Repentance

[JLHPROF]

So I have a question for the wonderful members of this board.

 

I fully believe in repentance (and understand it to some degree).  When we get down on our knees, show true remorse and ask the Lord to forgive us, and do our very best not to repeat the sin, and if necessary make recompense we have repented.

 

But how do YOU know when your repentance has been truly successful?  How do you know that the Lord has accepted your repentance and forgiven you completely?

 

Two points -

1. I am hoping to get responses beyond "I feel" at peace.  Getting sin off our conscience through the repentant prayer will naturally bring that peace.  But that could easily be internal.

and

2. I am thinking of our more serious sins, not getting mad in traffic, but doing something that really needs to be forgiven.

 

I find some people treat this like an automatic process - IE - If I complete the repentance process God is bound to forgive.

I find some people think when they no longer feel guilt that God has accepted their repentance.

 

So what do you think?  How do you know when God has accepted your repentance process?  Is there any indication other than that we feel better about ourselves, because that doesn't indicate God's forgiveness to me?

 

 

 

[JAHS]

We should remember to make the Sacrament a part of our repentance process as we recommit ourselves to the promises we made at baptism and are working to forsake our sins. We can see it as a rebaptism which indicates a washing away of our sins, so long as we have followed the proper repentance steps.

 

By this ye may know if a man repenteth of his sins—behold, he will confess them and forsake them. (D&C 58: 43)

 

But It's not just the "automatic process" (as you put it) of going through the steps of repentance that get's forgiveness; we have to have a change of heart so that we are no longer inclined to commit the sin again.

 

"And it came to pass that when Ammon arose he also administered unto them, and also did all the servants of Lamoni; and they did all declare unto the people the selfsame thing—that their hearts had been changed; that they had no more desire to do evil." (Alma 19: 33)

 

I believe that knowing we have been forgiven of our sins is a spiritual confirmation we receive through the Holy Ghost that happens after we have repented of the sin; something like the people listening to King Benjamin experienced as they realized their sins were forgiven:

 

"And it came to pass that after they had spoken these words the Spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they were filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins, and having peace of conscience, because of the exceeding faith which they had in Jesus Christ who should come, according to the words which king Benjamin had spoken unto them." (Mosiah 4:3) 

 

I know this is not the answer you were looking for but that's what the scriptures say. How else can you be sure of God's forgiveness if not by confirmation through the Spirit of the Lord and feeling the joy that comes with that?

Edited January 3, 2015 by JAHS

[rodheadlee]

I don't know, it's a really good question. I also wonder about the other side of the coin. If we have forgiven somebody, will we forget? Are we supposed to forget? Or are we supposed to remember so we don't do that to somebody?

[Garden Girl]

Good Morning, JLHPROF...

 

Your question really struck home with me because it was the exact question I had in my mind when I reactivated in the Church in 1996, 18 years ago...after being inactive for about 34 years...

 

I did go through the repentence process... fasting, praying, a lot of praying... pouring my heart out to Heavenly Father.  I used to get up early while my husband was still sleeping and go out into the living room where I would read my scriptures and pray.   Finally one morning I asked Heavenly Father... has my repentence been enough?  has it been accepted?

In the quiet of that morning came the still small voice... "Jesus was your advocate." 

As simple as that... Jesus was your advocate...

Of course that gave me great peace... fast forward to a number of years ago... I was working as an ordinance worker in the Portland temple.  Some assignments, like in the Celestial Room, allowed a few minutes alone, in which case I'd pick up some scriptures and just let them fall open where I would begin to read.  This one day I was praying because I was quite downhearted at the "world" because it seemed in such turmoil... the Iraq war was going strong... society seemed to be in chaos, etc.  So I let the scriptures fall open... I looked and at the top of the page I found myself in D&C 45:3 and I began to read... "Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him --"

I continued to read and the section went on to describe the turmoil that would be in the world in the last days, the calamities to come before the coming of the Lord, including wars and rumors of wars... but how the righteous could find peace if we turned to and followed Christ... it was the answer to my prayer and to my troubled heart... but it was verse 3 that really struck me... Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading  your cause before him... that confirmed to me the still small voice I had heard so clearly that quiet morning as I had prayed to know if my repentence had been accepted...

