Repentance: Why We Need to Repent

These posts on Repentance are intended to be read in order from the beginning with Repentance: Introduction. At the bottom of each post is a link to the next one. 

Now that we know how the Lord defines repentance, and keep in mind that I have only cited a few of the many scriptures where repent and turn are used in parallel, let’s turn our attention to why we need to repent, and why we have been commanded to say nothing but repentance. It must be important? Right? But wait. Isn’t it enough to be kind, honest, tolerant, chaste, hardworking and generous? Do these have anything to do with repentance? When we understand why these have nothing to do with repentance, we will begin to comprehend why we must repent, or why we should repent. 

Again we go back to Adam where Enoch is telling the people “because that Adam fell, we are; and by his fall came death; and we are made partakers of misery and woe. Behold Satan hath come among the children of men, and tempteth them to worship him; and men have become carnal, sensual, and devilish, and  are shut out from the presence of God” (Moses 6:48-49). To summarize:

1. We are

2. We die

3. We suffer

4. We are carnal, and

5. We are shut out from God’s presence

And when I say we, I mean everyone who is born into this world. This is the condition of everyone. As Alma says: “Now we see that Adam did fall by the partaking of the forbidden fruit, according to the word of God (justice), and thus we see, that by his fall, all mankind became a lost and fallen people” (Alma 12:22 emphasis added ). “And we see that death comes upon mankind” (Alma 12:24), both a physical and spiritual death. 

These are the conditions that are appointed by God, but “after God had appointed that these things should come unto man, behold he saw it was expedient that man should know concerning the things whereof he had appointed unto them” (Alma 12:28 emphasis added). 

So what did God do? “He sent angels to converse with them” (Alma 12:29), and His words were recorded so that we can know for ourselves of our condition here. I suggest that until you know of and experience your own lost and fallen state, you will never repent. Why? Because you will think that you are part of the ninety and nine that do not need to repent. Or that because you followed the tradition of confessing your sins, paid your penance, and quit doing whatever it was that you confessed to, you continue to work on your behavior, stay active, keep a current temple recommend, and give lip service to following the prophet, you will be OK. Or you may think that you are a good person, even though you make mistakes, and that because He loves you so much, He will forgive you and ceremoniously usher you into His presence. I am here to tell you that is not the case. 

“Wherefore, he gave commandments unto men, they having first transgressed the first commandments as to things which were temporal, and becoming as gods, knowing good from evil, placing themselves in a state to act, or being placed in a state to act according to their wills and pleasures, whether to do evil or to do good--

Therefore God gave unto them commandments, after having made known unto them the plan of redemption, that they should not do evil, the penalty thereof being a second death, which was an everlasting death as to things pertaining unto righteousness, for on such the plan of redemption could have no power, for the works of justice could not be destroyed, according to the supreme goodness of God” (Alma 12:32 emphasis added).

It seems as if He is focusing on our behavior when he says “they should not do evil,” and He is, but not as you might think. It is because we do evil, because we are evil, that we must repent or turn to Him and desire to be changed, rather than by our discipline quit doing evil, or worse, by justifying our evil works. And by justifying I mean grading our sins and thinking that because we did not commit the really bad sins, we are OK. This overlooked statement by James should be enough to cause us to tremble and be harrowed up by our sins: “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10 emphasis added). It is impossible for us to not do evil and that is the point. Our only hope is in Christ.

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 reflected on his time as a monk: "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 (penance) . I did not love, yes, I hated the righteous God who punishes sinners, and secretly, if not blasphemously, certainly murmuring greatly, I was angry with God, and said, 'As if, indeed, it is not enough, that miserable sinners, eternally lost through original sin, are crushed by every kind of calamity by the law of the decalogue, without having God add pain to pain by the gospel and also by the gospel threatening us with his righteousness and wrath!'"

In essence, his frustration and "hatred" were directed at the Law and God's Justice: He felt that no matter how hard he tried to be righteous or to confess all his sins, he could never meet the demands of God's perfect law.

He felt perpetually condemned by his own corrupt nature (original sin) and his inability to stop committing actual sins, which constantly put him under God's righteous judgment.

Before his pivotal theological breakthrough, he understood the "righteousness of God" (in passages like Romans 1:17) as God's active standard of justice by which he judges and punishes sinners, which terrified him.

This profound struggle was eventually resolved when he realized that the "righteousness of God" in Romans 1:17 is a passive righteousness—the righteousness that God imparts to the believer through faith in Christ, not a righteousness achieved by works. This realization of justification by faith alone turned his "hatred" into love and became the foundational doctrine of the Protestant Reformation.

Which is also the foundation of His Gospel found in the Book of Mormon. I love these words by Jacob:

  

“Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I beseech of you in words of soberness that ye would repent, and come with full purpose of heart, and cleave unto God as he cleaveth unto you. And while his arm of mercy is extended towards you in the light off the day, harden not your hearts. Yea, today, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, for why will ye die” (Jacob 6:5-6)?

And what was the commandment that would enable them to overcome the effects of the fall, to not suffer a second death, to be redeemed by the Lord, and receive His mercy? “But God did call on men, in the name of his Son, (this being the plan of redemption which was laid), saying: If ye will repent, and harden not your hearts, then will I have mercy upon you through mine Only Begotten Son; 

Therefore, whosoever repenteth and hardeneth not his heart, he shall have claim on mercy through mine Only Begotten Son, unto a remission of his sins; and these shall enter into my rest.

