Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Repentance

Elder David A Bednar, Always Retain a Remission of Your Sins, April 2016 General Conference
“The Holy Ghost is the third member of the Godhead. He is a personage of spirit and bears witness of all truth. In the scriptures, the Holy Ghost is referred to as the Comforter,
10 a teacher,11 and a revelator.12 Additionally, the Holy Ghost is a sanctifier13 who cleanses and burns dross and evil out of human souls as though by fire.”





James J Hamula, The Sacrament and the Atonement, October 2014 General Conference
We further declare that we will ‘keep his commandments.’ That is a solemn commitment to repent. If our thoughts, words, or actions have been less than what they should have been in days past, we recommit ourselves to more closely align our lives with His in days to come.



D Todd Christofferson, Free Forever, to Act for Themselves, October 2014 General Conference
Christ died not to save indiscriminately but to offer repentance. We rely ‘wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save’19 in the process of repentance, but acting to repent is a self-willed change. So by making repentance a condition for receiving the gift of grace, God enables us to retain responsibility for ourselves. Repentance respects and sustains our moral agency...”



Cheryl A Esplin, The Sacrament—a Renewal for the Soul, October 2014 General Conference

The sacrament becomes a spiritually strengthening experience when we listen to the sacrament prayers and recommit to our covenants. To do this, we must be willing to take upon us the name of Jesus Christ.2Speaking of this promise, President Henry B. Eyring taught: ‘That means we must see ourselves as His. We will put Him first in our lives. We will want what He wants rather than what we want or what the world teaches us to want.’3
...
Each week, she conducted a self-evaluation during the sacrament. She recalled mistakes she had made, and she committed to be better the next week. She was grateful to be able to make things right and be made clean. Looking back on the experience, she said, ‘I was acting on the repentance part of the Atonement.’



Elder Quentin L Cook, Can Ye Feel So Now?, General Conference October 2012

...through repentance you can qualify for all the blessings of heaven.”

Helaman 5:40-41
40 And it came to pass that the Lamanites said unto him: Whatshall we do, that this cloud of darkness may be removed from overshadowing us?

41 And Aminadab said unto them: You must repent, and cry unto the voice, even until ye shall have faith in Christ, who was taught unto you by Alma, and Amulek, and Zeezrom; and when ye shall do this, the cloud of darkness shall be removed from overshadowing you.


Hebrews 12:1
1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the
sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,




Elder Dieter F Uchtdorf, The Merciful Obtain Mercy, April 2012 General Conference When the Lord requires that we forgive all men, that includes forgiving ourselves.




My Thoughts:

It appears that when the scripture speak of turning to the Lord it means to repent.

Mormon 3:2
 2 And it came to pass that the Lord did say unto me: Cry unto this people—Repent ye, and come unto me, and be ye baptized, and build up again my church, and ye shall be
spared.
 




President Boyd K Packer, “How to Survive in Enemy Territory”,Seminary Centennial Broadcast
“Guilt is spiritual pain. Do not suffer from chronic pain. Get rid of it. Be done with it. Repent, and, if necessary, repent again and again and again and again until you—not the enemy—are in charge of you.”


1 John 1:8-10
  8 If we say that we have ano bsin, we cdeceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.


  9 If we aconfess our sins, he is faithful and bjust to cforgive us our sins, and to dcleanse us from all unrighteousness.


  10 If we say that we have anot sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.





Luke 15:17
 17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!



Psalms 119:59

59 I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies.





2 Peter 3:9
9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.


We must come to repentance or we will perish. Repentance is something we must do in addition to saying that we accept Christ.


Obedience and repentance are the hands we receive the atonement with.






Spencer W. Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness (Ch 4)
"Some men come to recognize their sins from introspection while others must be brought to their knees by outside forces."








Elder J Devn Cornish, Of the Seventy, The Privilege of Prayer, General Conference October 2011
“An essential and sometimes forgotten part of personal prayer is repentance. For repentance to work, it must be specific, profound, and lasting.”







Mosiah 4:16-18
16 And also, ye yourselves will asuccor those that stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need; and ye will not suffer that the bbeggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish.

