to repent. Repentance has allowed me to overcome some of my bad habits and helped me to feel relief from my guilt over past wrongs. Repentance allows us to be cleansed from sin and become even more like Jesus Christ. Repenting is awesome. 

The Prodigal Son

"Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more"(D&C 58:42).

Amen. 

The Atonement of Jesus Christ

An "atonement" is defined as "reparation for a wrong or injury"; "reparation or expiation for sin"; and "the reconciliation of God and humankind through Jesus Christ. The atonement was when Jesus Christ suffered for all of our sins, pains, and sorrows in the Garden of Gethsemane, died on the cross, and was resurrected on the third day.

When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit and were cast out of the garden, they transgressed against God. Ever since then, men have sinned. We live in a fallen world where sin is all around us. "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us"(1 John 1:8). None of us can return to live with God in our fallen and sinful state. That is why our loving Heavenly Father provided a Savior for us. It is all part of His merciful plan.

Jesus Christ was sent to the Earth to do the will of the Father. He was the only perfect man to walk this earth. He served others and performed miracles and forgave sins and established His church. The most important thing He did was the Atonement. 

After the Last Supper, Jesus took His disciples with him to the garden of Gethsemane. There He left them and went a little bit off and prayed to the Father. Jesus knew what was going to happen. He knew that He was going to have to endure excruciating pain that would destroy any other mortal man. He prayed to Father "Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done"(Luke 22:42). Heavenly Father knew that it had to happen and so did Jesus. An angel was sent to strengthen Jesus as He underwent the first phase of the Atonement.

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus suffered for the sins, pains, and sicknesses of every single person who had or would ever live upon the Earth. "And his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground"(Luke 22:44). No one can understand the pain He felt. No one can ever possibly understand the agony. I don't know how long it lasted, but in that moment He felt every single thing you or I have ever felt. 

One woman said it very well:

"We know that Jesus experienced the totality of mortal existence in Gethsemane. It's our faith that He experienced everything - absolutely everything. Sometimes we don't think through the implications of that belief. We talk in great generalities about the sins of all humankind, about the suffering of the entire human family. But we don't experience pain in generalities. We experience it individually. That means He knows what it felt like when your mother died of cancer -how it was for your mother, how it still is for you. He knows what it felt like to lose the student body election. He knows that moment when the brakes locked and the car started to skid. He experienced the slave ship sailing from Ghana toward Virginia. He experienced the gas chambers at Dachau. He experienced Napalm in Vietnam. He knows about drug addiction and alcoholism.

"Let me go further. There's nothing you have experienced as a [human] that He does not also know and recognize. His last recorded words to His disciples were, "And, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." (Matthew 28:20) He understands your pain when your five-year-old leaves for kindergarten, when a bully picks on your fifth grader, when someone gives your thirteen-year-old drugs. He knows the pain you live with when you come home to a quiet apartment where the only children are visitors, when your 50th wedding anniversary rolls around and your husband has been dead for two years. He knows all that. He's been there. He's been lower than all that"(Chieko N. Okazaki, Lighten Up, Preface, p.147).

After Jesus went through that, He came back to His apostles to find them sleeping. Shortly after He was betrayed by His disciple and friend, Judas. From there "He was arrested and condemned on spurious charges, convicted to satisfy a mob, and sentenced to die on Calvary's cross"(The Living Christ). I always wonder what He must've been thinking as He was betrayed and then mocked, whipped, beaten, and nailed to a cross by men whose sins and pains He just suffered for. 

Since Jesus was half God (His mother was mortal but His father is a God), only He could give up His life. If He wanted to, He could've hung on that cross forever and never died. While on the cross, He comforted His mother and asked the Father to "forgive them; for they know not what they do"(Luke 23:34). Then He gave up the ghost. 

 
Three days later, Jesus rose from the grave. "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept"(1 Corinthians 15:20). He was resurrected with a perfect body. He showed His resurrected body to those at Jerusalem, allowed them to touch Him. He also ate with them to demonstrate that He did, in fact, once again have a body of flesh and bones. 