 

GG

Edited January 3, 2015 by Garden Girl

[Bobbieaware]

So I have a question for the wonderful members of this board.

I fully believe in repentance (and understand it to some degree). When we get down on our knees, show true remorse and ask the Lord to forgive us, and do our very best not to repeat the sin, and if necessary make recompense we have repented.

But how do YOU know when your repentance has been truly successful? How do you know that the Lord has accepted your repentance and forgiven you completely?

Two points -

1. I am hoping to get responses beyond "I feel" at peace. Getting sin off our conscience through the repentant prayer will naturally bring that peace. But that could easily be internal.

and

2. I am thinking of our more serious sins, not getting mad in traffic, but doing something that really needs to be forgiven.

I find some people treat this like an automatic process - IE - If I complete the repentance process God is bound to forgive.

I find some people think when they no longer feel guilt that God has accepted their repentance.

So what do you think? How do you know when God has accepted your repentance process? Is there any indication other than that we feel better about ourselves, because that doesn't indicate God's forgiveness to me?

Just prior to receiving the 'second comforter,' the brother of Jared prayed to the Lord for help. During that prayer he confessed he was a guilt-ridden screwup who really didn't deserve God's help. Yet Jared's brother did receive the Lord's help and, quite surprisingly, made his calling and election sure. This tells me that no matter how sincerely one repents, and no matter how far he may progress spiritually, there's always going to be some lingering self-doubt and guilt associated with past sins and the imperfect fallen nature. I call this phenomenon "constructive guilt," a spiritually beneficial attribute of mind that enables the saint to continue to move ever forward and onward in the quest to overcome the imperfections of the fallen state.

But the Book of Mormon does show us how we can know if we're truly forgiven: We're told the truly repentant sinner will necessarily have a broken heart and a spirit of true contrition as a consequence of the sin, or sins, he's committed. This broken hearted and profoundly felt contrition in pursuit of forgiveness will sooner or later bring the Lord's forgiveness, which will then be followed by a great outpouring of the Holy Ghost. Meekness and lowliness of heart and then a great outpouring of the Holy Ghost will always accompany genuine repentance and true forgiveness.

But how can one be sure he's received that great outpouring of the Holy Ghost that's promised will follow in the wake true forgiveness? He will know if he discovers he's filled with a greater capacity to love God and all men. Yes, true repentance and forgiveness is naturally followed a greater capacity to love and serve. Think Ebenezer Scrooge when he awakes on Christmas morning. (See Mosiah 4 and Moroni 8 for verification of the above)

Edited January 3, 2015 by Bobbieaware

[bluebell]

For sins that must be confessed i suppose you know you've completed the repentance process when your leader says you have.  Otherwise, i think it comes down to two things:  Having a change of heart and believing Christ.

 

1)-I think it was Pres. SWK that says that you will know that a person has truly repented of their sins when they no longer have a disposition to sin-they say their prayers, read their scriptures, go to their meetings and sit in the front so they can participate, they shun the evil they previously courted.  They are changed.

 

2)-Christ has said that he will forgive those who repent.  If you have repented (you have a clean heart and pure hands) then you need to trust that Christ has forgiven just as He promised he would.

[intra]

For sins that must be confessed i suppose you know you've completed the repentance process when your leader says you have. 

if you mean by "leader" the Lord Jesus Christ - He is faithful to forgive as soon as we confess that we have sin. He said if we forgive others the Father is faithful to forgive us. 

if you mean by "leader" some human being you have made yourself a slave to, that's a human teaching, not a scriptural one. 

have a look at Mark 2:1-12

here, the Lord forgives the sins of a paralytic man because of the faith of him and his friends, who brought him to Him. 

no acts of repentance. no human restitution. no penance. no absolutionary works. no approval of the Levites. 

sin + faith + Christ = no sin. 

the Pharisees were incredulous upon hearing this. 

so He healed the paralytic. 

will we also require signs of Him, or will faith enough be found in us? 

