The Conditions of Repentance

Athletes know this, good students and musicians also know that it is important to continually change and improve. So it is with life. Another word for change and turning of life habits is "repentance". As we work to change our lives, we need an expert, a counselor or a facilitator. The same is also true with our spiritual lives.

This is our joyful message - not that we MUST repent, but rather that we MAY repent and that this change actually can mean something. It is a message of hope. It is a joyful thing to improve ourselves, change that which is a weakness or a problem and become a different person, a better person. The power of this message is that it is possible to do so and that it has the ability to affect our lives forever.

Helaman 5:11 And he hath power given unto him from the Father to redeem them from their sins because of repentance; therefore he hath sent his angels to declare the tidings of the conditions of repentance, which bringeth unto the power of the Redeemer, unto the salvation of their souls.

This salvation is a freeing of the soul from captivity, from enslavement. Sin enslaves a person and they can feel helpless fighting against it when they do not have this hope.

This is what we preach. It is not a condemning message, of casting people into fire and brimstone, but rather is a message of liberation and expansion.

Alma 5:9 And again I ask, were the bands of death broken, and the chains of hell which encircled them about, were they loosed?  I say unto you, Yea, they were loosed, and their souls did expand, and they did sing redeeming love. …

It is the ability to see beyond our self-made walls and limits and know that we can be much more than we are - and to make that change. We tell people that this is possible, but requires help. The help comes through our Savior, Jesus Christ and the Atonement that was made for us, for every single one of us, regardless of our present state - through faith on Him and repentance. The Lord is our facilitator and the Gospel tells us the way.