Because Jesus rose from the grave, we will all live again. We will all be resurrected whether we be good or evil and receive perfect, immortal bodies. However, our actions will decide whether we get to live with God again. 



The Atonement did not eliminate our personal responsibility. We all have the gift of free agency. It's our choice to accept or reject the Jesus Christ's atonement. Don't get me wrong, we believe "that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do"(2 Nephi 25:23). But we need to do some work to access that grace. We need to have faith in Jesus Christ, repent of our sins, be baptized, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, keep the commandments, and endure to the end. Seems like a list. And now you're all thinking that I believe we're saved by works. Let me explain further.

Nothing we ever do can save us. It is only by grace that we are saved. BUT we are still expected to do our part in order to access that grace. Here's an analogy to help us out:
Say you were a little kid and you want to learn to play the piano. What do you do? You ask your parents to sign you up for piano lessons. They agree and sign you up for piano lessons. Every month, year after year, they pay the piano teacher so you can learn the piano. What do your parents expect you to do in return? Practice the piano. Is practicing the piano ever going to physically repay your parents for all the hundreds (and probably thousands) of dollars that they spent on lessons, books, music, and the piano itself? No. But that's all they ask of you in return. It's the same with Jesus Christ's Atonement. No amount of prayer, scripture study, or church attendance can ever physically repay Him for what He did. He does not expect us to pay Him back. All He asks is that we follow Him and keep His commandments as outlined in the scriptures and given by His authorized prophets. The amazing thing though is that even if you were to never accept Jesus Christ and follow Him, He would have still atoned for yours sins so that you could always have the choice. He's that loving and merciful. 

"He's not waiting for us to be perfect. Perfect people don't need a Savior. He came to save His people in their imperfections. He is the Lord of the living, and the living make mistakes. He's not embarrassed by us, angry at us, or shocked. He wants us in our brokenness, in our unhappiness, in our guilt and our grief"(Okazaki).

"And now, behold, I will testify unto you of myself that these things are true. Behold, I say unto you, that I do know that Christ shall come among the children of men, to take upon him the transgressions of his people, and that he shall atone for the sins of the world; for the Lord God hath spoken it
"For it is expedient that an atonement should be made; for according to the great plan of the Eternal God there must be an atonement made, or else all mankind must unavoidably perish; yea, all are hardened; yea, all are fallen and are lost, and must perish except it be through the atonement which it is expedient should be made"(Alma 34:8-9).

Amen.
 

Faith in Jesus Christ

Faith is a word that gets tossed around a lot, but what does it actually mean? How can we have faith in something and why does it matter?

The Book of Mormon tells us in Alma 32:21: "And now as I said concerning faith - faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true." Faith does not mean that we know something. It means that we believe and trust in something. 

We can have faith in a lot of things. I have faith that the sun will rise tomorrow. I have faith that people will read this blog. But it is faith in God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost that are most important. The Lord has revealed Himself and His perfect character so as to enable the mind of man to place confidence in Him without reservation. 

Faith must be centered in Jesus Christ in order for it to lead a person to salvation. It is faith in Jesus Christ that produces miracles. Jesus said to His apostles: "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you"(Matthew 17:20). Faith is a principle of power and it is by faith that our prayers are answered and that men are able to do things in the name of God. Faith is essential to our salvation.

Miracles do not produce faith but faith produces miracles. Many people say that if God will show them a sign then they will believe. If God always showed Himself to us to make us believe, then we wouldn't have faith. "Thou hast had signs enough; will ye tempt your God? Will ye say, Show unto me a sign, when ye have the testimony of all these thy brethren, and also all the holy prophets? The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator"(Alma 30:44).

Faith comes by righteousness and obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ, although miracles often confirm one's faith. There are so many ways for us to increase our faith and God has given us all the tools necessary. He has given us the scriptures, prayer, the Holy Ghost, church, prophets, church leaders, and missionaries. At first our faith is small. It's like a tiny seed. But as we nourish it by reading the scriptures, praying, going to church, and keeping the commandments, it will start to grow. We need to be continually increasing our faith until we can one day have a perfect knowledge of the principles of the gospel.