 

Edited January 3, 2015 by intra

[Duncan]

if you mean by "leader" the Lord Jesus Christ - He is faithful to forgive as soon as we confess that we have sin. He said if we forgive others the Father is faithful to forgive us. 

if you mean by "leader" some human being you have made yourself a slave to, that's a human teaching, not a scriptural one. 

have a look at Mark 2:1-12

here, the Lord forgives the sins of a paralytic man because of the faith of him and his friends, who brought him to Him. 

no acts of repentance. no human restitution. no penance. no absolutionary works. no approval of the Levites. 

sin + faith + Christ = no sin. 

the Pharisees were incredulous upon hearing this. 

so He healed the paralytic. 

will we also require signs of Him, or will faith enough be found in us? 

 

 

 

mind if I ask what church you attend? Not that this is exactley the same thing but what do you think about when Christ healed the ten lepers in Luke 17 and Christ told them to "Go shew yourselves unto the priests." which meant that before they were allowed to come back into the town they had to pass muster so to speak from the local Priest, they just couldn't come back? Christ didn't just heal them and all was well they had to go see someone first then they were allowed to be back in the community

Edited January 4, 2015 by Duncan

[Uncle Dale]

I'll give this one a shot --

 

In years gone by, I was taught that the most important single factor

in repentance is "giving restitution."

 

That is to say -- a great deal in life that we might ever feel sorry for,

was done in such a way as to injure, fault, bypass, or defraud some

other individual, or group of individuals.

 

The tie-in might not be starkly evident at first realization, but even a

"secret lie" or a "task shunned" can injure our relationships with

family members, friends, neighbors, work-mates, etc. They may not

be aware of the problem, but the person pondering repentance may

eventually comprehend the hidden effects -- if he/she thinks about it.

 

Giving restitution might be as simple as re-establishing the previous

trust that your parents or loved ones invested in you -- by confessing

the truth, and seeking to set matters right.

 

Or -- it might be as difficult a matter as repaying a friend hundreds of

dollars that he or she "lost" due to the penitent person's previous

wrong-doing.

 

Even in cases where no one, single person can be identified for

this sort of restitution, we can stop in our routine and make time to

help others -- volunteer for charity work -- participate in a worthy cause.

That too might (in some cases) amount to restitution.

 

At least, that is what I was taught -- in a different church and in a

different century.

 

UD

Edited January 4, 2015 by Uncle Dale

[Ahab]

I have my/our Lord's assurance that he has already forgiven me for everything I have done wrong in my past and that he will continue to forgive me as long as I strive to repent in the future, and I feel like I have repented when I no longer do the bad things I once did and have done what I felt I should do to make amends. For example, there was a period in my life when I indulged my sinful desire for pornography and I have not only been forgiven for all of that but I have also repented from pornography. And I know I have repented from pornography because I no longer have a sinful desire for it, and instead am repulsed by it. I actually hate it, and don't even want to look at it anymore. In fact, if I could, I would offer clothing to those naked people and suggest that they stop doing that, at least for public display, because what they are doing isn't good for others to see, even if they are married.

Edited January 4, 2015 by Ahab

[bluebell]

if you mean by "leader" the Lord Jesus Christ - He is faithful to forgive as soon as we confess that we have sin. He said if we forgive others the Father is faithful to forgive us. 

if you mean by "leader" some human being you have made yourself a slave to, that's a human teaching, not a scriptural one. 

have a look at Mark 2:1-12

here, the Lord forgives the sins of a paralytic man because of the faith of him and his friends, who brought him to Him. 

no acts of repentance. no human restitution. no penance. no absolutionary works. no approval of the Levites. 

sin + faith + Christ = no sin. 

the Pharisees were incredulous upon hearing this. 

so He healed the paralytic. 

will we also require signs of Him, or will faith enough be found in us? 

