pgs. 520 and 521...relying alone upon the merits of Christ, who was the author and the finisher of their faith.

THE BOOK OF MORONI

CHAPTER 6

Repentant persons are baptized and fellowshipped—Church members who repent are forgiven—Meetings are conducted by the power of the Holy Ghost. Between A.D. 400 and 421

1 And now I speak concerning baptism. Behold, elders, priests, and teachers were baptized; and they were not baptized save they brought forth ^afruit meet that they were ^bworthy of it.

2 Neither did they receive any unto baptism save they came forth with a ^abroken ^bheart and a contrite spirit, and witnessed unto the church that they truly repented of all their sins.

3 And none were received unto baptism save they ^atook upon them the name of Christ, having a determination to serve him to the end.

4 And after they had been received unto baptism, and were wrought upon and ^acleansed by the power of the Holy Ghost, they were numbered among the people of the ^bchurch of Christ; and their ^cnames were taken, that they might be remembered and nourished by the good word of God, to keep them in the right way, to keep them continually ^dwatchful unto prayer, ^erelying alone upon the merits of Christ, who was the author and the finisher of their faith.

5 And the ^achurch did meet together ^boft, to ^cfast and to pray, and to speak one with another concerning the welfare of their souls.

6 And they did ^ameet together oft to partake of bread and wine, in ^bremembrance of the Lord Jesus.

7 And they were strict to observe that there should be ^ano iniquity among them; and whoso was found to commit iniquity, and ^bthree witnesses of the church did condemn them before the ^celders, and if they repented not, and ^dconfessed not, their names were ^eblotted out, and they were not ^fnumbered among the people of Christ.

8 But ^aas oft as they repented and sought forgiveness, with real ^bintent, they were ^cforgiven.

9 And their meetings were ^aconducted by the church after the manner of the workings of the Spirit, and by the ^bpower of the Holy Ghost; for as the power of the Holy Ghost led them whether to preach, or to exhort, or to pray, or to supplicate, or to sing, even so it was done.

THE BOOK OF MORONI

CHAPTER 7

An invitation to enter into the rest of the Lord—Pray with real intent—The Spirit of Christ enables men to know good from evil—Satan persuades men to deny Christ and do evil—The prophets manifest the coming of Christ—By faith miracles are wrought and angels minister—Men should hope for eternal life and cleave unto charity. Between A.D. 400 and 421

1 And now I, Moroni, write a few of the words of my father Mormon, which he spake concerning ^afaith, hope, and charity; for after this manner did he speak unto the people, as he taught them in the ^bsynagogue which they had built for the place of worship.

2 And now I, Mormon, speak unto you, my beloved brethren; and it is by the ^agrace of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, and his holy will, because of the gift of his ^bcalling unto me, that I am permitted to speak unto you at this time.

3 Wherefore, I would speak unto you that are of the ^achurch, that are the ^bpeaceable followers of Christ, and that have obtained a sufficient ^chope by which ye can enter into the ^drest of the Lord, from this time henceforth until ye shall rest with him in heaven.

4 And now my brethren, I judge these things of you because of your peaceable ^awalk with the children of men.

5 For I remember the word of God which saith by their ^aworks ye shall know them; for if their works be good, then they are good also.

6 For behold, God hath said a man being ^aevil cannot do that which is good; for if he ^boffereth a gift, or ^cprayeth unto God, except he shall do it with real ^dintent it profiteth him nothing.

7 For behold, it is not counted unto him for righteousness.

8 For behold, if a man being ^aevil giveth a gift, he doeth it ^bgrudgingly; wherefore it is counted unto him the same as if he had retained the gift; wherefore he is counted evil before God.

9 And likewise also is it counted evil unto a man, if he shall pray and not with ^areal intent of heart; yea, and it profiteth him nothing, for God receiveth none such.

10 Wherefore, a man being evil cannot do that which is good; neither will he give a good gift.

11 For behold, a bitter ^afountain cannot bring forth good water; neither can a good fountain bring forth bitter water; wherefore, a man being a servant of the devil cannot follow Christ; and if he ^bfollow Christ he cannot be a ^cservant of the devil.

12 Wherefore, all things which are ^agood cometh of God; and that which is ^bevil cometh of the devil; for the devil is an enemy unto God, and fighteth against him continually, and inviteth and enticeth to ^csin, and to do that which is evil continually.

I love this quote that refers to Moroni 6:4 and the role Christ plays in our journey of faith. I'm sorry I don't know who to attribute it to!

How we live matters very much. None of us, however, lives a perfect life, and so none of us can return to the presence of God by virtue of our own works. Because Christ lived a perfect life only his blood can pay for sins that have been committed. Thus, a person can begin to have faith only when he relies upon the merits of Christ; therefore, Jesus is the “author” of our faith.

After faith begins to develop, we must continue to rely on Christ’s merit, the Atonement, as we endure to the end. And it is only through constant faith in the Redeemer and through repentance that we can endure to the end. In this sense, Jesus is the “finisher” of our faith.

From the time we accept Christ and qualify for a rebirth until we have endured to the end, we must rely “alone upon the merits of Christ, . . . the author and the finisher of [our] faith” (Moroni 6:4).