How to Develop Faith - Alma 32:21

And now as I said concerning faith—faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true.

Aha! We've finally arrived at the scripture that I've used for the title of my blog! This is undoubtedly one of my favorite scriptures.

Faith does not equal perfect knowledge, but it does require knowledge nonetheless. I don't think anyone can have faith in God without first knowing about Him, which requires doing some homework. Having a desire to believe is the first step towards faith.

We can think of it as a science experiment. We start with a hypothesis - something that we want to test the truth of. Alma suggested that we "experiment upon the word". This must start with a desire. And I'm not talking about curiosity or academic interest - it must be a desire to know and a desire to believe, coupled with intentions to act on the knowledge attained. We can start this by doing a little research; learning about God and our Savior. This is perhaps done best by reading the scriptures, and quite frankly, it doesn't matter which scriptures you start with. The New Testament, or the Book of Mormon are a very good place to start. These two are probably the easiest to understand of all the scriptures.

So you read a little, and think about what you read. But again, (and I can't emphasize this enough,) you can't just read these things out of academic curiosity, you have to have a desire to believe the things that you read, and you have to intend to actually try applying the things you read. Perhaps you read the sermon on the mount, and decide to act with more kindness. Perhaps you read King Benjamin's address and try to serve your fellows. Perhaps you read Moroni's promise and decide to open up your heart to God in prayer.

No matter what it is you decide to do, if you do it with sincerity, you are exercising "a particle of faith". And what you'll find is that upon conducting this experiment, the fruits of trying to do something that He would want you to do, will bring you greater peace and joy. This is because, when we seek truth, it is given unto us: Seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you. Another product of sincere searching is that His spirit will open up your understanding and confirm those things to you via the Holy Spirit - You will receive the fruits of the Spirit:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance... (Galatians 5:22,23)

And when you feel these feelings and attributes in your life, this will confirm your experiments and your desire with a knowledge of Him. This explains how faith is both something that is obtained, and a gift. It is obtained by sincerely seeking it, but actuated by the gift of God confirming our desires to believe.

Having gained a knowledge of the goodness of God, you have a choice. You can simply chalk it up to experience and say "Now I know", which is a weak option - since all knowledge (and faith) fades. Or you can seriously make that knowledge an integral part of your life - treat it as a principle that you will live by. This is when you have finally come to faith. A belief is something that you are totally convinced of - an intellectual stance, faith is something that is part of your core - an inviolate and driving principle, based on more than logical reasons, but on spiritual intuition. I may believe (i.e. be convinced) in God - that he has all power, etc., but faith is much more - it is a solid conviction to act on those beliefs. A man of belief says "I believe God has the ability to save me from the fiery furnace"; A man of faith steps in.

A sign of faith is that we put our beliefs into practice. When our beliefs are challenged, and we continue to hold them and stand up for them, they become faith.

Faith is Required for Eternal Life - Alma 22:15-16

...the king said: What shall I do that I may have this eternal life of which thou hast spoken? Yea, what shall I do that I may be born of God, having this wicked spirit rooted out of my breast, and receive his Spirit, that I may be filled with joy, that I may not be cast off at the last day? Behold, said he, I will give up all that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive this great joy. But Aaron said unto him: If thou desirest this thing, if thou wilt bow down before God, yea, if thou wilt repent of all thy sins, and will bow down before God, and call on his name in faith, believing that ye shall receive, then shalt thou receive the hope which thou desirest.

Eternal life was the greatest desire of King Laman. I submit that this should be the ultimate goal and desire for all of us. If we could "obtain heaven and hell" so to speak, and not obtain eternal life, we have wasted our existence. Because that is the very thing which we were created for. The Lord's purposes are for us to obtain eternal life. This is manifest by his words: "... this is my work and my glory - to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." (Moses 1:39)

Now supposing eternal life is our greatest desire, greater than all of our material possessions, worldly status and sins - how do we go about obtaining it? The key is given by Aaron: call on His name, repent, have faith and believe you shall receive - then you shall receive.

The formula is simple, and slightly deceptive. I say deceptive, because there are many who believe that all is required is to "accept Jesus", and they are saved. And while it is perfectly true that we absolutely must accept Him to be saved, that is not the only requirement. Notice that repentance and faith are also required. And in truth, it is impossible to accept Him without repentance and faith.

