Repentance Brings Peace

The simple doctrine of repentance is such a beautiful one. Because of the gift of the Atonement we are given the ability to repent of choices that we have personally made, that might not be in line with the will of the Father. This “second chance” or clean slate is made possible because Jesus Christ supplied the demands of the law, subdued all things and retained all power to judge. Because we have the ability to repent we can feel peace, even on the earth today.

In Section 19 verse 23 the Savior instructs us on the process of coming to know Him and feeling this peace.

“Learn of me, and listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my Spirit, and you shall have peace in me.”

This is a process that involves action on our part. The first action we are required to do is to learn of Him and listen to His words, or in other words to “hear”. Next we are asked to walk in the meekness of my Spirit, or to try it and “see”. This then culminates in the process of feeling that peace, allowing you to “know” for yourself that the power of the Atonement is real.

This process of hear, see, feel, and know are illustrated beautifully in The Book of Mormon in 3 Nephi chapter 11. It is here, in the account given of the Saviors visit to the American continent after his death and resurrection, that we see this process take place for the Saints at Bountiful.

Hear

3 Nephi 11: 3 And it came to pass that while they were thus conversing one with another, they heard a voice as if it came out of heaven; and they cast their eyes round about, for they understood not the voice which they heard; and it was not a harsh voice, neither was it a loud voice; nevertheless, and notwithstanding it being a small voice it did pierce them that did hear to the center, insomuch that there was no part of their frame that it did not cause to quake; yea, it did pierce them to the very soul, and did cause their hearts to burn.

4 And it came to pass that again they heard the voice, and they understood it not.

5 And again the third time they did hear the voice, and did open their ears to hear it; and their eyes were towards the sound thereof; and they did look steadfastly towards heaven, from whence the sound came.

6 And behold, the third time they did understand the voice which they heard; and it said unto them:

7 Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name—hear ye him.

See

8 And it came to pass, as they understood they cast their eyes up again towards heaven; and behold, they saw a Man descending out of heaven; and he was clothed in a white robe; and he came down and stood in the midst of them; and the eyes of the whole multitude were turned upon him, and they durst not open their mouths, even one to another, and wist not what it meant, for they thought it was an angel that had appeared unto them.

The first thing the Savior did when the people saw Him was to stretch for his hand and explain that He was the Creator as well as the Savior and Redeemer. When the people heard Him and saw Him they fell to the earth because they remembered it had been prophesied He would come. Their encounter simply does not stop there.

Feel

13 And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto them saying:

14 Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole dearth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.

“There is a gruesome quality to this command. In our culture we hide scars, we don’t display them, and we certainly don’t ask others to feel them. But Christ wanted these people to have physical contact with these emblems of His suffering.” Thomas B. Griffith

After the people had gone forth one by one and felt for themselves they respond in a different way than at first.

7 Hosanna! Blessed be the name of the Most High God! And they did fall down at the feet of Jesus, and did worship him.

This shout of Hosanna simply means, “save us now”. They not only fell down out of remembrance this time, but because of the process of hearing, seeing, and feeling they now knew, and worshiped.

Every Sunday you and I have physical contact with the emblems of Christ’s suffering in a similar way that those people did, by way of the Sacrament. We can hear, see, feel and know of His role as our Savior and Redeemer and in turn worship and have peace in our lives.

Do you remember the transforming effect that the experience had on the people in the Book of Mormon? They were now prepared to be organized anew into a church community, to hear and put into practice the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount, to learn how to serve those who were powerless: the sick, the disabled, the children. This group transformed their society from one that had been divided by race and class and opportunity into a society in which:

4 Nephi 1:3 And they had all things common among them; therefore there were not rich and poor, bond and free, but they were all made free, and partakers of the heavenly gift.

15 And it came to pass that there was no contention in the land, because of the love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people.

It began with a group of people who came to know Christ as their Savior because of the transforming experience of having physical contact with the emblems of His suffering, and we do that every week!

This is exactly the process that was followed in the history of the Church of Jesus Christ and the restoration in the latter days. In Section 19 of the Doctrine and Covenants the Saints were being prepared for the establishment of the Church and the restoration of the Sacrament, which would once again allow them to hear, see, feel, know and have peace.

