Of all the doctrines found in the scriptures and preached from the pulpit, without doubt the most repeated principle taught is repentance. That is the message of Abinadi and all the Lord’s prophets. M. G. Easton describes the elements well:
(1) A true sense of one’s own guilt and sinfulness; (2) an apprehension of God’s mercy in Christ; (3) an actual hatred of sin (Ps. 119:128; Job 42:5, 6; 2 Cor. 7:10) and turning from it to God; and (4) a persistent endeavour after a holy life in a walking with God in the way of his commandments. The true penitent is conscious of guilt (Ps. 51:4, 9), of pollution (51:5, 7, 10), and of helplessness (51:11; 109:21, 22). Thus he apprehends himself to be just what God has always seen him to be and declares him to be. But repentance comprehends not only such a sense of sin, but also an apprehension of mercy, without which there can be no true repentance (Ps. 51:1; 130:4). (M. G. Easton, Illustrated Bible Dictionary).
The Book of Mormon teaches us that we should preach nothing save it be faith and repentance (see Mosiah 18:20; Mosiah 25:15; Alma 37:33; Helaman 6:4). As missionaries, we teach discussions about the plan of redemption, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the principles of a Christlike life, and the doctrines of the kingdom of God as promulgated by the Lamb of God. An integral part of each discussion is to have faith to accept the teaching and courage to repent and live it. In every lesson taught, with every principle or doctrine expounded upon, and in every situation when the word of God is preached, we are to embrace the principles of faith and repentance. Thus we see that faith is the foundation of all righteousness and that through repentance we can become righteous—even clean and pure. How do we become perfect? Repent perfectly.
I will never forget Cecil B. DeMille’s talk at BYU in the 1950s. The Ten Commandments had been released and everyone was seeing this epic film. He talked about the commandments of God and how they could not be broken. As I sat there wondering what he meant, he then said, “You can’t break the Ten Commandments—they are God’s commandments. You can only break yourself against them.” It was a profound truth taught by a master teacher. When we break the commandments, we are the ones who lose. We separate ourselves from God. We lose His Spirit. There is only one hope in this life and that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. We must strive to obey His commandments, and repent when we have broken ourselves against them. He has redeemed our souls if we will but repent. Yes, repenting of our sins is the greatest thing we will do for our lives. (Ed J. Pinegar)