So are we back to square one? Because, how can I repent perfectly? How can I have perfect faith? I believe the answer is that for most of us, repentance is not a one-time event. It is a process. This is why I have a difficult time believing others when they say: "I'm saved because I accepted Jesus as my savior", because accepting Him is a process, not an event. It takes a lifetime (and probably more) to become what He wants us to become and to fully accept His atonement.

As was explained in an earlier post, belief and faith are different things. While I may fully believe in the omnipotence of God and His power to save, my actions may not adhere to that belief. And this is the primary difference between belief and faith. While accepting Jesus as our Savior is professing belief, living the life of a disciple manifests our faith.

And the formula for exercising faith is given here very plainly:

• Repent of all your sins (a lifetime process of striving for perfection)
• Bow down before God and call on His name in faith (pray often and expect Him to answer)

Healing and Repentance - Alma 15:5-11

... and they went in unto the house unto Zeezrom; and they found him upon his bed, sick, being very low with a burning fever; and his mind also was exceedingly sore because of his iniquities; and when he saw them he stretched forth his hand, and besought them that they would heal him. And it came to pass that Alma said unto him, taking him by the hand: Believest thou in the power of Christ unto salvation? And he answered and said: Yea, I believe all the words that thou hast taught. And Alma said: If thou believest in the redemption of Christ thou canst be healed. And he said: Yea, I believe according to thy words.
And then Alma cried unto the Lord, saying: O Lord our God, have mercy on this man, and heal him according to his faith which is in Christ. And when Alma had said these words, Zeezrom leaped upon his feet, and began to walk...

If you remember, Zeezrom was one of the more prominent lawyers in Ammonihah, and one of the principle antagonists of Alma and Amulek, who tried to overthrow them by deception and have them punished for teaching against the wickedness of the people. However, Alma and Amulek easily detected his deception and called him out on it. Zeezrom however, instead of letting the detection turn him against them and their teachings, recognized the truth of their accusations and took them to heart. Following this, he attempted to defend them, but ended up getting ejected from the city by the enraged crowd.

Zeezrom, now repentant, felt the full weight of this folly and assumed that the wicked citizens of Ammonihah would now kill Alma and Amulek. As was seen in the previous post, Alma and Amulek were not killed but forced to watch as the people committed a terrible Auto da fe, throwing women and children into the fire. Zeezrom, due to the guilt for his role in accusing Alma and Amulek, then fell into fits of remorse so intense that he developed a fever and was in terrible shape.

Note the words of Alma who only asks: "Believest thou in the power of Christ unto salvation?" Which may seem odd, since being sick and tormented, it seems that Zeezrom might be more interested in His power to heal. But since the cause of his state was induced by sin, Christ's power to save is what was needed. And anyway, as we saw in many instances in the scriptures, the power to heal is apparently coupled with the power to forgive sins. And in the end, Christ's power to save is the only thing that matters. Because regardless of survival, salvation is what's really important. This is the principle is important to remember when considering why God permits certain evils like the Auto da fe, and acts of terrorism. Events like the flood, bubonic plague, the holocaust, and others can probably only be understood in context of this principle. God's actions are always concerned with the spiritual growth and salvation of His children, and not always their comfort. Indeed discipleship ofttimes seems to bring more tribulation than smooth sailing, but always builds grit, character and faith.

So concerning His power to save; it is absolute. No matter how far into the pit we have fallen, how far and how long we've wondered away or how fiercely we may have mocked Him, we can always come back. Good old G. K. Chesterton, raised a Christian and turned atheist for a time, describes his experience similar to the prodigal. He says it was like the man who travelled the world in search of England, only to find that it was actually England that he had left in the first place. Such is repentance. No matter how stupid and rebellious we may have become, we can always lay aside our stupidity for wisdom, and our rebellion for humility. And He will unequivocally take us back with "much rejoicing". Such was the case with Zeezrom.

