Chapter 4: Repentance

Repentance

The rewards of righteousness are only available to those who are actually righteous. Repentance is the process by which you become righteous.

Repentance means making the changes necessary to bring your thoughts, desires, and actions into complete alignment with your sincere, present understanding of what God would do in your place.

If one had to reduce the definition of repentance to a single synonym, it would be improvement. Repentance requires: 1) perceiving potential improvement and 2) reconciling desires and actions to that improvement.

Potential improvement is typically already perceived in those seeking repentance. Awareness of a difference between the person’s ideal and actual behavior is what motivates the person towards repentance. For those who have already repented, they will perceive potential improvement when they encounter new information.

Professed belief is not repentance

When you actually believe Jesus, you actually do what he says.

...only unto him that has faith unto repentance is brought about the great and eternal plan of redemption. (Alma 34:16)

Professing belief in God isn’t sufficient to be saved. You can profess belief in God and still sin:

They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate. (Titus 1:16)

Jesus can only forgive those who stop sinning:

Who am I that made man, saith the Lord, that will hold him guiltless that obeys not my commandments? (D&C 58:30)

God’s sacrifice doesn’t make you free to sin—it is meant to make you free from sin. God’s sacrifice makes it possible for bad people to become good people, for sinners to become saints, and for mortals to become more like God.

Forsake to be forgiven

Desiring forgiveness of your sins is a critical part of repentance, but asking forgiveness is not repentance unless it is coupled to forsaking sin:

42 Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more.
43 By this ye may know if a man repenteth of his sins— behold, he will confess them and forsake them. (D&C 58)

It is the sacrifice of Christ—not your petition—that causes the forgiveness of sins. He has already paid the price to forgive any of your sins, on the condition that you repent—or actually change by forsaking sin and fully adopting improved beliefs, desires, and actions.

`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 5:11)`

God has already paid the price for what you have done in the past. What God cares about is what you will do in the future:

And now, verily I say unto you, I, the Lord, will not lay any sin to your charge; go your ways and sin no more; but unto that soul who sinneth shall the former sins return, saith the Lord your God. (D&C 82:7)

God’s purpose is not for us to feel remorse. It is for us to feel joy. You can’t feel joy by feeling sorry for acting in ways that do not bring joy. You must change and start making the choices that lead to joy.

You can’t repent of just one sin

Repentance is not a piecemeal operation. It is not possible to repent of a single sin.

For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. (James 2:10)

God cannot forgive sins singly; you either obey all of the commandments you know or his sacrifice does not apply to you.

And if ye believe on his name ye will repent of all your sins, that thereby ye may have a remission of them through his merits. (Helaman 14:13)

For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, (Hebrews 10:26)

Obedience to God is a binary attribute. You either obey all you know from God, or you don’t. It is not possible to be partially obedient to God. You are either fully submitted to him or you aren’t:

...a man being a servant of the devil cannot follow Christ; and if he follow Christ he cannot be a servant of the devil. (Moroni 7:11)

You must bring your life into complete alignment with your sincere understanding of what God would do in your place at all times and in all places.

Those who don’t obey everything they know about God, all the time, cannot go to heaven.

Broken heart and contrite spirit

Repentance means total submission to God. Scripturally, the phrase “broken heart and contrite spirit” is used to describe total submission to God.

The Lord explained that this state is defined by complete obedience to him:

Verily I say unto you, all among them who know their hearts are honest, and are broken, and their spirits contrite, and are willing to observe their covenants by sacrifice—yea, every sacrifice which I, the Lord, shall command—they are accepted of me. (D&C 97:8)

A broken heart and contrite spirit is no light thing. It requires total submission, in all things, at all times, and in all places. You really have to fear God more than anything else, and you really have to love God more than anything else.

Trying is not good enough

Too many think that repentance is just trying not to sin. It isn’t. God expects obedience, even unto death. He expects you to obey him at all inconvenience, pain, and suffering.

Many claim that perfect obedience is impossible. When we say something is impossible, we sometimes mean we aren’t sure if it is possible or not. If God has commanded it, it is possible. God does not command us to do things that aren’t within our capability.

A disciple of Christ can never use the excuse of “no one is perfect” to dismiss their willful choice to do less than their actual best. Sinlessness does not require you to do things that are beyond your capacity. It just means you don’t excuse yourself when you are capable of not sinning but choose to sin anyway.