And whosoever will harden his heart and will do iniquity; behold, I swear in my wrath (His justice) that he shall not enter into my rest.

And now…seeing we know these things, and they are true, let us repent, and harden not our hearts, that we provoke not the Lord our God to pull down his wrath upon us in these his second commandments which he has given unto us; but let us enter into the rest of the Lord, which is prepared according to his word” (Alma 12:33-37 emphasis added).

So it comes down to repentance. It is all about repentance, that greatest of all gifts given to us by God to be redeemed by Christ. All because Christ paid the demands of Justice, all but Sons of Perdition will be redeemed, even those in the telestial or lower kingdoms (D&C 88:17-33). And why won’t Sons of Perdition be redeemed? Because they refuse to repent. They refuse to turn to Christ even after receiving great light and knowledge. They openly rebel against Him as did Perdition himself, hence the title Sons of Perdition.

An overlooked example is found in D&C 138 concerning those spirits of men kept in prison at the time of Noah. “The dead who repent will be redeemed through obedience to the ordinances of the house of God. And after they have paid the penalty of their transgressions, and are washed clean, shall receive a reward according to their works, for they are heirs of salvation” (D&C 138:58-59 emphasis added). This should give us a hint that it is better to repent now than wait until we are in the spirit world. In case you missed it: they were redeemed after they paid the penalty for their transgressions! If we repent and turn to Christ sooner, rather than later, then He pays the penalty for our transgressions. To me that is all the difference in the world, or another way of saying it, is that all the world has to offer is not worth it.

God’s justice was introduced to Adam at the time of his fall. He told Adam and Eve that they would surely die if they partook of the forbidden fruit, and when they did, being God, He could not go back on His word, otherwise He would cease to be God. But the plan was for God to send His Son to pay the demands of justice for all those who would repent.

My question for you is, is God’s justice enough to make you want to repent? Let’s look at what God says about His justice. “Therefore, I command you to repent--repent, lest I smite you by the rod of my mouth, and by my wrath, and by my anger, and your sufferings be sore--how sore you know not, how exquisite you know not, yea, how hard to bear you know not” (D&C 19:15 emphasisadded). God describes His justice as His wrath, His Anger and the rod of His mouth. He continues, “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; which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer body and spirit--and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink--” (D&C 19:15-18).

This post is entitled Why Do We Need to Repent? And as I said in my last post, you need a reason to repent. I have given you one--God’s justice. And as for the spirits of those who at the time of Noah, refused to repent while in the flesh, but afterward repented, they must suffer God’s justice and pay the demands of justice for their own sins.

Let me make a comment about sins. When we are told to repent of our sins, we are being told to turn to Christ and seek His mercy. As Paul said we all sin. Sinning is part of our nature in our fallen state. But do not fall for the idea that you can grade your sins, and avoid God’s justice if you do not commit the more ‘serious’ sins. No! One sin, no matter how small, will subject you to God’s justice and not just for that sin, but for all your sins. “Wherefore, I command you again to repent, lest I humble you with my almighty power, and that you confess your sins (acknowledge them, face them, own them), lest you suffer these punishments of which I have spoken, of which the smallest, yea, even in the least degree you have tasted at the time I withdrew my Spirit” (D&C 19:20 emphasis added). So when we repent and turn to Christ, we give Him our sins, we confess that we are sinful, we acknowledge that we do not merit anything of ourselves, and we rely totally upon His merits, with faith in His promises of mercy and rest.

Besides using His Justice to drive us into the arms of His Mercy, He made sure that He revealed and caused enough of His words to be written so that there would be no excuse on our part. We can never plead ignorance when He has revealed all that we need to know to overcome our condition here and return to His presence. But more importantly He has given us enough of His light and spirit that we can experience our nothingness. His words shed light on us. And because His words are His light and His spirit we can ‘hear’ His voice in them. His words can cause us to view ourselves in our “own carnal state, even the dust of the earth” (Mosiah 4:2). For more see Faith Comes by Hearing the Word of God and More Blessed Are They Who Humble Themselves Because of the Word.

If His justice or mercy is not enough to make you want to repent, what would it take for you to want to repent? Is the Lord’s command or invitation enough? How about seeing yourself in God’s light? Or better yet, how about your own road to Damascus experience? What if you were threatened with destruction? One thing you should know is that there is no repentance without godly sorrow, which requires that we experience our nothingness, our evil,  in comparison to God’s goodness.

Being sorry for what we may have done, is not godly sorrow. When Mormon had hope that perhaps his people had been humbled enough to repent, he said: “And it came to pass that when I, Mormon, saw their lamentation and their mourning and their sorrow before the Lord, my heart did begin to rejoice within me, knowing the mercies and the long-suffering of the Lord, therefore supposing that he would be merciful unto them that they would again become a righteous people.

But behold my joy was vain, for their sorrowing was not unto repentance, because of the goodness of God, but it was rather the sorrowing of the damned, because the Lord would not always suffer them to take happiness in sin. And they did not come unto Jesus with broken hearts and contrite spirits….” (Mormon 2:12-14 emphasis added).

