Hey there, everybody. Welcome out to another
episode of Redeemed Through His Blood. Scott
and David Durfey here as always. How are you?
I'm good, Scott. I'm so good. The mission plans
are coming well. We're getting all prepared.
Look out Australia. You don't have to buy new
suits or white shirts at your know I am watching
I am watching Bluey though every day Bluey is
that Australian something you don't know about
Bluey? I know nothing about blue. Oh my gosh.
What's Bluey? Bluey is the Blue dog. Oh Okay,
the animated dog on Disney or whatever my my
grandkids love Bluey and they speak in Australian
with an Australian accent. Yeah, that's fun.
So I'm trying to learn the language by watching
Bluey. And you'll find this interesting, all
our listeners probably don't know this. Bluey
is based on a real dog and lived in Australia
that owns the Guinness World Book Record for
living the longest. How old was it? 22 and a
half years old. A dog? Yeah. Wow. I hope Huck
lives 22 and a half years. The oldest dog that
ever lived. And his name was Bluey. Bluey. And
he lived in Victoria, Australia. What kind of
dog was he? A sheepdog. Was he blue? He must
had a blue kind of. Well, that is a color. I
mean, you remember we had Dobermans when we were
younger and we had a blue Doberman born one time.
Right. Fancy. Right. Kind of a sheep dog. We
have blue horses, blue roan, that's one of my
favorite horses. I called him Bluey. Yeah, that's
cool. That's great. Well. Important mission prep.
Yeah. Of course it is. You're diving into the
culture. You know, when I went on my mission,
we had whole classes based on culture. And we
needed that because I went to Seattle and the
culture in Seattle was a lot different than Utah,
I say that. I really couldn't understand. How
do you teach that liberal culture in the MPC
though? And I didn't even understand the liberal
culture at 18, 19 years old. You know, I had
no clue, but anyway. That we kind of sidetracked
with all that gang. We are wrapping up. You know,
we've got a few, a few episodes left. We have
a topic today that will probably take us today
and potentially maybe next week or next episode.
And then we plan to, um, finalize, uh, this podcast
with the way we started. That would be with an
Easter episode, uh, the week before. Podcasts
of podcasts. We're going to wind it up. The most
important, we began with it. We intend to kind
of wrap this iteration of our podcast up with
it. You know, as I said, that I plan on in a
year and a half or so to do this again with you.
So. Okay. Yeah. Anyway, a couple of things. Last
week I mentioned, and I kind of said it wrong,
towards the end of the podcast, I said, Hey gang,
we have a course and that's kind of what this
podcast. has followed along as a course. The
course is The Divine Gift of Forgiveness. David
authored the curriculum for that, for the institutes
and seminaries. And then, of course, he helped
with the authoring of the book The Divine Gift
of Forgiveness with Elder Anderson because of
the course that he had written originally. Originally,
it was called Repentance and Forgiveness. I wanted
to call it the infinite atonement, but Callister
had just written a book that he entitled that.
Well, and last week, you know, our podcast has
followed three seasons now and in each of the
seasons we went through the entire, and I called
it coursework. I really hesitate to use that
word on a podcast because we're not doing a course
on the podcast. We're talking about the content
that we deal with in the classes around the course.
And it's really a more experiential experience,
if you will, than just a course. So when I said
that last week, I just don't want to mislead
people in thinking, oh my gosh, this is a course.
I'm going to go back and do this course. No,
that's not what it is. What it is is it's designed
for living that helps us to align. through Christ's
atonement with our Heavenly Father's will for
us. And it happens to be that all comes to be
through the course, the divine gift of forgiveness,
and we break it down week by week as we've gone
through that. So here's another invitation. If
you'll go back to season three, episode one,
you will begin the podcast the way it was and
experience the podcast the way it was really
intended to be experienced. And we're going to
extend that invitation. You've got over a year.
