Faith in Jesus Christ

                 Faith is a trust or confidence in someone or something, even though that person or thing is not seen.  Faith is more than just a belief that something is real and true; it is a feeling that motivates us to do something based on our belief.

The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that faith is "the moving cause of all action" and a "principle of power" (Lectures on Faith, 1:10, 15).

                    Faith is a necessary "moving cause" of ordinary actions in ordinary lives.  Farmers plant seeds because they believe that the seeds will grow into plants if they receive the proper care.  Students study for tests because they believe that studying will help them do better on the tests.  People buy bus tickets and Alaskans make airline reservations because they believe that the bus or airplane will take them where they want to go and will do it safely. 

                    Faith must be based on truth.  Farmers know that they must actually plant the seeds in order for plants to grow rather than simply hoping that the right plants will grow in their fields.  Travelers have to actually buy tickets on the correct bus or flight in order to get where they want to go.  Students must study the material applicable to the test in order for their studying to do any good.

                    Alma, an ancient American prophet, headed a mission with the goal to reclaim the apostate Zoramites.  The missionaries went forth and taught the word of God to the people in their synagogues, in their homes, and even in their streets.  After much labor, they began to have some success with the poor class of people who had been cast out of the synagogues because they didn't have the proper clothing to attend church. 

                    Alma taught these poor people that "… faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true."  (See Book of Mormon - Another Testament of Jesus Christ, Alma 32:21.)

                    In his letter to the Hebrews, the Apostle Paul wrote:  "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1).

                    Faith in Jesus Christ is the first principle of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  It is a principle of power that motivates us to act on true principles even when we cannot see immediate results for our actions.  Faith in Jesus Christ is essential because He is at the core of the gospel. 

                    Faith in the Jesus Christ is essential to exaltation.  Article of Faith 1:4 states, "We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are:  first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost."

                    This scripture teaches us that "faith in the Lord Jesus Christ" - not faith in general - is the first principle of the gospel and it must be centered in Jesus Christ.  We can have faith in other things - such as studying for tests, seeds growing, and airplanes arriving - but faith in Jesus Christ is the only faith that will lead us to exaltation.

                    Jacob, another ancient American prophet, taught, "And he commandeth all men that they must repent, and be baptized in his name, having perfect faith in the Holy One of Israel, or they cannot be saved in the kingdom of God" (Book of Mormon - Another Testament of Jesus Christ, 2 Nephi 9:23).

                    King Benjamin, still another prophet in ancient America, taught, "And moreover, I say unto you, that there shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent" (Book of Mormon - Another Testament of Jesus Christ, Mosiah 3:17).

                    Modern-day Prophets and Apostles have also taught the importance of faith in Jesus Christ.  Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles stated:  "The need to exercise faith in Jesus Christ is absolutely essential.  It is the foundation of the plan of salvation" (Ensign, Nov. 1993, 87; italics in original).

                    Elder Bruce R. McConkie of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught, "We must be doers of the word and not hearers only.  It is more than lip service; it is not simply confessing with the mouth the divine Sonship of the Savior.  It is obedience and conformity and personal righteousness" (Ensign, Nov. 1974, 35).

                    Faith in Jesus Christ is the first principle of the gospel for several reasons.  We know from our study of the plan of salvation that Jesus Christ was chosen to be our Savior and Redeemer while we were all in the premortal world.  We know that he came to earth and lived a sinless life, setting a perfect example for us.  We know that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, He atoned for our sins.

                    It is only through faith in Jesus Christ and his Atonement that we can return to dwell with him and with our Heavenly Father.  Since Jesus Christ makes exaltation possible, we must have faith that through his Atonement we will be resurrected and can be forgiven of the sins we have committed.  Faith in Jesus Christ is the first principle of the gospel because it is the basis for understanding and accepting other principles and ordinances of the gospel.  If we did not have faith in Jesus Christ, we would not understand the importance of the other principles and ordinances of the gospel - such as obedience to the commandments or baptism in the name of Christ.

                    Faith in the Savior brings great blessings because it is a principle of power.  Many people have received numerous blessings because of the power of faith.  Paul the Apostle wrote of many of these blessings when he wrote the book of Hebrews, chapter 11.  Here are just a few of the examples he gave.

                    "By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death…." after he served God and received "this testimony, that he pleased God" (verse 5).

                    "By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet,…, prepared an ark to the saving of his house" (verse 7).  Noah received this great blessing because he believed the words of God and was obedient in trying to cry repentance to all the people.  By his faith he became "heir of the righteousness".

                    "Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age" (verse 11).  She received this blessing because "she judged him faithful who had promised."

                    "By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents" (verse 23) because they cared more about the commandments of God than they did about the commandment of the king.

                    "By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter" (verse 24).  He chose instead "to suffer affliction with the people of God" (verse 25) because he desired to please God more than he desired the riches of Egypt (verse 26).

                    "By faith he forsook Egypt" (verse 27) and "kept the Passover" and saved the Israelites who also believed (verse 28).

                    "By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land" and watched as the sea closed in to drown the Egyptians who were chasing them (verse 29).

                    "By faith the walls of Jericho fell down" after the Israelites walked around them for seven days (verse 30).

                    All of these people were blessed because they exercised faith in the Lord's instructions and were obedient.  Elder Thomas S. Monson, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, told the following story about how faith in Jesus Christ brought blessings to a missionary.

                    "Randall Ellsworth was a missionary in Guatemala when that country suffered a terrible earthquake.  Eighteen thousand people were killed.  Elder Ellsworth survived, but he was severely injured and his legs were paralyzed.  He received some medical treatment in Guatemala and then was sent back to his home in the United States.  Those who knew how severe his injuries were thought he would never walk again, but Randall Ellsworth had faith that the Lord would not only help him walk again but would also help him finish his mission.

