Repentance: Grace--After All We Can Do

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. 

So what did Nephi mean when he said that we are saved by grace, after all we can do? Perhaps it is easier if we framed the question: What Can We Do? This is where religion and the Gospel of Jesus Christ collide. After teaching the Gospel of Grace and Repentance one Sunday in Gospel Doctrine, a friend said to me: “But we have to do something, don’t we?” He was asking because I had just taught that when we access the grace of Christ through faith and repentance, and not by our works, then it is He that begins to make the changes in us. The fruits of our repentance are a result of Him, the root making them, not us. We are, after all, the branches and cannot bring forth fruit of our own. 

Before we move on to what “after all we can do” means, remember that Nephi also said that “after (we) are reconciled unto God, that it is only in and through the grace of God that (we) are saved” (2 Nephi 10:24 emphasis added). Let’s talk about being “reconciled unto God.” 

Christ has already paid the demands of justice for all. We just have take advantage of the grace of God. How do we do that? First, we have to lose the life that we have. “If anyone wants to come with me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For if anyone wants to save his life, he will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 16:24-25 emphasis added). Losing our life is hard for winners, those who, like the Pharisee, attempt to justify their life by their good works. And yet it is only in losing our life that we can find it. And it was none other than Jesus who insisted that the only way to win is to lose. Nothing is harder for those who are comfortably “living their religion” to accept.

In order to be reconciled to God, then, we must lose our life, or better yet, come to the realization that we are lost. We must become losers and not winners. We have to give Jesus someone he can work with, and He cannot work with winners because they insist that their works will save them. These are those who read Nephi’s “after all we can do” as just another call to be good and do good works and Christ will take care of the rest. These are the “ninety and nine” who need no repentance. These are the Pharisees in the Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican, and the elder brothers in the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Incidentally, the “ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance” whom Jesus introduced in the Parable of the Lost Sheep are strictly a rhetorical device: In fact, there are not and never have been any such people anywhere, only those who imagine that they need no repentance, or whose image is that of a winner.

Christ is going to present us all to the Father in the power of His atonement, death and resurrection, and not at all in the power of our own totally inadequate records, either good or bad. 

Ask yourself why is it that God cannot work with the Pharisee? Then ask yourself why is it that God can work with the Publican? But the most important question is: can He work with you? 

Let me share some thoughts from Robert Capon, an American Episcopal priest and author, whose studies and writings on the Parables are without equal. He is writing about the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Prodigal Son. These will help you start to get an idea of what Nephi meant by “after all we can do.” I quote his words to see if you can hear God's words in them. It is only God's words that matter and we should learn to hear His words no matter who speaks or writes them.

“But if the salt of the earth becomes insipid (loses its savor) --if a disciple of Jesus forgets that only losing wins, and a fortiori, if the church forgets it--where in the wide world of winners drowning in the syrup of their own success will either the disciple or the church be able to recapture the saltiness of victory out of loss? The answer is nowhere. And the sad fact is that the church both now and at far too many times in its history, has found it easier to act as if it were selling the sugar of moral and spiritual achievement rather than the salt of Jesus’s passion and death. It will preach salvation for the successfully well-behaved, redemption for the triumphantly correct in doctrine, and pie in the sky for all the winners who think they can walk into the final judgment and flash their passing report cards at Jesus.” (Pulpit Narrative)

“The church “preaches the nutra-sweet religion of test-passing, which is the only thing the world is ready to buy and which isn’t even the real sugar let alone salt. In spite of all our fakery, though, Jesus’ program remains firm. He saves losers and only losers. He raises the dead and only the dead. And rejoices more over the last, the least, and the little than over all the winners in the world. That alone is what this losing race of ours needs to hear, even though it can’t stand the thought of it. That alone is the salt that takes our perishing insipidity and gives it life and flavor. That alone….” (Scripture Narrative)

“He records that tax collectors and sinners were coming to Jesus to hear him, and that the Pharisees and scribes (winners all) grumbled extensively about such consorting with losers.”

“Give him a world with a hundred out of every hundred souls lost--give him, in other words, the worldful of losers that is the only real world we have--and it will do just fine: lostness is exactly his cup of tea.” (Christ is both the Shepherd in the Parable of the Lost Sheep, and the woman in the Parable of the Lost Coin. Note that the only criteria for being found was that each was lost.)