Strength According to Faith - Alma 14:23-28

And it came to pass after they had thus suffered for many days ... that the chief judge over the land of Ammonihah and many of their teachers and their lawyers went in unto the prison where Alma and Amulek were bound with cords. And the chief judge stood before them, and smote them again, and said unto them: If ye have the power of God deliver yourselves from these bands, and then we will believe that the Lord will destroy this people according to your words. And it came to pass that they all went forth and smote them, saying the same words, even until the last; and when the last had spoken unto them the power of God was upon Alma and Amulek, and they rose and stood upon their feet.
And Alma cried, saying: How long shall we suffer these great afflictions, O Lord? O Lord, give us strength according to our faith which is in Christ, even unto deliverance. And they broke the cords with which they were bound; and when the people saw this, they began to flee, for the fear of destruction had come upon them. And it came to pass that so great was their fear that they fell to the earth, and did not obtain the outer door of the prison; and the earth shook mightily, and the walls of the prison were rent in twain, so that they fell to the earth; and the chief judge, and the lawyers, and priests, and teachers, who smote upon Alma and Amulek, were slain by the fall thereof. And Alma and Amulek came forth out of the prison, and they were not hurt; for the Lord had granted unto them power, according to their faith which was in Christ.

Now Alma and Amulek were thrown in prison precisely because they prophesied two things: That the Messiah would come in the flesh according to the scriptures, and that the people of that land would be destroyed if they would not repent. The response of these wicked people to those teachings was to commit an Auto-da-Fe, throwing all who "believed or had been taught to believe" in Christ into the fire. What's more, Alma and Amulek were forced to watch. Then the murderous people turned on Alma and Amulek and laid the deeds to their charge, saying "ye see that ye had not power to save those who had been cast into the fire; neither has God saved them"; attempting to palm their heinous crime off on them. Then interestingly, they threw them in a dungeon rather than causing them to suffer the same fate.

The subject quotation comes from the time after Alma and Amulek had been in prison for many days. The interesting thing is that the words of the perpetrators predicted what would happen. Their intent was to break them, to make them lose faith, by proving that God would not save them from their situation. Again, the words they said were: If ye have the power of God deliver yourselves from these bands, and then we will believe that the Lord will destroy this people according to your words.

Now it isn't always God's will to do such things, but in this instance, Alma and Amulek were given the words to say, which was the very thing that the perpetrators challenged them to do - deliver themselves from the bands. When God permitted them the power to break the ropes and bands that tied them, the perpetrators instantly knew they were done for, because they knew all along that they were doing wrong, and now it had been thrown in their face.

So why did it take so long? And why would God suffer such atrocities to be committed? Especially when it was by His command that Alma and Amulek preached and prophesied the things that they did. In one aspect, I suppose that they must have been very bad, and God had decided that things had gone on long enough, so it was time for them to have an ultimatum. God will always honor our free agency, but when we've gone on too long ignoring his pleadings and warnings without repenting, something's got to give. The arrival of Alma and Amulek signified His last warning to those people. And their response to that warning belies exactly where their hearts were. And their hearts were manifested by their heinous deeds - resorting to violence and murder of the innocent.

It is sad but true that men can descend into such a state. But the ultimatum came and those who did not get out of there (like Zeezrom) were part of the insanity that ensued. So, that's my opinion on what happened - the ultimatum came, and while some responded positively, some responded negatively and crossed the line. But back to the question - why would God allow such heinous deeds to be perpetrated on the innocent? The answer is in Alma's words in v. 10,11:

And when Amulek saw the pains of the women and children who were consuming in the fire, he also was pained; and he said unto Alma: How can we witness this awful scene? Therefore let us stretch forth our hands, and exercise the power of God which is in us, and save them from the flames.

But Alma said unto him: The Spirit constraineth me that I must not stretch forth mine hand; for behold the Lord receiveth them up unto himself, in glory; and he doth suffer that they may do this thing, or that the people may do this thing unto them, according to the hardness of their hearts, that the judgments which he shall exercise upon them in his wrath may be just; and the blood of the innocent shall stand as a witness against them, yea, and cry mightily against them at the last day.

So it may sound crazy, but it appears that the leaders of the people had been plotting this act in their hearts already, and had only been waiting for an excuse to put their evil designs into action. Now they had one, and scapegoats to boot, so they enacted their evil designs. In other words, I don't think this was a spur of the moment decision, I think it was something that had been in their hearts already. I consider the 9/11 and other terrorist attacks to be of the same nature. The people have these evil designs in their hearts and only wait for something to happen so they feel justified in their actions.

