Sanctification

"Additionally, the Holy Ghost is a sanctifier¹³ who cleanses and burns dross and evil out of human souls as though by fire."
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"In the process of coming unto the Savior and spiritual rebirth, receiving the sanctifying power of the Holy Ghost in our lives creates the possibility of an ongoing cleansing of our soul from sin. This joyous blessing is vital because 'no unclean thing can dwell with God.'"
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"Please consider that the emblems of the Lord’s body and blood, the bread and the water, are both blessed and sanctified."
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"To sanctify is to make pure and holy. The sacramental emblems are sanctified in remembrance of Christ’s purity, of our total dependence upon His Atonement, and of our responsibility to so honor our ordinances and covenants that we can 'stand spotless before [Him] at the last day.'"
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"And by the sanctifying power of the Holy Ghost as our constant companion, we can always retain a remission of our sins."


3 Nephi 27:20
 20 Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day.

Personal Revelation

Marvin J. Ashton, Love of the Right, April 1971 General Conference
"Do we realize that the Lord has promised us a physical manifestation if we but ask him to direct us in the right?"
Robert D Hales, Eternal Life—to Know Our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, General Conference October 2014
“My own testimony grew as I learned about Heavenly Father and the Savior from the teachings and testimony of my parents, teachers, the scriptures—which I read diligently—and especially the Holy Ghost. As I exercised faith and obeyed the commandments, the Holy Ghost testified that what I was learning was true. This is how I came to know for myself.”
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“In this process, seeking for personal revelation is a key. Nephi invites each of us to ‘feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.’4”

Elder Ian S Ardern, Shunning Temptation:  A Key to Receiving Revelation
"In this world of increasing turmoil, keeping ourselves worthy of receiving revelation is of utmost importance.
"For many of us, a barrier to revelation is being unwilling to truly repent of “small things” the Spirit cannot tolerate. "
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"Not all revelation comes immediately or as clearly as we may want, but it does come. The receipt of revelation depends on our faithfulness, but the clarity of revelation depends on our listening skills. Learn to listen for it, learn to feel it, learn to recognize how it comes to you, act upon it, and be grateful for it."


1 Nephi 15:11
 11 Do ye not remember the things which the Lord hath said?—If ye will not harden your hearts, and ask me in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you.

Holy Ghost

Doctrine and Covenants 88:66
66 Behold, that which you hear is as the voice of one crying in the wilderness—in the wilderness, because you cannot see him—my voice, because my voice is Spirit; my Spirit is truth; truth abideth and hath no end; and if it be in you it shall abound.

Elder Dallin H Oaks, The Godhead and the Plan of Salvation, General Conference April 2017

“The third member of the Godhead is the Holy Ghost, also referred to as the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Lord, and the Comforter. He is the member of the Godhead who is the agent of personal revelation. As a personage of spirit (see D&C 130:22), He can dwell in us and perform the essential role of communicator between the Father and the Son and the children of God on earth.”

Elder Robert D Hales, “Come, Follow Me” by Practicing Christian Love and Service, October 2016 General Conference
Let us remember, the most important work we do in our families is through the power of the Holy Ghost. Whenever we raise our voices in anger, the Spirit leaves our companionships and families. When we speak in love, the Spirit can be with us. Let us remember that our children and grandchildren measure our love by how much devoted time we give them. Above all, don’t lose patience and don’t give up!

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.”

Francisco J Vinas, The Pleasing Word of God, October 2015 General Conference
“With the influence of the Holy Ghost, we will not be offended, nor will we offend others; we will feel happier, and our minds will be cleaner. Our love for others will increase. We will be more willing to forgive and spread happiness to those around us.

“We will feel grateful to see how others progress, and we will seek the good in others.

“It is my prayer that we may experience the joy that comes from striving to live in righteousness and that we may keep the companionship of the Holy Ghost in our lives through sincere and continuous repentance. We will become better people, and our families will be blessed.”


Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Lorenzo Snow, Chapter 2
"Now those people at Samaria had been born of water—they had received the first birth, therefore, they were in a state of seeing the kingdom of God, of contemplating with the eye of faith its various blessings, privileges, and glories; but as they had not been born the second time, that is, of the Spirit, they had not entered into the kingdom of God—they had not entered into possession of Gospel privileges in their fulness. When the apostles at Jerusalem heard of the success of Philip, they sent Peter and John to Samaria, for the purpose of administering the laying on of hands. Accordingly, when they arrived at Samaria, they laid their hands upon those that had been baptized, and they received the Holy Ghost. [See Acts 8:5–8, 12, 14–17.]^5"

Boyd K. Packer, “How to Survive in Enemy Territory,” New Era, Apr. 2012, 3
No member of this Church—and that means each of you—will ever make a serious mistake without first being warned by the promptings of the Holy Ghost.