year and a half's worth of content, those of
you who are near to us, new to us, to listen
to. And about that time, we intend to be picking
back up potentially. So anyway, go back and take
advantage of the experiences that you can have
with those original podcasts. So Dave, speaking
of - Well, as we wind down, Scott, as we wind
down and conclude, I recently I was asked to
speak at a young adult fireside and I felt impressed
that I should kind of give the five or six key
points of the entire course. Sorry to use that
word again. The entire really course that I taught
for many years. And it was really based upon,
you know, Elder Anderson once wrote me an email
before we really began the project. And I had
kind of helped him, not so much author it is,
probably design it and give him encouragement
on the organization of it. The book, when you
say the project, you're referring to the book,
right? Yeah. But he asked me to summarize what
I thought were the key points. And I want to
talk about those today, the key points. The key
points of repentance and forgiveness, the key
points of the divine gift of forgiveness. And
I think that these are not just key points of
a course or key points of a book, but these are
kind of the key points of life, Scott. I mean,
really, to really find joy, man is that he might
have joy. And I think understanding these key
points will help one accomplish that expectation
or purpose of life to have joy. And so let's
just talk about those. And the first one is key
point number one. One needs to understand the
blessings of the fall of all mankind. That the
fall was part of the plan of God. It's one of
the three pillars. of the plan of salvation or
the plan of redemption. It was a blessing. It's
a blessing to us to be human, to be fallen, to
suffer, to experience life, mortality, sin, and
all of the bitter that we experience in mortality,
Scott, is such a blessing. The key phrase I think
that we've tried to emphasize in the past years
as we've taught this is from C .S. Lewis, that
redeemed humanity is greater than unfallen humanity
could have or would have ever been. That is such
a liberating thought. We get so hung up on how
hard mortality is and sometimes I think we just
get so lost in the trials and the tribulations
of life and we all experience it. But when you
understand that it's part of the plan of God
and that all of those things have been not only
planned, but that God planned for them through
the gift of His Son in recapitulating or recovering
or returning, restoring everything that would
be lost, or everything that would be suffered,
or every sin that would be committed, or every
pain. Scott, the Atonement of Jesus Christ covers
all of it. Understanding the fall and the need,
the absolute need we have for a Savior and Redeemer,
and the blessings of being redeemed rather than
living in a blissful world of no pain, no suffering,
no hardship, no sin. Man, that would have been
awful, really, Scott, too. I know it sounds good,
easy. You know, it sounds easy. but there would
be no progress. We would not have been able to
become like our Heavenly Father, and we would
not have had a Savior and Redeemer or any sort
of relationship like we are able to enjoy now
with Jesus Christ. So I just think understanding
the fall, we're all fallen, we should all celebrate
it, we should all be thankful for it, we shouldn't
try to run away from it, we're all natural men,
we're all carnal, devilish and sensual, you know,
Abinadi taught it powerfully, Lehi was the first
to teach it. But it's been taught throughout
the Book of Mormon over and over and over again,
the essential nature of the fall. And you know,
Scott, there's something that's really missing
from the Holy Bible, is the blessings of the
fall. of Adam and Eve, and we not only have in
the Book of Mormon, but I just love when Eve
in the temple endowment, when she quotes Moses
chapter 5, we would have had no children, we
would have not known joy, you know, that's Moses
chapter, you want to read it? You got it? Moses
chapter 5 verse 11. I really, I think this is
really what, what needs to be understood and
appreciated about the fall. And it's pretty awesome
that the temple makes, may spend so much time
on the fall, which ought to be a clear message
to us how important that is in the plan of redemption
and salvation is the essential nature of the
fall. So they fall, right? And let's read verse
10 first. Yeah. And that day Adam blessed God
and was filled and began to prophesy concerning
the families of the earth saying blessed be the
name of God for because of my transgression My
eyes are open. Just just pause on that blessed
be the name of God for because of my Transgression
my eyes are opened. What a blessing the fall
is what a blessing That were fallen that were
mortal that were human anyway And again in this
life I shall have joy, and again in the flesh
I shall see God. And Eva's wife heard all these
things and was glad, saying, Were it not for
our transgression, we never would have had seed,
and never should have known good and evil, and
the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life
with which God giveth unto all the obedient."
So she lists four things that we should really
be grateful for because of the fall. One, never
should have had seed. Two, never would have known
good and evil. Three, would not have known the
joy of our redemption, and we could say the joy
of having a Redeemer, the joy possible through
Jesus Christ and His redemption. And four, eternal
life with God becoming like Him. I just think
it's so powerful and so critical in understanding
the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ and
the blessings and gift of the restoration of
the fullness of the gospel, Scott. So, key number
one, if you don't feel like you need a Redeemer,
then we're done. There's no need for us to go
any further in talking about this, because I
really think, Scott, that unless you understand
the fall, the atonement of Jesus Christ makes
no sense. I agree. In fact, understanding the
fall is akin to, and it's really not akin to
anything. I mean, the understanding the fall
of Adam and Eve stands alone. However, there
is some kind of, well, I don't even know what
the word is, similarity. between understanding
the fall of Adam and Eve and alcoholics and addicts,
um, understanding how to overcome addictions,
et cetera. Right. And the first one is, and the
first one is to understand and recognize that
we're fallen. I mean, you just said - I'm an
addict. And in AA, we recognize that I am powerless
over alcohol and my life has become unmanageable.
And I think that's the key is the unmanageability
of our lives. because of the fall, the way that
we see our lives, right? Without the help of
God, one might argue, I think successfully, that
life is unmanageable without the help of God,
period. And we could get into that a lot. But
to understand that my life is unmanageable, and
that was part of God's plan, was for my life
to be unmanageable, to be full of challenges.