Savior and Redeemer

Do you have a testimony of the Atonement of Christ and of His role as Savior and Redeemer?

When I think of Jesus Christ and the many roles that he plays for us, understanding His role as Savior and His role as Redeemer, and what effect they have on our lives, are among the most important to understand.

At first glance these two roles may sound synonymous, but I believe they are significantly different as well.

Before one can discuss the merits of the Atonement, a full understanding of the consequences of the Fall must be understood. The Fall brought about three types of deaths. For more information on the Fall, a previous post called “The Fall Brought About Death” might be of interest.

According to the dictionary definitions of the two terms, the term Savior means simply “one who had saved them” whereas the term Redeemer is “one who had bought them”.

The Old Oxford English Dictionary adds further meaning to the term Redeemer as “to buy back (a thing formerly possessed); to make payment for (a thing held or claimed by another).”

So without the Atonement, what would lay claim to us?

2 Nephi 9: 8 O the wisdom of God, his mercy and grace! For behold, if the flesh should rise no more our spirits must become subject to that angel who fell from before the presence of the Eternal God, and became the devil, to rise no more.

9 And our spirits must have become like unto him, and we become devils, angels to a devil, to be shut out from the presence of our God, and to remain with the father of lies, in misery, like unto himself; yea, to that being who beguiled our first parents, who transformeth himself nigh unto an angel of light, and stirreth up the children of men unto secret combinations of murder and all manner of secret works of darkness.

10 O how great the goodness of our God, who prepareth a way for our escape from the grasp of this awful monster; yea, that monster, death and hell, which I call the death of the body, and also the death of the spirit.

11 And because of the way of deliverance of our God, the Holy One of Israel, this death, of which I have spoken, which is the temporal, shall deliver up its dead; which death is the grave.

12 And this death of which I have spoken, which is the spiritual death, shall deliver up its dead; which spiritual death is hell; wherefore, death and hell must deliver up their dead, and hell must deliver up its captive spirits, and the grave must deliver up its captive bodies, and the bodies and the spirits of men will be restored one to the other; and it is by the power of the resurrection of the Holy One of Israel.

Jesus Christ is our Savior because he saved us from the effects of the fall and placed us back in our rightful place of innocence, allowing us to “choose for ourselves”. This is the salvation that is promised to all men. He also is our Redeemer because he paid the price to redeem us from our sins, this redemption takes place as we choose to realize the full power of repentance because of the Atonement. This makes His sacrifice total and complete to satisfy the demands of justice because of the broken law.

Why did Jesus Christ do it?

In Section 19 of the Doctrine and Covenants The Savior gives us a few of His reasons:

19: 2 I, having accomplished and finished the will of him whose I am, even the Father, concerning me—having done this that I might subdue all things unto myself—

3 Retaining all power, even to the destroying of Satan and his works at the end of the world, and the last great day of judgment, which I shall pass upon the inhabitants thereof, judging every man according to his works and the deeds which he hath done.

We can see from the information given that He has complete submission to the will of the Father. The Father loves His children and desires that they return to Him, thus if Christ’s will is in complete line with the Fathers, we can conclude that He loves us and desires for us to return to the Father as well. Therefore it is evident that He lives the law of Obedience and Sacrifice, and all laws culminating in complete Consecration of His self in an attempt to persuade us to return to the Father as well. We can see the example He set for us, as one to follow in order to return. He loves the Father, and therefore He loves us as well.

When Christ explains another reason as one that He “might subdue all things unto myself”, we might wonder what He needs to actually subdue. The duality of man comes into play with this reason as well. The spirit being lineally perfect must subdue the “unredeemed” earth or physical body, this process is our progression through this life. It is a task that alone, we could not meet. Christ literally subdues the earth, every particle of it (that means our body as well), by “overcoming the world” through the Atonement. He brings every living thing into subjection, which allows him to control by choice. The choice is still ours to make. Satan was in complete opposition to this beautiful plan which was initiated by the Father.