“If we badger ourselves (and each other) with the dismal notion that sinners must first forsake their sins before God will forgive them, that the lost must somehow find itself before the finder will get off his backside and look for it--we carry ourselves straight away from the obvious sense of both stories.” (Lost Coin and Lost Sheep) “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8 emphasis added).

“They are emphatically not stories designed to convince us that if we will wind ourselves up to some acceptable level of moral and/or spiritual improvement, God will then forgive us; rather they are parables about God’s determination to move before we do--in short, to make lostness and death the only tickets we need to the Supper of the Lamb.” 

Now do you better comprehend the reason that in order to be reconciled to God we must experience Godly Sorrow--our nothingness, our lostness?

“Neither the lostness, nor the deadness, nor the repentance is in itself redemptive; God alone gives life, and he gives it freely and fully on no conditions whatsoever. These stories, therefore, are parables of grace and grace only. There is in them not one single note of earning or merit, not one breath about rewarding the rewardable, correcting the correctable, or improving the improvable. There is only the gracious saving determination of the shepherd, the woman, the king, and the father--all surrogates for God--to raise the dead.”

“Rather it is the admission that we are dead in our sins--that we have no power of ourselves either to save ourselves or to convince anyone else that we are worth saving.” (Godly Sorrow/we cannot merit anything of ourselves)

“It is the recognition that our whole life is finally and forever out of our hands and that if we ever live again, our life will be entirely the gift of some gracious other.” (Godly Sorrow)

“When God pardons, therefore, he does not say he understands our weakness or makes allowances for our errors; rather he disposes of, he finishes with, the whole of our dead life and raises us up with a new one.” (Become new creatures!)

“He finds us, in short, in the desert of death, not in the garden of improvement; and in the power of Jesus’ resurrection, he puts us on his shoulders rejoicing and brings us home” (Capon, The Parables of Grace, emphasis and comment added).

Christ did say after all: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight unto the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised” (Luke 4:18 emphasis added). 

In addition to experiencing our nothingness, our deadness, our lost and fallen state, there are still other things that we can do to be saved by Grace. We can repent,  but then again repentance is the experiencing of our lost and fallen state, our nothingness and His goodness. But we can also forgive, and since all are lost, all are fallen, all have sinned, repenting, as the Lord defines repentance, and forgiving are the only things we can do.

Lamoni and his brother, sitting in council, after they had been reconciled to God, or as they described it “converted unto the Lord,” said “And I also thank my God, yea, my great God, that he hath granted unto us that we might repent of these things, and also that he hath forgiven us of those many sins and murders which we have committed, and taken away the guilt from our hearts, through the merits of his Son. And now behold, my brethren, since it has been all that we could do (as we were the most lost of all mankind) to repent…for it was all we could do to repent sufficiently before God that he would take away our stain…” (Alma 24:10-11 emphasis added).

It was all they could do to repent. By linking “all we could do” with Nephi’s “after all we could do,” we see that all we can do is repent. No winning. No justification by our works, regardless of how good they may be. Remember the Pharisee. His long list, which included fasting, tithing, praying, and attending meetings, did count for nothing. The scriptures have concluded that all are under sin, and that our sinfulness cannot be broken by good examples, even if we could follow them. Quite the contrary the Gospel of Jesus Christ teaches us that we can be saved only by the horrible example of a Savior who, in an excruciating death, lays down his life for us.

No human virtues, however revered or practiced, will be enough. Those who are found guiltless (3 Nephi 27:16) are only made up of forgiven sinners. They are no good guys, the successful types, who of their own integrity, have been accepted into God’s presence. There are only failures, only those who have accepted their deaths in their sins and have been saved from their sins.

The sole difference, therefore, between those who are found guiltless and those who are “hewn down and cast into the fire” is that the love of God is accepted and passed along by this group, while the others reject and block it. The spotless, because of the Grace of God, do not withhold their forgiveness from others, while those cast into the fire are living a life of keeping tabs on everyone else, unforgiving, judgmental and in hell. No mercy is found in them, and they have refused to receive mercy.

