The Choice of Faith

The topic on my mind lately has been an interesting one, and something that I think is rather difficult to talk about. It has to do with the thought "how do I know I'm right?" It stems from my natural tendency towards skepticism. When new information is presented to me, I first disbelieve it before accepting it. If I have a new idea, I second guess myself. If I see new research, I feel like it will be a while before it's useful. If I hear a conspiracy theory, I'll doubt it. And yet I present myself before the world, saying that I know the Book of Mormon is true. This brings us back to the previous question: "how do I know I'm right?"

Questions. I have a few.
But I don't let that stop me.

The skeptic in me would like to say that nobody can truly know of personal correctness. However, then I would dwell in an unfortunate state of not knowing what to trust, and that is not acceptable to me. The truth is, having faith is a choice, just as not having faith is a choice. This I can do. I can choose which influences that I receive, either internal (my thoughts, my doubts, my conclusions) or external (what I read, what I hear, what I feel), and I can choose which ones can convince me. I have chosen to place the highest priority on the spiritual witness I have received, or the powerful feelings of peace, joy, and certainty that I receive from following through with my responsibilities in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Because I've given these experiences priority, I don't let other things (such as controversial history, angry shouts, or moments of confusion) have an effect on me. Even my existential doubts have lower priority.

I have sometimes wondered that maybe I'm "drinking the Kool-Aid," or blindly following something I haven't completely proven to myself. If the fact that I choose in this world to trust something I've never seen before seems weird to you, I invite you to to consider the following. Consider the happiness that I enjoy when I think about Christ and His church on the earth today. Consider how you feel right now. If I, with all my skepticism and worry that I might be wrong, can say that this is true, that I have received more joy from following the principles and ordinances of the gospel, and that I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is God's kingdom restored on the earth, what is to stop you? Do you want to have joy? I know you can overcome your doubts, your questions, your angst. I know because I have felt the Holy Ghost testify to me of truth and I have chosen to listen, and I have overcome my doubts, my questions, and my angst. The Bible says "by their fruits ye shall know them" (Matthew 7:16,20). Well, this joy and peace is mine.

Grace and Works

A previous post I mentioned a topic that I've heard much discussion about, grace vs works. Often, somebody will complain (erroneously) about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as requiring its members to work for their salvation. This idea comes from a misunderstanding of a verse in The Book of Mormon, which states that "we know it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do" (2 Nephi 25:23). I know that it is through grace that we are saved, and that it is only through the infinite atonement that we can experience exaltation, resurrection, or even joy. I also know that many people misunderstand the idea of grace, and I hope to eliminate that misunderstanding today.

Joule, namesake for joules, SI unit
 for a different type of work.

First: what are works, and what is grace? Works (in this instance) are the actions we take in this life, and grace is the "help or strength given through the Atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ" (source). The entire disagreement can be solved by realizing that grace is not a magic moment that makes us perfect, but is instead a constant companion that helps us become better or strengthens us during trials. Since this is the case, of course we are going to do "works" in this life because we are applying the grace of Christ throughout our lives. It is not the grace that comes from works, but the works that comes from grace. It is not through donating a certain amount of time or money, nor is it only breaking a few commandments. It is through having enough faith to repent and apply grace to our lives that we receive exaltation. Does that make enough sense?

However, it is only sometimes that naysayers of works simply mean that all our sins are covered by grace. Other times what they are really attacking is the doctrine of baptism. This is a complex topic that can involve priesthood authority, modern day revelation, and a discussion of the Godhead; instead, I will deal with it simply and direct you to more devoted sources. Baptism is a commandment and an essential ordinance, and so just as with other commandments we won't be truly repentant until we follow it. This reason is good enough for me because of a simple word: testimony. I know through personal revelation that Jesus Christ restored his true church through Joseph Smith, so I know that our modern prophet is also the mouthpiece of God and only tells us the truth. I know this from my experience with The Book of Mormon. I know the true way to be happy.

Feedback Loops and Repentance

Simple diagram of a loop. A is the action, B is the change.

This requires two definitions, the first of which is a feedback loop. This is a system that takes action based on what its previous action's result was. So, if there's a spring and a motor, and the motor wants to be a specific place but the spring is resisting, a feedback loop would have the motor push until it is at its destination. They are used extensively in many environments, as instead of programming something to go exactly so far (and potentially falling victim to error of various kinds) the designer just needs to program something to go until it gets there. All that is required is action, measuring the result, comparing it to a goal, and taking action to get closer to the goal.

The second definition for today is what repentance is. Repentance is the faith driven change of heart that results in a change of actions from sins to acts of righteousness. There is a debate concerning grace in relation to works, but that is a thought for another day. Instead, suffice to say that having faith causes us to change who we are and obey the commandments, eventually becoming like Christ.

And now to combine definitions! The ultimate goal of repentance is to become perfect, something that is no easy goal to achieve. If we were required to become perfect in one day, that would be like the non-feedback loop program. Not only is it difficult to reach the goal, but it would be difficult to make sure you got there in the end. Instead, we go through repentance, changing each day a little bit and progressing towards perfection. The reason feedback is important is so that we know if we are heading in the right direction and feel the joy of success. All that's needed is to have somebody else to report to, and we achieve goals because of the small steps we take and we receive the recognition of those we hold dear. President Thomas S. Monson says that "When performance is measured, performance improves. When performance is measured and reported, the rate of improvement accelerates." These two principles, measuring our performance (and making changes to improve the performance) and claiming responsibility for the performance (by telling somebody about our changes) will help us improve our lives, whatever the field we apply it to.