Most of our worldly thinking leads us to believe that the worst possible thing that can happen to a person it to die or be killed. But from God's perspective, salvation is more important than survival. Or put another way, mortal life is not as important as eternal life. This is manifest by Alma's statement: "the Lord receiveth them up unto himself in glory". In other words, they're going to be just fine. Now, I am not saying that if something goes down where we could save somebody, that we should just stand by and watch - I'm saying that we should do what God tells us to do. And in this case, as in other cases, God has chosen to allow evildoers to perpetrate their acts for His own purposes.

In the end, Alma and Amulek left the wicked city and a short time later, a Lamanite army attacked and razed the city to the ground - leaving no one alive. In truth, it is by the wicked that the wicked are punished. (Mormon 4:5)

Exercised in Faith - Alma 2:29-30

And it came to pass that Alma fought with Amlici with the sword, face to face; and they did contend mightily, one with another. And it came to pass that Alma, being a man of God, being exercised with much faith, cried, saying: O Lord, have mercy and spare my life, that I may be an instrument in thy hands to save and preserve this people. Now when Alma had said these words he contended again with Amlici; and he was strengthened, insomuch that he slew Amlici with the sword.

This is one event that sounds like it came from a blockbuster movie. The leader of the good guys fights face to face with the leader of the bad guys. We can be certain that there was plenty of zeal and animocity in Amlici because Alma was the embodiment of everything that he was rebelling against - equality, freedom the church and the commandments of God.

When left to the skills and passions of the carnal man, it is likely that Amlici had the advantage since it isn't likely that Alma, being a missionary and leader of the church, had much training with the sword. But the wisdom of Alma is that he didn't rely on his carnal strengths, he relied on the Lord.

The writer of Hebrews references the advantages of the faithful in time of war and calamity:

And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. (Hebrews 11:32-34)

Alma was a man "exercised with much faith". This phrase is instructive as it tells us that Alma had proved the Lord in the past. I am convinced that Alma trusted the Lord enough that had the Lord told him to surrender instead of fight, he would have done it. But that was not the case. He had exercised faith enough to be fully committed to submit his will to the Lord, no matter what His will turned out to be.

Faith is a gift from God, but you must nurture your faith to keep it strong. Faith is like the muscle of your arm. If you exercise it, it grows strong. If you put it in a sling and leave it there, it becomes weak.
-- True to the Faith

 Alma's faith was strong because he kept doing all of the small and simple things, reading, praying, attending church, etc. But most importantly, when the Lord manifested His will via the spirit, Alma obeyed and believed that God would keep His word.

Praying in Faith - Mosiah 27:14

The angel said: Behold, the Lord hath heard the prayers of his people, and also the prayers of his servant, Alma, who is thy father; for he has prayed with much faith concerning thee that thou mightest be brought to the knowledge of the truth; therefore, for this purpose have I come to convince thee of the power and authority of God, that the prayers of his servants might be answered according to their faith.

Alma prayed with faith that his son would be brought to the knowledge of the truth. Notice that Alma did not pray that his son would stop rebelling, or change his ways, or anything like that. Because God will not try to force our hand; that type of thing would override our agency to choose. However, the prayers were for him to know the truth, and so the angel came to teach him the truth, nothing more, nothing less. After receiving the truth, it was up to him (as it is for us) to act (exercise faith) according to that knowledge. Angels never come to use force (except possibly to protect), they usually come to deliver a message, teach, or relay knowledge or truth.

Seeing angels or miracles, etc, never produces faith, although it may confirm our extant faith. It remains up to us to exercise faith in the knowledge received from the messenger. Remember that Laman and Lemuel saw an angel, who came to protect Nephi and Sam, and to relay a message of instruction. And yet they still rebelled. Apparently, seeing an angel did not change their level of faith. Faith is a gift to those who seek it, and unless we consciously choose it, it cannot be obtained even in the face of miracles and the visitation of angels.

Another principle here that was already alluded to is that prayers in faith always conform to His will. Alma, praying in faith, could not pray for something against the nature and will of God. While we are welcome to pray for anything we wish, it is impossible to pray in faith if our desire does not conform to His will. Mormon admits that some of his prayers for his depraved brethren were not in faith, but the greatness of his heart would not allow him to stand idly by and watch them corrupt and destroy themselves without attempting to ask God to intervene (Mormon 3:12).