We have, and I like to say this, I'm teaching
this class again for the fifth year, fourth year
actually, at Institute as well, calling. But
I love when we are talking about the fall, I
love to ask the question, how many problems that
are in your life are a direct result of the fall
of Adam and Eve? And that's something for us,
I think, to honestly, carefully consider, you
know, because it's not just about my sin. It's
about my sin. But it's about anything that separates
me from the understanding or the feeling of Heavenly
Father's love and direction and care and all
those other words for me. And so that can show
up in all kinds of different ways. My body's
broken, that's because of the fall. And when
I say our bodies are broken, I just mean imperfect.
That's the physical death component of the fall.
And then we have the spiritual death component
of the fall. Between the two of those, betwixt
those two, Dave, I think that we pretty well
cover every problem that we could potentially
have in this life. And so do we need a redeemer?
I don't know, it depends on how much you like
the problems in your life, right? Yeah. It's
so important, Scott, that we acknowledge our
spiritual death. Yeah. And I really mean that.
We are spiritually cut off from God. And I know
that we can have a member of the deity, the Holy
Ghost, and we can be born again, spiritually
speaking. I understand that, but we in this life,
experience spiritual death. And I just don't
know if we focus on that enough or think about
that enough. And that's not our fault. That was
part of the plan, that we would experience spiritual
death. The scriptures, at least Jacob in 2nd
Nephi 9, calls that hell. Spiritual death is
hell, and he knew that in this life we would
experience hell, and that this mortality is actually
linked to the equivalent of the telestial kingdom,
which is referred to as hell in the doctrine.
Anyway, we experience hell and spiritual death
in this life. And then there's the other major
negative, which is physical death, disease, thickness,
little arthritis and everything else that is
negative in regards to having a mortal, physical
flesh and blood body. And, and Scott, it's, it's
universal and it's not our fault. And even little
children suffer the fall. It's just a myth in
the church to think that little babies are fallen.
Jesus was fallen. Jesus experienced all of the
fallen aspects of what Adam and Eve did because
of Mary, his mother. He experienced pain. He
experienced sickness. He experienced that. And
he experienced to an extent that none of us will
experience spiritual death. in Gethsemane and
on the cross, when God completely withdrew from
him, when there was no spirit with him, when
it went dark and the earth shook, and, Scott,
nobody experienced the fall more than Jesus.
And it's just important, I think, that we understand
the universal nature and the absoluteness I don't
know a better word for this, the comprehension,
the breadth, the depth, anyway, of the fall of
mankind. And that's only important if it teaches
us that we need help. We need a Redeemer. We
cannot. save ourselves. You said that Jesus experienced
the effects of the fall more than any of us ever
could. Jesus actually experienced every effect
of the fall to its infinite degree as He experienced
everything I would ever experience from the fall,
everything you would ever experience from the
fall, and everything all of our brothers and
sisters that populate this planet Earth from
its beginning to its end. built from the fall
as well. Which leads us into the second key.
Which is understanding and being grateful for
the atonement of Jesus Christ. Its effects and
the events. The events and the effects of the
atonement of Jesus Christ. Really understanding
the atonement of Jesus Christ God brings us the
gratitude and the motivating power which is in
the gratitude that we need in order to do those
things necessary, to repent of our sins, to exercise
faith in Jesus Christ, to participate in the
ordinances and covenants and all of the blessings
of the fullness of the gospel, and to experience
full redemption, sanctification, and eventually
glorification. So it's just really, I think,
important for us to just spend a few moments.
We did a whole podcast in the past before on
the Atonement, and we'll talk about some of these
events again when we talk about Easter, so we
don't need to go into too much depth. But there
are four events of the fall, at least as I teach
it, and as it's taught in Elder Anderson's book.
And I think this is really important to see it
this way. I think I've noticed recently that
those who speak of the Atonement of Jesus Christ,
they usually focus on three events. They focus
on the Gethsemane, they focus on the cross, and
they focus on the resurrection, garden tomb and
resurrection. So these are the... Kind of the
three aspects that most people speak about the
events of the atonement of Jesus Christ But I
like to include Before Gethsemane before the
cross before the resurrection Jesus had to live
a sinless life and yet be tempted in Ways that
we will never be tempted No one was tempted more
than Jesus Nobody sacrificed more to be clean
and to maintain their virtue than Jesus. Nobody
has ever had to fight against temptation the
way Jesus fought against temptation. No one was
attacked more by Satan. and the power of evil
than Jesus, he had to experience all of that
too. That's part of the atonement, is his sinless
life, so that he would know what it was like
to be tempted, so that he would know what it
was like to go through what we experience when
it comes to temptations, which is all possible
because of the fall of mankind. So I just think
that's really... important, that we understand
the four events, and that really His sinless
life is… And again, C .S. Lewis, right, is the
one who talks about this. Do you have that in
the book right there? Yeah, I do. Actually, this
is on page 89 in the book, The Divine Gift of
Forgiveness. Elder Anderson and David are quoting
C .S. Lewis here. He says, C .S. Lewis expressed
this idea, the idea that David just… proposed
to us. So C .S. Lewis expressed this idea, end
quote. Only those who try to resist temptation
know how strong it is. You find out the strength
of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by
lying down. A man who gives in to temptation
after five minutes simply does not know what
it would have been like after an hour. That is
why bad people in one sense, know very little
about badness. They have lived a sheltered life
by always giving in. That's interesting when
you think about sheltered life by always giving
in. The wicked have lived a sheltered life. We
think just the opposite, right? We never find
out the strength of an evil impulse inside us
until we try to fight against us. Christ, because
he was the only man who never yielded to temptation,
is also the only man who knows the full extent
of what temptation means. Isn't that awesome?
