The Greatest Gift

 This is a talk given by us in Sacrament Meeting in our ward in Metz, France on December 14, 2025. It is also written so that we could share it with you this Christmas. Annie has translated it into French, which you can read here.

"For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it" (Hebrews 4:2 emphasis added). Hopefully His words will profit you, being mixed with your faith.

At this Christmas time, we want to share with you the greatest gift we have ever received. But in order to do so, we must lay the foundation of God's plan of redemption. Nothing that you hear today is our opinion or the teachings of men. This is a story told and written by our Savior. Those who hear today, will hear His voice, will rejoice in what they hear--that sweet sound of joy and glad tidings, to the living and the dead!

We have been warned not to put our trust in the arm of flesh, not in humans, any human, but only in God. We are told to look to God and live. He does this to protect us, because our tendency is to put our trust in things and people more immediately at hand.

This reveals an important characteristic of God. If we are to put our trust in Him, we must be able to rely on every word that comes from Him. Which means that when God says something, He cannot later say something different. In order to trust Him we must know that whatever He says is not only true, but can be relied upon. He must be unchangeable. Otherwise we would not be able to put our trust in Him. But because He will never say one thing and do another, we can put our trust in Him to save us. 

This brings us to what God says about His justice, which was introduced to us when God said to Adam and Eve that if they partook of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they would surely die. He could not later change His mind and say that's OK, you will not surely die. Otherwise He would cease to be God.

And die they would. Why? Because God said so, and all who came after Adam and Eve, became subject to God's justice. We are, each of us, subject to the justice of God. But, nevertheless we all shouted for joy upon hearing the news that this earth had been prepared for us. We willingly and gladly came here, to be tested and to receive more.

Let's examine a little more about His justice. It is unforgiving. It puts us under His law, and punishes anyone who breaks His law. We also experience the effects of the fall of Adam and Eve. We all die. We suffer. Satan is allowed to be among us and we become carnal, sensual and devilish, and are shut off from the presence of God.

Martin Luther described his profound struggle with his sins and his inability to satisfy God's perfect standard of righteousness, which led him to an intense alienation from God.

He said:

"Though I lived as a monk without reproach, I felt that I was a sinner before God with an extremely disturbed conscience. I could not believe that he was placated by my satisfaction [his acts of penance]. I did not love…, I hated the righteous God who punishes sinners…I was angry with God…”

Is it not enough, that miserable sinners, eternally lost because of the fall, must be crushed by His justice for every single sin? And then be threatened by God's wrath and anger? No matter how hard we try to be righteous or to confess all our sins, we can never meet the demands of God's perfect law. Believe us when we say you do not want God's justice!

Because His justice must be satisfied, God had a choice to make. He could either punish each of us for every single sin, no matter how small, or He could send His Son to suffer for every single sin for everyone, no matter how bad! God decided on the latter. Why? Because He loves us. Christ tells us He is the gospel, the good news, sent by His Father. And good news He is indeed!

Christ willingly agreed to take upon Himself the sins of all of us which caused Him unimaginable suffering. He said: “Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink — Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men” (D&C 19:18-19).

And in doing so Christ met the demands of God's justice for everyone who will receive it. It's done! This justice of God that is so unforgiving and so demanding has been satisfied!

But that is only the beginning of the story. There is a condition, but given as a gift to us. Only those who are repenting, who have turned to Christ, have put their faith in Christ, who are relying 100% on His merits, and not their own, will not suffer God's justice. Otherwise, as He tells us: “For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent; But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I…” (D&C 19:16-17).

Let us explain. Or better yet, let Christ explain. He does so in the Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican. This parable is about the futility of religion and our good works. 

"Jesus also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised everybody else. Two men went up to the temple to pray: one, a Pharisee, the other, a tax collector. The Pharisee stood apart by himself and prayed thus: `God, I thank thee that I am not like others are, greedy, unjust, adulterers - and I thank thee especially that I am not like this tax collector. I fast two days every week and I give thee a tenth of all my income. But the tax collector stood a long way off and would not even raise his eyes to heaven. Instead, he beat on his breast and said, `O God, be merciful to me, a sinner.' I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other…” (Luke 18:9-13).

