Which Bringeth Unto the Power of the Redeemer

When Zeezrom asked Amulek about the Son of God, “Shall he save his people in their sins?” Amulek responded, “I say unto you he shall not, for it is impossible for him to deny his word.”  When Zeezrom tried to twist these words, Amulek further explained, “He cannot save them in their sins; for I cannot deny his word, and he hath said that no unclean thing can inherit the kingdom of heaven; therefore, how can ye be saved, except ye inherit the kingdom of heaven?” (Alma 11:34, 37)  This message is consistent in the Book of Mormon—we can only be saved by the Savior through our repentance.  Helaman, the son of Helaman, used these words of Amulek to teach his sons about the Savior: “Remember also the words which Amulek spake unto Zeezrom, in the city of Ammonihah; for he said unto him that the Lord surely should come to redeem his people, but that he should not come to redeem them in their sins, but to redeem them from their sins.”  And then he gave this instructive synopsis of how redemption from the Savior works: “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” (Helaman 5:10-11).  I love that language; yes, we can’t be saved in our sins, but if we will repent then the power of the Savior will redeem us.  Repentance brings “the power of the Redeemer” into our lives unto the salvation of our souls.  The purpose of repentance is to give us redeeming power from Jesus Christ. 

                President Nelson spoke of the power that sincere repentance brings to us in his recent message in April on repentance.  He referred to the connection between repentance and power  multiple times.  He said, “When coupled with faith, repentance opens our access to the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ…. Experience the strengthening power of daily repentance…. Daily repentance is the pathway to purity, and purity brings power. Personal purity can make us powerful tools in the hands of God…. Make your focus on daily repentance so integral to your life that you can exercise the priesthood with greater power than ever before…. I bless you with the courage to repent daily and learn how to exercise full priesthood power.”  To access the power of the Lord, we must consistently repent, seeking to improve our lives and pattern them more fully after the Savior.  If we don’t, then we will have the opposite effect as the Nephites of Helaman’s time discovered in their transgressions: “And they saw that they had become weak, like unto their brethren, the Lamanites, and that the Spirit of the Lord did no more preserve them; yea, it had withdrawn from them because the Spirit of the Lord doth not dwell in unholy temples…. Yea, thus had they become weak, because of their transgression” (Helaman 4:24,26).  Repentance brings spiritual strength; failing to repent leaves us weak without the sustaining power of the Lord.

This message about how repentance brings us the saving power of Christ was what directly preceded Helaman’s more well-known invitation about building our foundation upon the rock of our Redeemer.  I believe that seen together, this gives us a more clear understanding of how we build that foundation upon the Savior: repentance is the key to developing that rock solid foundation.  As we continually go to the Lord in repentance, as we work to become like Him, He can create in us that “sure foundation” to protect us from all the storms of life.