I know that all of this requires a new mindset, a new paradigm because we have all been raised in religious families, where being good was prized. But the Gospel of Jesus Christ (3 Nephi 27:13-21) is not the same gospel most of us were taught. It may have been called the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and we did pride ourselves in living it, but it was not the Gospel of Repentance, Mercy and Grace. Unless we are willing to see our own death as necessary to salvation, and give up on trying to justify our lives through living them the way we have been taught, we will never be able to enjoy the Atonement, even though it is handed to us on a silver platter.

So far we have defined repentance, learned why all need to repent, defined Godly Sorry, caught a glimpse of why we should say nothing but repentance unto this generation, learned that it is by Grace that we are saved, and that we must lose our life in order to find it. But if we leave it at just learning about repentance, we will be as those who know, but don’t know. Why? Because we have not experienced our own lost and fallen state, have not been harrowed up in our sins, have not experienced our nothingness in comparison to His goodness, and have refused to do it His way--lose our life, the one we have made for ourselves, the more comfortable the better. 

“Therefore, blessed are they who will repent, and hearken unto the voice of the Lord; for these are they that shall be saved. And may God grant, in his great fulness, that men might be brought unto repentance and good works (works meet for repentance, the fruits of His repentance; His works done by the power and gifts of God), that they might be restored unto grace for grace. And I would that all men might be saved” (Helaman 12:23-24 emphasis added),

“Follow me,” He says. All the other ways--all the moral, philosophical and religious works on which humanity has always counted--have been canceled. Nothing counts now except being one of the lost and dead with Him. Follow Him into the waters of baptism, into His death and be raised with Him in His life. Anything else will leave you subject to His justice. But keep in mind that we are not saved by what Christ taught, and we are certainly not saved by what we understand Jesus to have taught. We are not saved by repentance. We are saved by Christ. We just have to believe Him.

I want to end with an example of where the Pulpit Narrative is the Scripture Narrative. Elder Jeffrey Holland, in the October 2017 General Conference said concerning the Parable of the Unjust or Unforgiving Servant.

“Our only hope for true perfection is in receiving it as a gift from heaven—we can’t ‘earn’ it.

Let me use one of the Savior’s parables to say this in a little different way. A servant was in debt to his king for the amount of 10,000 talents. Hearing the servant’s plea for patience and mercy, ‘the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and … forgave … the debt.’ But then that same servant would not forgive a fellow servant who owed him 100 pence. On hearing this, the king lamented to the one he had forgiven, ‘Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?’

There is some difference of opinion among scholars regarding the monetary values mentioned here—and forgive the U.S. monetary reference—but to make the math easy, if the smaller, unforgiven 100-pence debt were, say, $100 in current times, then the 10,000-talent debt so freely forgiven would have approached $1 billion—or more! As a personal debt, that is an astronomical number—totally beyond our comprehension. (Nobody can shop that much!) Well, for the purposes of this parable, it is supposed to be incomprehensible; it is supposed to be beyond our ability to grasp, to say nothing of beyond our ability to repay. That is because this isn’t a story about two servants arguing in the New Testament. It is a story about us, the fallen human family—mortal debtors, transgressors, and prisoners all. Every one of us is a debtor, and the verdict was imprisonment for every one of us. And there we would all have remained were it not for the grace of a King who sets us free because He loves us and is ‘moved with compassion toward us.’ Jesus uses an unfathomable measurement here because His Atonement is an unfathomable gift given at an incomprehensible cost” (Holland, Be Ye Therefore Perfect--Eventually October 2017 General Conference emphasis added). 

And then he quoted from Tolstoy a truth which, when I heard it, caused me to shout for joy!

“In that regard, Leo Tolstoy wrote once of a priest who was criticized by one of his congregants (an unforgiving servant perhaps) for not living as resolutely as he should, the critic concluding that the principles the erring preacher taught must therefore also be erroneous. In response to that criticism, the priest says: ‘Look at my life now and compare it to my former life. You will see that I am trying to live out the truth I proclaim.’ Unable to live up to the high ideals he taught, the priest admits he has failed (‘O wretched man that I am’). But he cries: ‘Attack me, [if you wish,] I do this myself, but [don’t] attack … the path I follow. … If I know the way home [but] am walking along it drunkenly, is it any less the right way simply because I am staggering from side to side?’” Holland, Be Ye Therefore Perfect--Eventually October 2017 General Conference emphasis and comments added).

