Faith brings Forgiveness - Enos 1:8

And there came a voice unto me, saying: Enos, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed. 

And I, Enos, knew that God could not lie; wherefore, my guilt was swept away. And I said: Lord, how is it done? 

And he said unto me: Because of thy faith in Christ, whom thou hast never before heard nor seen.

It is through faith in Jesus Christ in which sins are forgiven. We are told by King Benjamin:

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. (Mosiah 3:17)

In Jesus' ministry, the principle of forgiveness through faith is evident:

And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, and stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. 

And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. 

And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. 

And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also? 

And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace. (Luke 7:37-38,44-50)

And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him. And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus. 

And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.

And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone? 

But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts? Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house. 

And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house,glorifying God. (Luke 5:18-25)

 Note that in all of these examples, those who showed faith had acted before receiving the blessing of forgiveness. As was shown before, faith is a principle of action. And as is shown here, not only does faith bring miracles, it also brings forgiveness.

Prophecy is Essential for Faith - Jacob 4:6

Wherefore, we search the prophets, and we have many revelations and the spirit of prophecy; and having all these witnesses we obtain a hope, and our faith becometh unshaken, insomuch that we truly can command in the name of Jesus and the very trees obey us, or the mountains, or the waves of the sea.

 The true saints have always enjoyed the gift of the spirit of prophecy from the very beginning. Amos truly said: Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets (Amos 3:7). The spirit of prophecy is vital to the church of Christ. If we look at the Old Testament, nearly every book was written by a servant of God who had the spirit of prophecy. Consider this statement of Christ concerning the legacy and longevity of the prophets and the Jews' treatment of them: ...upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. (Matthew 23:35).

The spirit of prophecy was not given to the Jews only - don't forget the heathen prophet Balaam who prophesied of the coming of Christ: (Numbers 24:16-24), and Job who prophesied of Him: (Job 19:25-26). There are others as well, the three wise men, for example. After Christ as well, the legacy of prophecy continued with the Apostles, consider the visions Paul, Peter and of Stephen (Acts 7:55-56), and Paul's statements about the organization of the church to include "prophets" (Ephesians 4:11).

Remember that faith is a gift, which "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17). And how shall we have the word of God except by the spirit of prophecy?

Consider this gem revealed unto us by Nephi:

Do ye not remember that I said unto you that after ye had received the Holy Ghost ye could speak with the tongue of angels? And now, how could ye speak with the tongue of angels save it were by the Holy Ghost? Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do. (2 Nephi 32:2-3)

There are many ways in which God reveals himself (Moroni 7:22-25). But it appears that there are two principle sources of the word: The first being the prophets themselves, whether via the scriptures or directly from their lips; the second being the spirit speaking directly to us. Both of these sources of the word are available to us, but the second one is just as necessary as the first. Because without the spirit to speak truth unto our souls, there is no way to confirm the words of the prophets. But with the spirit, God can reveal the "truth of all things". (Moroni 10:5, John 14:26)

Faith Keeps Us on the Path - 2 Nephi 31:19-20

And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save. Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.

Nephi is speaking here about baptism as the entrance to the straight and narrow path. Recall what Jesus said about that path:

Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. (Matthew 7:13-14)

The path referred to is the path of discipleship. The privilege of taking His name upon us is available to all those who have faith, or who strive to have faith. Actually per the clause above - we cannot come as far as baptism without first having "unshaken faith". Sometimes I wonder about this phrase, since typically, those who are ready to accept baptism don't have a particular longevity to the faith. And yet, their faith must be unshakable!

It occurs to me that in truth, many face stiff opposition when seeking baptism. Many face sore trials, which may seem small in the eyes of some, yet the trials are nonetheless real and often acute for the one who experiences them. For all who persevere before and after passing through that gate, faith is required, otherwise, as in the parable of the sower: "tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended... [or] ... the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful." (Matthew 13:21-22)

But is it really possible for someone like me, (and you) to have "unshaken faith", or "a perfect brightness of hope"? The answer is yes! It is possible - "For with God, nothing shall be impossible" (Luke 1:37). But we have to take the right steps and precautions to stay on that straight and narrow path - we must "press forward" with hope and faith and determination that come what may, we will do His will as it is manifest to us, whether via scripture or via the urgings of the Holy Spirit - both of which are "the word of Christ" to us. And as we do so we will "obtain the promise" (Hebrews 6:15) of eternal life which is a real promise made by the Father unto us. It requires work and "relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save", and is the purpose of our creation.