17 Perhaps thou shalt asay: The man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments are just—

18 But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this the same hath great cause to repent; and except he repenteth of that which he hath done he perisheth forever, and hath no interest in the kingdom of God.


We must take care of each other or we must repent.




Alma 34:32-34
32 For behold, this alife is the time for men to bprepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of cthis life is the day for men to perform their dlabors.

33 And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many awitnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not bprocrastinate the day of your crepentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the dnight of edarkness wherein there can be no labor performed.

34 Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful acrisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth bpossess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world.


Procrastinating repentance until the end says something about where our heart is at. Our character is one of the things we can take with us.


Matthew 6:12, 14-15

12 And forgive us our adebts, as we bforgive our debtors.

14 For if ye aforgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

15 But if ye aforgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

To be forgiven of our sins we must do something. One of those things is to forgive others.




Mosiah 26:31-32
31 And ye shall also aforgive one another your trespasses; for verily I say unto you, he that forgiveth not his bneighbor’s trespasses when he says that he repents, the same hath brought himself under condemnation.

32 Now I say unto you, Go; and whosoever will anot repent of his sins the same shall not be numbered among my people; and this shall be observed from this time forward.


Alma 32:16
16 Therefore, blessed are they who ahumble themselves without being bcompelled to be humble; or rather, in other words, blessed is he that believeth in the word of God, and is baptized without cstubbornness of heart, yea, without being brought to know the word, or even compelled to know, before they will believe.






Matthew 3:8-10
8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:
9 And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. 
10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
  • Fruits are works.  Those who do not produce good works are cast off.
  • Just because one is a child of Abraham, or of Israel, or that one has confessed that Christ is ones savior one will be cast off if one does not produce fruits meet for repentance.
  • Fruits meet for repentance - you display what is important to you in your actions.  They are indicators that your character has changed.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Eternal Marriage

1 Corinthians 11:11
 11 Nevertheless neither is the manwithout the woman, neither thewoman without the man, in the Lord.

Doctrine and Covenants 90:24

 24Search adiligentlybpray always, and be believing, and call things shall work together for your good, if ye walk uprightly and remember the dcovenant wherewith ye have covenanted one with another.

Matt. 22:23–30
23 ¶ The same day came to him the aSadducees, which say that there is no resurrection, and asked him,
24 Saying, Master, Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his abrother shall bmarry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.
25 Now there were with us seven brethren: and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased, and, having no issue, left his wife unto his brother:
26 Likewise the second also, and the third, unto the seventh.
27 And last of all the woman died also.
28 Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her.
29 Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the ascriptures, nor the bpower of God.
30 For in the aresurrection they neither bmarry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the cangels of God in heaven.
I have often heard this used to prove that eternal marriage is a false doctrine. Some things to remember when reading this scripture:
  • He was speaking of the people in the question that was posed to him and not all people.
  • The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection.
  • The Sadducees did not have the power to bind on earth and in Heaven as was given to Peter later by Jesus, since that power was not among men at that time. Since they did not have the power to make the marriages binding for eternity when they are resurrected they are not married.
There was some additional commentary on this scripture in the February 1986 Ensign in the article “I have a Question
Doctrine and Covenants 132:13-16
13 And everything that is in the world, whether it be ordained of men, by athrones, or principalities, or powers, or things of name, whatsoever they may be, that are not by me or by my word, saith the Lord, shall be thrown down, and shall bnot remain after men are dead, neither in nor after the resurrection, saith the Lord your God.
14 For whatsoever things remain are by me; and whatsoever things are not by me shall be shaken and destroyed.
15 Therefore, if a aman marry him a wife in the world, and he marry her not by me nor by my word, and he covenant with her so long as he is in the world and she with him, their covenant and marriage are not of force when they are dead, and when they are out of the world; therefore, they are not bound by any law when they are out of the world.
16 Therefore, when they are out of the world they neither marry nor are given in amarriage; but are appointed angels in bheaven, which angels are ministering cservants, to minister for those who are worthy of a far more, and an exceeding, and an eternal weight of glory.
Matthew 16:19
19 And I will agive unto thee the bkeys of the ckingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt dbind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Jesus states that he will give Peter the power to make things binding on earth and in heaven. One of those things in marriage.