Lesson Helps

April 2017 First Presidency Message: "The Just Shall Live by Faith"

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When we learn about faith, we come to understand that a significant part of developing faith involves taking action according to our belief. 

The Apostle Paul, quoting an Old Testament prophet, summarized what it means to be a believer when he wrote, “The just shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17).

Perhaps in this simple statement we understand the difference between a religion that is frail and ineffectual and one that has the power to transform lives.

But to understand what it means to live by faith, we must understand what faith is.

Faith is more than belief. It is complete trust in God accompanied by action.

It is more than wishing.

Read the full message on lds.org.

Supplemental Material

Review other interesting material on how to develop faith from Elder L. Whitney Clayton in the following October 2001 general conference address.

All of us have come face-to-face with difficult, even desperate hours, when with tears we have fallen on our knees and pled as did this father, “Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.”

Just as the Savior stood ready to help this father whose son was “sore vexed,” so is He ready to help our unbelief today so that with faith we can survive our mortal struggles and “come off conqueror.”

Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the first principle of the gospel and is more than mere belief. Faith is a “hope for things which are not seen, which are true.” “Faith always moves its possessor to . . . physical and mental action.” “To have faith in Jesus Christ means to have such trust in him that we obey whatever he commands. There is no faith where there is no obedience.”

Faith comes from hearing the word of God and is a spiritual gift. Faith increases when we not only hear, but act on the word of God as well, in obedience to the truths we have been taught.

Read the full talk on lds.org.

Lead photo from Getty Images.
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