Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ - Hebrews 11-12

In this epistle, Paul instructs the saints to show their faith by abandoning their sins. He encourages them to look to Jesus Christ as an example and guide. He continues his discourse on faith by describing great examples of faith in the Scriptures.

Name	Verse	How They Demonstrated Faith	Blessings They Received
Abel	4	Offered a “more excellent sacrifice”	A witness from God that he was righteous
Enoch	5	Had a testimony that “pleased God”	He was translated
Noah	7	Prepared an ark by revelation	Became an heir of righteousness
Abraham	8	By obedience he journeyed in the wilderness	The inheritance of the Lord
Sara	11	“Judged him faithful who had promised”	Strengthened to conceive seed
Isaac	20	Gave Priesthood blessings	Revelation of things to come
Joseph	22	Prophesied concerning the children of Israel	Authority for revelation
Moses	23	Parted the Red Sea	Blessed with Safety
Rahab	31	“Received the spies with peace”	Did not perish

Three more examples of the faithful in the Book of Mormon are:

Nephi, who obeyed his father’s words and believed on his testimony and was blessed with leadership over his people.

Abinadi, who died while bearing his testimony and God received his soul.

Samuel the Lamanite, who preached to the Nephites and was protected from their attacks.

Sometimes faith and belief are used synonymously. These two concepts are, however, different. Belief is an intellectual acceptance of a concept, but faith is more powerful. “Faith implies such confidence and conviction as will impel to action.” One can believe in something without having faith in it. In order to develop faith, one must change and act according to those beliefs. Faith, then, is living action. When fully developed and actively utilized, faith becomes power. Heavenly Father acts by the power of faith; he created the heavens and the earth with it.

Epistle of Obedience – Titus 1-3

Titus served as a missionary and a messenger. He listened to Paul’s teachings, and was converted by him. Paul then trusted him to deliver his epistles to the people in Corinth. Titus held a responsibility to convert and lead the Saints living in Crete. He would have been their instructor and Priesthood authority. As Paul’s fellow missionary, he had to make sure the Church was staying on the path of righteousness.

Paul knew that the Saints in Crete were hypocritical and greedy. He wrote, “They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him.” He accuses some of the Saints as being false teachers that perverted the teachings of the gospel in order to make money. In Paul’s Epistle to Titus, Paul described the attributes the Saints should have. More specifically, Paul wrote that Bishops should have a wife, and must raise obedient children. Bishops must also be blameless and faithful. They must not be self-willed, short-tempered, drunk, or greedy, but they must be hospitable, charitable, sober, just, holy, and temperate. They must also always hold fast to their faith and the sound doctrines of the gospel. These actions were extremely wicked, so Paul used strong language to condemn these activities.

Paul encouraged Titus to speak of sound doctrine to the Saints in Crete. Paul even wrote about how different people would react to this doctrine. The aged saints would become sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, charity, and patient. They would become humbled and holy, teaching the truth. The young would also become sober-minded, loving, obedient, and chaste.

Paul also cautioned the Saints to be patient and loving to all men, even those that make mistakes. He counseled them to be meek and gentle, speaking no evil of others, because “we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.” No one is perfect or above another because everyone has made mistakes. Paul then goes on to remind them that it wasn’t their own works that saved them, it was the grace and mercy of God. Only through Christ’s willing sacrifice and atonement can we receive forgiveness for our sins. Only when we humble ourselves unto baptism and repentance can we be redeemed and renewed. Christ pleads for us in Heaven, fights justice with his grace, so that we can be forgiven. We must, therefore, turn to him in complete faith and submission so that we can be made new and better.

How foolish, then, were the Saints in Crete for having meaningless debates about “foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law”? Because of their pride and selfishness, they lost sight of the glorious truths of the gospel. In order to avoid the same fate of those ancient people, we must always remember the glory of God. If we can remember that Christ is the only one who can save us, then we will always be humble. We will remember that Christ’s doctrine is sound, and that we need nothing else. We must “deny ourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all [our] might, mind and strength” (Moroni 10:32).

Solutions to Life’s Challenges – Phillipians 1-4

The scriptures are full of timeless wisdom. We have been admonished time and time again to look to the scriptures for guidance and comfort. How do the scriptures continue to teach people thousands of years after they were written? By the power of the Holy Ghost. 2 Nephi 32: 3 says, “Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.” No matter our predicament, the scriptures contain our solution. We just have to search for it. Look, for example, to the following three challenges:

Challenge 1: People sometimes argue and complain over petty matters in church meetings and throughout the week.

Solution: Be filled with the love of God and seek to place others above yourself. Life is not about being “right,” it is about being righteous. In order to be righteous, we must humble ourselves as Christ did and become servants to our fellow men. If we serve without complaint or argument, we will “shine as lights in the world” (Phil. 2:1-8, 14-15). Unity and peace greatly influence the success of the gospel and our testimonies, and petty arguments build up as a destructive force against righteous things. If we have the gospel and the love of God in our hearts, we will not argue with one another, but we will work together to build Zion.

Challenge 2: Many youth feel that their parents’ testimony is sufficient for them. Since they have good parents, they rely on them for all their spiritual strength.