 

 

Acts 17:30-

 

And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

 

Mark 6:12-

 

And they went out, and preached that men should repent.

[Avatar4321]

Revelation

[Avatar4321]

Revelation

[Avatar4321]

Oh and the d&c says we will know if we confess and forsake our sins

[janderich]

So what do you think?  How do you know when God has accepted your repentance process?  Is there any indication other than that we feel better about ourselves, because that doesn't indicate God's forgiveness to me?

A profound peace is the very evidence of repentance. There is no ignoring this. It is not peace as the world gives, nor can it be duplicated because we are resting on a beach or other external activity. However, let me try and explain it in another way. 

 

Repentance is bringing our physical selves in harmony with our spiritual selves. Our spirit at it's core is in a state of peace, contentment, and harmony. When we tune our mind and our body to act in resonance with our spirit we are at one. We can know this in our very soul. When we sin we separate the two which leads to deep hurt, anguish, and pain. It is caused because we know (at our core) what is right but we have not followed the way of happiness. For a member, as we block our spirit further and further the mental anguish simply increases. There are only two ways to alleviate it. Progress further in sin (a temporary relief with added pain afterwords) or start to listen to the spirit and change our lives (this causes fear but will lead to contentment). 

 

Perhaps JLHPROF you have not felt these extremes to a very great extent. I believe some members have always lived decent lives and so have not felt the contrast as much as others. But I can tell you that it is very real. There is a night and day difference and when one draws close to the Lord there is such a peace and such a rest to the soul that it almost cannot be mistaken. 

Edited January 4, 2015 by janderich

[CV75]

So what do you think?  How do you know when God has accepted your repentance process?  Is there any indication other than that we feel better about ourselves, because that doesn't indicate God's forgiveness to me?

When I have a "Hmm! I did that differently!" moment.

[intra]

Acts 17:30-

 

And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

 

Mark 6:12-

 

And they went out, and preached that men should repent.

amen! 

and if you have sinned against your brother, leave your gift at the altar and be reconciled with him. (Matthew 5:21-26) 

but look at the grace of our Lord, it is better than any laws and ordinances: 

And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.

(Luke 7:37-38)

My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also? And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.

(Luke 7:46-50) 

did Jesus tell this woman to go to a priest? did He say do these works for restitution? did He say confess to some other people? no, none of these. 

He said she was forgiven "for she hath loved much" and told her "thy faith hath saved thee" 

and what did she do? she adored Him, weeping and looking for His mercy. she came to Christ directly. 

 

do i assume she didn't repent? no. 

do i assume she didn't turn instead to good works? no. 

but these things aren't mentioned here as prerequisite. love and faith are spelled out as the things for which this sinner is forgiven and saved! 

if you love the Lord, and you confess your sin before Him, and you obey Him in loving and forgiving others - it is faith to know He has forgiven you. faith in Him, the only one whose blood atones and whose works cover over iniquity. 

 

and if you love Him, and do not call evil 'good' - then what can you do but confess sin when it is found in you, and repent? because to repent is "to turn away from" and when one turns away from one thing, they must turn towards another. if you love Him, you will turn to Him, and because He is Truth, love confess sin, and because He is the Way, love forgives others. 

see how love is the most excellent way, and fulfills every part of the law? He said if you confess your iniquity before Him, and forgive others, He will forgive you. we must have faith then, and do these things. if we have love for Him, what else could we do? 

how great is God! no one is like Him, and His mercy is everlasting  

 

[Ahab]

amen!

and if you have sinned against your brother, leave your gift at the altar and be reconciled with him. (Matthew 5:21-26)

but look at the grace of our Lord, it is better than any laws and ordinances:

And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.