Do you see what Jesus is saying in this parable? He is saying that as far as the Pharisee's ability to win a game of justification with God is concerned, he is no better off than the publican. As a matter of fact, the Pharisee is worse off; because while they're both losers, the publican at least has the sense to recognize the fact and trust God's offer of redemption and eventually, perfection. 

The point of the parable is that they are both dead in their sins, and their only hope is someone who can raise the dead. "Ah but," you say, "is there no distinction to be made? Isn't the Pharisee somehow further along in his progression than the publican? Isn't there some sense in which we can give him credit for the real goodness he has, for living his religion?" 

To which we answer, don't make the same miscalculation as the Pharisee did. Spiritual death is death. Given enough room to maneuver, it eventually produces forever spiritual death. 

The Pharisee did live his religion as he said. He was a good man and would be considered a faithful member of the Church. But he could never meet the demands of God's justice no matter how religious he is, or how good his behavior. Only those who rely on the merits of Christ, and do not take strength unto themselves, can He work with.

So this is the gift: “I have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they repent.” If you repent. If you understand His doctrine of repentance. If you do not rely on the teachings of men concerning repentance. If you repent, you will stand guiltless, even spotless, at the judgment. His righteousness will save you. Mercy will claim you. He will save you from your sins. What He will not do is save you in your sins. But you must turn to Him and receive His gift. What greater gift can you receive than from God!

His words (another gift) increase our faith and our trust in Him. He is the reason He has said to feast upon His words, to search them, and to enjoy His words of eternal life in this world. His words tell us what repentance really means. Even watering down His definition of repentance by just 5% turns it into a lie. Remember that His words matter because He has spoken them and caused them to be written. It is not enough to be close! And that is precisely why He has made it so simple. We can never claim that we did not understand. But do not be slothful because the way is easy. In other words do not harden your hearts in unbelief.

Repentance means to turn to Christ and to rely (Nephi says wholly, Moroni says alone) upon the merits of Christ. Quit being burdened by thinking you have to justify yourself by your works. Can you experience Him lifting that burden from you? Accept His gift to you. “For what doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receive not the gift? Behold, he rejoices not in that which is given unto him, neither rejoices in him who is the giver of the gift” (D&C 88:33).

And He is the gift that keeps on giving. Once we are baptized and are continually repenting, we are no longer under the bondage of sin, no longer under the law, but are under grace¹, and we continually receive more grace. He recreates us. We will be reborn over and over again as we receive more grace. He changes us from our lost and fallen state to a state of righteousness. We begin to take on the attributes of God, and when He exalts us to His sons and daughters², we minister spiritually and temporarily to others. We become the saviors of men. We will continue to receive grace for grace until, as He did, we receive of His fulness. 

But there is even more! If we were to guess how many of you will go home, fall on your knees, experience your nothingness in comparison to His goodness, desire to repent or turn to Him, begin feasting upon His words, based on our experience, only a few will. Why? Because you may prefer religion, or your hearts are set upon the things of the world, or you may not believe Him, or you will refuse His gift because it seems to simple. But imagine Christ saying to you, “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 earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world” (3 Nephi 11:14).

This Christmas, our hope is that this will be your best Christmas ever, because you will have received, or desire to receive from Him the greatest gift that you will ever receive--His gift of Mercy! His gift of Love--His Son. We hope that you turn to Christ, who

 “Having ascended into heaven, having the bowels of mercy; being filled with compassion towards the children of men; standing betwixt them and justice; having broken the bands of death, taken upon himself their iniquity (the effects of your sins on others) and their transgressions, having redeemed them, and satisfied the demands of justice” (Mosiah 15:9).

“Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.” (1 John 4:10-11).

¹Saved by Grace

²Sons and Daughters

Ask Wally

Wally,

I sat through a combined Priesthood / Relief Society class held on the 5th Sunday. It was taught by a member of the Bishopric. It was about all that we must do to obtain the highest degree in the Celestial Kingdom. Class members added what they thought, and when finished the instructor had created on the whiteboard a ramp of sorts with checkpoints marking the way to the Celestial Kingdom.