When we say something is impossible, we sometimes mean it’s really difficult. If God has commanded it, it is worthwhile. God doesn’t ask us to do what is not in our best interest.

Most people are quick to make excuses for why their choices are less than their potential.

Capability can be a limiting factor when addressing physical actions: you have limited time, limited money, limited strength, and limited skill. However, when it comes to matters of character, if you can think it, you can do it.

Even with the existence of limits in capability, you must exercise extreme caution in excusing yourself from doing the good you can imagine. While the best you can imagine must certainly be constrained by limits of circumstance, it cannot excuse you from limits of choice. Everyone has to prioritize possibilities because no one has infinite time or resources.¹ When most people refer to “doing their best,” they are actually making excuses for what they know is not a limit of capability, but of comfort.

You will feel responsibility beyond the limits of what others can see and beyond where they would excuse you for doing less than you could. Your conscience won’t let you off as easily as others might. Your conscience will hold you accountable for what is possible, not what is easy or convenient. You will only be free of guilt when you truly do the best you can, subject only to your capability, not your comfort.

If you allow mere discomfort to dictate your obedience to God, how can you inherit the same glory as one who kept the commandments even though it cost his or her life?

The Lord did not mince words when he said:

34 ...Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. (Mark 8)

You cannot allow yourself to choose contrary to God’s will, even if it costs you your life.

God does not average out sins

God does not disregard “little” or “infrequent” sins. Any deviation whatsoever, no matter by what degree or at what frequency, separates you from God.

God does not average a person’s works. Any sin, and even just one of them, alienates a person from God:

But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die. (Ezekiel 18:24)

The scriptures include a warning against excusing “little” or “infrequent” sin:

And there shall also be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry; nevertheless, fear God—he will justify in committing a little sin; yea, lie a little, take the advantage of one because of his words, dig a pit for thy neighbor; there is no harm in this; and do all these things, for tomorrow we die; and if it so be that we are guilty, God will beat us with a few stripes, and at last we shall be saved in the kingdom of God. (2 Nephi 28:8)

One of the problems with “little” or “infrequent” sins is that they are not obviously indicative of the true depth of their cause. The problem is never just the “little” or “infrequent” sins themselves, but the much larger, much deeper character flaws that make them possible in the first place.

What many don’t realize is that the sins they notice are just the part of the weed above the soil. The truth is that by the time these “small” sins show their head, an extensive root system has already developed underground, leading to both other current sins and the ability to do very bad things under the right circumstances.

Who you are in God’s eyes isn’t just what you do under ideal circumstances. The goal of the gospel is to forge you into a person who does not sin under any circumstances. Whether a person is a sinner or not is determined by how they are at their worst, not at their best.

Death and sin

This life is the time appointed for people to repent:

32 For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.
33 And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed.
34 Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world. (Alma 34)

Death changes your body, and it changes your awareness, but it does not change your character:

And [the spirit of God] doth not dwell in unholy temples; neither can filthiness or anything which is unclean be received into the kingdom of God; therefore I say unto you the time shall come, yea, and it shall be at the last day, that he who is filthy shall remain in his filthiness. (Alma 7:21)

Death does not save you from your sins. If you have not reconciled your life to the commandments God has provided to you in this life, you will not be reconciled to God when you are resurrected.

For behold, there is a wo pronounced upon him who listeth to [disobey God in life]; for if he...dieth in his sins, the same drinketh damnation to his own soul; for he receiveth for his wages an everlasting punishment, having transgressed the law of God contrary to his own knowledge. (Mosiah 2:33)

During this life, you can repent at any time. While the massive benefits of doing this sooner rather than later include extra time to learn more about God, qualifying you for the blessings attendant with each increment, the more pressing urgency is to avoid dying in your sins. When you commit a sin—any sin—just once, you bring yourself out of alignment with God, and until you repent, you are at risk of dying out of alignment with God.

