Repentance and Faith on the Lord Jesus Christ

I was impressed by these words of Samuel the Lamanite as I read them today: “Yea, heavy destruction awaiteth this people, and it surely cometh unto this people, and nothing can save this people save it be repentance and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ, who surely shall come into the world, and shall suffer many things and shall be slain for his people” (Helaman 13:6). No matter what our challenge is, faith in Jesus Christ and repentance are the answer. Those are the first steps to making it through any difficulty and to protecting ourselves and families from the dangers in the world. The Nephites learned the truth of these words not many years later when the Gadianton robbers threatened the destruction of their entire society. In a time of great alarm, their inspired leader Lachoneus said to them, “As the Lord liveth, except ye repent of all your iniquities, and cry unto the Lord, ye will in nowise be delivered out of the hands of those Gadianton robbers.” This is exactly what they did: “They did fear the words which had been spoken by Lachoneus, insomuch that they did repent of all their sins; and they did put up their prayers unto the Lord their God, that he would deliver them in the time that their enemies should come down against them to battle” (3 Nephi 3:15, 25). After their miraculous deliverance, Mormon recorded this: “And their hearts were swollen with joy, unto the gushing out of many tears, because of the great goodness of God in delivering them out of the hands of their enemies; and they knew it was because of their repentance and their humility that they had been delivered from an everlasting destruction” (3 Nephi 4:33). They were saved by repentance and humility before the Lord—they trusted in Him and put their lives in accordance with His will and He delivered them in an extraordinary way.

                In general conference this weekend Elder Ryan K. Olsen related this story: “Not too long ago, I was working on our farm with my nephew Nash. He is six and has a pure heart. He is my favorite nephew named Nash, and I believe I am his favorite uncle speaking in conference today. As he helped me come up with a solution for our project, I said, “Nash, that is a great idea. How did you get so smart?” He looked at me with an expression in his eyes that said, ‘Uncle Ryan, how do you not know the answer to this question?’ He simply shrugged his shoulders, smiled, and confidently said, ‘Jesus.’” He continued, “Nash reminded me that day of this simple and yet profound teaching. The answer to the simplest questions and to the most complex problems is always the same. The answer is Jesus Christ. Every solution is found in Him.” The words of Samuel the Lamanite and the story of these Nephites preserved from the hands of the Gadianton robbers tell us the same thing: the answer to our problems is following Jesus, which means repenting and putting our faith in Him. It means seeking each day to live like He would live, to turn our thoughts to Him and seek to understand what He would have us do and change. And then when some things are out of our control, we trust that He is at the helm and will guide our lives like He did for the Nephites as we repent and cry unto Him. Elder Olsen summarized his message with this invitation: “To our magnificent youth—including my nephew Nash—throughout your life, no matter how difficult or confusing the challenges may be, you can always remember that the answer is simple: it is always Jesus.” Nephi put it powerfully this way: “And now behold, I say unto you that the right way is to believe in Christ, and deny him not; and Christ is the Holy One of Israel; wherefore ye must bow down before him, and worship him with all your might, mind, and strength, and your whole soul; and if ye do this ye shall in nowise be cast out” (2 Nephi 25:29). Believing in Him is always the right way through all of life’s difficulties.