Mormon makes a distinction between the sorrow of the damned and sorrow which brings about repentance. What is that difference? He defines the sorrow of the damned as that sorrow where the people want their own kind of happiness and the Lord does not always suffer them to take happiness in sin (not repenting). Note he says the Lord  “does not always suffer them.” Christ says that sometimes people are allowed to have joy in their works, but only for a season. “Verily I say unto you they have joy in their works for a season, and by and by the end cometh, and then are hewn down and cast into the fire…” (3 Nephi 27:11 emphasis added).

But in the end they don’t repent because they do not have godly sorrow. What exactly is godly sorrow? Mormon tells us but we have to read and digest what he says a few times. Let’s review what he said: “...their sorrowing was not unto repentance, because of the goodness of God” (Mormon 2:13 emphasis added). He doesn’t give us much, but it becomes clear--sorrowing for not getting what we want, as opposed to sorrowing because of the goodness of God. In other words when we see ourselves in relation to His goodness, we will plead for His mercy. The process of repentance requires that we experience our nothingness in comparison to His goodness. We can only experience it, however. We just can’t read it, or hear it, or cognitively understand it. This is exactly what happened to Alma, and why Alma always admonished his sons to be harrowed up in their sins. It is not enough to have a form of godliness, while denying the power of God. 

Paul also tells us the same: “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation…but the sorrow of the world worketh death” (2 Cor 7:10 emphasis added).

And what leads us to experience our nothingness and His goodness? His words will cause us to fall to the earth and fear the justice of God.

Next: Repentance: Godly Sorrow

Repentance: The Lord's Definition

These posts on Repentance are best read in order from the beginning with Repentance: Introduction. At the bottom of each post is a link to the next one. 

As we examine how the Lord defines repentance, based on what He has revealed and caused to be written, one problem we will encounter is what we have already learned about repentance. Words matter, especially the words that God has caused to be written. While He does not make it easy to understand all His words, He expects that we will search them. He has, nevertheless, defined his words. There is no dictionary or glossary where His words are defined, but He does define them nevertheless. We just need to do the work to find the definitions, and ask that the truth of His words be revealed to us. Otherwise it is just information. 

As I said, repentance is the most misunderstood doctrine in the Church of Jesus Christ. Just recently I read in a general conference talk that if we do not follow the prophet, we need to repent and follow him. This is just an example how, even now, at the highest levels of church administration, repentance is associated with a behavior that we need to repent of and stop doing. You can test yourself by asking if you were the Publican’s bishop, what would you want him to do or stop doing after he went to his house ‘justified?’ We need to get rid of all the false doctrine, the weeds that grow in our minds, because we have not sown the seeds (His words) in our hearts and minds. It will be through His words, therefore, that we will get rid of these noxious opinions and false teachings. We cut down these noxious weeds by searching and feasting upon the words of God.

I asked a friend of mine, who has been an active member for over 70 years what he thought it meant to repent. His answer was that you ask for forgiveness from your sins. I ask this often, and have found that most members do not know how the Lord has defined repentance, and if this be the case, then how can they ever teach their children to understand the doctrine of repentance before they are 8 years old? And if they do not teach them, does it not in fact affect generations?  I think of my own children and grandchildren. Because when they were young, I did not understand the doctrine of repentance and therefore could not teach it to them. And unless they learned it from the Lord, they could not teach it to their children, even though they remain active and religious. See How to Teach Young Children to Understand the Doctrine of Repentance.

As we go through the Lord’s definition of repentance we will use rhetorical links that link the word repentance with its definition. For example the first time repentance is introduced to Adam is recorded in Moses 6:50, where Enoch tells the people that “...God hath made it known unto our fathers that all men must repent.”  God, by His own voice to Adam links its definition with the word repentance. We will discuss why in another post.

“And he called upon our father Adam by his own voice, saying: I am God; I made the world, and men before they were in the flesh. And he also said unto him: if thou wilt turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, and believe, and repent of all thy transgressions,...” (Moses 6:51). Note that Enoch is quoting from Adam’s Book of Remembrance wherein Adam writes that it is God that is speaking to him directly by His own voice. Hence the reference to ‘hearken unto my voice.’ Since it is God who introduced repentance, Adam (and us) must hearken unto the voice of God, believe Him and then turn to Him or repent.

Note that repentance is linked to turn, hearken and believe. This is a pattern that is repeated throughout the Book of Mormon. Specifically speaking to us who are identified with the Gentiles, Nephi, after Christ’s visit to the Nephites, says:

“Hearken, O ye Gentiles and hear the words of Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, which he hath commanded me that I should speak concerning you (concerning us), for, behold he commandeth me that I should write, saying:

Turn, all ye Gentiles, from your wicked ways; and repent of your evil doings…, that ye may be numbered with my people who are of the house of Israel.” (3 Nephi 30:1-2). Used in parallel, we see that repent means to turn, not only turn to Christ, but to turn away from all our wicked ways. (What those wicked ways are we will discuss in later posts.)