Solution: We are only worthy of salvation if we allow God work in ourselves. We are the only ones that can grant that change. Salvation is personal, and we must develop our own testimonies (Phil 2:12-15). When we listen to others’ testimonies, we can hear the truth and can feel its influence on us. However, we cannot know the truth unless we study it out in our own minds and listen for the teachings of the Spirit. Coming to know the truth isn’t enough to work out our salvation, either. President David O. McKay said, “to work out one’s salvation . . . is to perform daily, hourly, momentarily, if necessary, the immediate task or duty at hand, and to continue happily in such performance as the years come and go, leaving the fruits of such labors either for self or for others to be bestowed as a just and beneficient Father may determine.” Salvation requires a life of service and commitment to God. The youth in this scenario must realize that he or she has work to do that requires a firm, personal testimony.

Challenge 3: An investigator is considering joining the Church, but his family will no longer associate with him if he does.

Solution: This man needs to understand that Christ will receive him. He is this man’s brother; therefore, not all of his family will dissociate with him. This man must proceed, “forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before” (Phil. 3:13). This does not mean that he should disrespect his family, or love them any less, but that he will find comfort in Christ’s sufferings. Losing one’s family must be among one of the greatest earthly struggles. But the scriptures offer these words of comfort: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Phil. 4:13).

Live as Saints Should Live - Romans 12-16

Paul often referred to the members of the church as Saints. What does it mean to live like a Saint? Catholic saints are revered for their outstanding Christ-like characteristics, and I believe it’s possible for each one of us to be revered as a Saint. In fact, we are commanded to live as Saints should live. Paul warns that the time of our salvation, the time of our judgment, is near. If we want to continue the work of our salvation, we must continue the work our Savior started when he sacrificed his life for us. As taught in Ezekiel 3:20, we must turn away from unrighteousness and repent of our sins. It is imperative that we turn to God with a desire to be righteous. With that desire, we must keep the commandments and endure to the end. If we do that, we will receive salvation and eternal life.

Enduring to the end means to continually live in righteousness. Paul gave much counsel, teaching the members of the church how to live like saints and obtain salvation. Listed below are ten things we can do to prepare ourselves to be worthy of salvation:

1. Romans 12:1 – Serve God with all your heart, might, mind, and strength.

2. Romans 12:2 – Renew your mind to accept and perform the will of God.

3. Romans 12:9 – “Abhor that which is evil, cleave to that which is good.”

4. Romans 12:13 – Give hospitality with the spirit of Charity.

5. Romans 12:16 – Be humble and united.

6. Romans 12:21 – “Be not overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good.”

7. Romans 13:1 – Recognize and obey the power of God.

8. Romans 13:3 – Lead in righteousness.

9. Romans 13:8 – Love one another.

10. Romans 13:9 – Obey the commandments.

Paul gave the Saints special cautions about judging others. He taught that we must not judge others because God has power over us all—we all belong to him. Paul reminded us that we are not any more powerful or important than others who sin because we are all sinners; “we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.” We must remember that even though we have all sinned and are indebted to Him, he has still received us and loves us unconditionally. Therefore, we must edify and serve one another out of love for Christ. Although many people have different opinions and practices, showing love for everyone is the most important thing to remember.

Christ, in the purity of his heart, loves us all, and we must emulate his ability to love. Doctrine and Covenants 38:25-27 teaches that we must love our brothers and sisters as ourselves. We must strive to make ourselves equals with those around us, including giving to those in need. No child of God should be valued or revered higher than another because our status as children of God should equalize us all. Christ is the one who will judge us, and it is our responsibility to become a unified and loving “one.”

Baptism - Romans 6

We are sinful beings. Christ was crucified and resurrected for all mankind, so we may be forgiven of our sins. Baptism is the ordinance we perform in order to be cleansed from our sins. But before we are baptized, we must first forsake our sins, and let our carnal, sin-prone selves die. Our spirits must be “dead to sin” so that we may be “alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Baptism by immersion is a symbolic ordinance. Paul explains that when we are lowered into the water, being fully immersed beneath it, we are symbolically buried with Christ “by baptism into death.” In other words, our sins, and the natural, fallen man within us (Mosiah 3:19), are laid to rest along with Christ’s life. We are then raised up out of the water “like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father” so we may “walk in a newness of life.” Our sins are thus removed from our ledgers, and we are given a new life to live, a life of righteousness and purity.

This symbolism is essential to the completion of this ordinance. Baptism by sprinkling isn’t enough to cleanse our bodies and spirits from our sins. Our sins will not die and our lives will not be renewed unless we partake in this complete ordinance, immersion and all.

When we receive our new lives, we must perceive ourselves to be “alive unto God.” We are alive because of Christ’s atonement, so we must forever repay our debt to Him. Baptism doesn’t end at the conclusion of the ordinance, but we must honor it for the rest of our lives. Paul gives specific instructions to those who have been baptized when he says, “let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.” We must remain in control of our mortal bodies, and not allow ourselves to descend into sin. We have been raised up above that through baptism, and if we live for God and seek to do His will, we will remain raised up forever and ever.

When we seek to do Heavenly Father’s will, we must become His servants. Paul continues his teachings by saying, “know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” Those we obey are those we serve. If we want to yield ourselves unto God and become he servants, we must obey Him and perform works of righteousness in His name. Baptism frees us from sin, and transforms us into “servants of righteousness,” as long as we keep ourselves free from sin.

Sin binds us and keeps us from progression. Paul taught that the only fruit of sin is death. But the fruit of righteousness and obedience to the commandments of God is “everlasting life.” Servitude to our Heavenly Father is not necessarily enslavement, therefore, but a newness of life that leads to eternal progression and happiness.