Again, what do you hear in the Gospel you have received?

Next: Repentance: By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them

Repentance: Grace (And Not After All We Can Do)

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. 

I was teaching a High Priest Group one Sunday and during the discussion a member of the group brought up Nephi’s quote that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do. It was quite a large group, probably more than 75 members. I asked “Has everyone here done all that they can?” After no response, I asked “Has anyone here done all that they can?” And of course no one raised their hand. So I concluded that if we read Nephi’s statement as only receiving grace after all we can do, then none of us will ever be saved by His grace.

Let’s look at what Nephi said: “For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do” (2 Nephi 25:23 emphasis added). The answer lies in what Nephi means when he says ‘all we can do.’ But first let’s talk about the grace of God.

The Lord said unto Alma, “Marvel not that all mankind, yea, men and women, all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, must be born again; yea, born of God, changed from their carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming, his sons and daughters; and thus they become new creatures; and unless they do this, they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God” (Mosiah 27:25-26 emphasis added).

Through the grace of Christ, following repentance and being born again, we are changed and become new creatures, and continue to become until perfected in/by Him. Not by any works of our own, but by the grace of Christ. Incorrectly grace and works are often described as either being saved by grace or saved by works. This is not an accurate comparison. In fact, in the scriptures the comparison is between faith and works, not grace and works. Paul said: “For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness” (Romans 4:1-3 emphasis added). And then he says, and this is the point:

“Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace” (Romans 4:16 emphasis added). Think of this for a minute: “It is of faith, that it might be by grace. ”Christ’s Grace then is something that comes as a result of our faith in Christ, the fruits of our repentance. We have access to Christ “by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:2 emphasis  added). “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9 emphasis added).

When we have faith unto repentance and begin the process of repenting and turning to Christ, then we by His Grace, begin the process of being changed by Him, and it will be because of our faith in Christ.

There is always the temptation to try to describe how we are changed by Him, how His grace saves us. But isn’t it enough to just believe Him when He says “My Grace is sufficient for thee?” Putting our faith in Him means just that. We don’t need to analyze how His grace works, how His power changes us, only that it does. Isn’t it enough to know that it is through our faith in Him that we access His grace and His righteousness? Why is it that we tend to think that we can arrive at some satisfying explanation? Could it be that we lack faith in Him? That we don’t believe His words? Don’t His words have whatever power He has, no matter what we may think about them?

Take for example, a type was raised up in the wilderness by Moses that whosoever would look upon the staff would live. But few understood the meaning (perhaps tried to analyze, and because of unbelief they would not look and therefore perished. The reason they would not look “is because they did not believe that it would heal them” (Alma 33:19-20 emphasis added). Alma then asks (think of him asking you): “...if ye could be healed by merely casting your eyes that ye might be healed, would ye not behold quickly, or would ye rather harden your heart in unbelief” (Alma 33:21 emphasis added).

What we do know is that we access His grace through our faith in Him, and we gain faith by hearing the word of God, and through our faith we desire to repent and turn to Him to save us, to hold us guiltless. We do this by relying “wholly” or “alone” upon His merits (2 Nephi 31:19; Moroni 6:4; Helaman 14:13; Alma 24:8; 2 Nephi 2:8). It is so difficult to let go of our own merits. We have been so conditioned that it is about our goodness and righteousness, that we have a difficult time getting our heads around the fact that we do not merit anything of ourselves! Nothing! (Alma 22:14)

There are some fruits of our repentance, things that He, through His grace, starts to change in us as we turn to Him and put our faith and trust in Him, relying wholly upon His merits:

“Ye shall always rejoice;

Be filled with the love of God;

Always retain a remission of your sins;

Ye shall grow in the knowledge of the glory of Him that created you;

Ye shall grow in the knowledge of that which is just and true;

Ye will not have a mind to injure one another;

But to live peaceably;

Ye will desire to teach your children to walk in the ways of truth (His words) and to love and serve one another;

Ye will want succor those that stand in need and administer of your substance unto him who standeth in need; and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain;

He will pour out His spirit upon you and cause that your heart should be filled with joy;

You will believe all the words which He has spoken to us;

And know of their surety and truth,

He will wrought a mighty change in you or in your heart;

You will have no more disposition to do evil;

You will have a disposition to do good continually;

You will have great views of that which is to come (Spirit of Prophecy) (Mosiah 5).

