Repentance is a Gift!

"Light of the World" by Howard Lyon

While discussing sin and the need of repentance with a friend of mine, my friend said to me:  "Too many people think of repenting of sins as a punishment from God.  That is simply not true.  That is not the way God sees repentance, and that is not how he wants us to see it.  Repentance is a gift!  It is a chance to be clean of sin and try again."  At that moment my entire perspective of repentance changed, and with that change came a greater love for God and his Atonement.

The Need to Repent
The holy scriptures teach us that no unclean thing can dwell in the kingdom of God.  When we commit sins we are no longer spiritually clean, and therefore are not fit to be saved in the kingdom of God, unless we rid ourselves of the sins committed.

When Jesus Christ performed the Atonement he took upon himself our sins.  This means that he paid the price for all sins that we commit in our lives, making it possible to be free from them.  The Lord, having paid the price even with his life, set the rules to follow to be forgiven of our sins.  These rules are the things he has commanded us to do - faith, baptism, repentance, charity, etc.  "In paying for your sins," teaching a manual of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, "Jesus did not eliminate your agency or personal responsibility - He will not make you clean against your will.  To receive His help and strength, you need to exercise faith in Him, repent, be baptized, receive the Holy Ghost, and choose to follow His teachings for the rest of your life."

To further help us understand the need to repent of our sins, a prophet of the Book of Mormon explained:  "the Lord surely should come to redeem his people, but that he should not come to redeem them in their sins, but to redeem them from their sins" (Helaman 5:10).  That is, if we die without forsaking our sins we will not be saved, but if we have done our best to follow God's commandments and quit our sins, we will be saved through the grace of God - his Atonement making up for anything we could not do ourselves.

There is Always Hope
One may say to themselves that they have committed too many sins to be forgiven, that they are too far from God to be saved.  Do not think this, as this is not true, as difficult as it may seem at the time.  In a great address on the need of repentance, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, gave this message:

"I do not know who in this vast audience today may need to hear the message of forgiveness ... but however late you think you are, however many chances you think you have missed, however many mistakes you feel you have made or talents you think you don't have, or however far from home and family and God you feel you have traveled, I testify that you have not traveled beyond the reach of divine love.  It is not possible for you to sink lower than the infinite light of Christ's Atonement shines."  ("The Laborers in the Vineyard," General Conference Address, April 2012.)

The path to being forgiven of our sins is not an easy one, and will lead us through much pain for the wrongs we have done.  Perhaps that is why, as my friend said, "too many people think of repenting of sins as a punishment from God."  But if we trust in the Lord, our Savior Jesus Christ, we can not only get through our difficult times but can also be forgiven of them, bringing into our lives a new hope and love.

Mormonism Teachings: Cleansing Through Christ

One of the great teachings of Mormonism is that of repentance.  Through repentance a person may be cleansed through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  Previously I have shared a page about Christ's healing power with the Legion.  Now I'd like to share another scripture story of his healing power, that of Naaman the Syrian captain.

Although these two stories - Naaman and Legion - are physical healing, they equally show what the Lord can do for us through repentance.  First I will share the story, and then add my thoughts on the repentance side of it.

2 Kings 5
1. Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria:  he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper.
2. And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman's wife.
3. And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy.
4. And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel.
5. And the king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel.  And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment.
6. And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, Now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy.
7. And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me.
8. And it was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.
9. So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha.
10. And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.
11. But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper.
12. Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean?  So he turned and went away in a rage.
13. And his servants came near, and spake unto him and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?
14. Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God:  and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

Naaman had leprosy, which was one of the most feared diseases at this time.  Moses' law taught that if a man had leprosy he was to live alone outside of the city (see Leviticus 13:45-46).  To make matters more humiliating for Naaman, Elisha told him not to wash in the clean Abana or Pharpar rivers, but to wash in the filthy Jordan.

Like that of Legion, this must have seemed like a worst-case scenario for Naaman.  He was unclean and was told to wash in an unclean river.  But, with the encouragement of his servants, he did wash in Jordan and was cleaned of his unclean disease.

