Marvel not that all mankind... must be born again...and unless they do this, they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God. (Mosiah 27:25-26)
The consequence of our individual sin is estrangement from God. The penalty of sin is not the arbitrary penalty of a vengeful God. Instead, it keeps us out of God’s presence in this life, and causes us to permanently recoil from him in the hereafter.
O, my beloved brethren, turn away from your sins; shake off the chains of him that would bind you fast; come unto that God who is the rock of your salvation. Prepare your souls for that glorious day when justice shall be administered unto the righteous, even the day of judgment, that ye may not shrink with awful fear; that ye may not remember your awful guilt in perfectness, and be constrained to exclaim: Holy, holy are thy judgments, O Lord God Almighty—but I know my guilt; I transgressed thy law, and my transgressions are mine; and the devil hath obtained me, that I am a prey to his awful misery. (2 Nephi 9:45-46)
If the penalty of sin were arbitrary, it would be arbitrarily simple to remove it. If sin’s consequences were the result of an arbitrary decree from God, then an arbitrary decree from God could remove them. If this were the case, Jesus would not have had to condescend from heaven to be born on earth, he would not have had to live a perfect life, and would not have had to pay the price for our sins. Instead, he had to live a perfect life in a fallen world, finishing it with his bodily and spiritual sacrifice. His suffering in Gethsemane was so intense that “his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:44) He was whipped repeatedly, each lash bursting his flesh and muscle open. He had a crown of long thorns driven deep into his skin. He finished his sacrifice by hanging on a cross, suspended by large nails placed through his hands and feet. Truly, there is a consequence assigned for sin. Jesus illustrated this fact with the necessity of his suffering to pay the price of our sin.
The penalty of sin must be removed in order for us to dwell with God. This comes in two parts: First, we must be forgiven for past sins. Second, we must overcome those sins so as not to repeat them in the future. Because of his sacrifice, Jesus Christ has been given power from his Father to forgive men of past sins: “And he hath power given unto him from the Father to redeem them from their sins because of repentance;” (Helaman 5:11) Whenever we sincerely ask for forgiveness, God forgives us. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
Past sins, however, are not the only barrier to dwelling in God’s presence in joy. If salvation simply required forgiveness of past sins, the state of being saved could not be much different than our current state. How could we imagine heaven to be a better place than earth if it is full of men and women with the same evil desires as those on earth?
To reconcile ourselves to God is not merely to ask for forgiveness, but to become the kind of person who would not transgress again. It requires a change in our character. If our desires are not aligned with God’s, we are unclean before him.
Wherefore, if ye have sought to do wickedly in the days of your probation, then ye are found unclean before the judgment-seat of God; and no unclean thing can dwell with God; wherefore, ye must be cast off forever. (1 Nephi 10:21)
Those whose desires are like God’s desires will find that they also act like God. Being saved is much more than simply being forgiven. To be saved is to become like Christ. We must not only be forgiven of past sins, we must forsake them.
Forsaking past sin is not so easy, and usually not as quick as asking for forgiveness. However, abandonment is necessary:
Now my son, I would that ye should repent and forsake your sins...for except ye do this ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God. (Alma 39:9)
Through repentance, or changing our character to be like God’s, we can return to God’s presence. This is something we cannot do by ourselves, but it is also something that can’t be done for us. Those who fully yield their desires and actions to God with a broken heart and a contrite spirit will not only be resurrected from the dead, but will find themselves able to endure God’s presence, even before death.
This change in character is a process, not an event, but it begins with a single event. This event is known as entering the gate, being baptized with fire, having a mighty change of heart, or being born again. Like salvation itself, being born again is not a process that is only of our own making or only God’s doing. Rather, it requires both parties.