Thursday, January 12, 2023

Roy W. Doxey and Glenn L. Pearson & Reid E. Bankhead on "Faith"

 

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)