Another Nephi, the son of Helaman, asks: “...how could you have given way to the enticing of him who is seeking to hurl away your souls down to everlasting misery and endless wo? O repent ye, repent ye! Why will ye die? Turn ye, turn ye unto the Lord your God. Why has he forsaken you? It is because you have hardened your hearts; yea, ye will not hearken unto the voice of the good shepherd; yea, ye have provoked him to anger against you” (Helaman 7:16-17).

Again using parallelism, Nephi links the word repent with turning to Christ and turning away from our sins.

Think of a continuum, a straight line with God at the end of the line, and Satan at the other end. Think of you being on this line, and you are either facing God (Good) or facing Satan (Evil). God has designed His plan in such a way so that we only have two choices, and the way we are turning depends on where our hearts and desires are. If we are turned to Christ and away from Satan, we are repenting, and if we are turned to Satan and away from Christ, we are not repenting. If we turn to Christ and put our faith in Him, He begins to change us. We are no longer under the law, but under grace. He recreates us by His grace and we receive grace for grace until we receive a fulness.

Because in Christ is found all Good, when we turn to Christ, we turn to the Good, and when we turn away from Christ, we turn to evil. Hence, the choice is between good and evil, but only as the Lord defines good and evil.  Nephi, spells this out in even stronger language with respect to those who were at Jerusalem. He says:

“And as for those who are at Jerusalem, saith the prophet, they shall be scourged by all people, because they crucify the God of Israel, and turn their hearts aside (because of what they really desire), rejecting signs and wonders, and the power and glory of the God of Israel.

And because they turn their hearts aside, saith the prophet, and have despised the Holy One of Israel, they shall wander in the flesh, and perish…” (1 Nephi 19:13-14).

These are the same people at Jerusalem whom Laman and Lemuel said were a righteous people. “And we know that the people who were in the land of Jerusalem were a righteous people; (why) for they kept the statutes and judgments of the Lord, and all his commandments according to the law of Moses; wherefore, we know that they are a righteous people” (1 Nephi 17:22).

But before this they were angry with their father Lehi because he “had led them out of the land of Jerusalem, to leave the land of their inheritance, and their gold, and their silver and their precious things…” (1 Nephi 2:11). Being a righteous person has nothing to do with being religious. What is the term we use today? A person of faith? Only those who turn to Christ (and away from their sins) and repent wear His robe of righteousness.

Ablnadi, armed with the word of God, is calling on king Noah and his priests to turn from their pride and their idolatry, where they boasted of their own strength, to “repent and turn to the Lord their God…” (Mosiah 11:21). Again we see the use of a Hebrew literary pattern where ‘repent’ and ‘turn’ are used in parallel to define each other. Repent means to turn to God, and turn to God means to repent. From other scriptures we learn that when we turn to God, we turn away from our wickedness and abominations. It is a complete and not a partial turn to God. Alma the Elder, when he heard Abinadi’s words, believed them and turned completely to God. In other words, he repented. Again and again and again Abinadi said: “except they repent and turn to the Lord their God” (Mosiah 11:21;23:25 See also Helaman 11:4 emphasis added).

We turn to Him because we believe His words. Those who believe Christ and His words will repent, and those who do not, will not repent. Turning to Him or repenting also implies that we “turn to the Lord with all (our) mind, might, and strength” (Alma 39:13). In doing so we soon come to realize that our mind, might and strength is wanting, and that we cannot rely on our will and/or our works to remain turned to God. 

The word of God teaches us that we are spiritually deficient and that our goodness is flawed goodness. Turning to Christ and His words (feasting upon them), we receive His light and spirit. We not only come to know that we “cannot merit anything of ourselves” and that we must “rely wholly upon the merits” of Christ, we also experience our own lost, fallen and corrupt state. His words teach us that redemption is not a matter of legislation, moral exhortation, proper examples, rules and regulations, and good education. We are beginning to experience Godly Sorrow, which is the only kind of sorrow that brings about repentance, but more on that later.

Our misunderstanding of the doctrine of repentance leads us to ‘chop at the leaves’ as opposed to getting to the root of the problem. Note the play on the word root. Christ is the root and we are merely the branches. As a result almost all of our efforts are directed as if a change in our behavior or the behavior of others is the cure to our sinful nature. We are only right when there is no wrong in us, not when we have quit doing wrong. We must be set free from the evil within us, not set free from the sins or evil we are doing, nor set free from the sins we have committed. See Saved From Our Sins.

We therefore turn (repent) to Christ, and we validate that repentance by enduring to the end. We do confess our sins to God by bowing down before Him, calling on His name in faith, believing that we shall receive the hope that we desire (Alma 22:16).

Alma’s experience as he recounts in Alma 36 shows us how we turn to Christ. I will refer to his experience many times in this series, but for now focus on Alma turning toward Christ. “And it came to pass that as I was racked with torment, while I was harrowed up by the memory of my many sins, behold, I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world. Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my 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 36:17-18). Having experienced the Justice of God, he remembered Jesus and turned his heart and mind to Him, and as soon as he had cried unto Jesus, he could “remember (his) pains no more” (Alma 36:19). He later described his experience as repentance and said “...from that time even until now, I have labored without ceasing, that I might bring souls unto repentance…” (Alma 36:24). “For, said he, I have repented of my sins, and have been redeemed of the Lord; behold I am born of the Spirit” (Mosiah 27:24).

