Repentance: Godly Sorrow

These posts on Repentance are intended to be read in order from the beginning: 

Repentance: Introduction

At the bottom of each post is a link to the next one. 

Before we talk more about Godly Sorrow, let’s lay some more foundation for the need to repent. In the last post I quoted Enoch, who, using God’s words, set forth the condition of all of us when we come into this world. To complete the picture we must also see what happens before we receive whatever reward we are willing to receive. Note that the Lord uses the term ‘willing.’ For notwithstanding we die, we shall rise again, and “they who are of a celestial spirit shall receive the same body which was a natural body, even ye shall receive your bodies, and your glory shall be that glory by which your bodies are quickened” (D&C 88:28). He goes on to say that if we are quickened by a portion of the celestial glory we will receive the same, even a fulness. The same for the terrestrial and telestial glory. And then He says that “they who remain shall also be quickened; nevertheless they shall return again to their own place, to enjoy that which they are willing to receive, because they were not willing to enjoy that which they might have received” (D&C 88:29-32 emphasis added).

There is a lot to contemplate in these few verses, but the point is that we will receive of the glory that we were willing to receive. And it will be at the judgment when everyone will receive that which we were willing to receive. Christ, when he defined His gospel, said that “my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross, and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil--and for this cause have I been lifted up; therefore, according to the power of the father I will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their works” (3 Nephi 27:14-15 emphasis added).

We all enter this world with the conditions that we die, we suffer, we become devilish,  and we are shut out from God’s presence. And we all face a judgment before our Savior. No one can escape either, and how we respond to both is what repentance is all about. We respond to the first conditions by repenting, and we either are judged according to our works at the judgment or we are found guiltless (3 Nephi 27:16-17). Those who do not repent will be judged of their works and receive for their reward that which they were willing to receive. Those who do repent are found guiltless and enter into the Lord’s presence which is called the Lord’s rest. We receive of His fullness as we receive more of His grace. We begin receiving His grace when we repent and as we continue to repent we receive more of His grace. After the judgment when those who repent and endured in repentance to the end, and who brought forth fruit meet for repentance, will continue to receive His grace until they become perfected in Him. But more on this in another post, but for now remember that we will receive that which we were willing to receive.

Alma summarizes this second condition best when he says: “But behold, it was not so; but it was appointed unto men that they must die; and after death, they must come to judgment, even that same judgment of which we have spoken, which is the end” (Alma 12:27 emphasis added). Now this judgment comes about after the resurrection, which means that there is an opportunity to repent in the spirit world prior to this last judgment. But as Alma tells those of us who know of repentance and have been commanded to repent, “Yea, I would that ye would come forth and harden not your hearts any longer for behold now is the time and the day of your salvation; and therefore, if ye will repent and harden not your hearts, immediately shall the great plan of redemption be brought about unto you. For behold, this is the time for men to prepare to meet God…. I beseech of you that  ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity…. 

Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world” (Alma 34:31-34 emphasis added).

I introduced Godly Sorrow in the last post, but want to elaborate on how Godly Sorrow is the only type of sorrow that brings about repentance. First let me say what it is not. It is not remorse. It is not being sorry or even feeling really bad for what you did or did not do. It is not the sorrow of the damned which Mormon identified. It is not disappointment. It is not misfortune. It is not saying that all of us are just human, that all of us make mistakes, or that all of us are imperfect.

The Greeks instructed to know thyself, which is one of the rules by which the universe is governed. The Book of Mormon tells us that the essence of repentance is knowing exactly what we are. The very purpose of our being here, this probationary state, is an unsettling exercise in self-knowledge: “O how great is the nothingness of…men” (Helaman 12:7). This is the time of probation and preparation. Though we are born innocent, there are flaws in our nature, there is evil in our hearts.

Godly Sorrow is experiencing our nothingness in comparison to God’s greatness and His goodness, having His light shine on us and seeing (experiencing) all the flaws, weaknesses, evil, corruption and imperfections in us. It is much more than just giving lip service to our nothingness, but actually experiencing our nothingness. The experiencing of our nothingness in comparison to the goodness of God is Godly Sorrow. “Their sorrowing was not unto repentance, because of the goodness of God” (Mormon 2:14). 

Again let’s look at Alma’s experience. As he recounts his experience to His son Helaman, Alma says that his being born again and having received the Spirit of Revelation, was “not of any worthiness of myself” (Alma 36:5).

He recounts that he “was racked with eternal torment, for my soul was harrowed up to the greatest degree and racked with all my sins” (Alma 36:12 emphasis added). He “did remember all of my sins and iniquities, for which I was tormented with the pains of hell” (Alma 36:13). And then he says, “in fine so great had been my iniquities, that the very thought of coming into the presence of God did rack my soul with inexpressible horror” (Alma 36:15 emphasis added), He was racked with the pains of a damned soul for three days and three nights. He then remembered to have heard his father prophesy concerning the coming of Jesus Christ to atone for the sins of the world. He then turned to this Jesus and cried within his heart: “O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death” (Alma 36:18).