                    "Randall and his family and friends continued praying, and Randall worked hard at regaining strength in his legs.  He went to physical therapy twice as often as the doctors asked him to.  Eventually he was able to walk again, with the help of two canes, and the Missionary Department approved his return to Guatemala to finish his mission.  When Randall heard that he would be able to finish his mission in Guatemala, the first thing he did was say a prayer thanking Heavenly Father for this great blessing.

                    "Randall Ellsworth returned to Guatemala, and one day he was talking with his mission president.  `You have been the recipient of a miracle,' the president said, `Your faith has been rewarded.  If you have the necessary confidence, if you have abiding faith, if you have supreme courage, place those two canes on my desk and walk.'  Slowly Elder Ellsworth placed his canes on the desk and took a few steps.  It was not easy for him to walk at first, but he never used the canes again.  He finished his mission and later graduated from medical school."  (See Ensign, Nov. 1986, 41-42.  See also "Which Road Will You Travel?" Ensign, Mar. 1991, 4-5.)

                     Exercising faith in Jesus Christ does not always result in miracles.  Part of having faith is being

willing to accept God's will, even when it is not what we want.  Remember the story of Diane Ellingson, the young woman who was injured while practicing for a gymnastic meet.  She initially thought that she would be healed because she had faith.  When she realized it was not God's will for her to be healed, her faith in Jesus Christ gave her comfort and the strength to succeed in life despite her difficulties. 

                    My family has been blessed by exercising faith in Jesus Christ, probably more times than we know about.  One experience was when my young daughter-in-law was diagnosed with stage three brain cancer in August 2010.  We notified all members of our families, all friends and numerous church congregations and asked them to join us in fasting and prayer in her behalf.  Surgery was performed, and a tumor the size of a baseball was taken out of her brain.  As many as possible of the "tendrils" of the tumor were vacuumed out.  A second lab test was done on the tumor that downgraded it to phase two tumor.  This was the first miracle.  A second miracle is that she has survived her cancer for more than eighteen months and is healthy and functioning well in her various roles.

                    We can increase our faith in Jesus Christ by being obedient to the Lord's commandments and showing faith in his chosen servants, the prophets.  There are numerous examples given in the scriptures about the blessings that come from exercising faith.

                    Naaman was the captain of the host of the king of Syria.  As such, he was a very powerful man of valor, but he also contracted leprosy.  Naaman's wife had a little Israelite maid who told her mistress:  "Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria!  For he would recover him of his leprosy."

                    This information was relayed to Naaman.  The king gave Naaman permission to travel to Samaria and even sent a letter to the king of Israel.  Naaman took the letter, his servants, "ten talents of silver," "six thousand pieces of gold," and "ten changes of raiment."  The king of Israel had no idea how to cure the leprosy but was advised to send Naaman to Elisha.

                    When Naaman and his group stood at Elisha's door, "Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean."

                    Naaman was angry that Elisha did not come out to meet him as well as about the message.  How dare Elisha tell him to go down to the river and wash.  "Are not … the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?"

                    The servants of Naaman calmed him down.  "My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it?  How much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?"

                    Naaman decided to do the simple thing of washing in the Jordan "and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God:  and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean" (2 Kings 5:1-14).

                    Naaman initially showed a lack of faith by refusing to do what the prophet Elisha had instructed him to do.  But he did eventually act on faith by bathing in the Jordan River, and he was healed as Elisha had promised. 

                    Abraham was faced with a great test of his faith when God told him, "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee…."

                    Abraham took his son Isaac and the wood for the burnt offering and traveled for three days until they arrived at the chosen spot.  When Isaac questioned his father about the lamb for the sacrifice, Abraham told him, "My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering…."

Abraham built an altar "and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood."  As Abraham took the knife and moved to kill his son, an angel spoke to him, saying:  "Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him:  for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me."

Abraham looked around and discovered "a ram caught in a thicket by his horns."  He took the ram and offered the ram for a burnt offering in place of his son.  (See Genesis 22:1-13.)

Abraham, immediately and without question, set out to be obedient to the word of God - even though his assigned task was very difficult.  The Lord was pleased with Abraham's obedience and provided a ram for the sacrifice; God also made a great covenant with Abraham for the blessing of all his posterity.

According to Romans 10:17, faith is preceded by hearing the word of God:  "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."  We can "hear" the word of God by studying the scriptures, the words of latter-day prophets and apostles, and magazines published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  We can also hear the word of God as we listen to the speakers in our Church meetings.  Studying the word of God increases our faith because we read of others who have been blessed for their faith.  Studying His word also increases our faith as we learn more about what He wants us to do.

                    There are other ways to increase our faith in Jesus Christ, such as sincere prayer, obedience, service to others, family home evening, and missionary work.  Increasing our faith in Jesus Christ is similar to developing any other characteristic or skill.  If we want to improve our ability to play soccer, do math, shoot baskets, compose music, or cook, we must study and practice and consciously try to better our ability.  The same holds true for increasing our faith in the Savior.  Our faith in Jesus Christ increases as we put it into practice by following his example (see John 14:12).

Faith in Jesus Christ is the first principle of the gospel because it is the basis of every other principle or ordinance of the gospel.  It is a principle of power, motivating us to act on true principles even when we cannot see immediate results for our actions.  The role of the Savior is at the core of the gospel, so faith in him is essential to our salvation.  I encourage you to increase your faith in Jesus Christ through study, prayer, and obedience to his commandments.

For a previous article on faith in Jesus Christ click here.