How does the Church bless the transgressor?

Thomas R. Valletta

“We want people in the Church, not out of it, of course, but they must be in it on the Lord’s conditions. It is essential to maintain the integrity of the Church. Elder Dallin H. Oaks explained: ‘The objective of church discipline is to facilitate repentance.’ … He observed that ‘the principal purpose … [is] not to punish the transgressor, but to aid his repentance and save his soul.’ Moreover, ‘the most important single fact bearing on what church discipline is needed [is] the extent of repentance of the transgressor’ [The Lord’s Way, 224, 249].

“We are not interested in having people’s names ‘blotted out.’ We truly desire to see their sins blotted out” (Ogden and Skinner, Book of Mormon, 1:372).

The Book of Mormon Study Guide: Start to Finish

References