Why did I feel so put off by this lesson? 

Roger

Hi Roger,

What you witnessed was the fare of church instruction, which I sum up with Nephi's statement concerning us, "...they shall teach with their learning, and deny the Holy Ghost, which giveth utterance. And they deny the power of God" (2 Nephi 28:4-5). Nephi further says, "Yea, and there shall be many which shall teach after this manner, false and vain and foolish doctrines, and shall be puffed up in their hearts, and shall seek deep to hide their counsels from the Lord; and their works shall be in the dark. ...Because of pride, and because of false teachers, and false doctrine, their churches have become corrupted..." (2 Nephi 28:9-12).

It was good that you felt, as you say, put off, because you felt the truth being corrupted as Nephi said. If you thought this was a good lesson, then I would be worried for you. You are the one who must discern whether or not you are being taught the word of God, which puts the onus on you to know the word of God. So I ask you what has the Lord revealed to us concerning the way to the Celestial Kingdom?

Best to you, Wally

Wally

When Nephi says that "After ye have repented of your sins, and witnessed unto the Father that ye are willing to keep my commandments, by the baptism of water, and have received the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost, and can speak with a new tongue, yea, even with the tongue of angels..." What does he mean when he says that we can speak with a new tongue even the tongue of angels?

Annette 

Hi Annette,

This is often overlooked, so I am glad that this reference has caught your attention. First consider why this new tongue is overlooked. Have you ever met anyone who claims to speak with the tongue of angels? Probably not.

Because we are to be able to speak, hear and write this new tongue, it is a language, understood only by those who speak and hear it. Now, Nephi tells us that this language is the language of angels who speak by the power of the Holy Ghost, wherefore they speak the words of Christ (2 Nephi 32:3). This means that this new language are the words of Christ or the words of God (because Christ only teaches His Father's words). 

Similar to any language, a person may know some words, but is not able to put together complete sentences, phrases or ideas. They hear but don’t hear because they don't understand. This is why Nephi mourns that we do not search His words, and therefore do not know His words. Only a few will learn to speak and hear the language of God spoken by those who speak with the tongue of angels. 

Best to you, Wally 

Core Values? No!

Mitch Romney's talk on Core Values given to the Wheatly Institute at the BYU Marriott School of Business on November 12, 2025, has to have been celebrated--but not by angels! I believe that Satan rejoices when we focus on values rather than on choosing Good or Evil!*

What? Blasphemy you say! How can Satan celebrate a talk on values, especially one given by a prominent politician, who is also a prominent member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? 

For several reasons. First and foremost values deflect us from the Lord's plan of redemption. And it comes from someone who should know better. 

Where does the idea of American values come from if not from God? From philosophy, German philosophy to be exact; from Nietzsche and Max Weber mostly, and adopted without question by America. 

"Value creation is the activity that writes a table of laws by which a people is constituted and lives, and which justifies the lives they live. This is, as Nietzsche tells us, the nut in the shell of existence" (The Closing of the American Mind, Allan Bloom).

Weber is of particular interest to us because he was the chosen apostle for the American promised land, creator of the work ethic. 

After Hitler, everybody scurried back under the protective cover of morality, but practically no one turned to serious thought about Good and Evil. Otherwise we would not be talking about values. Values replaced Good and Evil. The doctrine of the Two Ways was dead. So Nietzsche was right when he said "God is dead". Values not only replaced the choice between Good and Evil, but also made God, who is the ultimate Good, of no account because values would override the choice of Good, or substitute values and call them good.

These philosophers understood what “value” really means. It had taken the softening of all convictions and the blurring of all distinctions, for sacred values to be thought of as good, or not so good, or not so bad, or bad, and to come into its own here, not only in American, but in Mormon culture as well. 