As I have mentioned in another post, prayers of faith require us to obtain the will of God in our process of seeking a blessing. Having obtained a promise, it is then possible for us to pray in faith. I believe this was the process that Alma followed when praying for the intervention for his son.

Salvation Through Faith - Mosiah 3:9

And lo, he cometh unto his own, that salvation might come unto the children of men even through faith on his name...

Christianity is so peculiar in this one doctrine - that God was made flesh, and dwelt among us (John 1:14). And not only did He come to live with us, but was made mortal and suffered death at our hands!

Isaiah prophesied thus:

He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. (Isaiah 53:3-8)

In fact, all prophets have testified of this:

... [A]ll the prophets who have prophesied ever since the world began—have they not spoken more or less concerning these things? Have they not said that God himself should come down among the children of men, and take upon him the form of man, and go forth in mighty power upon the face of the earth? Yea, and have they not said also that he should bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, and that he, himself, should be oppressed and afflicted? (Mosiah 13:33-35) (Jacob 4:4-5)

Not only did the prophets testify of this, but many gave their life for this very testimony. Consider the sentence of the prophet Abinadi:

And [the king] said unto him: Abinadi, we have found an accusation against thee, and thou art worthy of death. For thou hast said that God himself should come down among the children of men; and now, for this cause thou shalt be put to death unless thou wilt recall all the words which thou hast spoken evil concerning me and my people. Now Abinadi said unto him: I say unto you, I will not recall the words... (Mosiah 17:7-9)

The prophet Joseph Smith suffered the same fate for the same reason:

If there were priests among them of all the different sects, they hated us, and that most cordially too. If there were generals, they hated us; if there were colonels, they hated us; and the soldiers, and officers of every kind, hated us; and the most profane, blasphemous, and drunkards; and whoremongers, hated us—they all hated us, most cordially. And now what did they hate us for? Purely because of the testimony of Jesus Christ. -- Joseph Smith

Jesus summed up the fate of the prophets and their tormentors thus:

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.

Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That 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 23:29-35)

Jesus Christ came and dwelt among us. He has experienced life firsthand, and through the atonement became intimately familiar with each one of us. It is my belief that not only did He suffer for our sins and pay the ransom in our behalf, but that in the process experienced the entirety of each of our lives. I believe that without going through the entirety of each of our lives, he would not be able to judge us, nor empathize fully with us, let alone atone for us. As such, He is intimately familiar with everything about us, our idiosyncrasies, weaknesses, strengths, desires, secret thoughts and actions... everything! Not as a passive observer mind you - but a participant.

This is how and why we can exercise faith in Him. By descending below all things (D&C 88:6), He has mastered all of them. I believe and have faith that it is only in and through His holy name that we can be saved, and that there is no other way.

Revelation By Faith - Jarom 1:4

And there are many among us who have many revelations, for they are not all stiffnecked. And as many as are not stiffnecked and have faith, have communion with the Holy Spirit, which maketh manifest unto the children of men, according to their faith.

 Does it sound surprising that there are many that have revelations? According to Jarom, we must avoid stiffneckedness and and lack of faith in order to receive revelations. Stiffneckedness means inflexibility, or unwillingness to see things another way. God is constantly trying to "turn our heads" as it were, to see things correctly and act correctly. However, ofttimes we are "past feeling" (1 Nephi 17:45), or we refuse. We may receive a feeling or revelation about something and lay it aside, feeling that our way is better:

O the vainness, and the frailties, and the foolishness of men! When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. And they shall perish. (2 Nephi 9:28)

I have done this so many times in my life. It would be comical (if it wasn't so pathetic) if you knew how many times I've fallen off the wagon and tried to get back on. The truth is, I pray for help, guidance and revelation in my life nearly every single day, but sometimes when it comes, the things it tells me to do make me uncomfortable, and I try to come up with excuses for doing things my own way - then things usually end up in disaster. I am the epitome of a work in progress, but with God's help, I'll be more obedient and less of a coward in the future.

A true mark of faith is to take revelation and inspiration from the Lord at face value and not waffle around it. Because His knowledge is perfect, we can always trust Him:

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:9)

Remembering this one principle, that flexibility and commitment to follow inspiration are key to faith, will enable us to receive and do His will, leading to a more exciting and blessed life.