First Fruits of Repentance

At this point, Moroni decides to include a letter from his father Mormon in the record he was finishing up. He and his father were both basically hiding away from the more wicked people because their wickedness had reached the point, basically, where any true follower of Christ would be put to death, if they were discovered.

Even with this, though, they both were involved with a community of saints. I think I have always imagined them being completely alone at this point in the history of the Book of Mormon, but it occurred to me as I read this chapter that perhaps there were more believers at this time than I thought. Mormon's letter to Moroni kind of makes it sound like there is a congregation, and they are doing something that is incorrect, so Mormon wants to correct this behavior. Mormon's main message to Moroni is that little children don't need baptism to be saved, because they are not accountable yet. But why correct this behavior unless there's at least a small following of saints who are doing this thing? (This is just a quick side note...I just found it interesting.)

So Mormon talks a lot about baptism, and what it's for, and why it's not really applicable for little children. But the biggest point he makes, I think, is that baptism is for the remission of sins. When we sin, we must repent and draw closer to Christ. Through this, we make use of the Atonement, which Christ made for us, so that we can be forgiven of our sins and have them washed away, or remitted.

One quick side note here. What is the easiest way to identify an apple tree as an apple tree? The easiest way is to look and see that there are apples growing on the tree. In other words, identifying something is often easier if you can see the fruit of that thing.

People are no different. When you see what a person "produces", or what they actually do, that is a pretty good indication of the kind of person they are. Mormon here talks about the first fruits of repentance. In other words, how can you tell if a person is repentant?

"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)

Repentance leads to baptism, which comes by faith and obedience. This is the fruit of repentance, which brings a remission of sins.

The remission of sins brings about a change of heart, which leads to having the Holy Ghost in our lives, which gives us hope and charity.

Honestly, I think the key to living the life the way God would want us to is exactly this. To repent when (not if) we make mistakes, to receive a remission of our sins, and to do our best to be obedient, with the help of the Spirit, and a heart that is prepared to follow the promptings we get.