And given the fact that God "established the Constitution in this land" so "that every man may act in doctrine and principle pertaining to futurity, according to the moral agency which I have given unto him, that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgment" (D&C 101:78), the adoption of values is now, not only dividing us, but is eroding that freedom to choose.

This philosophy is so ingrained in American culture, and gives rise to slogans and terms such as:

We have nothing to fear but fear itself.

I'm OK. You're OK.

Lifestyle and worldview 

Be yourself!

Be original!

Let go!

I have my values and you have yours.

Family values

Business values

Ethical behavior

Core values or those really important values. 

As Romney said:

“We face right now some real challenges, and are highly divided,” said Romney.

“If we share those values and live by those values, then we can bring ourselves back together.”

Values are relative on a scale that we carefully maintain in order to protect our appearance and our worldview. They are also designed to disrespect others' worldviews, so when we speak of choice, we mean there are no necessary consequences, except maybe disapproval. But they are my choices, so respect them, and I will respect yours!

We have no-fault insurance, no-fault divorce and now no-fault choices. Whatever values we embrace, there are no consequences as long as they do not disrupt our chosen lifestyle. 

Values justify what a person choses as opposed to what he could have chosen.

Values take the place of Good and Evil, but the irony is that by replacing the choice between Good and Evil, we have chosen Evil.

Since values are not rational and not grounded in the natures of those subject to them, they must be imposed. They must defeat opposing values. Producing values and believing in them are acts of the will.

Commitment values the values and makes them valuable. Not love of truth, but intellectual honesty characterizes the proper state of mind. There is no truth in values,

It is not the truth of thought that distinguishes them, but its capacity to generate culture. A value is only a value if it is life-preserving and life-enhancing. And I would also say, they preserve one's self identity.

Cultures fight wars with one another. They must do so because values can only be asserted or posited by overcoming others, not by reasoning with them.

The very idea of culture carries with it a value: men and organizations need cultures and must do what is necessary to create and maintain them.

To adapt a formula of Plato about the gods, we do not love a thing because it is good, it is good because we love it. It is our decision to esteem that makes something estimable. We substitute His Goodness with ours.

The physicist wants to save his atoms; the historian, his events; the moralist, his values. But they are all equally relative. Rationality is only the activity of providing good reasons for what has no reason or is unreasonable.

Men’s “worldviews” or “values” determine their history, their present and their future. They are trapped by their culture. Plato's Cave warns that the culture we are born into—its beliefs, media, and social systems (its values)—can become a prison that makes us mistake mere appearances for reality, and I would add, for truth. For example, we more often than not mistake church values and culture as being Christ's gospel.

Those interested in the business of making money do not seem to recognize, when they use this language, that they are admitting that their “rational” system needs a moral supplement in order to work, hence the creation of ethics and values, or as Romney says 'core values' to make it even more desirable, more special and more accepting. 

A religion must, it seems, be invented for the sole purpose of defending capitalism. Hence the 'Protestant' work ethic.

Compare what God has revealed about only having two choices, or the  doctrine of the “Two Ways.” 

No teaching was more frequently taught, nor more emphatically brought home in the earliest Christian literature, than the famous doctrine of the “Two Ways,” which proclaims that there lies before every human being and before the church itself only two roads between which a choice must be made. The one is the road of darkness, the way of Evil; the other, the way of Light. 

Every man must chose between the two every day of his life; that choosing is the most important thing he does, and the two ways, Good and Evil, are absolutely essential to God’s plan. 

There is nothing weak or vicious in the arrangement, for every man is clearly given to understand that as he chooses so he will be judged. He will be judged by God in the proper time and place. Meantime he must be free, perfectly free, to choose his own way.

"Say unto this people: Choose ye this day, to serve the Lord God who made you" (Moses 6:33).

"And the Lord spake unto Adam, saying: Inasmuch as thy children are conceived in sin, even so when they begin to grow up, sin conceiveth in their hearts, and they taste the bitter, that they may know to prize the Good.

And it is given unto them to know Good from Evil; wherefore they are agents unto themselves, and I have given unto you another law and commandment" (Moses 6:55-56 emphasis added).

"How long will ye halt between two opinions" (1 Kings 18-21)?