And I love that you bring that up, the sinless
life. Again, this isn't again something that's
not as commonly discussed and talked about. And
I know that we just went through the events of
Christ's Atonement and Institute class just a
few weeks ago. And when we talk about the sinless
life, I think that's really an eye -opener to
a lot of people. And I think that you made that…
You opened my eyes to that a few years ago when
we started doing this, and I think that just
really understanding that not only gives us appreciation
for the events themselves, but the character
behind the events. And I don't mean the character
of Jesus, I mean the character of Jesus, his
character and advocates. critical to the next
step that we're going to talk about. I don't
want to leave the atonement quite yet, but the
next step we're going to talk about is faith
in Jesus Christ, which includes faith in His
character, according to Elder Maxwell. Faith
in Jesus Christ must include faith in His character,
His sinless life, in other words. And you know,
it's in that sinless life, Scott. I think about
this occasionally. Why didn't Jesus sin? Well,
because if he would have sinned, he would not
have been able to atone for us. He would have
only atoned for himself and would have been only
able to cover his sins and not vicariously cover
yours and mine and the world. So, he knew that.
That was all according to the law of justice.
However, the real reason he didn't sin is because
he loves me. and he loves you, and he loves the
world. That's why he didn't sin. And Scott, it
wasn't easy. It was not easy for him to live
a sinless life. I think it's one of the hardest
things he did. I think it may have been harder
than Gethsemane or the cross. I mean, you can't
compare any of that. I'm just saying, I can't
imagine how difficult, how hard that would have
been for him. Now, some people will say, but
he was a god, and my response to that is, yes,
he was, but that only made it more possible for
him to be tempted further. That didn't reduce
any of the urge or the temptation or the power
of Satan in his life. He had to experience it
more than anyone in this existence of the earth
would ever experience it, and him being a god
allowed him to do that. That was also true of
Gethsemane. Gethsemane didn't lighten the pain
or the suffering, it only allowed him, in fact
I love what Elder Callister says about that,
his godhood only allowed him to suffer all of
it. And no man could have suffered it without
being a God. I think Elder Callister actually
says something about he didn't choose, he chose
not to don the bulletproof vest of Godhood. Yeah,
there you go. That's it. Because being a God
just allowed him to suffer more. Right. Not to
make it any easier on himself. Yeah. And the
cross, Okay, so Gethsemane, bleeding from every
pore, which again, nobody else understands or
believes but us. It's still amazing to me how
many Latter -day Saints take this doctrine, this
point of doctrine, when it comes to the atonement
of Jesus for granite. No one else believes that
Jesus bled from every pore but us, because it's
only taught in the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine
and Covenants. When you talk about Jesus bleeding
from every pore, that is unique to the restoration
of the fullness of the gospel. Nobody understands
the atonement of Jesus Christ more than we do.
It's just, if you leave the church, and you leave
the Book of Mormon, and you leave the Doctrine
and Covenants, then you leave that doctrine behind.
It's just so precious, the points of doctrine
that we have been taught because of the restoration
on the Atonement of Jesus Christ God. I want
to get on a wall like Samuel and declare it anyway.
So, Gethsemane was horrible. We are not a Gethsemane
Church. He went to the cross, and it was there
where the culmination of spiritual death and
suffering and all the scourging and all the other
things in between Gethsemane, all the other things
between Gethsemane and the cross are part of
the Atonement of Jesus. That he—part of it is
so that he can succor us in our suffering. But
on the cross, he experienced the full extent
of spiritual death. And according to Elder Talmage,
Elder McConkie, and now President Nelson, so
happy when President Nelson taught that the cross
is where Gethsemane was not just reenacted, but
where it was actually intensified. that the pain
of Gethsemane was intensified on the cross when
he cries out at 12 noon. From 12 noon to 3 p
.m., those three hours, Scott, when he cries
out, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
That was the ultimate in his spiritual death
and suffering. Mind, body, spirit were those
three hours. And only a God could suffer the
intensity of it and live through it to be able
to say after three hours of it, it is finished.
