Repent, part 4

Change is difficult.  Sin is addictive.  It is habit forming.  Habits gained over a lifetime can become chains that bind.

It requires faith to repent.  In this way the two principles are linked.  “Christ hath said:  If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me.  And he hath said:  Repent.” (Moroni 7:33-34 emphasis added)

We all struggle with some bad habits in our life.  Some don’t control their tempers or their tongues.  Some struggle with bodily appetites or other weaknesses.  We mess up, swear to never do it again only to find ourselves repeating the same behavior later.  Some give up and conclude—I’ll never change.  Whether through our own sins or through situations in life, we all eventually find ourselves in circumstances that are beyond our own ability to control.  We find ourselves in some form of bondage.

It is through the atonement that we receive forgiveness for our sins.  But it is also through the atonement that we receive the strength to forsake and overcome them.  Our willpower alone is not enough.  We will never be enough on our own! It does require all of our faith and all of our best efforts, but in the end it also requires Christ reaching down to us in grace for us to deliver us (Mosiah 7:33).  This will never happen, however, until we really, truly want the sin out of our life more than we want it in our life and are willing to pay any price ourselves to be rid of it.  Those who understand this best are perhaps those who are recovering addicts (drug, alcohol, porn, etc.).  But the principle applies to all of us.  (“He Did Deliver Me From Bondage” by Colleen Harris is an excellent book on this subject)

The scriptures refer to these two different functions of the atonement as justification and sanctification.  We are justified when we are forgiven and justice is satisfied.  Sanctification, however, is beyond justification and involves forsaking the sin and becoming holy.  It is the process of putting off the natural man and becoming a saint.  The atonement is at the heart of both processes.  (A criminal can "pay his debt" to society by suffering in prison.  Justice can be satisfied by his prison sentence, but his behavior isn't necessarily reformed.  Prison hasn't automatically made him a better person.)

Why can repentance be so difficult for us?  I believe it is for a couple of reasons.  One is so that we truly learn humility (Ether 12:27).  How many members of our church are still trying to “save” themselves? Another reason that we sometimes struggle so much before being freed from a sin is perhaps so we value the gift that is given us and don’t revert back.  We read of many whose repentance was so thorough, so complete (and probably so costly and difficult to themselves) that they were sanctified and could only look upon sin with abhorrence (Alma 13:11-12)

Bruce Hafen in his book The Broken Heart observes two common problems among the youth in the church (they’re probably not limited to the youth alone).  On the one hand, some youth feel that they are “entitled” to a few free ones and that they will hurry up and repent before going on a mission or going to the temple or some other “event” that requires them to clean up their act.  On the other hand, some are striving so hard and are so hard on themselves for every mistake that they feel they will never be good enough and never make it back. 

On the surface these two groups seem to be polar opposites.  However, on closer examination they are actually two different sides to the same coin.  Both groups suffer from a fundamental misunderstanding of and lack of appreciation for the atonement.  The first “no big deal” group severely underestimates the serious nature of their sins and has no appreciation for the price the Savior has paid for them.  The second group also completely misses the atonement by trying to save themselves or by feeling that they have to be “worthy” or that they have to do enough good deeds and then the Savior can step in to save them.

The truth is that only the meek and lowly in heart are acceptable to God. (Moroni 7:44)

Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.  I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.  And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying God be merciful to me a sinner.  I tell you this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. (Luke 18:10-14)

Which do you see most often in your ward meetings?