(Luke 7:37-38)

My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also? And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.

(Luke 7:46-50)

did Jesus tell this woman to go to a priest? did He say do these works for restitution? did He say confess to some other people? no, none of these.

He said she was forgiven "for she hath loved much" and told her "thy faith hath saved thee"

and what did she do? she adored Him, weeping and looking for His mercy. she came to Christ directly.

do i assume she didn't repent? no.

do i assume she didn't turn instead to good works? no.

but these things aren't mentioned here as prerequisite. love and faith are spelled out as the things for which this sinner is forgiven and saved!

if you love the Lord, and you confess your sin before Him, and you obey Him in loving and forgiving others - it is faith to know He has forgiven you. faith in Him, the only one whose blood atones and whose works cover over iniquity.

and if you love Him, and do not call evil 'good' - then what can you do but confess sin when it is found in you, and repent? because to repent is "to turn away from" and when one turns away from one thing, they must turn towards another. if you love Him, you will turn to Him, and because He is Truth, love confess sin, and because He is the Way, love forgives others.

see how love is the most excellent way, and fulfills every part of the law? He said if you confess your iniquity before Him, and forgive others, He will forgive you. we must have faith then, and do these things. if we have love for Him, what else could we do?

how great is God! no one is like Him, and His mercy is everlasting

Our Lord is a lot like his Father, actually. There is a lot of hyperbole in the scriptures, though, so I know what you mean.

[intra]

Our Lord is a lot like his Father, actually. There is a lot of hyperbole in the scriptures, though, so I know what you mean.

much more than "a lot like" my friend. 

I and my Father are one.

(John 10:30) 

For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell

(Colossians 1:19) 

Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me?

the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake.

(John 14:10-11) 

[rpn]

I don't think it possible to be forgiven of God until we are fully open with Him (and with bishop when that is required including all of the church requirements), when we have confessed to those we have hurt (unless we are excused because our doing so would harm them more), when we have done our complete part to make the other whole for the sin, and when we have become new people by changing our hearts.

 

It is when we become new people that we can know of the forgiveness of God (and this is true even when our natural man is urging us to continue beating ourselves up, or mistaking forgiveness for a requirement to again trust someone who has violated our trust, or all the other myriad ways that we ---with or without satan's help--- can cling to our unforgiven past).   That complete change of heart results in our feeling completely square with God.  

[Ahab]

much more than "a lot like" my friend.

And yet YOU just said no one is like him and his mercy is everlasting. So do you believe some one is like him or not?

I already told you that we believe our Lord is a lot like his Father, and now I'll tell you that we also believe we can become as perfect as our Lord's Father, who is also the Father of our spirit, which means we are the children of God our Father and already the same kind of being he is.

Edited January 4, 2015 by Ahab

[intra]

I already told you that we believe our Lord is a lot like his Father, and now I'll tell you that we also believe we can become as perfect as our Lord's Father, who is also the Father of our spirit, which means we are the children of God our Father and already the same kind of being he is.

 

we are like Him or we can become like Him, if we are in Christ ? 

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature:

old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

(2 Corinthians 5:17) 

we are born like Him or have need to be reborn ? 

Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

(Jon 3:8 )

our inheritance is by birthright or by adoption ? 

For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear;

but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

(Romans 8:1)

born by blood a son of God, or by force of human will attaining sonship, or through faith given the power to become sons by fiat of the Father? 

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, 

even to them that believe on his name: 

Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

(John 1:12-13)

 

Edited January 5, 2015 by intra

[Ahab]

we are like Him or we can become like Him, if we are in Christ ?

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature:

old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

(2 Corinthians 5:17)

we are born like Him or have need to be reborn ?

Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

(Jon 3:8 )

our inheritance is by birthright or by adoption ?

For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear;

but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

(Romans 8:1)

born by blood a son of God, or by force of human will attaining sonship, or through faith given the power to become sons by fiat of the Father?