"Choose you this day whom you will serve" (Joshua 24:15).

There is no reference to values or culture in the scriptures, but I did find this from Elder Gong where he quoted President Oaks (from a talk given in 2021) as saying, “There is a unique gospel culture, a set of values and expectations and practices common to all [the] members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Gospel culture includes chastity, weekly attendance at church, abstaining from alcohol, tobacco, tea, and coffee. It includes honesty and integrity, understanding we move forward, not upward or downward, in Church positions" (No One Sits Alone, Elder Gerrit W. Gong, October 2025 General Conference).

And yet God has given us our agency is to see whether we will choose either Good (God) or Evil (Satan). That is our test here, our only test. Other choices may impact our lives here, they may even align with our culture, but they have nothing to do with His plan of redemption. 

See more on only two choices.

*Good and Evil are capitalized as a reminder that God defines who is Good and who is Evil, and that we are revealing to God every day, every minute, every second, which one we choose.

Ask Wally

Wally,

I am having a difficult time with the church, and I don't know how to reconcile what I have been taught, and what I read in the scriptures, particularly concerning being nourished continually by the word of God in Moroni 6:4, and not a watered down version of His words.

I read in the Book of Mormon that the "churches met together so that they could "hear the word of God" (Mosiah 25:20). And there "was nothing preached in all the churches except it were repentance and faith in God" (Mosiah 25:22).

I do not understand why we are, it seems to me, required to use General Conference talks in Priesthood and Relief Society classes, and even in Sacrament meetings, when we have the written records which we are taught contain the word of God. It concerns me a great deal and is starting to make me wonder why we even have a General Conference. It is as if General Conference is justified just so the talks can be published and used as our learning curriculum. And it changes every six months. 

Abigail

Hi Abigail,

I have often wondered the same thing. While it is possible to hear the word of God spoken at General Conference, it is best if we believe Christ when He tells us to rely on the written records. In fact He always emphasizes the scriptures (the written records) over the teachings of men mingled with scriptures. Moroni’s admonition to nourish members with the word of God is the Lord's teaching. 

This said, there is a major gap between what is supposed to be taught, and what is actually taught in our meetings. If you are not being nourished by the word of God in your meetings, my advice is to search the scriptures while attending your meetings. While this may seem rude, you are at least being fed. That being said, you should not rely alone on others to teach you. It is up to you to seek and know the word of God. If you know or think someone has the gift of knowledge, you should seek that person out and asked to be taught. More

Best to you, Wally

Wally,

I have two questions, but they are related. First, my grandson lost his Church membership at a disciplinary council. Second, my cousin asked that her name be removed from the Church records. 

Questions: 

Are their baptisms still valid, even though neither is a member of record? or

Do they need to be re-baptized, and be members of record of the Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter-day Saints in order to repent, so as not to be under the bondage of sin?

Mindy

Hi Mindy,

When an adult person is baptized by proper authority, and the baptism was the first fruits of their repentance, then they are baptized unto repentance, or baptized so they can continue to repent. They kept the commandment of their Father to be baptized, and in order to keep the commandment to repent, they must be baptized. 

Let's compare your son's and cousin's experiences, to someone who has not had records removed, but simply has gone inactive. In the latter case, it seems there is no question but that the person was born of the water, baptized unto repentance, and if he decides to turn and repent, there is no need to be baptized again. 

While the Church's position will differ, the baptism in both cases is still a born of the water experience, and both of them, if they decide, can continue to repent without having to be baptized again. But if they want to be in full fellowship with the organized Church, the Church will require a new baptism, which is the Church's right to do so. But according to D&C 10:67-70, only those who repent are of His church, regardless of Church membership.

But, according to the Church, re-baptism is the ordinance required to restore the full blessings and covenant status within the established structure of the Church.

I would say to your Son and Cousin, however, that if they decide to repent, to ask God what is best for them, just repentance, or repentance and church membership. As the fruits of their repentance will include saying nothing but repentance to others, there is no better place to do so than among active Church members.

Best to you, Wally