{"id":182,"date":"2022-01-23T22:16:07","date_gmt":"2022-01-23T22:16:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/postsofgreatprice\/?p=182"},"modified":"2022-01-23T22:16:07","modified_gmt":"2022-01-23T22:16:07","slug":"repentance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/postsofgreatprice\/2022\/01\/repentance\/","title":{"rendered":"Repentance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

In the previous segment, we discussed the \u201cbroken heart\u201d and listed several examples such as King Benjamin\u2019s people who felt \u201cthe fear of the Lord\u201d, <\/em>and \u201cviewed themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

How did Benjamins people escape this broken-hearted anguish? \u201cThey all cried aloud with one voice, saying: O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness<\/strong> of our sins<\/em>, and our hearts may be purified; for we believe in Jesus Christ\u201d <\/em>(Mosiah 4:1,2). These people pleaded for mercy, asked for forgiveness, asked for a purified heart. They repented.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Repentance and forgiveness are fundamental principles of Christianity, and yet, I think they are commonly misunderstood. When I was teaching adults in Sunday School and would ask the class to define repentance, the usual response was a list of \u201cR\u201d words. A general conference talk long ago had suggested these words and they continued to be taught for years. So the class would dutifully recite words like: Recognize, Remorse, Restitution, Refrain, etc.; I don\u2019t even remember the original list, but you get the idea. Bottom line, LDS repentance is understood as conquering sinful behavior\u2013one weakness at a time.<\/p>\n

Obviously, if we complete all of these goals for all of our sins, repentance becomes a very<\/em> long process. LDS are taught to work toward eventual perfection; but recognizing that no one becomes sinless in this life, members expect to continue improving in the spirit world.<\/p>\n

So how does this interpretation of repentance align with the examples in the scriptures?<\/p>\n

In a recent Sacrament Meeting our neighbor, Mark, said something very unorthodox; He said, \u201cWhile writing this talk I got a little sidetracked and was looking for scriptures where Christ forgave sins.\u2026based on the verses I read my conclusion is that there is no Scriptural basis for repenting of just one sin, or being forgiven of just one sin. In the Scriptures, repentance and forgiveness is an all or nothing proposition<\/strong>. This has changed how I think about repentance and about the Sacrament. All of us fall short. All of us are imperfect. All of us sin. But we can be forgiven of all of our sins. We don\u2019t have to be perfect to receive this forgiveness. But we must come to Christ with a broken heart and a contrite spirit and ask for his mercy.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Wow, what Mark said is not the common LDS paradigm of repentance. So, was our neighbor off the rails here, or was he right? What do the scriptures teach about repentance?<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s consider our example of Benjamins people; remember, they had, \u201call cried aloud with one voice, saying: O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness<\/em><\/strong> of our sins.\u201d Immediately, \u201cthey were filled with joy, having received a <\/em>remission<\/em><\/a> of their sins, and having peace of <\/em>conscience<\/em><\/a>, because of the exceeding <\/em>faith<\/em><\/a> which they had in Jesus Christ\u201d <\/em>(Mosiah 4:3). This is profound! There were many people in this group, with no doubt many differing sins, and yet everyone <\/em><\/strong>was<\/em> forgiven of every<\/em> <\/strong>sin\u2013at once<\/em>!<\/p>\n

Is it possible that repentance\u2013at least an initial repentance\u2013is not a lengthy process? Are we needlessly suffering anguish and discouragement, thinking the solution is improvement, when the scriptures teach us to plead to Christ for mercy?<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s consider another example: The very wicked Alma was in an angel-induced coma for three days and upon reviving the first thing he said was, \u201cI have repented of my sins\u201d (Mosiah 27:24). If repentance is a lengthy process of conquering bad behavior, then how could a wicked man accomplish that while in a three-day coma?<\/p>\n

As my neighbor Mark discovered, the main message in the scriptures is to broken-heartedly come to Christ, repent of sins<\/strong>, and receive forgiveness of sins, <\/strong>in one powerful event<\/em>. There is no scriptural teaching that limits repenting to one sin at a time, and no scriptural teaching that Christ forgives only one sin at a time. This means that our level of sinfulness is irrelevant\u2013exactly like James said, \u201cwhosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all\u201d <\/em>(James 2:10).<\/p>\n

In fact, the scriptures teach that our biggest problem isn\u2019t our painfully familiar faults, rather, that we have an insurmountable problem; we are in a fallen state<\/em><\/strong>. So, instead of proudly thinking we can number, grade, and conquer our sins, maybe we need to recognize that we are simply sinners, in a fallen and hopeless situation, and that we need to be saved.<\/p>\n

Lamoni\u2019s father, the King, was taught the gospel by Aaron. The King felt the broken heart\u2013was \u201ctroubled in mind\u201d and made aware of his worthless and fallen state. \u201cWhat shall I do that I may be born of God<\/strong>, having this wicked spirit rooted out of my breast, and receive his Spirit, that I may be filled with joy<\/strong>\u2026\u201d<\/em> (Alma 22:15).<\/p>\n

Didn\u2019t the King just ask the<\/em><\/strong> most important question in the entire universe? How can I have peace instead of discouragement? How can I have light rather than darkness? How can I have hope and joy? How can I have eternal life?<\/p>\n

Aaron answered, \u201c\u2026if thou wilt repent of all thy sins<\/strong>, and will bow down before God, and call on his name in faith, believing that ye shall receive<\/strong>, then shalt thou receive the hope which thou desirest\u201d<\/em> (Alma 22:16).<\/p>\n

