True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior, Elder Boyd K. Packer explained. “The study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior.” (CR, October 1986, p. 20.) “It is one thing,” Elder Bruce R. McConkie has written,
“to teach ethical principles, quite another to proclaim the great doctrinal verities, which are the foundation of true Christianity and out of which eternal salvation comes. True it is that salvation is limited to those in whose souls the ethical principles abound, but true it is also that Christian ethics, in the full and saving sense, automatically become a part of the lives of those who first believe Christian doctrines.”
Further, “it is only when gospel ethics are tied to gospel doctrines that they rest on a sure and enduring foundation and gain full operation in the lives of the saints.” (New Witness, pp. 699, 700.)
“Because of Their Unbelief They Could Not Understand the Word of God”
True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior, Elder Boyd K. Packer explained. “The study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior.” (CR, October 1986, p. 20.) “It is one thing,” Elder Bruce R. McConkie has written,
“to teach ethical principles, quite another to proclaim the great doctrinal verities, which are the foundation of true Christianity and out of which eternal salvation comes. True it is that salvation is limited to those in whose souls the ethical principles abound, but true it is also that Christian ethics, in the full and saving sense, automatically become a part of the lives of those who first believe Christian doctrines.”
Further, “it is only when gospel ethics are tied to gospel doctrines that they rest on a sure and enduring foundation and gain full operation in the lives of the saints.” (New Witness, pp. 699, 700.)