And to know that he had paid for all of our sins,
all of our sicknesses, Alma 7, 11 through 13,
and to know how to succor us in our infirmities.
So anyway, Scott, Well, those are the events.
Yeah. Well, let me just comment on that real
quick because, and again, I know that we're going
to be doing an Easter podcast and we'll be covering
the events again. But there's something here
that I really want to iterate. Understanding
the events deepens our gratitude, right? If we
really understand not just the events of the
atonement of Jesus Christ, but everything about
it. But I think for me, it was really important
that I began understanding the events. What did
he go through? What did it cause him? How did
he prepare? What needed to be done on his part
in order for it to be done on my part? And I
love that because, you know, again, as part of
going back to the first one that we talked about,
the fall of Adam and Eve, part of what we suffer
because of the fall of Adam and Eve, and we really
do suffer it, is fear because of our fear and
doubt and anxiety, all these things we fear.
We have these because of our separation, because
of what you just said. Well, in the Doctrine
and Covenants, we're given a way to access and
some of the ways that the blessings of Christ's
atonement can really bless us in our lives, and
especially as it comes to those two things, fear
and doubt especially, because in Doctrine and
Covenants, section 6, verse 36, Jesus invites
us, look unto me in every thought. Well, that's
great, look unto me, but He invites us not to…
Where is He? And that's the point. Is He on a
hill, in a meadow, at the temple, in heaven?
Where is He? He's actually… in the events of
the atonement. And because he says, behold the
wounds, because he says, behold the wounds which
pierced my side, and also the prints of the nails
of my hands and feet. Be faithful, keep my commandments,
and you shall inherit the kingdom of God. So
be faithful, turn your will over to me, access
to the atonement. and be faithful and be faithful
and keep my commandments. We make that covenant
to remake that covenant every week when we partake
of the sacrament. All of this points back to
the events of Christ's Atonement. All of them.
Such a great point, Scott. You know, I hear that
quoted a lot lately. Look unto me in every thought.
Yeah. And then oftentimes they stop there. Actually
what they quote is, look unto me in every thought,
doubt not, fear not. And then they stop. They
need to read the next verse, they need to quote
the next verse, look unto me in every thought,
behold the wounds. And behold is more than just
look at. Behold the atonement. He's not saying
look at the wounds. wounds in my hands and feet.
He's saying behold them. That's an experiential
event. It's not just looking at them. Okay, there
they are. It's experience. Beholding those wounds
in his hands and his feet means that I'm experiencing
at some level what he went through. And even
if I'm just experiencing, you're not just looking
at it, you're feeling it. And I may not just
be experiencing it through and appreciating it.
I may not be just experience it, but I'm appreciating
it because of the effects it has in my life.
Look unto me. It's not like looking at him at
Bethsesda or looking at him on the top of a mountain.
It's not looking at me. Look at me and behold,
The wounds. Yeah. Look unto me. It's almost an
invitation to come unto me again. And where?
Again, I know we'll be going, and I don't mean
to take so much time on this, but I don't think
you can take much time on the events of the Atonement
of Christ. Elder Holland taught, it's the wounded
Christ that we worship. It's the wounded Christ
we worship. It's not the one that we You know
so often think of As we read the scriptures or
watch the chosen or I love the scriptures and
I love the chosen I know that's true but It's
the wounded Christ that we worship it's the wounded
Christ that we should look at and behold and
in the process of doing that We will be filled
with gratitude. And that gratitude is the beginning
of desire and will fill us with the motivation
that we need to then participate in what we call
the doctrine of Christ. This is the next point,
Scott. And by the way, we need to maybe next
week do a whole thing on what does the Atonement
cover. What does the Atonement of Jesus Christ
cover? Can we make a note of that maybe next
time? Today we just kind of talked about the
events. Understanding the Atonement of Jesus
Christ is not just understanding the events,
which are awesome, which can fill us with gratitude
and give us motivation. But what powerful motivation
flows into our lives when we understand what
the Atonement of Jesus Christ covers. But we
don't have time to do that today. We'll do that
next week. So we enter into what's called the
doctrine of Christ. So the third point, third
point after understanding number one, the fall,
number two, the atonement of Jesus. Now we talk
about faith in Jesus Christ. Faith in Jesus Christ
God is the power. behind repentance. There is
no power in and of itself in repentance. It's
faith in Jesus Christ. It's Christ Himself that
is the power of redemption and the power in repentance.