Repentance in the Book of Mormon is defined as turning to Christ. The Latin word for repentance means to turn, in Hebrew repentance means to return. In Hebrew,  we see these examples and many more: “Return unto me, and I will return unto you” (Malachi 3:7). “Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God” (Hosea 3:5). “And the pride of Israel testifieth to his face: and they do not return to the Lord their God” (Hosea 7:10). “...Return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after others gods to serve them” (Jeremiah 35:15). Note that these verses are also prophetic in that Israel will return (repent) in the last days, and the Lord will remember His covenant with them. The Old Testament prophets were always calling for Israel to return to their God, or in other words to repent. As a result of their repentance, they will return to their lands of inheritance and receive the blessings promised them. In fact only those who repent will be numbered among His people. “But if the Gentiles will repent and return unto me, saith the Father, behold they shall be numbered among my people, O house of Israel” (3 Nephi 16:13).

In Alma’s recounting of his experience, notice what is not said. He did not have to go to His father who was the High Priest and confess his sins. He did not have to be on probation for a period of time. He did not have to make restitution. He did not need to be forgiven. “And it came to pass that I was three days and three nights in the most bitter pain and anguish of soul; and never, until I did cry unto the Lord Jesus Christ for mercy, did I receive a remission of my sins. But behold, I did cry unto him and I did find peace to my soul” (Alma 38:8). 

But there needs to be a reason, a motivation to turn to Christ. In Alma’s case it was coming face to face with his sins and his sinful nature. The Lord invites (Alma 5:32-33), commands (3 Nephi 27:20), warns (Helaman 13:6), sends messengers (Moroni 7:31), causes His words to be recorded (Moses 6:46;51-52), and tells us exactly why it is critical that we turn to Him and repent (Alma 42). The knowledge of the goodness of God and our nothingness will awaken us and cause us to want to turn to Christ (Mosiah 4:5). We must view ourselves in our fallen state. For my own experience see I Am a Sinner.

Which brings us to my next post Repentance: Why Do We Need to Repent? Or why did the Lord give us the gift of Repentance?

Repentance - Introduction

This is the first of a series of posts on Repentance. At the end of each, is a link to the next.

I have written and spoken repentance for the last 25 years. Notice I do not say ‘spoken of repentance.’ I used to. Repentance is a noun but I prefer the verb because repent is something we do. In fact it is "all we can do." And it is ongoing. It is not accurate to say 'I repented,' but that I am repenting. While we also need to define repentance, we should move beyond the definition and actually repent. It took me almost 50 years to learn what it means to repent, how we repent, why we need to repent and when we need to repent, or, in other words, what the Lord has revealed concerning repentance. It took me so long because I had to unlearn everything I had been taught concerning repentance. I did not learn what repentance is and then repented. Rather I learned what repentance is as I desired to repent. Every post in this blog is in one way or another about repentance. And yet, I have not even scratched the surface, but I will begin to, in a series of posts on repentance and how repentance is linked to everything.

Repentance is gift from God, and is yet the most misunderstood doctrine in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There is the word of men narrative (by far the majority) and the word of God narrative. I was taught at home and at church, that repentance meant going to the Bishop and confessing our sins, and while we did not need to go to the bishop for every sin, we did for those ‘major’ sins. I later learned that this was the word of men narrative, and it was about maintaining good standing in the church. There was penance to pay, perhaps a probationary period, and it involved changing some of our behaviors. The church’s ‘judicial code’ has undergone several changes over the years, name changes and procedures. 

After one court, then called Disciplinary Councils, I was assigned to stay in touch with the member, and I spent every session with him teaching him what the Lord has revealed concerning repentance. I was not interested in protecting his ‘membership’ in the organizational church, but was motivated by Christ’s admonition to say nothing but repentance unto this generation and to bring others into His church, which is made up of only those who are repenting (D&C 10:67-69). Church discipline merely decides a person’s standing within the organized Church. (For a more complete account, see Church Discipline. 

Isn't it ironic that Alma removed from the church only those who refused to repent (Alma 6:3)? More on this in another post.

This series on repentance will teach only what the Lord has revealed. And you will be amazed at how repentance is linked to every truth, every teaching, every revelation and every prophecy revealed to us. The Lord calls it ‘understanding’ the doctrine of repentance, and not just cognitively, but by experiencing His redemption. While teaching what the Lord has revealed, this series is a call to repentance. Because I have desired to, He has called me to say nothing but repentance. 

Those who are not repenting, or think they need no repentance, or believe that they have repented, or are not interested in hearing about repentance, make up the majority. Those who are repenting love to hear the call to repentance. Why? What is the difference?

I tried to start a study group where we would only talk repentance and use only the scriptures as our guide. No conference talks. No scholarly definitions of repentance. Only the scriptures. Of the 10 people I invited only 2 volunteered to participate. The others were either too busy or didn’t think they had anything to add, but were really just not interested in talking about repentance. 

Having His words and having His words found in us are drastically different. 

Since all the prophets tell the same story (2 Nephi 9:2), any prophet is free to contribute anything to the written record that will make that message clear and intelligible. This principle is illustrated throughout the Book of Mormon and indeed by the very existence of the book itself--a book that shocked the world with its revolutionary concept of scripture as an open-ended production susceptible to the errors of men and amenable to correction by the spirit of prophecy. 