It was at this point that He experienced the goodness of God, His mercy, joy and light. Notice the contrast “that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy” (Alma 36:21).

But he says further: “ Nevertheless, after wading through much tribulation, repenting nigh unto death, the Lord in mercy hath seen fit to snatch me out of an everlasting burning, and I am born of God. …I was in the darkest abyss; but now I behold the marvelous light of God” (Mosiah 27:28-29 emphasis added). 

Alma goes from one of the vilest of sinners to being born of God in the space of three days. To contrast being religious and knowing about repentance, with actually repenting and being born of God, see  Is It Enough That Your Children Know You are a Good Minstering Teacher?

And what do those, who have been born of God, spend their life doing thereafter? Clue? This is one of those fruits meet for repentance. Coming soon.

Repentance is not about being good, but as my friend Tim Merrill says, it is about choosing good, choosing the goodness of God. But the problem is that we are taught to be good, and are taught that it is about our goodness and righteousness, Nothing could be further from the truth. It is all about His goodness and righteousness. Alma reminded his son that the gospel is about our unworthiness, and to always acknowledge our unworthiness before God at all times (Alma 38:34).

The words that the angel delivered to King Benjamin, after hearing them, caused the people to fall to the earth (Mosiah 4:1). And why did they fall to the earth? Because “they had viewed themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth” (Mosiah 4:2). And what caused them to view themselves in their own carnal state? The words of God which had been delivered unto King Benjamin by an angel of the Lord. They immediately repented and turned to Christ, “and they all cried aloud with one voice, saying: O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be purified, for we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God…” (Mosiah 4:2). And “after they had spoken these words the Spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they were filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins, and having peace of conscience, because of the exceeding faith (unto repentance) they had in Jesus Christ who should come” (Mosiah 4:3 emphasis added).

King Benjamin tells them that it was Godly Sorrow that caused them to turn to Christ and repent and cry for mercy. “For behold, if the knowledge of the goodness of God at this time awakened you to a sense of your nothingness, and your worthless and fallen state--I say unto you, if ye have come to the knowledge of the goodness of God, and his matchless power, and his wisdom, and his patience, and his long-suffering towards the children of men…continue in the faith (unto repentance) even unto the end of (your) life” (Mosiah 4:5-6 emphasis added). And to nail the coffin shut on religious observance, works and self justification, King Benjamin says, again using the words of God delivered to him by an angel of the Lord, “there is none other salvation save this which hath been spoken of; neither are there any conditions whereby man can be saved except the conditions which I have told you” (Mosiah 4:8 emphasis added). Pretty important to know those conditions, don't you think? Want to teach your children? Ask them to search King Benjamin's words of God, and then tell you what those conditions are. You should probably do it first, however, so you can know if your child has correctly identified the conditions. 

By the way did you know that ‘transgress’ as used by King Benjamin, means to quit repenting or refuse to repent? He tells us how we continue to repent until the end. “And again I say unto you as I have said before, that as ye have come to the knowledge of the glory of God (assumes that you have and if not you must), or if ye have known of his goodness and have tasted of his love, and have received a remission of your sins (we will talk about what it means to receive a remission of our sins in another post), which causeth such exceedingly great joy in your souls, even so I would that you should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel” (Mosiah 4:11 emphasis added).

The word of God will always lead us to repentance, and will always remind us of our condition here, of our lost and fallen nature, of our nothingness. If you do not experience your own nothingness in comparison to the goodness of God, then you have not searched the word of God with all diligence. You are of those whom Nephi described as follows: “And now I, Nephi, cannot say more; the spirit stoppeth mine utterance, and I am left to mourn because of the unbelief, and the wickedness, and the ignorance, and the stiffneckedness of men; for they will not search knowledge, nor understand great knowledge, when it is given unto them in plainness, even as plain as word can be” (2 Nephi 32:7 emphasis added). He says this right after telling us to “feast upon the words of Christ, for behold the words of Christ will tell you all things that ye should do” (2 Nephi 32:3). And what will His words tell us to do? “Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me…” (3 Nephi 27:20 emphasis added).

Repentance, because of Godly Sorrow is a much different experience than ‘living the gospel.’ The gospel of Jesus Christ is experiential. “Now, what do we hear in the gospel which we have received? A voice of gladness! A voice of mercy from heaven; and a voice of truth out of the earth; glad tidings for the dead; a voice of gladness for the living and the dead; glad tiding of great joy, How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those that bring glad tidings of good things, and say unto Zion: Behold thy God reigneth! As the dews of Carmel, so shall the knowledge of God descend upon them” (D&C 128:20 emphasis added).

What do you hear in the gospel you have received? It will depend on what gospel you have received. The Lord has defined His Gospel in 3 Nephi 27:13-21. Search His definition and then ask yourself what you hear. Hearing the voice of God in His words is the first step to experiencing yourself in comparison to His goodness.

Why are we to say nothing but repentance unto this generation?

Next: Repentance: Why We Are to Say Nothing But Repentance