Perfect Faith in the Holy One of Israel

Yesterday in our family we read some of the vision of the tree of life, and I asked my children how it is that we hold on to the iron rod. Since we know that the iron rod is the word of God according to Nephi, reading and studying God’s word found in the scriptures and in the words of living prophets is of course one important answer to my question. Another answer that my daughter gave is that we need to have faith, and I think she is exactly right. Nephi’s teaching that the iron rod is “the word of God” has a double meaning (1 Nephi 15:24). We can understand the word of God as His written word that we read and study, but we can also understand it to be The Word of God or Jesus Christ. John testified, “For in the beginning was the Word, even the Son, who is made flesh, and sent unto us by the will of the Father. And as many as believe on his name shall receive of his fullness” (JST John 1:16). Jesus Christ is The Word of God, and so to hold fast to the iron rod is to hold fast to Him. And how do we do that? Surely it is through our faith in Him and in His teachings and His servants that He sends us. We hold to the figurative iron rod as we hold on to our faith in Him despite the mists of temptations and philosophies of the world that seek to pull us from Him. We cling to the rod as we put our trust in His goodness and love even when our experiences and struggles are hard to understand.  And it is not just casual faith that we need, but a firm grip on the iron rod requires the kind of faith that Jacob referred to: “And he commandeth all men that they must repent, and be baptized in his name, having perfect faith in the Holy One of Israel, or they cannot be saved in the kingdom of God” (2 Nephi 9:23).

                So, what does it mean for us to develop this “perfect faith” that Jacob insisted was so crucial to us? It certainly does not mean that we are perfect, for our faith is in Him and not in ourselves. And it does not mean that our knowledge is perfect either, for as Alma taught, “faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things” (Alma 32:21). Perhaps the answer is simple: perfect faith is to have faith in He who is perfect. Our faith becomes perfect not because of us but because of Him. Our faith is perfect when it is centered fully and uniquely on the perfect Son of God and in His glorified, perfect Father. If our faith is at all in man or the teachings of man, then it is not perfect because man is not perfect. If our faith is in ourselves or our own abilities, then it is not perfect because we are not perfect. But if we trust in God above all else, knowing that He can do all things, then that is perfect faith because of His perfection and omnipotence. And so as we seek to have “perfect faith in the Holy One of Israel,” our focus should be on Him and His perfection. Perfect faith recognizes that we are inadequate and cannot do what is required of us on our own, and so we need the help and strength of a perfect Savior. We must recognize the truth the Lehi taught to Jacob when he was young: “Wherefore, I know that thou art redeemed, because of the righteousness of thy Redeemer; for thou hast beheld that in the fulness of time he cometh to bring salvation unto men” (2 Nephi 2:3). Lehi knew that Jacob would be saved first and foremost because he knew of the righteousness of the Redeemer. That was what would save his son as he would come unto the Savior, not the obedience to the law of Moses that Jacob surely had.

                This last week I took my family to a water park that had some exciting and unique slides. My oldest daughter loved the slide in which you would stand inside a little compartment and then suddenly the ground would disappear out from under you. You would then drop straight down into the slide and take off at a very high speed. She and I both did it, and it definitely took some faith to stand there knowing that you were going to disappear and be catapulted into the slide. We had to have a certain level of trust in the safety of the slide to stand there on the ground we knew was going to open up under us. Perhaps that is not too unlike the kind of faith that we have to have in the Savior throughout our lives. We don’t know quite what is going to happen in our future or where He will take us. But we can have perfect faith in Him that He does know the end from the beginning and that all will work out for those who follow Him. As we hold to the rod of iron with our faith, He will indeed lead us to the tree of life and its fruit which is “desirable above all other fruit” (1 Nephi 8:12).