Faith leads us to action. When we have faith in Jesus Christ, we'll want to act on it. Faith in Jesus Christ will lead us to wanting to come closer to Him. How do we do this? Repenting of our sins, keeping His commandments, and being baptized. Faith means we have confidence and trust in Jesus Christ which leads us to obey Him. 

Anyone can develop faith in Jesus Christ. Praying and reading the scriptures and going to church can help us grow our faith. Faith in Jesus Christ is the only way that leads to salvation. I invite you to take a step of faith and to learn more about God and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Read the Book of Mormon and Bible and pray about them. My faith in Jesus Christ is what helps me to get through the good days and the bad days.

"Now, as I said concerning faith - that it was not a perfect knowledge - even so it is with my words. Ye cannot know of their surety at first, unto perfection, any more than faith is a perfect knowledge.
"But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words"(Alma 32:26-27).

Amen.

Why Are We Here?

We are all children on God. He loves us so much. When we came to earth and were born, we forgot everything. We call this the "veil." Our minds were veiled. Although we can't remember living with God, our spirits can still recognize the familiar presence of the Holy Ghost. When we learn about God and gospel truths, it can sometimes have a familiar ring to it. That's because our spirits once lived with God and we have been taught the gospel before.

The first people to live on the earth were Adam and Eve. They were created in the image of God. "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them"(Genesis 1:27). They were placed in the Garden of Eden. They were commanded to "multiply and replenish the earth." Adam and Eve were in a state of innocence and could not sin, have children, or die. They had dominion over all the animals and could eat the fruit of the garden. God told them not to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. However, Satan tempted them and they eventually ate the fruit of the tree and were cast out of the garden. They became mortal, could sin, experience pain, were able to have children, and they would eventually die. 

Most of Christianity looks down upon Adam and Eve for their transgression, but if they hadn't eaten the forbidden fruit then we would not be here. The Book of Mormon teaches us more about the significance of this transgression: "And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden. And all things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created; and they must have remained forever, and had no end. And they would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin"(2 Nephi 2:22-23). 

Because of the fall of Adam, we were all able to be born but we will all die. This time we are given here on earth is for us to learn and grow and to prepare to meet God again. It's a testing period to see if we will have faith and follow God even though we can't remember Him. "There was a space granted unto man in which he might repent; therefore this life became a probationary state; a time to prepare to meet God.."(Alma 12:24). 

God has given us the gift of free agency. We are free to choose to follow God or to follow Satan. Neither can force us to do anything but they can both influence us. If we want to be happy and return to live with God, we need to follow God and the quiet promptings of the Holy Ghost. "Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable unto himself"(2 Nephi 2:27).

Jesus Christ is central to God's plan. We "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God"(Romans 3:23). None of us can return to live with God in our sins. That is why God provided a Savior for us.  "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved"(John 3:16-17). 

Jesus Christ performed the atonement. The atonement was when Jesus Christ suffered for all of our sins, pains, and sorrows in the Garden of Gethsemane, died on the cross, and was resurrected on the third day. Jesus Christ suffered for our sins so that if we would come unto Him and repent, we can be forgiven and cleansed. Only through Jesus Christ's atonement can we return to live with God again. "For it is expedient that an atonement should be made; for according to the great plan of the Eternal God there must be an atonement made, or else all mankind must unavoidably perish; yea, all are hardened; yea, all are fallen and are lost, and must perish except it be through the atonement which it is expedient should be made"(Alma 34:9).

Although Jesus Christ paid the price of our sins, that does not eliminate our personal responsibility. We can never repay Christ for His sacrifice and He doesn't expect us to be perfect, but He does expect us to follow Him and keep His commandments. If we have faith in Jesus Christ, repent of our sins, are baptized, receive the Holy Ghost, and keep following God to the end, we are promised that we can be cleansed from sin and return to live with God again.