I just think that's so important. You know, Abinadi,
I love the prophet Abinadi. In fact, he means
so much to me that in one of our You know, we
had three stillborns, and one of our three stillborns,
one of our little boys, we named Abinadi, because
I think he's my favorite prophet. And he gives
his life, and he has no idea that he made any
difference at all. I mean, he dies thinking,
what was this for? Right? Because Noah and everybody
reject him, and they kill him, except one. One
high priest wrote some things down, Alma. Kind
of an instrumental. It's so great. Alma believed
that he writes the words of Abinadi. Anyway,
that's in Mosiah 17. But in Mosiah 16, Scott,
in Mosiah 16 is one of the great doctrinal chapters
of the Book of Mormon, and he talks about the
fall. And then he talks about the grave and the
sting of death is swallowed up in Christ. Then
he talks about the resurrection and the judgment,
and he talks about the arms of mercy. I just
love Mosiah chapter 16, but listen to the last
verse. The last verse, he says, teach them that
redemption comeeth through Christ the Lord. who
is the very Eternal Father. Amen. This is the
last thing he says to them before he dies. Redemption
cometh through Christ the Lord. I really just
love how redemption, the plan of redemption,
the importance of redemption is taught in the
Book of Mormon. by all the prophets, but Abinadi
is one of my favorites. In that regard, it is
faith in Jesus Christ and His redemption that
gives us the power in order to repent. Faith
in Him and not in ourselves. When we talk about
faith, Scott, faith in Jesus Christ, which is
the first principle of the Gospel, article faith
number four, When we talk about it, you can't
talk about it as though you have it or you don't
have it. You have to talk about it in regards
to, well, where are you at? There are levels
of faith. There's levels of I believe, there's
levels of I act, there's levels of power, and
there's levels of knowledge. Faith can be knowledge,
if you reach a certain level such as God's faith,
it's just wrong to think that God doesn't have
faith. It's through faith, according to Hebrews,
that God created the earth. Faith is the moving
power of all things in the universe. Faith is
the moving power not only of God creating the
earth, but faith is the moving power of me and
you to kneel down and to ask for forgiveness,
for us to do anything, Scott, to get out of bed
in the morning requires some sort of belief or
faith. Without faith there is no action, and
without faith there is no power. That's true
of the universe, and that's true of every individual.
And then faith in Jesus Christ is that we rely
on Him. We learn to rely on His merits, not our
merits. Faith in Jesus Christ is to understand
the truth taught by John when Jesus said in John
chapter 15, I am the vine, ye are the branch,
without me ye can do nothing. Faith in yourself
may get you out of bed, but faith in yourself
is not going to bring you redemption. It is faith
in Jesus Christ that without Him we can do nothing
in regards to our own redemption. It is understanding
that Christ merits save me, not my own merits.
It's to understand that His righteousness, I
have faith in His righteousness. Lehi told his
son Jacob in 2 Nephi chapter 2 or verse 3, verse
2 or 3, I know that—I'm paraphrasing—I know that
thou art saved, Lehi tells Jacob, because of
the righteousness of thy Redeemer. Not because
of your goodness and righteousness, Jacob, but
because of the righteousness of your Redeemer.
Faith in Jesus Christ gives us the power to act
and to do those things required to learn to rely
on Him, Scott. I've been thinking a lot about
the Scripture about, well, what's the whole purpose
of life, really? But the Scripture in Abraham,
we will prove them herewith, saith the Lord.
Whether they will do all things that they've
been commanded. Okay, so maybe one purpose of
life is to prove ourselves. But to prove ourselves
in regards to what? To prove ourselves in regards
to what He has commanded us, and what has He
commanded us? To rely on Jesus Christ, believe
in Him, and be redeemed through and by Him. I
know we cannot be redeemed or saved in our sins,
but we must have the faith that through Christ
we can be redeemed and saved from our sins. The
purpose of Life, Scott, is to learn how to, through
the merits of Jesus Christ, go to the Father
and to express our sorrow and let Him understand
and see our broken heart and our contrite spirit
and to cry out for forgiveness. That's the purpose
of life. That's what we are here to prove, is
if we will rely upon Jesus Christ for our redemption
and not upon the arm of the flesh. for our redemption.
So maybe you could say that it's not our job
to prove how great we are in life, but to prove
that we understand how great He is. The purpose
of life is to rely on Jesus, to learn what it
means and how to rely upon Jesus Christ as our
Redeemer and Savior. and not upon ourselves.
