“The brilliant morning of forgiveness”

Clasped in the arms of Jesus

Once, long ago, I was present when something sacred and deeply personal happened to someone.

Here’s what’s important about that moment. I know it happened. But I don’t remember who it happened to.

It was the moment when they knew they had been forgiven for a mistake they had made many years before. Something they had been carrying for a long time.

In previous experiences I’d had helping good people to repent, it was just me and them.

But in this moment, on this day, there were three present. In an instant, I went from participant to witness as the Savior extended His forgiveness to one of His lost sheep. I’ll never forget how that felt to watch someone be forgiven and for them to know that they had been.

“How do I know I’ve been forgiven?”

This is a question I’ve been asked many times in my life. It is also a question I have asked myself.

For unknown reasons, I’ve felt to share what little I know about the process of being forgiven. I also acknowledge that this experience is unique to each person. Hopefully there will be something here that someone might find helpful.

The title of this post - The Brilliant Morning of Forgiveness - comes from a talk given by President Boyd K. Packer in 1995.

As was his style, President Packer is crystal-clear in teaching that real repentance is not without some discomfort or even pain. But is that pain, sacred in its own way, that compels us to seek relief. But his message is also drenched with hope and apostolic affirmation that if we persist, forgiveness will surely come.

That great morning of forgiveness may not come at once. Do not give up if at first you fail. Often the most difficult part of repentance is to forgive yourself. Discouragement is part of that test. Do not give up. That brilliant morning will come.

Then “the peace of God, which passeth … understanding” comes into your life once again. Then you, like Him, will remember your sins no more. How will you know? You will know!

Some years ago I was in Washington, D.C., with President Harold B. Lee. Early one morning he called me to come into his hotel room. He was sitting in his robe reading Gospel Doctrine, by President Joseph F. Smith, and he said, “Listen to this!

“‘Jesus had not finished his work when his body was slain, neither did he finish it after his resurrection from the dead; although he had accomplished the purpose for which he then came to the earth, he had not fulfilled all his work. And when will he? Not until he has redeemed and saved every son and daughter of our father Adam that have been or ever will be born upon this earth to the end of time, except the sons of perdition. That is his mission. We will not finish our work until we have saved ourselves, and then not until we shall have saved all depending upon us; for we are to become saviors upon Mount Zion, as well as Christ. We are called to this mission.’”

“There is never a time,” the Prophet Joseph Smith taught, “when the spirit is too old to approach God. All are within the reach of pardoning mercy, who have not committed the unpardonable sin.”

Here are two principles I have found helpful in my efforts to help those I love receive forgiveness. I share in a spirit of reverence for what our beloved Savior did for each of us to make this supernal gift possible.

“Peace of Conscience”

This may be the most important thing I share on this subject. It comes from the account of King Benjamin teaching his people about the coming of Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice. After hearing their king’s powerful preaching, his listeners responded as follows:

2 And they had viewed themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth. And they all cried aloud with one voice, saying: O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be purified; for we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who created heaven and earth, and all things; who shall come down among the children of men.

3 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 4:2-3

To me, “peace of conscience” doesn’t mean I no longer remember my sins. But it does mean I no longer have the nagging inner turmoil and unease of something left undone.

Here is a sweet story shared in a powerful message about the intimate nature of the Savior’s Atonement.

I am reminded of an experience I had several years ago while serving as bishop. I learned from my counselors at one point that an elderly sister had declined a calling in the ward. Sensing that something was amiss with this stalwart and faithful woman, I made an appointment to go to her home to speak with her. When I got there, she and her husband were both present.

After a little polite conversation I said that I understood that she had not felt comfortable in accepting a ward calling and asked what I could do to help. Both of them stared at the floor a long, long time before she answered. At last she spoke to explain that 50 years earlier, before they had been married, they had been intimate with one another and had been too ashamed to clear this up with the bishop before being married in the temple. For all of these years they had lived under the guilty burden of this transgression while paying generous tithes and offerings, serving faithfully in responsible Church callings, rearing a family in the faith, and sending children on missions.

Though they were faithful, they were not whole. They were kept from the peace and contentment that should have been theirs in golden years by clouds of self-doubt and the tarnished memory of unresolved transgression. Outwardly they seemed secure and serene. Inwardly they were carrying a kind of damage and hurt that intruded on their spiritual confidence. Together they had suffered this awful alienation from the Lord for a long time.