All are not like Jarom who said he need not bother to write down anything, “...for what could I write more than my fathers have written? For have not they revealed the plan of salvation?” (Jarom 1:2).

So I will use a story already told just as the Lord did. When Jesus himself finally came to the Nephites, he again re-edited the whole corpus, commanded that we search the words of Isaiah, filled in the gaps of the record, corrected all the defects, brought the Nephite scripture up to date, and then “expounded all the scripture in one,” as a single unified work, and commanded them to search them (3 Nephi 23:14,6).

Just so in the New Testament, when the Lord appeared to the disciples after the resurrection, “he opened…the scriptures” to them (Luke 24:32). “And he said unto them, these are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures” (Luke 24:44-45).

There is hardly a scholar who did not believe that Isaiah lifted the passage (Isaiah 2:2-4) from Micah (4:1-3), the two being almost word for word the same. But now it appears that both prophets are quoting archaic ritual texts. Isaiah is simply exercising his prophet’s prerogative of clothing his own message in the inspired words of his predecessors when those words suit his purpose. That is what I will attempt to do in this series on repentance. 

Is it boring to keep telling the same story that has already been told? Don’t eager and inquiring minds like the thrill of exploring the unknown? But is a journey any less interesting because we have a map to go by? On the contrary, the scouts with the map not only learn more but have a more exciting time, and they know where they are going, and how to get there! And as I have learned the beauty is in the details, as the details complete the tapestry.

As I have said before in this blog, I have done the same with the words of other prophets, when those words will make my message clearer. And when it comes to repentance, it never hurts to nudge someone toward turning to Christ. It is, afterall, the greatest good we can do for them.

Topics in this series will include: 

• The Lord's definition of repentance, 
• What repentance is not, 
• Why repentance is the first and last commandment, 
• Who needs to repent, 
• Why we need to repent, 
• How the failure of the Lord's people to repent is the catalyst for the Lord’s endtime judgments, 
• The consequences of repenting or the failure to repent--both temporal and eternal, 
• How our failure to understand the doctrine of repentance has and will affect generations, 
• How we have ignored the Lord's command to teach our children to understand the doctrine of repentance, 
• Why repentance is a gift from God, 
• The context in which repentance is first commanded, but why it is part of the 'second' commandments, 
• The main message of the Book of Mormon is repentance, 
• Why only godly sorrow brings about repentance, 
• Can we repent after death, 
• Repent and receive the Lord's mercy, fail to repent and be subject to God's justice, 
• Only those who repent are of His church, 
• What it means to be baptized unto repentance, 
• What it means to have faith unto repentance, 
• There is no other doctrine, 
• Repenting and being born again, 
• Repentance and a new heart, 
• Why we do not need to repent of not following the prophet, 
• And so much more.

Through God's words,  He invites us, commands us, teaches us, sends messengers, and gives us additional written records and revelations. But He also warns us, using His justice or anger and wrath, so that we may want to accept His mercy. I will, through this series on Repentance, attempt to use all these methods in the hope that perhaps even one, who is not presently repenting, will turn to Christ, repent and accept His mercy.

If you are one who loves to hear the call to repent, continue reading.

Next: Repentance: The Lord's Definition

Is it Enough That Your Children Know That You Are A Good Member of the Church?

This was originally published on March 11, 2022, under the title Is It Enough That Your Children Know You Are a Good Ministering Teacher? Take some time to click on the five links in this post. They may be of some benefit to you and others.

 

What is it that you want your children and grandchildren to know about you? I was in an Elder's Quorum meeting a few years ago, and the topic was on teaching our children, or what do we want our children to know. There was a reference to D&C 68:25, but there was no discussion or instruction concerning what D&C 68:25 commands us to teach, and no reference was made to Moses 6:57-60, or to D&C 93:40 on what the Lord has commanded that we are to teach our children. 

But the idea of being a good example was discussed, and immediately I thought about what Alma wanted his three sons to know about him. Of all the things he could have told them such as being the Chief Judge and/or being the High Priest over the church, he instead recounted to them how he had murdered many of God's children, or rather how he had led them away unto destruction (Alma 36:14), and how he and the Sons of Mosiah were "the very vilest of sinners" (Mosiah 28:4). He told them of the angel who visited him and then in detail what he experienced thereafter.

He described how he was racked with the pains of a damned soul and was racked with torment and harrowed up by the memory of his many sins. He describes this as hell, and gives us a glimpse of what hell must be like for those of us who do not repent. He wanted his sons to know that he had sinned, and that he had repented of his sins and was redeemed by the Lord. He described to his sons that he had cried within his heart and said: "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."  

He then described the marvelous light that he beheld and told them that his soul was filled with joy. There was, he said, nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were his pains, but on the other hand there could be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was his joy. He said: "I stood upon my feet, and did manifest unto the people that I had been born of God." 

