Enos 1:5-6

[pam]

Enos 1Â*

5 And there came a voice unto me, saying: Enos, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed.

6 And I, Enos, knew that God could not lie; wherefore, my guilt was swept away.

Quotes for Discussion

Sins forgiven, guilt swept away

Enos had his guilt taken away (v. 6) as well as having his sins forgiven (v. 5). Some people remove their guilt without being forgiven. They harden their hearts. “But behold, there are many that harden their hearts against the Holy Spirit, that it hath no place in them; wherefore, they cast many things away which are written and esteem them as things of naught” (2 Nephi 33:2). Others are forgiven, but will not rid themselves of the guilt. They cannot forgive themselves. While the Lord leaves the memory of the sin in our mind as a preventive against future sins, we must forgive ourselves after going through the repentance process.

The guilt will be taken away when the Lord sees fit. Both the forgiveness and the guilt removal come because of faith in Christ. For Enos it was faith in His coming in the flesh (Enos 1:8). For us it is that he has come in the flesh.

Monte S. Nyman, These Records are True, p. 125

President Ezra Taft Benson: “The scriptures record remarkable accounts of men whose lives changed dramatically, in an instant, as it were: Alma the Younger, Paul o the road to Damascus, Enos praying far into the night, King Lamoni. Such astonishing examples of the power to change even those steeped in sin give confidence that the Atonement can reach even those deepest in despair.

“But we must be cautious as we discuss these remarkable examples. Though they are real and powerful, they are the exception more than the rule. For every Paul, for every Enos, and for every King Lamoni, there are hundreds and thousands of people who find the process of repentance much more subtle, much more imperceptible. Day by day they move closer to the Lord, little realizing they are building a godlike life.”

“A Mighty Change of Heart,” Ensign, October 1989, p. 5