President Deiter F Ucktdorf - 2nd Counselor in the First Presidency, Of Regrets and Resolutions, General Conference October 2012
"Let us listen to and obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit. As we do so, Heavenly Father will reveal to us things we never knew about ourselves. He will illuminate the path ahead and open our eyes to see our unknown and perhaps unimagined talents."


Elder Craig C Christensen of the Seventy, An Unspeakable Gift from God, General Conference October 2012
“Before baptism, all honest and sincere seekers of truth can feel the influence of the Holy Ghost from time to time. However, the opportunity to receive the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost and the fulness of all the associated blessings is available only to worthy, baptized members who receive the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands through those holding the priesthood authority of God.”

Boyd K. Packer, “Personal Revelation: The Gift, the Test, and the Promise,” Liahona, June 1997, 10; Ensign, Nov. 1994, 60
"The Holy Ghost speaks with a voice that you feel more than you hear. …"

Elder Craig C Christensen of the Seventy, An Unspeakable Gift from God, General Conference October 2012
“He causes the truth to be indelibly written in our souls and can cause a mighty change to occur in our hearts. As we share these truths with our families, with fellow members of the Church, and with friends and neighbors in our community, the Holy Ghost becomes their teacher as well, for He carries the message of the gospel ‘unto the hearts of the children of men.’”


Elder Quentin L Cook, In Tune with the Music of Faith, General Conference April 2012
Please understand that having faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and keeping His commandments are and always will be the defining test of mortality. Above all else, each of us must realize that when one is tone-deaf to the music of faith, he or she is out of tune with the Spirit. As the prophet Nephi taught, “Ye have heard his voice … ; and he hath spoken unto you in a still small voice, but ye were past feeling, that ye could not feel his words.”25

Jacob 4:1313 Behold, my brethren, he that prophesieth, let him prophesy to the understanding of men; for the Spirit speaketh the truth and lieth not. Wherefore, it speaketh of things as they really are, and of things as they really will be; wherefore, these things are manifested unto us plainly, for the salvation of our souls. But behold, we are not witnesses alone in these things; for God also spake them unto prophets of old.

My Commentary: We perceive lots of things in out lives that aren't entirely accurate. The holy ghost can help us see things are they really are.


Dallin H. Oaks, Fundamental to Our Faith, Ensign January 2011
"Personal revelation—sometimes called 'inspiration'—comes in many forms. Most often it is by words or thoughts communicated to the mind by sudden enlightenment or by positive or negative feelings about proposed courses of action. Usually it comes in response to earnest and prayerful seeking. Jesus taught, 'Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you' (Matthew 7:7). Revelation comes when we keep the commandments of God and thus qualify for the companionship and communication of the Holy Spirit."


Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith [2007], 132
“no man can receive the Holy Ghost without receiving revelations”


President Deiter F Uchtdorf, Waiting on the Road to Damascus, General Conference April 2011"Often He speaks to us in ways that we can hear only with our heart. To better hear His voice, it would be wise to turn down the volume control of the worldly noise in our lives. If we ignore or block out the promptings of the Spirit for whatever reason, they become less noticeable until we cannot hear them at all. Let us learn to hearken to the promptings of the Spirit and then be eager to heed them."


John 14:15-18
15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.


Doctrine and Covenants 20:77, 79
77 O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who partake of it, that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son, and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him and keep his commandments which he has given them; that they may always have his Spirit to be with them. Amen.
79 O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this wine to the souls of all those who drink of it, that they may do it in remembrance of the blood of thy Son, which was shed for them; that they may witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they do always remember him, that they may have his Spirit to be with them. Amen.

John 14:26
26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.


Moroni 10:5
5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.

Doctrine and Covenants 8:2
 2 Yea, behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart.


Doctrine and Covenants 11:13
 13 Verily, verily, I say unto you, I will impart unto you of my Spirit, which shall enlighten your mind, which shall fill your soul with joy;


Alma 5:45-46
45 And this is not all. Do ye not suppose that I know of these things myself? Behold, I testify unto you that I do know that these things whereof I have spoken are true. And how do ye suppose that I know of their surety?
46 Behold, I say unto you they are made known unto me by the Holy Spirit of God. Behold, I have fasted and prayed many days that I might know these things of myself. And now I do know of myself that they are true; for the Lord God hath made them manifest unto me by his Holy Spirit; and this is the spirit of revelation which is in me.

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”
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“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.