The Lord gave the law of Moses through faith. Through the
gift of Christ, He has prepared a “more excellent way” (Ether 12:11).
Scriptures describe this excellent gift. “For God so loved
the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
“Jesus answered and said unto [the Samaritan woman at the
well], If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give
me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee
living water” (John 4:7).
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is
eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves:
it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).
“Wherefore, the wicked are rejected from the righteous, and
also from that tree of life, whose fruit is most precious and most desirable
above all other fruits; yea, and it is the greatest of all the gifts of God.
And thus I spake unto my brethren. Amen” (1 Nephi 15:36).
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and
cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither
shadow of turning” (James 1:17).
“Where do we turn for help? “In the gift of his Son hath God
prepared a more excellent way” (Ether 12:11). The Savior isn’t our last chance;
He is our only chance. Our only chance to overcome self-doubt and catch a
vision of who we may become. Our only chance to repent and have our sins washed
clean. Our only chance to purify our hearts, subdue our weaknesses, and avoid
the adversary. Our only chance to obtain redemption and exaltation. Our only
chance to find peace and happiness in this life and eternal life in the world
to come.”[1]
Faith is essential if God’s work is to be done among us. “[F]or
it is by faith that miracles are wrought; and it is by faith that angels appear
and minister unto men; wherefore, if these things have ceased wo be unto the
children of men, for it is because of unbelief, and all is vain” (Moroni 7:37).
Without faith, no miracle can be done.
“Yea, there are many who do say: If thou wilt show unto us a
sign from heaven, then we shall know of a surety; then we shall believe.
“Now I ask, is this faith? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for
if a man knoweth a thing he hath no cause to believe, for he knoweth it” (Alma
32:17-18).
“Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy
One of Israel” (Psalms 78:41).
The Savior could do no miracles in his homeland, Nazareth, because
they rejected Him. “And he did not many mighty works there because of their
unbelief” (Matthew 15:38).
“And the reason why he ceaseth to do miracles among the
children of men is because that they dwindle in unbelief, and depart from the
right way, and know not the God in whom they should trust” (Moroni 9:20).
Moroni gives us examples of miracles done through faith. “Moroni
presents three examples of miracles wrought among the people as a result of
faith: (1) the prison walls which tumble to the earth without hurting Alma and
Amulek (Alma 14); (2) the remarkable ‘change upon the Lamanites’ (Ether 12:14)
resulting from the prison encounter of Nephi and Lehi (Helaman 5); and (3) the
conversion of so many Lamanites by the sons of Mosiah (Alma 17–26; Ether
12:13–15). Moroni does not explicitly give Alma any credit for the conversion
of the Lamanites in Helaman 5—in fact, he cites the faith of Nephi and Lehi—but
he clearly views this later conversion as comparable to the ‘great . . .
miracle’ wrought by the sons of Mosiah among the Lamanites (Ether 12:14–15).”[2]
[1] Our
Only Chance, Sister Sheri L. Dew, April 1999 General Conference.
[2] The
Supremacy of the Word: Alma’s Mission to the Zoramites and the Conversion of
the Lamanites, Michael F. Perry, Journal
of Book of Mormon Studies 24 (2015): 128.
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