He changes us from our carnal and fallen state to a state of righteousness;

We become His sons and daughters; and

We become new creatures (Mosiah 27:25-26).

We become alive in Him.

We are born again and are filled with the Holy Ghost. Joseph Smith said that “The Holy Ghost has no other effect than pure intelligence. It is more powerful in expanding the mind, enlightening the understanding, and storing the intellect with present knowledge….it is calm and serene; and his whole soul and body are only exercised by the pure spirit of intelligence” (Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, selected and arranged by Joseph Fielding Smith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1976], 149. emphasis added). We will talk about this in another post, but for now, just recognize how Joseph says “no other effect than pure intelligence.”

And Joseph Smith also said: “We consider that God has created man with a mind capable of instruction, and a faculty which may be enlarged in proportion to the heed and diligence given to the light communicated from heaven to the intellect; and that the nearer man approaches perfection, the clearer are his views, and the greater his enjoyments, till he has overcome the evils of his life and lost every desire for sin; and like the ancients, arrives at that point of faith where he is wrapped in the power and glory of his Maker and is caught up to dwell with Him” (Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, selected and arranged by Joseph Fielding Smith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1976], 51. emphasis added)

John bore record of the “glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, even the Spirit of truth, which came and dwelt in the flesh, and dwelt among us. And I, John, saw that he received not of the fulness at first, but received grace for grace; and he received not of the fulness at first, but continued from grace to grace, until he received a fulness. And thus he was called the Son of God, because he received not of the fulness at first. …And he received all power, both in heaven and on earth, and the glory of the Father was with him, for he dwelt in him” (D&C 93:12-14;17 (emphasis added).

“Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourself of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ. …And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot” (Moroni 10:32-33 emphasis added).

Paul’s own experience with grace can become our own experience. He says that there was given to him “a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan” to buffet him, and for this he “besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart” from him. And Christ said unto him, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness….for when I am weak, then am I strong” (2 Cor 12:7-10 emphasis added).

And further:

“And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me, for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them” (Ether 12:27 emphasis added).

All this according to our faith in Him.

But he needs someone He can work with like the Publican. He cannot work with the Pharisee. He did, after all, come to the least, the last, the lost and the dead 

Christ said: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight unto the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised” (Luke 4:18 emphasis added).

And so if His grace is sufficient for us, why did Nephi say that we are saved by grace after all we can do? 

Next: Repentance: Grace--After All We Can Do

Repentance: Why We Are to Say Nothing But Repentance

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. 

This post could also be subtitled Why Saying Nothing But Repentance is the Fruit of Our Repentance. It seems, however, that presently in the church we say nothing but conference talks to this generation. I decided once to reply to an email I received from the church and asked "Why do we settle for conference talks, when we have the word of God? His words are the standard by which all and everyone is judged. If the word of God is taught at a general conference we should listen. If not, we can discard it. It is the message and not the messenger. Why are we forced to use these talks in Sacrament meetings and Priesthood and Relief Society meetings? The Lord has told us to not speak in tenets, and yet we create new ones which pass when the President of the Church dies. We should be nourished by the word of God as Moroni said, and not by a watered down version which does not nourish.” 

I did receive a response referring me to my local leader “for more information.” It concerns me that while some speakers in general conference talk of repentance, we hear so much more about remaining active, following the prophet, receiving comfort from our Savior, etc. Just take a look at some of the titles of the talks in the October 2023 General Conference: “In the Path of Their Duty,” “For the Sake of Your Posterity,” “Abide the Day in Christ,” “The sealing Power,” “Love thy Neighbour,” “Kingdoms of Glory,” “Tithing: Opening the Windows of Heaven,” “The Power of Jesus Christ in Our Lives Every Day,” “Do You Want to Be Happy?” “Walking in Covenant Relationship with Christ,” just to name a few. I did hear the word of God spoken in the Conference and Elder Uchtdorf’s talk “The Prodigal and the Road That Leads Home” filled me with joy. And Elder Rasband’s “How Great Will Be Your Joy” could have hit the mark, but turned into a talk about needing senior missionaries. 

