The first principle of the gospel is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. There are a lot of reasons that faith is a foundational principle in the gospel. Faith is an active principle, requiring input from us to actually bring blessings into our life. A powerful aspect of this faith is the act of believing in things to come as though they already were. Here are a few examples from the scriptures:
First, in the book of Jarom verse 11 we read the following, “Wherefore, the prophets, and the priests, and the teachers, did labor diligently… persuading [the people] to look forward unto the Messiah, and believe in him to come as though he already was.” The footnotes indicate that this passage is dated 399 B.C. So four hundred years before Christ actually came, prophets were exhorting the people to believe in Him as though He already was.
Now take a look at King Benjamin in Mosiah 3:13 (dated about 124 B.C.). King Benjamin told the people that whosoever should believe that Christ should come, the same might receive remission of their sins, and rejoice with exceedingly great joy, even as though he had already come among them.”
And again when Abinadi was teaching in about 148 B.C. (Mosiah 16:6) he used some very interesting wording. Notice the words – he said, “And now if Christ had not come into the world (remember this is 148 years before He came), speaking of things to come as though they had already come, there could have been no redemption.”
What can we learn from these scriptural examples? When we believe in things to come as though they already were, the blessings are available now. Our Heavenly Father loves all of his children – not just the ones who came after Christ. What great things to come could bless your life now with that kind of faith?
(Re-printed with permission from the author, Dr. Paul Jenkins. Originally printed in, “Orem 4th Ward News”.)