Akron Ohio Stake News

What is the First Principle of the Gospel?

(or “are we smarter than a 5th grade primary child”)

What is the First Principle of the Gospel?

I am sure we all recall answering this question many times. But were our answers correct?

I, for one, am guilty of answering incorrectly many times. For many years I would simply answer that the first principle of the gospel was “faith.”

Then, one day I was listening to a talk by Dallin H. Oaks where he made a point that I will never forget when he emphatically stated, “The first principle of the Gospel is not ‘faith.’ The first principle of the gospel is Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.”

While I actually did know this, I was deeply struck at that time by the power of this distinction and by the fact that I had not previously been careful to make that distinction.

Why is this distinction so important? 

As I pondered this, what I realized was that when I thought of “having faith,” I was focused on myself.

“I” needed to have faith. “I” needed to believe. “I” needed to be strong.

What I learned (at least for myself) was that my focus needed to be on “in the Lord Jesus Christ.”

This was a beautiful paradigm shift for me personally.

There are many ways to have faith and many things to have faith in. Faith means to have confidence in, to trust in, to believe in. We can have confidence in ourselves. We can trust others. We can have our own beliefs. These are all good to do. But, because we live in an imperfect world, and because we are imperfect people, and because we do not have a perfect understanding of all things, we can never have perfect faith in these things. At some point, we will fall short. At some point, others will fail us. At some point, we will find that we did not understand something correctly.

Perfect Faith

However, “the Lord Jesus Christ” is perfect. Therefore, we can have perfect faith, perfect confidence, perfect trust, and perfect belief in Him.

And as we gain a testimony and assurance of the divinity of our Savior Jesus Christ, we are able to more easily and fully have that perfect faith and trust in Him.

President Oaks has taught, “Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is a conviction and trust that God knows us and loves us and will hear our prayers and answer them with what is best for us” (Ensign, May 1994, 98).

“In the Lord Jesus Christ”

I am very grateful for the first principle of the gospel. Focusing on “in the Lord Jesus Christ” has brought me great peace for which I am truly thankful. I add my testimony that He is our Savior, He is perfect, and we can have perfect faith in Him.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.