As I say later, not everyone is called to say nothing but repentance unto this generation, and some general conference talks can be the means of bringing others to the word of God where they can find their way to Christ, but to rely mainly on conference talks will not “carry us beyond this vale of sorrow into a far better land of promise” (Alma 37:45). Only the words of Christ will. 

I did, however, find fifteen (15) references to repentance in the talks, some of which were very good, but then were modified where His words were transfigured by the traditional understanding of repentance. There was not one talk entitled “Say Nothing But Repentance” nor one talk just about repentance. And the sad thing is that these talks will become the learning curriculum in the Church for the next six (6) months. The ‘covenant path’ has replaced the Iron Rod leading to the Tree of Life and the “strait and narrow path” which leads to eternal life. Only “continually holding fast” to the word of God gets us to the Tree of Life, and only the word of God keeps us in the “strait and narrow” path. 

So let’s see why the Lord has commanded us to say nothing but repentance to this generation, especially our own. See what happens to generations when we do not.  “Drunk With the Wine of Self Deception.”

To say nothing but repentance is a calling given to those who desire to “reap while the day lasts, that he may treasure up for his soul everlasting salvation in the Kingdom of God” (D&C 6:3 & 11:3 emphasis added). “Yea, whosoever will thrust in his sickle and reap, the same is called of God” (D&C 6:4 & 11:4 emphasis added). And what are those of us who have desired to thrust in our sickle and reap, called of God to do? 

“Seek to bring forth and establish the cause of Zion” (D&C 11:6).

“Seek not for riches but for wisdom” (D&C 11:7).

“Even as you desire of me so it shall be done unto you” (D&C 11:8).

“Say nothing but repentance unto this generation” (D&C 11:9 emphasis added).

“Seek not to declare my word, but first seek to obtain my word, and then shall your tongue be loosed; and then, if you desire, you shall have my Spirit and my word, yea, the power of God unto the convincing of men” (D&C 11:21 emphasis added). Speaking with the power of God requires having the Spirit of Revelation and the Spirit of Prophecy.

I don’t think that all are called to say nothing but repentance unto this generation, but those who really desire to, are called of God. See my own experience.

Helping to understand why we are to say nothing but repentance unto this generation requires an understanding of the mercy of God and His gospel, experiencing God’s mercy in our own lives, experiencing Godly Sorrow, always repenting and being born again, and a measure of the love of God found  in us. I like the way Alma charges his son Corianton to teach the word of God. He says: “And now, O my son, ye are called of God to preach the word unto this people. And now, my son, go thy way, declare the word with truth and soberness (why?), that thou mayest bring souls unto repentance (why?), that the great plan of mercy may have claim upon them. And my God grant unto you, even according to my words. Amen” (Alma 42:31 emphasis added).

Q. Why declare the word of God with truth and soberness? 

A. To bring souls unto repentance.

Q. And why bring souls unto repentance? 

A. That the great plan of mercy may have claim upon them!

Again there are several examples in the Book of Mormon where those who were repenting and had been born again, showed the fruit of their repentance by spending the rest of their lives teaching the word of God to bring souls to repentance and to the mercy of God. 

I will concentrate mainly on the A-Listers: Alma Sr, Alma Jr, Amulek, Ammon and Aaron, and by reference Ammon and Aaron’s brothers Omner and Himni, and sons of Alma Jr, grandsons to Alma Sr. Helaman, Shiblon and Corianton. It is critical to mention the fact that both Mosiah, and Alma Sr believed the words of God delivered by angels to Abinadi (Alma Sr) and King Benjamin, father of Mosiah. We will get to Amulek’s story in a bit, but sufficeth to say that Amulek was visited by the same angel that came to Alma Jr and the Sons of Mosiah.

