In part one, I outlined Alma’s four fundamentals of spiritual rebirth.
“And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? (1) Have ye received his image in your countenances? (2) Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts? (3) Do ye exercise faith in the redemption of him who created you? (4) Do you look forward with an eye of faith” (See Alma 5:14-15)? We talked about the first fundamental of spiritual rebirth, that of receiving Christ’s countenance in our image. Now let’s discuss the second fundamental of spiritual rebirth.
Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts? In other words, do you have a full and complete commitment to the gospel? Are you filled with spiritual vigor? King Mosiah was a powerful minister and after he completed a sermon to his people “they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually” (Mosiah 5:2).
President Ezra Taft Benson said, “The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of the people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature” (”Born of God,” Ensign, Nov. 1985, 6).
A great example of how Christ changes human nature is that of returned missionaries. These young men and women experience a “mighty change” in their hearts, and when they come home they are full of spiritual vigor and have a complete commitment to the gospel. Do you remember how you felt after you returned from your mission? How about you converts? Do you remember the change you experienced after your baptism?
In practical terms, we should be committed to magnify our callings. We should serve with all of out hearts and minds. Those that we serve should see the commitment we have to the Savior in all of our actions. How about the families or sisters we home or visit teach? Can they see our commitment to the gospel? Are we home or visiting teaching with spiritual vigor? We should be sharing the gospel with our neighbors and friends.
Many years ago, a wise and inspired bishop called me into his office and told me to stop “fence-sitting” and get my act together. I was reminded of the words of Harold B. Lee when he taught, “Conversion must mean more than just being a ‘card-carrying’ member of the Church with a tithing receipt, a membership card, a temple recommend, etc. It means to overcome the tendencies to criticize and to strive continually to improve inward weaknesses and not merely the outward appearances” (Church News, 25 May 1974, 2). As soon as I made the commitment to my bishop and the Lord, I began a wonderful transformation that “wrought a mighty change” in my life.
Posted by John in Feature Articles