Kent Jackson, professor of ancient scripture at BYU in Provo, spoke at Thursday's devotional on receiving the grace of Christ in our lives through repentance and spiritual rebirth.
The address was part of the annual Joseph Smith Lecture series, sponsored by the BYU-Hawaii religion department. In years past, the event focused solely on the prophet Joseph Smith. The series has since broadened its range to include a variety of gospel topics.
Jackson's devotional message was one of both bad news and good news.
"The bad news is that despite all our efforts and all our good works, we cannot save ourselves," he said. Quoting Alma in the Book of Mormon, he read, "Since man had fallen he could not merit anything of himself..." (22:14).
To merit, Jackson explained, means to deserve or to be worthy of something. "One of the important messages of the scriptures is that we cannot merit, or deserve an inheritance in God's presence in the celestial kingdom," he said.
The good news is that Christ is able and anxious to intercede and save us, "...because His sinless life makes Him truly worthy. His great act of grace is that He desires to apply His worthiness to us, if we will but come unto him."
Quoting Lehi, he said, "...there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah... He shall make intercession for all the children of men; and they that believe in him shall be saved" (2 Nephi 2:8-9).
"Indeed, brothers and sisters," Jackson added, "we will always be in Christ's debt, because - as all these scriptures teach - it is only through Christ's merits, and not our own, that we can be saved. We will for all eternity be "indebted unto him," as King Benjamin said, and we have nothing to boast of."
However, there are things that we must do to receive the grace, mercy, and merits of Christ? From the scriptures, Jackson recounts several things that are required of us:
"We must reconcile ourselves to the will of God, which means that we must set aside our own proud desires and place our thoughts and our intentions in harmony with His. We must have a broken heart and a contrite spirit," he said. "We must exercise faith in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus. We must repent of our sins, which means not only to confess them but also to forsake them.
"We must be baptized by immersion for the remission of sins, in similitude of Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection and in similitude of the death of our own, natural mam, and our spiritual rebirth as new persons in Christ," he continued. "And we must receive the Holy Ghost, which means that we must live worthy to have the companionship of the Spirit in our lives."
Jackson gave particular focus to the principle of repentance.
"To repent means to change one's heart, to change one's attitude, to change one's life," he said. "When you truly repent, all of your life will change. In the process of repenting of any particular misconduct, you will gain a strong desire and commitment to be worthy in all areas of your life."
Jackson related repentance to becoming, as Alma taught, spiritually born again.
"To be spiritually reborn is not to have some dramatic spiritual manifestation, to be sealed up to eternal life, to become perfect, or to die and go to heaven," he explained. "It is to undergo the change of heart...leaving behind the things of the world and seeking after things that are worthy, righteous, and uplifting - to live the gospel.
"Spiritual rebirth is not an event, it is a process - a regenerating process that changes our nature and makes us new," Jackson added. "It requires effort, patience, and considerable time."
As a word of encouragement, Jackson observed that "sometimes we don't forgive ourselves for things that the Lord has already forgiven us for. And sometimes we even allow that lack of forgiveness to canker in our souls and to impede our progress... If you have repented and made amends both to God and to His Church, I urge you to move on," he encouraged.
In conclusion, Jackson pointed out that of the 19 passages of scripture that he quoted, paraphrased, or cited in his address,17 came from the Book of Mormon and the other two came from the Doctrine and Covenants.
"In our praising of the Lord for what He has done for us, let us always thank Him for the scriptures that were revealed through the Prophet Joseph Smith, particularly for the Book of Mormon," he reminded us. "Better than any other book in the world, it is a testament of the atoning work of our Savior Jesus Christ. As you face life's challenges, overcome transgression, and strive to become spiritually reborn, I counsel you to make reading the Book of Mormon an important part of your life."
Be sure to attend more lectures on "The Resurrection of the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible" and "The Printing of the First Edition of the Book of Mormon.