Right off the bat you may dismiss this because angels were involved and who wouldn’t respond to an angel? Right? But think about this for a minute. We have the words of these angels. They have been recorded for our benefit. We have the witnesses who saw and heard these angels and they too, wrote the words they were taught and that they taught others. All we have to do is believe them just like these A-Listers did. Alma Sr. didn’t see an angel. He heard the words of God delivered by Abinadi. The critical factor is believing the words, not who delivered them. See Alma Believes the Words of Abinadi.

This is a good place to start because this A-list, and the thousands who repented because of the words they taught, begins with Alma believing the words of Abinadi. Read before going further. 

One point I would like to emphasize is that when Alma Sr. ordained others to teach the people "he commanded them that they should teach nothing save it were the things which he had taught" (Mosiah 18:19 emphasis added). And he specifically commanded them "they should teach nothing save it were repentance and faith on the Lord, who had redeemed his people" (Mosiah 18:20 emphasis added). And later when churches were organized and established in the land of Zarahemla, these churches met together so that they could "hear the word of "God." And there "was nothing preached in all the churches except it were repentance and faith in God" (Mosiah 25:20;22 emphasis added).

The words these A-Listers were taught and eventually believed, became their words, words of God, and because each had the Spirit of Revelation and the Spirit of Prophecy, they knew for themselves of the truths that they taught. They therefore taught with power and authority. When God’s words become our words because they have been revealed to us, then, and only then, will we become witnesses with first-hand knowledge and can testify that we know.

Let’s examine what these A-Listers had in common.

1. They were all sinners;

2. They repented and continued to have faith unto repentance;

3. They were redeemed;

4. They were born again;

5. They searched and were armed with the word of God;

6. They believed the words of God;

7. They fasted and prayed for the Spirit of Revelation and the Spirit of Prophecy;

8. They tasted of the love of God and His mercy;

9. They wanted all to taste as they did taste--to repent and obtain His mercy;

10. They spent their lives teaching what they had experienced and were experiencing.

In other words they said nothing but repentance that they might “bring souls unto repentance (why?), that the great plan of mercy may have claim upon them” (Alma 42:31).

When I left for my mission in 1962, we still had printed programs with our pictures and a scripture we had chosen on the front of the program. I chose the following scripture:

“I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my glory” (Alma 29:9 emphasis added). These words spoken by Alma impressed upon me a desire to go on my mission and gave me a purpose. While I did not really understand what it meant to repent, I sensed something in this purpose that has been a guide for me throughout my life and has been the reason for this blog and the many years of teaching His gospel of repentance to as many as will listen. But, like Amulek, I was not yet ready to hear because my heart was set upon the things of the world, and I had not yet began the process of repenting.

Let me share some of the things said and/or written about these A-Listers, which, hopefully will give you a clear picture of why they spent their lives teaching repentance.

Alma said after His experience, that his “limbs did receive their strength again, and I stood upon my feet and did manifest unto the people that I had been born of God. Yes, and from that time even until now, I have labored without ceasing, that I might bring souls unto repentance; that I might bring them to taste of the exceeding joy of which I did taste; that they might also be born of God, and be filled with the Holy Ghost” (Alma 36:23-24 emphasis added).

And because of his labors, “many have been born of God, and tasted as I have tasted, and have seen eye to eye as I have seen; therefore they do know of these things of which I have spoken, as I do know; and the knowledge which I have is of God” (Alma 36:26 emphasis added).

Amulek spoke from experience when he said: “And thus mercy can satisfy the demands of justice, and encircles them in the arms of safety, while he that exerciseth no faith unto repentance is exposed to the whole law of the demands of justice; therefore only unto him that has faith unto repentance is brought about the great and eternal plan of redemption. Therefore may God grant unto you…that you may begin to exercise your faith unto repentance, that ye begin to call upon his holy name, that he would have mercy upon you; yea, cry unto him for mercy; for he is mighty to save” (Alma 34:16-18 emphasis added).