Well, and, you know, we're talking about faith,
and so as we gain that knowledge, as we learn
about Him, as we come to know Him better and
understand all of the things that we've already
talked about, going back to the events of the
Atonement, understanding the blessings of the
Fall, well, we do all that, and then our faith
increases. And that's when we really start to
experience faith as a power, because that's when
faith moves from just faith in Jesus Christ.
not just faith in Jesus Christ, that's extremely
important, but moves from faith in Jesus Christ
to faith unto repentance and then faith unto
baptism. And all of that requires this thing
that we learn about among other places in Mosiah
3, where we learn about faith in His name. And
all of these things create a greater power for
us to access the blessings that are available
to us because of His Atonement. Yeah, faith is
like a helix. And the more we repent, the greater
our faith becomes. The more we participate in
the ordinances and covenants, the greater our
faith grows. And it's like a helix progressing
and becoming greater and greater, until sometime,
we'll have the faith of God. That's what we all
aspire for, is to become like our Heavenly Father,
and that's what He aspires for us to have, is
to be able to have that level of faith. But that
faith has to be focused on Jesus Christ. and
His redemption and His righteousness, not our
own. I love in Mosiah 3 where this is talked
about so much, and it goes through the blessings,
and I'm not going to get into it today here because
of time, but I'm going to invite our listeners
to become readers and go and read Mosiah 3 today,
or as soon as you can, to understand not just...
what faith will do for us, faith in His name,
etc., to understand that, but to understand that
how do we come by that faith? And this will point
us right back to everything that we've talked
about. Yeah, and really, Mosiah 4, where it says,
believe in God! Right. You know, verse 10 and
11, believe in God, believe in this, believe
in that. That's faith. That's the faith that
will redeem us. So, Mosiah 4, 10, and 11 are
really powerful on that point, Scott. So, thank
you. Well, that kind of leads us into what I
think is the fourth key, which is understanding
really our kind of our nothingness when it comes
to repentance. Now, I know we have to make great
effort to repent, and repentance is not easy,
but There are so many misconceptions about what
repentance is, and the best way to understand
what repentance is—this is the fourth key—is
to know what repentance is not. And if you understand
our dependence upon Jesus Christ, it should help
us to know what repentance is not. For example,
repentance is not the payment or penalty or punishment
for sin. Oh, Scott, there are so many people
that are hung up on trying to pay back what was
lost because of their sins. I know there's restitution,
I believe in restitution, but that's not repentance
in regards to crying out to God and asking for
forgiveness. but so many people never get to
that point because they think they're the ones
that have to pay back or be punished for or penalized
because of their sins, and so we still have so
many Latter -day Saints who are trying to be
punished, punishing themselves, really, beating
themselves up, flogging themselves. Steve Robinson
said they're self -masochists, spiritual masochists,
who are just beating themselves up because they
think they have to suffer or punish themselves
for their sins. That's not repentance. And if
anybody believes that, they'll never get around
to exercising the faith in Jesus Christ and accepting
His payment, His punishment, and His penalty
for sin. So of all of the Rs of repentance, the
one that hardly ever gets talked about is Redeemer.
And that's how Elder Anderson actually puts it
in the book, rely on our Redeemer. Rely on our
Redeemer. That's the biggest R of repentance,
is learning to how to rely on Him and His Atonement.
I think the reason he brings that up and you
bring this up too is, you know, there are, we
have a list of six things that repentance is
not. I'll read them quickly. It's not a series
of steps or a checklist. It's not an institutional
event. It's not just a change in behavior. Repentance
certainly precipitates change in behavior, but
it's not just that change. It's a change of nature,
change of heart. It's a transformation. It's
not what changes us. We can change, but repentance
is not what changes us. No, and atheists change,
Scott. Agnostics change. They can change their
behaviors and habits, but there's no redemption
in it. And so it's not just about change. It's
not just about change. It's about being redeemed.
And finally, repentance is not what actually
saves us. No, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ saves
us. And it's necessary. It's necessary for our
salvation, but Jesus Christ saves us. So ridiculous
about the, some of the, I've, I stood on Mulholland
Street and watched a really sweet Latter -day
Saint young mother with a baby in a carriage.
a mom with a baby in a stroller arguing with
an anti -Mormon for probably an hour and a half
while our baby's crying about works and grace.
And we are saved by grace after all we can do.
Oh, man, that was so frustrating for me. I was
on a... assignment as Delta IV during the open
house of the Nauvoo temple and standing there
and listening to that and being told that I couldn't,
I wasn't to say anything to people. Scott, we
are saved by grace and all we can do is to repent.
As a matter of fact, Alma 24 -11 brings this
to point, because it says, and now behold, my
brethren, since it has been all that we could
do, as we were the most lost of all mankind,
to repent, to repent of all our sins and our
many murders which we have committed to get God
to take them away from our hearts, for it was
all we could do to repent sufficiently before
God that He would take away our stain. I mean,
that's all we can do. It's all we can do. Is
repent. And learn to rely on our Redeemer. Repentance
is coming to Christ, relying on our Redeemer.
That's what repentance is. And it's really important
that one understand what it's not before they
can come to know what it is. But repentance is
not payment. penalty and punishment for sin.
Anyway. Yeah. For those of you who are maybe
wanting to dive into this a little bit more,
go back and find our episode on what repentance
is not. It'll probably be season three around
episode eight, 10, 11, somewhere in there. Awesome.