Because of this complete control over the earth, He has the ability to “retain all power”. What does that mean for you and I? He retains power to judge because of this infinite act. His complete submission to the Father allows Him to subdue His Earth, cast out Satan, and retain the power to judge all who would be allowed to reside on His Earth.

Can you think of anyone else who could be a better judge than Christ who is completely motivated by Love?

He has only one request of us and that is to repent.

D&C 19:6 For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent;

17 But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I;

Ultimately the choice is always up to us.

Do You Believe In Miracles?

A few years ago while I was teaching a Seminary class I made the ultimate blunder and asked the kids if they wanted to share a miracle that they had seen in their life. One of the boys proceeded to tell me about a really incredible catch that some baseball player on a major league team made that was an “impossible feat” and as the sports announcer called it “a miracle”, he was sure that is exactly what it was. This answer totally caught me off guard. What ensued from there was a personal study of what exactly miracles are.

I decided to look at what our church leaders would term “a miracle” and found a really great talk by Elder Dallin H. Oaks, simply titled “Miracles”. I would recommend this reading for anyone who has questions about miracles.

Some of my observations from my study of miracles are as follows:

The first thing I learned that one definition of a miracle is “a beneficial event brought about through divine power that mortals do not understand and of themselves cannot duplicate.”

Do miracles exist today?

“To deny the reality of miracles on the ground that the results and manifestations must be fictitious simply because we cannot comprehend the means by which they have happened is arrogant on the face of it.” Howard W. Hunter

Elder Neal A. Maxwell termed those who deny miracles as “the anti-miracle mind set”, a group that Nephi prophesied would be present in the last days.

The word “miracle” is used in many different ways:

1) Some say any happening they cannot explain is a miracle. For example some would call a computer a miracle. The “catch” that my friend in seminary referred to might fit this category as well.

2) Tricks that some magicians and religious practitioners stage may be termed “miracles.” I loved a statement that Elder Oaks made when he cautioned “When we exaggerate a happening in order to dazzle an audience into thinking we have experienced a miracle or to enhance our stature in other ways” we are similar to those who perform at a religious revival. I believe this is referred to as teaching with sensationalism instead of allowing the spirit to reveal truth.

3) Many without authority will use the name of Jesus Christ to work what seem to be miracles, but pretenders are rejected of the Lord. (Matt. 7:22-23) This is a wonderful way to understand where the miracle comes from.

4) Not every miracle comes from God or mortal deception, some come from the adversary. Elder Oaks refers to Satan when he explained, “He will use these great powers to deceive, to give his corrupted copy of genuine miracles worked by the power of God.”

So does that mean that the priesthood must be used for any miracle to happen?

Genuine miracles can happen in two types of ways, both requiring faith:

1) Miracles worked by the power of the priesthood. God has provided the “means” through FAITH. (The means is the priesthood power.)

2) Genuine miracles worked through the power of faith, without specifically invoking the power of the priesthood also happen. These occur inside the church as well as outside. These miracles happen because of the prayers of the faithful.

Elder Bruce R. McConkie made this statement about faith, “Faith requires ‘assurance’ that God will hear our prayers and answer them. No person can have this assurance when he knows he is not living the way the Lord wants him to live. This is another key element in bringing about miracles. Faith requires repentance. Miracles require faith. So miracles require repentance. Therefore, faith and repentance (which result in righteous living) are the means by which miracles come into our lives.”

This illustration is so beautifully given when the prophet Joseph Smith, as a boy, exercised the power of repentance and expected a miracle as he prayed to know his standing before the Lord. What happened next was the miraculous visit from the angel Moroni, as recorded in the Joseph Smith History.

With this pattern set before us we can conclude, that what is needed in our lives to receive the miracles the Lord has in store for us, is simply given by the restoration of the Aaronic priesthood. The keys inherit in the restoration of that priesthood are stated in Section 13 of the Doctrine and Covenants. These keys have been turned to provide the doctrine of repentance, and of baptism, and the ministering of angels to be upon the earth again. Because of these keys it is by faith we can expect miracles in our lives everyday.

Do you believe in miracles?