Are you noticing the consistency in these accounts? The repentance and forgiveness of Benjamin\u2019s people, and Alma, and the King, follow a very similar pattern: First, they all felt the broken heart, second, they all asked<\/em><\/strong> Christ<\/strong><\/em> for mercy. That\u2019s it! That\u2019s repentance! Feeling fallen and pleading with Christ to forgive you and purify your heart, is repentance! Aaron promised the King that this manifestation of faith will give him joy<\/em>.<\/p>\n

What? Too easy you say? Too much like grace? We must first, \u201cdo all we can do\u201d? And besides, Amulek said, \u201cye cannot be saved in your sins.\u201d I would then ask, is your solution then to simply stop sinning? The problem with that plan is\u2026no one can do that! \u201cWell, not in this life\u201d, you say, \u201cbut I will finish improving in the spirit world.\u201d Uh, there is a problem there too; the scriptures say that we have a deadline for repenting\u2013it\u2019s when we die. Jacob said, \u201cwo unto all those who die in their sins; for they shall return to God, and behold his face, and remain in their sins.\u201d <\/em>Alma said, \u201cwhosoever dieth in his sins, as to a temporal death, shall also die a spiritual death.\u201d<\/em> Moroni said, \u201cwo unto them who shall do these things away and die, for they die in their sins, and they cannot be saved in the kingdom of God.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

So, if we can\u2019t achieve perfection in mortality, but also can\u2019t die in our sins, nor be saved in our sins, then aren\u2019t we in the ultimate \u201crock and a hard place\u201d? What on earth is the solution? The only solution that I can see isn\u2019t \u201con earth\u201d; it\u2019s the event we have been discussing, an event during mortality where we plead for mercy and are forgiven by Christ. Only a powerful forgiveness event removes us from being in our sins. Only forgiveness of all<\/em><\/strong> our sins prevents us from dying in our sins. Isn\u2019t forgiveness the only solution?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Repentance and forgiveness are fundamental principles of Christianity, and yet, they are commonly misunderstood.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":189,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[47,44],"class_list":["post-182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-forgiveness","tag-repentance"],"yoast_head":"\nRepentance<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Repentance and forgiveness are fundamental principles of Christianity, and yet, they are commonly misunderstood.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/postsofgreatprice\/2022\/01\/repentance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Repentance\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Repentance and forgiveness are fundamental principles of Christianity, and yet, they are commonly misunderstood.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/postsofgreatprice\/2022\/01\/repentance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Posts of Great Price\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-01-23T22:16:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/884\/2022\/01\/faith-christian-pray-man-hands_credit-shutterstock.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"576\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Guest Contributor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Guest Contributor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/postsofgreatprice\/2022\/01\/repentance\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/postsofgreatprice\/2022\/01\/repentance\/\",\"name\":\"Repentance\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/postsofgreatprice\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-01-23T22:16:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-01-23T22:16:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/postsofgreatprice\/#\/schema\/person\/2869b699bf0e57982cb1f212243705f2\"},\"description\":\"Repentance and forgiveness are fundamental principles of Christianity, and yet, they are commonly misunderstood.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/postsofgreatprice\/2022\/01\/repentance\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/postsofgreatprice\/2022\/01\/repentance\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/postsofgreatprice\/2022\/01\/repentance\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/postsofgreatprice\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Repentance\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/postsofgreatprice\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/postsofgreatprice\/\",\"name\":\"Posts of Great Price\",\"description\":\"Exploring Mormanism and Mormon life, beliefs, values, worship and more.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/postsofgreatprice\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/postsofgreatprice\/#\/schema\/person\/2869b699bf0e57982cb1f212243705f2\",\"name\":\"Guest Contributor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/postsofgreatprice\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5010a3cc274cdb37811bf24de46dc280?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5010a3cc274cdb37811bf24de46dc280?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Guest Contributor\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/postsofgreatprice\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Repentance","description":"Repentance and forgiveness are fundamental principles of Christianity, and yet, they are commonly misunderstood.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/postsofgreatprice\/2022\/01\/repentance\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Repentance","og_description":"Repentance and forgiveness are fundamental principles of Christianity, and yet, they are commonly misunderstood.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/postsofgreatprice\/2022\/01\/repentance\/","og_site_name":"Posts of Great Price","article_published_time":"2022-01-23T22:16:07+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":576,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/884\/2022\/01\/faith-christian-pray-man-hands_credit-shutterstock.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Guest Contributor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Guest Contributor","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/postsofgreatprice\/2022\/01\/repentance\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/postsofgreatprice\/2022\/01\/repentance\/","name":"Repentance","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/postsofgreatprice\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-01-23T22:16:07+00:00","dateModified":"2022-01-23T22:16:07+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/postsofgreatprice\/#\/schema\/person\/2869b699bf0e57982cb1f212243705f2"},"description":"Repentance and forgiveness are fundamental principles of Christianity, and yet, they are commonly misunderstood.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/postsofgreatprice\/2022\/01\/repentance\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/postsofgreatprice\/2022\/01\/repentance\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/postsofgreatprice\/2022\/01\/repentance\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/postsofgreatprice\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Repentance"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/postsofgreatprice\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/postsofgreatprice\/","name":"Posts of Great Price","description":"Exploring Mormanism and Mormon life, beliefs, values, worship and more.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/postsofgreatprice\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/postsofgreatprice\/#\/schema\/person\/2869b699bf0e57982cb1f212243705f2","name":"Guest Contributor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/postsofgreatprice\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5010a3cc274cdb37811bf24de46dc280?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5010a3cc274cdb37811bf24de46dc280?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Guest Contributor"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/postsofgreatprice\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/postsofgreatprice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/postsofgreatprice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/postsofgreatprice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/postsofgreatprice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/postsofgreatprice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/postsofgreatprice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/postsofgreatprice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/postsofgreatprice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/postsofgreatprice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/postsofgreatprice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}