Dying in one’s sins relegates an individual to a bitter state of eternal suffering. Having rejected Jesus’ sacrifice by disobeying his commandments to them, these individuals must suffer the penalty of their own sins:

33 Wherefore, if they should die in their wickedness they must be cast off also, as to the things which are spiritual, which are pertaining to righteousness; wherefore, they must be brought to stand before God, to be judged of their works; and if their works have been filthiness they must needs be filthy; and if they be filthy it must needs be that they cannot dwell in the kingdom of God; if so, the kingdom of God must be filthy also.
34 But behold, I say unto you, the kingdom of God is not filthy, and there cannot any unclean thing enter into the kingdom of God; wherefore there must needs be a place of filthiness prepared for that which is filthy.
35 And there is a place prepared, yea, even that awful hell of which I have spoken, and the devil is the preparator of it; wherefore the final state of the souls of men is to dwell in the kingdom of God, or to be cast out because of that justice of which I have spoken.
36 Wherefore, the wicked are rejected from the righteous, and also from that tree of life, whose fruit is most precious and most desirable above all other fruits; yea, and it is the greatest of all the gifts of God. And thus I spake unto my brethren. Amen. (1 Nephi 15)

Because this is the state of those who did not repent in this life, it is incredibly important for us to reconcile ourselves to God while in this life:

33 And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed.
34 Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world.
35 For behold, if ye have procrastinated the day of your repentance even until death, behold, ye have become subjected to the spirit of the devil, and he doth seal you his; therefore, the Spirit of the Lord hath withdrawn from you, and hath no place in you, and the devil hath all power over you; and this is the final state of the wicked.
36 And this I know, because the Lord hath said he dwelleth not in unholy temples, but in the hearts of the righteous doth he dwell; yea, and he has also said that the righteous shall sit down in his kingdom, to go no more out; but their garments should be made white through the blood of the Lamb. (Alma 34)

Those who opt not to repent while in life must inherit an eternal torment:

...they sell themselves for naught; for, for the reward of their pride and their foolishness they shall reap destruction; for because they yield unto the devil and choose works of darkness rather than light, therefore they must go down to hell. (2 Nephi 26:10)

The circumstances of mortality provide a special opportunity to exercise faith through repentance. After we die, we will be resurrected. As a part of what changes in resurrection, we will gain an awareness far beyond what we have here:

O how great the plan of our God! For on the other hand, the paradise of God must deliver up the spirits of the righteous, and the grave deliver up the body of the righteous; and the spirit and the body is restored to itself again, and all men become incorruptible, and immortal, and they are living souls, having a perfect knowledge like unto us in the flesh, save it be that our knowledge shall be perfect. (2 Nephi 9:13)

This additional increment of awareness makes it impossible to have the faith we can here. This is why it is not possible to repent after this life and why judgment occurs after resurrection:

43 The spirit and the body shall be reunited again in its perfect form; both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame, even as we now are at this time; and we shall be brought to stand before God, knowing even as we know now, and have a bright recollection of all our guilt.
44 Now, this restoration shall come to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked and the righteous; and even there shall not so much as a hair of their heads be lost; but every thing shall be restored to its perfect frame, as it is now, or in the body, and shall be brought and be arraigned before the bar of Christ the Son, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, which is one Eternal God, to be judged according to their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil. (Alma 11)

Therefore, it is of the utmost importance to repent while you are still here:

Therefore, prepare ye the way of the Lord, for the time is at hand that all men shall reap a reward of their works, according to that which they have been—if they have been righteous they shall reap the salvation of their souls, according to the power and deliverance of Jesus Christ; and if they have been evil they shall reap the damnation of their souls, according to the power and captivation of the devil. (Alma 9:28)

The eternal punishment that awaits the wicked is not arbitrary. It is the natural consequence of the choices the individual has made:

30 And now remember, remember, my brethren, that whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free.
31 He hath given unto you that ye might know good from evil, and he hath given unto you that ye might choose life or death; and ye can do good and be restored unto that which is good, or have that which is good restored unto you. (Helaman 14)

Repentance requires forgiving others

Part of God’s requirement to obtain forgiveness of your past sins is that you forgive all who have offended you.

The Lord said:

14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Matthew 6)

If you do not forgive others, you will bring yourself under condemnation:

And ye shall also forgive one another your trespasses; for verily I say unto you, he that forgiveth not his neighbor’s trespasses when he says that he repents, the same hath brought himself under condemnation. (Mosiah 26:31)

This condemnation comes because God’s justice requires him to judge you with the same standard with which you judge others:

For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. (Matthew 7:2)