Point five is the Holy Ghost is the messenger
and the administrator. the atonement of Jesus
Christ. If one wonders if they've been forgiven
of sin or not, if one wonders how do I get the
atonement of Jesus Christ in my life, how people
are always saying, you just have to apply the
Atonement of Jesus. You just have to… What is
that? What does that even mean? What does it
look like? The Holy Ghost is the messenger and
the administrator of the Atonement of Jesus Christ
in our life, and if one wants to apply it, they
have to get the Holy Ghost in their life. And
if they want to know if they're forgiven, they
just have to recognize if they have the Holy
Ghost. And if the Holy Ghost is their constant
companion and he's… and He's with them, and whenever
they feel the Spirit, according to President
Eyring, what should they know? The atonement
of Jesus Christ is doing its work. The atonement
of Jesus Christ is forgiving us when we have
the Spirit. The atonement of Jesus Christ is
saving us and is redeeming us through the power
and gift of the Holy Ghost. So the question really
comes down to, Scott, What do I need to do to
live by the Spirit? That is the ultimate question
that one needs to answer in order to receive
the atonement and all the powers, all of the
redemptive, enabling, compensatory powers of
the atonement of Jesus Christ in our life. How
do I get that? By living. so that I can qualify
for and receive the Spirit and gift of the Holy
Ghost. That's the key to all of this, is living
by the Spirit, walking in the Spirit, eating,
drinking, and living our life by the Spirit.
That's so important. So I think those are the
main keys of the whole. the whole course, and
maybe the keys in my mind, Scott, the whole keys
of life. Understanding I'm human and loving it,
that I'm fallen, that I'm a sinner. And then
understanding the Atonement of Jesus Christ and
how He loved me enough that He covered me, that
He paid for me, that He suffered and died and
was resurrected and lives for me. and then to
understand that my responsibility is to exercise
faith in Him, which really means to learn how
to rely on Him, and to accept His will, to have
my will swallowed up in His will, and to have
the faith of action and power in my life, which
will lead me to repentance. And repentance is
crying out, coming to Christ, relying on Him
and crying out for forgiveness and receiving
His grace and His mercy, and making restitution
to whatever extent I can, and to help and to
forgive others is part of Repentance Scout, which
is a whole other podcast that I think we did
two, one or two podcasts on what it means to
forgive others, because that's an important piece.
to repentance, but I think it comes naturally
when one is forgiven and comes to know of the
grace and mercy of Christ, because it's really
about grace for grace and mercy for mercy when
it comes to repentance. And then, ultimately,
to recognize the supernal gift of the Holy Ghost
in our life and to receive Him. recognize Him,
respond to Him, and by doing so, the Atonement
of Jesus Christ is empowering you and me and
all of us every day of our lives as we live.
by the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost.
Yeah, I love that you use the word empowering
because it really is, you know, it empowers us
to get through all the things that we've talked
about. I don't know about all of our listeners.
I think this is probably safe to say that it's
probably an experience that we all have from
time to time when the effects of the fall of
Adam and Eve are really pronounced in our lives.
And that can show up in a lot of different ways.
It can show up, and I won't even begin to name
them, but it can show up in any way. So if you're
feeling any anxiety in life, if you're feeling
any depression, any detachment, anything that
is not akin to perfect love and acceptance of
our Heavenly Father, then we're experiencing
the effects of the fall. How do we offset the
effects of the fall of Adam and Eve? We've given
that recipe today. Those five key components
of repentance are really our anecdote to face
in life and in all of the trials in life. Repentance
really is what brings us to the love of God through
His Son, Jesus Christ. And it's administrated.
I'm so grateful that we talked about this today.
It's administrated and administered through the
third member of the Godhead. the Holy Ghost,
I'm grateful for the Comforter, too. Yes, and
it's a perfect plan, Scott. Perfect plan. It's
a perfect plan. The fall was—it's so great, and
I'm so grateful for each of these points, but
mostly I'm just really thankful to know that
Heavenly Father has a plan for the redemption
of His children, for my redemption, for my salvation.
for my exaltation. I'm glad you said that. It's
individual. It's individual. It is individual.
And the sooner we can feel the individuality
of that, I think the more efficacious. And the
plan for me is perfect. Plan for you is perfect.
Plan for all of our listeners is perfect. If
we will just tap in to the knowledge, understanding
of and powers of plan of redemption in our lives.
These things that we've talked about today are
so important, and I just feel like we almost
need an entire day to cover them. But we have
covered them. It occurs to me that we have covered
them, and we've covered them in many, many, many
episodes of this podcast. So please go back,
enjoy those, let them speak to you spiritually,
let them draw you closer to your Heavenly Father
that you may be able to feel the peace that comes
through worship. lining our lives with Him. Thanks
for being with us. We love you. We hope you feel
that again. But most of all, we hope that you
feel the love of your Heavenly Father in your
life. Until next week, be well.