1 Nephi 20:1
Chapter 20
The
Lord reveals His purposes to Israel—Israel has been chosen in the
furnace of affliction and is to go forth from Babylon—Compare Isaiah
48.
About 588–570 B.C.
Repentance
Brings Joy
What
1 aHearken and
hear this, O house of Jacob,[the
12 tribes of Israel]
who are called by the name of Israel,[Jacob]
and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, or out of the waters
of bbaptism,
who cswear
[make covenants]by
the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, yet they
swear dnot in
truth nor in righteousness.
This is for those who have been
baptized and say they believe but are not honest or righteous.
Why
They are receiving
this because they need correction. Nephi wants to bring them hope
through these teachings.
Pattern
Baptism
Mark
1:4
4
John did baptize in the wilderness,
and preach the baptismof repentance for
the remission of
sins.
Mark
16:16
Acts
2:38
38
Then Peter said unto
them,Repent,
and be baptized every
one of you in the name of
Jesus Christ for the remission of
sins, and ye shall receive the gift of
the Holy
Ghost.
Convert
Matt.
13:15
15
For this people’s heart is
waxed gross, and their ears
are dull of hearing, and their eyesthey
have closed;
lest at any time they should see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears,
and should understand with their
heart,
and should be converted, and I should heal them.
Matt.
18:3
3
And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become
as little children,
ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Swear
Deut.
6:13
Jer.
4:2
2
And thou shalt swear, The Lordliveth,
in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall
bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.
5:2
Christ
This is for people
who “swear by the name of the Lord and make mention of the God of
Israel”
Jesus is the Lord
and the God of Israel.
Conference
10/16 Renlund
Repentance a
Joyful Choice
Such
joy is one of the inherent results of repentance. The
wordrepent connotes
“to perceive afterwards” and implies “change.”4 In
Swedish, the word is omvänd, which
simply means “to turn around.”5The
Christian writer C. S. Lewis wrote about the need and the method
for change. He noted that repentance involves “being put back on
the right road. A wrong sum can be put right,” he said, “but only
by going back till you find the error and working it afresh from that
point, never by simply going
on.”6 Changing
our behavior and returning to the “right road” are part of
repentance, but only part. Real repentance also includes a turning of
our heart and will to God and a renunciation of sin.7 As
explained in Ezekiel, to repent is to “turn from … sin, … do
that which is lawful and right; … restore the pledge, … [and]
walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity.”8
President
Boyd K. Packer affirmed the hopeful promises of repentance in
April 2015 at his last general conference. He described the power of
the Savior’s Atonement to heal in what I consider the distillation
of the wisdom gained in half a century of apostolic service.
President Packer said: “The Atonement leaves no tracks, no traces.
What it fixes is fixed. … It just heals, and what it heals stays
healed.”9
...We
can—and sometimes do—make different choices. Such choices may not
seem intrinsically wrong, but they prevent us from becoming truly
penitent and thus preclude our pursuit of real repentance. For
instance, we may choose to blame others. As a 12-year-old in
Göteborg, I could have blamed Steffan. He was the one who brought
the big firecracker and the matches to the church in the first place.
But blaming others, even if justified, allows us to excuse our
behavior. By so doing, we shift responsibility for our actions to
others. When the responsibility is shifted, we diminish both the need
and our ability to act. We turn ourselves into hapless victims rather
than agents capable of independent action.13
Another
choice that impedes repentance is minimizing our mistakes. In the
Göteborg firecracker incident, no one was hurt, no permanent damage
occurred, and the meeting was held anyway. It would have been easy to
say that there was no reason to repent. But minimizing our mistakes,
even if no immediate consequences are apparent, removes the
motivation to change. This thinking prevents us from seeing that our
mistakes and sins have eternal consequences.
...Brothers
and sisters, as we conclude this conference, I invite you to feel
more joy in your life: joy in the knowledge that the Atonement of
Jesus Christ is real; joy in the Savior’s ability, willingness, and
desire to forgive; and joy in choosing to repent. Let us follow the
instruction to “with joy … draw water out of the wells of
salvation.”27 May
we choose to repent, forsake our sins, and turn our hearts and wills
around to follow our Savior. I testify of His living reality. I am a
witness and repeated recipient of His incomparable compassion, mercy,
and love. I pray that the redeeming blessings of His Atonement may be
yours now—and again and again and again throughout your lives,28 as
they have been in mine. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Apply
The
key to repentance is given in the first word of this verse. Hearken
and hear. Or in other words, pay attention to what is being said,
listen, ponder, understand.
How
can we apply this message to our own lives? How can we do better in
keeping the covenants that we have made? We have received council
and strength by studying the word of the Lord.
Being
baptized is just the beginning and it brings with it responsibility
to keep the covenants we have made to serve Him all of our days. How
can we as individuals serve Him better in our circle of influence?
What would He have us do today?
Hymns
180- Father In
Heaven, we Do Believe
Primary
100 Baptism
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