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God,

even to them that believe on his name:

Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

(John 1:12-13)

Fine. We agree. Just stop saying no one is like him and talk more about how we are and can be more like him.

[intra]

Fine. We agree. Just stop saying no one is like him and talk more about how we are and can be more like him.

don't you believe what the scripture says? 

Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord,

and my servant whom I have chosen:

that ye may know and believe me,

and understand that I am he:

before me there was no God formed,

neither shall there be after me.

I, even I, am the Lord;

and beside me there is no saviour.

(Isaiah 43:10-11) 

what did Jesus His Christ have to say? 

And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good?

none is good, save one, that is, God.

(Luke 18:19) 

so if i say "no one is like God!" i am saying what the prophets say: 

Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD;

Thou art great, and thy name is great in might.

(Jeremiah 10:6) 

will you stop up your ears to the voice of those prophets? will you tell them to shut up or go and prophesy to someone else?

one way to become more like Him is to accept Him at what He says. to believe the testimony of the ones He sent, regardless of what men say. how will you be like Him if you reject His Word? 

and the message these brought to us was that we should repent of our sins and turn to the One True God, who made heaven and earth -- just as the scriptures say: 

 

Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together:

who hath declared this from ancient time?

who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD?

and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.

Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.

(Isaiah 45:21-22) 

repent, turn to Him, because there is no other, and in Him is Salvation -- even Jesus Christ, the Author and Finisher of Salvation, who is in Him, and who is Him. the reward of this faith in Him and His Salvation is that very hope, to be one in Him and for Him to be in us.

without that we turn to Him and be made new, we cannot be like Him.

we have to repent from the old in order to be made new - to turn from worshiping everything under the sun as gods, from ourselves, from covetousness, from every kind of evil - and to turn towards the only One in whom Salvation is found. there is no other God who saves, and no other name He has given by which we can be saved from ignominy into the righteousness of His name. 

 

we were not born in Him, but must be reborn in Him - repenting from the old body of death, turning to the body of life. 

 

EDIT: fixed some formatting

Edited January 6, 2015 by intra

[Duncan]

don't you believe what the scripture says? 

Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord,

and my servant whom I have chosen:

that ye may know and believe me,

and understand that I am he:

before me there was no God formed,

neither shall there be after me.

I, even I, am the Lord;

and beside me there is no saviour.

(Isaiah 43:10-11) 

what did Jesus His Christ have to say? 

And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good?

none is good, save one, that is, God.

(Luke 18:19) 

so if i say "no one is like God!" i am saying what the prophets say: 

Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD;

Thou art great, and thy name is great in might.

(Jeremiah 10:6) 

will you stop up your ears to the voice of those prophets? will you tell them to shut up or go and prophesy to someone else?

one way to become more like Him is to accept Him at what He says. to believe the testimony of the ones He sent, regardless of what men say. how will you be like Him if you reject His Word? 

and the message these brought to us was that we should repent of our sins and turn to the One True God, who made heaven and earth -- just as the scriptures say: 

 

Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together:

who hath declared this from ancient time?

who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD?

and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.

Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.

(Isaiah 45:21-22) 

repent, turn to Him, because there is no other, and in Him is Salvation -- even Jesus Christ, the Author and Finisher of Salvation, who is in Him, and who is Him. the reward of this faith in Him and His Salvation is that very hope, to be one in Him and for Him to be in us.

without that we turn to Him and be made new, we cannot be like Him.

we have to repent from the old in order to be made new - to turn from worshiping everything under the sun as gods, from ourselves, from covetousness, from every kind of evil - and to turn towards the only One in whom Salvation is found. there is no other God who saves, and no other name He has given by which we can be saved from ignominy into the righteousness of His name. 

 

we were not born in Him, but must be reborn in Him - repenting from the old body of death, turning to the body of life. 

 

EDIT: fixed some formatting

 

 

just so you know their is more talk about being rebirth in the Book of Mormon than there is in the NT, anyways keep on your preaching