Alma told and retold his story to his sons so that they would know that their father had rejected his Redeemer, and most importantly he wanted them to know that after his soul had been racked with eternal torment, he was "snatched" and his "soul was pained no more." He was teaching them the Gospel of Jesus Christ through his own experiences, how he had been born of God and how everyone of us "must be born of God...changed from (our) carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming His sons and daughters. And thus become new creatures; and unless (we) do this (we) can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God" (Mosiah 27:25-26 emphasis added). 

Of all the things Alma could have taught His sons about himself, he chose to teach them that: "I have repented of my sins, and have been redeemed of the Lord; behold I am born of the Spirit." 

Alma also taught his son Shiblon what our relationship should be to God and to each other. He taught him to not be lifted up in pride or to boast of his own wisdom and strength, or to think of himself as better than his brethren; "but rather say: O Lord, forgive my unworthiness, and remember (our) brethren in mercy--yea, acknowledge your unworthiness before God at all times" (Alma 38:11-14 emphasis added).

Alma's emphasis in teaching his sons was on the goodness and mercy of our Savior, not his own 'good example, and how, notwithstanding his own sins and unworthiness, he was redeemed and born again. He wanted his Sons to know that it was not because of his goodness, but because of the goodness and righteousness of our Savior that he was redeemed. He did not just teach them that he was a good High Priest, had a testimony and fulfilled his civic and church duties. I use the metaphor of being a good member of the Church because it fits the pattern of focusing on ourselves and our religious duties rather than on our Savior.

If we examine our own lives and decide what to teach our children, we may dismiss Alma's account as a pattern because, we may say, his experience was different. But was it really? Or should it be? Do we need to have an angel tell us to repent and be aware of the justice of God, when we have been told over and over again by Book of Mormon prophet-writers, by some of our modern day prophets and apostles, and by the Lord himself? We may say that Alma's sin was more serious and does not apply to us, even though we have been told that one sin subjects us to all of God's justice. But we can't teach what we have not experienced, and that is the problem: if we have not been troubled enough by our sins to bring us down unto repentance, we cannot teach our children what Alma taught his. Instead we may focus on the fact that we may have been a good member of the Church.

Alma used his own experience with God's justice and mercy, to teach his sons about God's justice and mercy. His own experience caused him from that time forth to labor 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."

In telling my story in The Many Lives of W. Clark Burt, I wanted my children to see me as I really am (a chief sinner); and how, through His goodness and mercy, He has redeemed me from hell and saved me from my sins. I can say that I am repenting and desire to endure in repentance and faith to the end, and that I am no longer under the bondage of sin, but under His grace. I can say that I have been born of the Spirit. Even though my sins continue to trouble me, I continue to repent by turning to Christ and relying wholly upon His merits (not my own) to save me. I know that through repentance and enduring to the end I will have claim upon His mercy and be found guiltless at the judgment. It is not just about my sins but also about my being carnal by nature, and about all the flaws in my character such as selfishness and impatience. 

But I also have hope in Christ that the effects of my sins (the iniquities) will be repaired by Christ. Only He has the power to turn evil into good. He has promised that repentance fixes all that was ruined.

Tom Christofferson, brother to Apostle Todd Christofferson said of his being Gay, "For me, being gay is one of the greatest blessing of my life because I came to a point where I felt I really had to know that Christ lives, that his Atonement and resurrection are realities that have impact in my life. Other people come to that knowledge in their own ways, but this caused me to seek knowledge. I am incredibly grateful for this path." I can say the same about my path (divorce and new marriage) and for the same reasons. It was the catalyst for me to really seek Christ and His atonement. 

I call this a 'Road to Damacus' experience which results in us, at some point in our journey on this earth, stopping in our tracks and 'hearing' the voice of God, telling us: "This is my Son Hear ye him!" Have you had your 'road to Damascus' experience? Have you come to experience your own lost and fallen state, and experienced the need and desire to turn (repent) to Christ and rely wholly upon His merits? Have you experienced your repentance? Are you even now experiencing your own repentance?

The Lord has revealed to us that to repent means to turn to Christ. The Latin root for repentance is to turn. The Greek root means to change one's mind. The Hebrew root means to return to God. We must desire and be willing to change our mind and our heart and be willing to turn to God and turn away from what we are. When we partake of the Sacrament we do witness unto God that we are wiling to take upon us His name, that we are willing to always remember Him, and that we are willing to keep His commandments!

We can see the fruits of our repentance (or turning to Him) by virtue of the changes He is making in us. He is beginning to take away our disposition to do evil, and is curing our tendency to turn away from Him. Fruits of our repentance include growing in the knowledge of Him and desiring to teach our children and others of His goodness and mercy. He will cause that our hearts be filled with joy and we will rejoice in Him. 

We come to know that God created us with a mind capable of instruction, and a faculty which has been enlarged in proportion to the heed and diligence given to the light communicated to us through His words. Our views become clearer and our enjoyments greater. We begin losing our desire for sin, and He is changing our hearts. We offer Him our broken heart, and He gives us a new heart. 

Our hope becomes in Him. It is hope because we still realize our flesh is weak and that our heart continues to desire that which is evil sometimes, but we will believe what He has revealed: that we can attain to His righteousness through putting our faith in Him and be claimed by God's mercy.

Through His atonement, mercy was introduced as the way to reclaim us from the grasp of the justice of God. Through His fruits, we now know that we need God's mercy and would not want to be judged by our works, whether they be good or evil. Our hope is that we will be found guiltless, and that we will be claimed by His mercy.

