How does exercising faith in Christ and receiving forgiveness look like for you?
" 1 Behold, it came to pass that I, aEnos, knowing my father that bhe was a just man—for he ctaught me in his language, and also in the dnurture and admonition of the Lord—and blessed be the name of my God for it—
2 And I will tell you of the awrestle which I had before God, before I received a bremission of my sins.
3 Behold, I went to hunt beasts in the forests; and the words which I had often heard my father speak concerning eternal life, and the ajoy of the saints, bsunk deep into my heart.
4 And my soul ahungered; and I bkneeled down before my Maker, and I ccried unto him in mighty dprayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens.
5 And there came a avoice unto me, saying: Enos, thy sins are bforgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed.
6 And I, Enos, knew that God acould not lie; wherefore, my guilt was swept away.
7 And I said: Lord, how is it done?
8 And he said unto me: aBecause of thy bfaith in Christ, whom thou hast never before heard nor seen. And many years pass away before he shall manifest himself in the flesh; wherefore, go to, thy faith hath made thee cwhole.
9 Now, it came to pass that when I had heard these words I began to feel a adesire for the bwelfare of my brethren, the Nephites; wherefore, I did cpour out my whole soul unto God for them.
10 And while I was thus struggling in the spirit, behold, the voice of the Lord came into my amind again, saying: I will visit thy brethren according to their diligence in keeping my commandments. I have bgiven unto them this land, and it is a holy land; and I ccurse it not save it be for the cause of iniquity; wherefore, I will visit thy brethren according as I have said; and their dtransgressions will I bring down with sorrow upon their own heads.
11 And after I, Enos, had heard these words, my afaith began to be bunshaken in the Lord; and I cprayed unto him with many long dstrugglings for my brethren, the Lamanites.
12 And it came to pass that after I had aprayed and labored with all diligence, the Lord said unto me: I will grant unto thee according to thy bdesires, because of thy faith.
13 And now behold, this was the desire which I desired of him—that if it should so be, that my people, the Nephites, should fall into transgression, and by any means be adestroyed, and the Lamanites should not be bdestroyed, that the Lord God would cpreserve a record of my people, the Nephites; even if it so be by the power of his holy arm, that it might be dbrought forth at some future day unto the Lamanites, that, perhaps, they might be ebrought unto salvation—
14 For at the present our strugglings were avain in restoring them to the true faith. And they swore in their wrath that, if it were possible, they would bdestroy our records and us, and also all the traditions of our fathers.
15 Wherefore, I knowing that the Lord God was able to apreserve our records, I cried unto him continually, for he had said unto me: Whatsoever thing ye shall ask in faith, believing that ye shall receive in the name of Christ, ye shall receive it.
16 And I had faith, and I did cry unto God that he would apreserve the brecords; and he covenanted with me that he would cbring dthem forth unto the Lamanites in his own due time.
17 And I, Enos, aknew it would be according to the covenant which he had made; wherefore my soul did rest.
18 And the Lord said unto me: Thy fathers have also required of me this thing; and it shall be done unto them according to their faith; for their faith was like unto thine." (Enos 1: 1-18)
And here's the commentary entitled: "I can receive forgiveness as I exercise faith in Christ" :
"At times you may wonder if your sins have been forgiven, even after you’ve repented of those sins. What insights do you gain from Enos’s experience in Enos 1:1–8? How did Enos show his faith in Jesus Christ before and after he received forgiveness?"
Enos showed his faith by paying attention to his hungering soul and by taking action--making the choice to kneel down and cry to the Lord in prayer. He made the choice to take the time (all day until nighttime) and focus on pouring his heart out to the Lord. And he did listen to the Lord's answers. He opened his heart for more inspiration that he even prayed for those who were within his influence, his own people, the Nephites, and for those who were his people's enemies, the Lamanites.
Exercising faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is truly the key to receiving forgiveness. It takes time and effort to show this faith. It takes time to kneel down and say a prayer. I haven't tried kneeling as I pray all day until the nighttime as Enos did. The longest prayer for me is like half an hour. Nowadays, it's a challenge to take more time to pray daily. During ordinary working days when I'm not able to say my morning prayer while kneeling down by my bed, I would say my prayer while I'm on the bus on my way to work. It does make a difference when I make the choice to take more time to say my morning and evening prayers and when my heart is drawn to the Lord in prayer throughout the day. I am more grateful for everything and feel closer to the Lord whatever circumstances I would find myself in when I make the choice to spend more time communing with my Father in Heaven. I'm so grateful that He has forgiven me of my sins as I exercised my faith and repent of my sins before and that He is continually forgiving my sins as I keep on exercising my faith in Christ and repenting of my sins now.
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