Faith
Precedes Repentance and Leads to It
Faith is a gift of God. The
Apostle Paul understood clearly that though man was helpless under broken law and
could not redeem, himself, “ . . . by grace are ye saved through faith; and that
not of yourselves; it is a gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8.) God gave his Only
Begotten Son, who provided the means of salvation, a gift to be received if man
desires it. (John 3:16.)
Faith unto repentance! Every
person needs to understand that without faith in Christ there is no salvation.
The Apostle Paul said that faith “is the substance of things hoped for, the
evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1), meaning that faith is the
positive assurance that we will receive from God those things which we
righteously desire, and an example of this kind of faith is the raising of
Lazarus. Lazarus had died, and when his sister Martha heard that Jesus was
coming, she went out to meet him with this expression of faith: “Lord, if thou
hadst been here, my brother had not died. But I know, that even now, whatever
thou wilt ask of God, God will give it to thee.” (John 11:21-22.) In this
statement perfect trust and faith are expressed. On the other hand, though a
person may believe in the existence of God, he may not believe that God will
fulfill his promises. Faith in Christ means not only to believe that he lives
today, but also to believe in the fulfilment of the promise of blessings following
obedience. (Roy W. Doxey, The Atonement of Jesus Christ and Its Relationship to
the Gospel (Lectures 1 Through 3) Education Weeks' Lectures 1975 [Provo, Utah:
Brigham Young University Press, 1975], 35)
Faith is a gift or quality or
character which causes or moves people to good action. IT is the opposite of
fear and doubt. However, the first principle of the gospel is not faith but
faith in Christ. Faith in God and in themselves caused our founding
fathers to establish a free nation in which men could let their own
resourcefulness and bounteous nature work together to create the highest living
standard any nation has enjoyed. Faith in Christ causes men to hope for a
better life here and in the world to come. This hope causes them to come down
in the depths of humility and experience a broken heart and a contrite spirit
and dedicate their lives to Christ. It causes them to pattern their lives after
his life and to keep his commandments. (Glenn L. Pearson and Reid E. Bankhead, Doctrinal
Approach to the Book of Mormon [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1962], 71-72)