Amulek’s story is unique in that there is not much said about his own experiences in hearing and believing the word of God, but there is no question that he did hear and believe as evidence from his teaching the word of God. He was told by the angel to go back to Ammonihah and preach again unto the people of the city; “Yea, say unto them, except they repent the Lord God will destroy them” (Alma 8:16 emphasis added). Amulek says of his own experience, “Behold, I am also a man of no small reputation among all those who know me; yea, and behold, I have many kindreds and friends and I have also acquired much riches by the hand of my industry. Nevertheless, after all this (or because of it), I have never known much of the ways of the Lord, and his mysteries and marvelous power. I said I never had known much of these things; but behold, I mistake, for I have seen much of his mysteries and his marvelous power…. Nevertheless, I did harden my heart, for I was called many times and l would not hear; therefore I knew concerning these things, yet I would not know; therefore I went on rebelling against God in the wickedness of my heart” (Alma 10:5-6 emphasis added).

The angel visited Amulek and told him of Alma and that Alma would also teach him the word of God, and he, Amulek, would know of their surety. He said of the words Alma spake unto him and his family: “he hath blessed mine house, he hath blessed me, and my women, and my children, and my father and my kinsfolk; yea, even all my kindred hath he blessed, and the blessing of the Lord hath rested upon us according to the words which he spake” (Alma 10:11 emphasis added).

I like Amulek’s story not because of the fact that an angel visited him, but because he admitted that because of his possessions and his influence, and his family, he had hardened his heart against the word of God. This is where many of us may be. We are aware, but will not hear. See Obstacles to Receiving the Word of God.

Ammon and Aaron and their brothers “had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had searched the scripture diligently, that they might know the word of God. But this is not all; they had given themselves to much prayer, and fasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with power and authority of God” (Alma 17:3 emphasis added). But before this, together with Alma, the Sons of Mosiah were described as “the very vilest of sinners” (Mosiah 28:4).

After they were born again, and after suffering “much anguish of soul because of their iniquities, suffering much and fearing that they should be cast off forever” (Mosiah 28:4), they were “desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human soul should perish; yea, even the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake and tremble” (Mosiah 28:3 emphasis added).

Concerning the Sons of Mosiah, "they had been teaching the word of God for the space of fourteen years among the Lamanites, having had much success in bringing many to the knowledge of the truth; yea, by the power of their words many were brought before the alter of God, to call on his name and confess their sins before Him" (Alma 17:4 emphasis added).

And so each of the A-Listers spent the rest of their lives saying nothing but repentance, and anyone who so desires, is called to do the same. But first they must repent and experience the judgment and mercy of God, and be filled with the love of Christ for all. How we miss the mark in our religious activities! What is the work we should be doing? Not what we are accustomed to. Not the busy work of attending our meetings and fulfilling the traditional duties of being a ‘faithful’ member of the church. See The Cart Before the Horse for a more detailed explanation.

Let me close this post with these words from Alma, because they describe much of what I feel, have personal knowledge of, and experience everyday, as I have very limited influence on others, even my own family.

“O that i were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people! Yea, I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the plan of redemption, that they should repent and come unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth.

But behold, I am a man, and do sin in my wish; for I ought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me. I ought not to harrow up in my desires the firm decree of a just God, for I know that he granted unto men according their desire, whether it be unto death or unto life; yea, I know that allotteth unto men, yea, decreeth unto them decrees which are unalterable, according their wills, whether they be unto salvation or unto destruction.

Yea, and I know that good and evil have come before all men; he that knoweth not good from evil is blameless; but he that knoweth good and evil, to him it is given according to his desires whether he desireth good or evil, life or death, joy or remorse of conscience. Now, seeing that I know of these things, why should I desire more than to perform the work to which I have been called?

Why should I desire that I were an angel, that I could speak unto the ends of the earth?

For behold, the Lord doth grant unto all nations, of their own nation and tongue, to teach his word, yea, and in wisdom, all that he seeth fit that they should have; therefore we see that the Lord doth counsel in wisdom, according to that which is just and true” (Alma 29:2-8 emphasis added).

After having spent the most of my lifetime obtaining the word of God, this scripture now resonates within me. In 1962 when I selected this scripture for my missionary program, little did I know, but now I do:

“I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my glory” (Alma 29:9 emphasis added).

Next: Repentance: Grace (and no, not after all we can do)