I don’t know why their ordeal lasted a lifetime. I only know when it ended as the Lord lifted them from their lonely lamentations. As I tearfully listened to their story, I prayed earnestly to know what I might do to relieve them. When they finished speaking I felt impressed to say simply: “It is over. You have suffered long enough. I am sure the Lord has forgiven you. Repentance consists of forsaking a sin and confessing. You forsook that guilty act long, long ago. Tonight you also confessed. Now you are free. I feel certain that the Lord has forgotten your transgression and is eager to dispel your guilt with redeeming grace.”

After kneeling in prayer together we three stood encircled in one another’s arms as they sobbed out the last of their pent-up suffering and anguish.

“Oh, Bishop, is it really over?” they asked.

I assured them that it was.

The loving kindness and the grace of the Savior poured into their lives in sweet forgiving. He reached past the things that separated them from him and embraced them in sweet communion.

L. Robert Webb, Vast & Intimate: The Atonement in the Heavens and in the Heart

“Fulfilling the commandments bringeth remission of sins”

I found a consistent pattern in assessing how far along someone was in their repentance journey. If they came to me asking “how long until I will be forgiven?” or “When do I get to…(fill in the blank here with various privileges being withheld)?” I knew they still had work to do. But if they asked “What else can I do to show the Savior how sorry I am?” or “I’ll do whatever you ask to qualify for His forgiveness. What else can I do?” I knew they were well on their way to the peace they were seeking. In fact, I found that those whose hearts were broken and whose spirits were contrite consistently did more than was asked of them.

Two different passages reaffirm this important but sometimes overlooked principle:

25 And the first fruits of repentance is baptism; and baptism cometh by faith unto the fulfilling the commandments; and the fulfilling the commandments bringeth remission of sins;

26 And the remission of sins bringeth meekness, and lowliness of heart; and because of meekness and lowliness of heart cometh the visitation of the Holy Ghost, which Comforter filleth with hope and perfect love, which love endureth by diligence unto prayer, until the end shall come, when all the saints shall dwell with God.

Moroni 8:25-26

31 For I the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance;

32 Nevertheless, he that repents and does the commandments of the Lord shall be forgiven;

Doctrine & Covenants 1:31-32

I love this story shared by President Henry B. Eyring when he was serving as a bishop as recounted in Elder Neil L. Andersen’s marvelous book The Divine Gift of Forgiveness (and in case you are interested, there is also an Institute class based on his book which you can find in the Gospel Library.)

President Henry B. Eyring tells of a time when he was serving as a ward bishop and a young man who "had been moved by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to make long and painful repentance" pleaded to know how he could know he was forgiven by the Lord.

Bishop Eyring, in a moment alone with his uncle, then-Elder Spencer W. Kimball, asked the Apostle, "How can he get that revela-tion? How can he know whether his sins are remitted?"

President Eyring tells what happened next:

I thought Elder Kimball would talk to me about fasting or prayer or listening for the still small voice. But he surprised me.

Instead he said, "Tell me something about the young man." I said, "What would you like to know?"

And then he began a series of the most simple questions.

Some of the ones I remember were:

"Does he come to his priesthood meetings?" I said, after a moment of thought, "Yes."

"Does he come early?"

"Yes."

"Does he sit down front?"

I thought for a moment and then realized, to my amazement, that he did.

"Does he [fulfill his ministering assignment)?"

"Yes."

"Does he [think of those he has been assigned throughout)

the month?"

"Yes, he does."

"Does he go more than once?"

I can't remember the other questions. But they were all like that-little things, simple acts of obedience, of submission. And for each question I was surprised that my answer was always yes. Yes, he wasn't just at all his meetings: he was early; he was smiling; he was there not only with his whole heart, but with the broken heart of a little child, as he was every time the Lord asked anything of him.

And after I had said yes to each of his questions, Elder Kimball looked at me, paused, and then very quietly said,

"There is your revelation.”

Don’t you just love that? If we want to be forgiven, whole-souled obedience is as close to a cure-all that can be prescribed.

Are there other ways we can know we’ve been forgiven? Of course! This is by no means an attempt to catalog every way we come to know we’ve been washed clean. I wouldn’t dare to presume I know all the ways the Savior bestows this gift upon sincere seekers. I can only hope that you have found something helpful in what has been shared, and that you can find the unspeakable peace that only the Savior can provide.