This life isn't easy nor was it meant to be. This life is for us to learn and grow and overcome challenges. Jesus didn't only suffer for our sins but for our pains and sorrows as well. He knows exactly how we feel and how to help us. If we will come unto Him, He will help bear up our burdens. Life is a lot easier to get through with Christ.

God wants us to be happy. He wants us to follow Him. He wants us to learn about Him and return to live with Him again. That's why He sends missionaries to teach people about the gospel so that His children can know what we're supposed to do here. 

(For chapters in the Book of Mormon that explain more about Adam and Eve, read 2 Nephi 2, Alma 12, and Alma 34. Genesis 2 and 3 in the Bible tell the story.)

"Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy"(2 Nephi 2:25).

Amen.

Who Is God?

God is our loving Heavenly Father.  That is one of the first things we missionaries teach people. Out of all the names we could give to Deity, God has asked us to call Him our Father.  And why is this?  Because we are his literal spirit children.  We each have earthly parents, but our Heavenly Father is the Father of our spirits. "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God"(Romans 8:16).

God loves us more than our parents or anyone else on Earth could possibly love us.  1 John 4:7-8 reads: "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.  He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love."  God is love. Everything He has ever done for us has been done out of pure love.  

Heavenly Father's ultimate act of love for us was to send His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us.  "For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved"(John 3:16-17). Jesus Christ was literally the Son of God, a demi-god.  His earthly mother was Mary but His biological father is Heavenly Father.  It must have been absolutely horrific for Heavenly Father to watch His only begotten Son suffer until He bled from every pore in the Garden of Gethsemane and then die a torturous and humiliating death on the cross.  How could any father possibly stand to watch his son go through that?  But Heavenly Father did, because He knew that it was necessary and that it was the only way that men can be saved. 

God is perfect.  Jesus Himself said, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect"(Matthew 5:48).  Heavenly Father is a perfect being, as is Jesus Christ. They are both perfect.  And through our obedience to Them, we can one day be perfect just as our "Father which is in heaven is perfect."

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints refers to what other Christians would call the "Trinity" as the "Godhead."  We believe that Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost (or Holy Spirit, Spirit of God) are three separate beings who are one in purpose but are not physically one person.  Our first Article of Faith says, "We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost." Nowhere in the scriptures does is say that they are all three the same being.  It says that they are one, yes, but it means one in purpose. Here are a few biblical examples of them being separate beings.

The first is the baptism of Jesus.  I love this scripture.  Jesus, the most perfect man to walk the earth, asks to be baptized by an imperfect man, John the Baptist.  Why?  Because Jesus Himself taught in John 3:5 that "except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter in the kingdom of God."  Jesus was our perfect example and so was baptized to "fulfill all righteousness" and to let us know that if the Son of God needs to be baptized, so do we.  I'll talk about that more in a future post.  So let us read together the account found in Matthew 3:16-17 of Jesus' baptism: "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."  

I don't know about you, but that doesn't seem like one being right there.  Why would Jesus' spirit descend on Himself, and why would he also be in heaven praising Himself but calling Himself His Son?  No.  That sounds like someone with a problem.  This is a perfect example of the three separate personages of the Godhead all in one place.

Finally, Acts 7:55-56 reads: "But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God." The man who saw God and Jesus Christ was Stephen.  He saw this vision right before he was stoned to death.  Pretty sad.  But a super solid guy who had to be really righteous to see Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and then be stoned to death as a martyr.  

In conclusion, God is our loving Heavenly Father.  He is the Father of our spirits and He loves us.  He hears and answers our prayers and is actively involved in our individual lives.  Even if we can't see it or aren't looking, He is always there helping us and blessing us.  I love Him.  I am so grateful that I have a Heavenly Father who knows and loves me personally.  I'm also grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ, who was willing to do the Father's will even when it was hard.  We should all follow Jesus Christ's example and be submissive to our Heavenly Father's plan for us. 

"Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?"(Hebrews 12:9)

Amen.