Personally. I believe all the words which he has spoken to me. I know of their surety and truth because the Spirit of God has wrought a mighty change in me, or in my heart, that my disposition to do evil is diminishing and my desire to do good (the works of Christ) is increasing.

When Lehi was teaching his son Jacob he said to him "I know that thou art redeemed, because of the righteousness of thy Redeemer..." (2 Nephi 2:3 emphasis added). It was not Jacob's righteousness which redeemed him, but the righteousness of Christ.

I know I cannot rely on my own merits and goodness. I have hurt and disappointed many, and If that had been the end of the story, then I would agree that I deserved to die in my sins and be consigned to a state of misery. But because of the goodness of God and the greatness of His Plan of Redemption, it was not the end of the story, but only the beginning of another path that led me to my Savior, to understand through His words and my experience, the doctrine of repentance and faith. The walk that I have walked, and the one I want my children and others to know, is that of a sinner being redeemed, which is the walk that all of us must walk. But it is not really my story that I want them to hear. It is the story of my Savior, of His goodness and mercy! It is His words that I want them to hear, not mine! It is His words, and when they hear them they will begin to understand the doctrine of repentance, to be troubled by their own sins, and the need and the desire to avoid the justice of God and through His words be driven into the arms of His Mercy!

 

Fortunately Alma's sons, including Corianton, did listen to what he had to say about his own repentance and about his being born again, for they then became the teachers of the gospel of repentance to their children, and to others (why) so that the great plan of mercy might have claim upon those that they taught. 

While still troubled, I am no longer harrowed up in my sins, but have beheld the marvelous light, and my soul has been filled with joy. I now know like Paul that "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief" (1 Timothy 1:15).

If all you want your children to know is that you were a faithful church member; or that you faithfully fulfilled all your callings, went to or worked in the temple regularly, had a 'testimony,' did your family history, served a mission or multiple missions, and that you were by all accounts a good person (LDS obituary), you will undoubtedly miss the mark, and therefore probably cause your children to miss the mark as well. I say miss the mark in the sense that Jacob said it--the Jews were blinded by their own self righteousness, "which blindness came by looking beyond the mark" (Jacob 4:14), the mark being their Savior and His goodness and mercy, not their own. 

This scripture illustrates the difference. "And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, (Why?) that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins. We speak concerning the law (why?) that our children may know the deadness of the law, that they, by knowing the deadness of the law, may look forward unto life which is in Christ" (2 Nephi 25:26-27 emphasis added).

You may be part of the ninety and nine that need no repentance. But if you think that, be mindful of who Christ was speaking to and why He told them the parable of the lost sheep. It was to the Pharisees and scribes that Christ was speaking, and His reference to the ninety and nine was to those Pharisees and scribes, just persons, who thought they needed no repentance. His reference to joy in heaven over the one sinner that repenteth is contrasted with the sorrow over those who think they do not need to repent.

A brief look at D&C 68:25 and Moses 6:57-60 will help us understand not only what we are to teach our children but why it is so critical that they know we have experienced what we are

asked by the Lord to teach them. 

Parents with children in Zion must teach their children to understand the doctrine of repentance, to understand faith in Christ, to understand the need for baptism, and to understand the gift of the Holy Ghost. Note that it is not enough to teach them about, but to understand. 

This is not possible if we do not understand. It is not enough to just know about these doctrines, and we can only understand if we have experienced them! An example of this is Alma teaching his son Corianton. He could teach Corianton to understand the doctrine of repentance because he understood it, not just intellectually, but because he had experienced it!

Now look at Moses 6:57-60. Enoch has just explained that since we are all born in sin, including our children, that sin conceiveth in our hearts that we may know to taste the bitter (why?) so that we can choose the good. Because of this, and having become carnal, sensual and devilish by nature, we are agents unto ourselves with two choices--good or evil, and we cannot act for ourselves without being enticed by the one or the other. 

Because of this we are commanded to teach our children that all men everywhere must repent, and of course all men everywhere includes you. If you have taught your children to understand the doctrine of repentance (using the Lord's definition of repentance which is to turn to Him and rely wholly upon His merits), your children will want to know if you have and are repenting. If they understand that without repentance we cannot dwell in the presence of God, they will want to know where you will be. 

He gets more specific when he says: "Teach these things freely unto your children, saying: 

That by reason of transgression cometh the fall, which fall bringeth death, and inasmuch

as ye were born into the world by water, and blood, and the spirit, which I have made, and so became of dust a living soul, even so ye (you) must be born again into the kingdom of heaven, of water, and of the Spirit, and be cleansed by blood, even the blood of mine Only Begotten; that ye (you) might be sanctified from all sin, and enjoy the words of eternal life in this world, and eternal life in the world to come, even immortal glory." 

Teaching 'about' being born again is not the same as actually being born again, and what better example can you be to your children and grandchildren than the "example of a believer (in Christ), in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity" (1 Timothy 4:12 emphasis added). If you be a good minister of Jesus Christ, you shall be "nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou has attained" (2 Timothy 4:6). "Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine, continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee" (2 Timothy 4:16).