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)