Believe in the Repentance of Sins

When Nehor tried to turn the Nephite people away from their faith, he told them “that all mankind should be saved at the last day, and that they need not fear nor tremble, but that they might lift up their heads and rejoice; for the Lord had created all men, and had also redeemed all men; and, in the end, all men should have eternal life” (Alma 1:4).  In other words, he taught them that their actions didn’t matter because God would save them no matter what.  Later when Mormon described the people of Ammonihah who followed after the ways of Nehor, he said this: “They were of the profession of Nehor, and did not believe in the repentance of their sins” (Alma 15:15).  To me that is a very significant phrase and one that should give us cause for reflection: “believe in the repentance of sins”.  What exactly is meant by this, and what does it teach us?

               I see two interpretations of the phrase.  The most obvious meaning I think is simply that this wicked people did not believe in the necessity of repentance.  This was clear in their attitude towards Alma and Amulek as nothing could convince them that they were in the wrong or that they needed to change.  They believed as Korihor would later preach: “Whatsoever a man did was no crime” (Alma 30:17).  That belief led them to not see any need for any reformation of behavior ever; if there are no crimes then certainly there can be no “criminal” type of behavior that needs reformation.  The second meaning perhaps for the phrase is to not believe in the efficacy of repentance.  I don’t believe that’s what was meant here in describing the people of Nehor, but surely it is a challenge for us sometimes to believe that repentance really works.  Can and will God really forgive us when we’ve made serious mistakes?  We have to believe that repentance is not only possible but also that for us individually the miracle of forgiveness can take place when we are truly sincere.  

               Surely the scriptures teach us that we must indeed “believe in the repentance of sins”.  It is in fact a tenet of our faith that we believe that the first principles of the gospel include faith and repentance—as a Church the Articles of Faith declare that we do believe in repentance.  It’s surely significant that the very first words recorded by Matthew of the Savior when He started His ministry was an invitation to repentance.  We read, “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 3:17).  That was really the call to us for His entire ministry: we must repent and change our ways.  I like the way that Ether put it (as recorded by Moroni): “He did cry from the morning, even until the going down of the sun, exhorting the people to believe in God unto repentance” (Ether 12:3).  It is not enough to simply believe in God; rather, we must believe in God enough to change our ways and turn from our sins.