I believe this to be a testament that Christ is the master-healer.  No one can become too unclean through sin to be healed by the Atonement.  The process of repentance is real and the cleansing through Christ is real.  Like Naaman and Legion being clean with physical problems, we can be clean of sinful problems through Jesus Christ.

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If you have further questions about repentance you can read more about it here:

Forgiveness is a Gift

Or you can ask a Mormon missionary here:

http://mormon.org/chat

A Joyful Lesson From Alma Jr. - Mormonism Teaches Repentance

For the past little while I have shared some posts relating to Mormonism.  In brief, 'Mormonism' is a word some people use when talking about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or what the Church believes.  This particular post is on the topics of repentance and atonement.

"Repentance," as defined as LDS.org, "is one of the first principles of the gospel and is essential to our temporal and eternal happiness.  It is much more than just acknowledging wrongdoings.  It is a change of mind and heart that gives us a fresh view about God, about ourselves, and about the world."  Repentance, in short, is the process to change.  Big or small, whatever the sin, repentance is a gift to become a happier person.

The atonement is what makes this all possible.  Again using definitions from LDS.org, the atonement "to atone is to suffer the penalty for sins, thereby removing the effects of sin from the repentant sinner and allowing him or her to be reconciled to God.  Jesus Christ was the only one capable of carrying out the Atonement for all mankind.  Because of His Atonement, all people will be resurrected, and those who obey His gospel will receive the gift of eternal life."

Due to the effects of the Fall of Adam, all people would fall short of the Celestial Kingdom without some sort of atonement to redeem them from this fall.  That is what the atonement does.  Christ has paid the atonement for mankind to rise above this fall, on condition that they follow him.  If they do so they will return to the kingdom of God.  (This is talked about in more detail in my previous post, here.)  But everyone makes mistakes, and repentance is the process to get past these mistakes.

The scriptures contain countless examples of repentance.  In the Bible there can be seen the conversion of the great missionary Paul, before named Saul.  But the example I wish to use is from the Book of Mormon.  This is the story of Alma Jr.  Alma, much like Saul of Tarsus, went around persecuting those that believed in Christ.  This is his story, as he himself told it to his son Helaman, found in Alma chapter 36:

6.  For I went about with the sons of Mosiah, seeking to destroy the church of God; but behold, God sent his holy angel to stop us by the way.
7.  And behold, he spake unto us, as it were the voice of thunder, and the whole earth did tremble beneath our feet; and we all fell to the earth, for the fear of the Lord came upon us.
8.  But behold, the voice said unto me:  Arise.  And I arose and stood up, and beheld the angel.
9.  And he said unto me:  If thou wilt of thyself be destroyed, seek no more to destroy the church of God.
10.  And it came to pass that I fell to the earth; and it was for the space of three days and three nights that I could not open my mouth, neither had I the use of my limbs.
11.  And the angel spake more things unto me, which were heard by my brethren, but I did not hear them; for when I heard the words - If thou wilt be destroyed of thyself, seek no more to destroy the church of God - I was struck with such great fear and amazement lest perhaps I should be destroyed, that I fell to the earth and I did hear no more.
12.  But I was racked with eternal torment, for my soul was harrowed up to the greatest degree and racked with all my sins.
13.  Yea, I did remember all my sins and iniquities, for which I was tormented with the pains of hell; yea, I saw that I had rebelled against my God, and that I had not kept his holy commandments.
14.  Yea, and I had murdered many of his children, or rather led them away unto destruction; yea, and in fine so great had been my iniquities, that the very thought of coming into the presence of my God di rack my soul with inexpressible horror.
15.  Oh, thought I, that I could be banished and become extinct both soul and body, that I might not be brought to stand in the presence of my God, to be judged of my deeds.
16.  And now, for three days and for three nights was I racked, even with the pains of a damned soul.
17.  And it came to pass that as I was thus 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.
18.  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.
19.  And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.
20.  And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!
21.  Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains.  Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy.
- Alma 36:6-21 -

When people follow the steps of repentance it is rarely through such a dramatic way as it was for Alma.  But the end result can always be the same:  Our "souls [can be] filled with joy as exceeding as was [our] pain!"

If you have questions on repentance or the atonement, you can ask someone here and they will be happy to answer your questions.