1 Hearken, O ye Gentiles, and hear the words of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, which he hath commanded me that I should speak concerning you, for, behold he commandeth me that I should write, saying:
2 Turn, all ye Gentiles, from your wicked ways; and repent of your evil doings, of your lyings and deceivings, and of your whoredoms, and of your secret abominations, and your idolatries, and of your murders, and your priestcrafts, and your envyings, and your strifes, and from all your wickedness and abominations, and come unto me, and be baptized in my name, that ye may receive a remission of your sins, and be filled with the Holy Ghost, that ye may be numbered with my people who are of the house of Israel.
Verse 2 is the one that's interesting. Let's read it piece by piece.
2 Turn, all ye Gentiles, from your wicked ways; and repent of your evil doings,
The message in this part is pretty clear. Christ wants people to keep His commandments, so when people are breaking His commandments, He wants them to stop. This is a call to repentance, and according to this verse, the Gentiles (or people in general) sure have a lot to repent of.
of your lyings and deceivings, and of your whoredoms, and of your secret abominations, and your idolatries, and of your murders, and your priestcrafts, and your envyings, and your strifes, and from all your wickedness and abominations,
I don't know about you, but to me a lot of this stuff sounds pretty serious. To be fair, I don't think anyone on earth is guilty of all these sins, but theoretically, someone could be. And being guilty of even just a handful of these sins could have a person marked as a terrible sinner. Earlier in the Book of Mormon, Alma said to his son, Corianton that if a person commits murder, "it is not easy for him to obtain forgiveness" (Alma 39:6)
But here's the invitation anyway: repent of your evil doings,
and come unto me, and be baptized in my name,
But why? What's the point? When you're guilty of murder, and whoredoms, and secret abominations, is there any point in trying to make it right? Is there any point in trying to repent? Once you've done all that, is there any hope left for you at all?
Yes, there is.
"Repent," says the Savior, "and come unto me, and be baptized in my name,
that ye may receive a remission of your sins, and be filled with the Holy Ghost, that ye may be numbered with my people who are of the house of Israel.
This verse and other passages in the Book of Mormon teach us that there is hope for all of us, even for "the very vilest of sinners" (Mosiah 28:4). And if there's hope for the kind of people who could have done all those things, there must be hope for us, too.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland once said, "Whoever you are and whatever you have done, you can be forgiven" (We Are All Enlisted, October 2011. Emphasis Added). He also said, "It is not possible for you to sink lower than the infinite light of Christ’s Atonement shines" (Laborers in the Vineyard, April 2012. Emphasis Added).
I testify that no matter what sins are in our past or our present, we can "receive a remission of [our] sins, and be filled with the Holy Ghost." But first, we must "repent of [our] evil doings," and "turn... from [our] wicked ways." Christ can help us do that. It may not be easy, but He has made it possible. We can have our slate wiped clean. We can have our sins washed away. Even the toughest stains of sin can be purged by the blood of the Lamb. He has made salvation possible for all of us, and He invites all the sinners in the world, all of us, to accept the gift of His Atonement, to turn from our wicked ways, and "be numbered with [His] people who are of the house of Israel."
This is a glorious offer. And even more amazing, it is available to us all.
1 comment:
I am afraid that many of these sins are so commonplace and accepted by society that even "Saints" hardly recognize them for what they are although we may not commit them. Most of them. Usually.
Whoredoms are rampant, but we don't call it that. And if we are immodest in our dress, thoughts, or entertainment, we are treading thin ice there.
We have to be careful of lyings and deceivings - "everyone does it" "it doesn't hurt anyone" cheating on tests, not paying full price, riding light rail without a validated ticket - little things.
Idolatries - I think they abound. Anything that is more important that serving God -and we can measure its importance by how much time and interest we give it - could be idolatry.
It's not jusr the Gentiles who need to repent and turn from their wicked ways. I find myself in the picture more than I would have thought and more than I like.
Thank the Lord for His mercy and the gift of repentance!
"It is not possible for you to sink lower than the infinite light of Christ’s Atonement shines" How beautiful and glorious are thos words!
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