The Rock upon Which I Stand is MY Salvation-Sarah Guffey

When people said the phrase “the rock of my salvation,” I used to tune out right then and there. I figured I already knew everything there was to know about it from Primary and my parents. That was up until I realized that by doing that, I wasn’t on a rock anymore. I was built on sand. The day I realized this, I was sitting in my fifth period “Family Matters” class and the other two girls at my table asked me about my beliefs. I gave them the basic spiel on Mormons and figured the conversation was over. How wrong I was. Dezzie surprised me by continuing the discussion to what I believed personally and particularly about the life to come. This was such a shock to me because as far as I had been able to tell, Dezzie was an agnostic on her good days and an atheist on most other days. I was at a loss for what to say. People just generally didn’t ask me about my personal beliefs as a rule. I spent the rest of the class period trying to explain my beliefs and feelings, but it was obvious that by the end of class they weren’t impressed with my “beliefs.” And neither was I.

Soon thereafter, I determined to find out for myself exactly what I believed and why. I started somewhat backwards by asking my parents and siblings what they believed and then by asking my friends. I compared all these opinions in my mind and picked out the parts that sounded right to me. From there I looked those beliefs up online and in the Index of The Book of Mormon and in Bible Dictionary. I found what I could of what was supported by the Gospel and what was not. I weeded out a few more things from that process and ended up with things that are now central to my life. One of those things is the fact that Jesus Christ is MY Savior. Without Him, I would be lost. Without Him, I would only bury myself deeper in a sandy foundation. He is my rock, my Elder Brother, and my friend.

In John 1:42, Jesus tells Simon that he shall be “called Cephas, which is by interpretation, a seer, or a stone.”1 Joseph Smith added the words “a seer” to the definition of Cephas in this scripture, which helped me to more fully understand why people say to “come unto that God who is the rock of your salvation”. They aren’t just saying that they are building on a sure foundation; they are saying that they are putting their faith in the knowledge that Christ and Heavenly Father know each and every one of us personally and have revelation for each of us. To me, it’s no longer just a one way kind of thing. Building upon the rock of salvation means putting my trust in the teachings of Simon, Christ and every other prophet and seer; trusting that what they teach is true and I will receive the blessings of the Gospel first hand. Simon’s “nickname” Cephas was translated into Greek as Petros, from the Greek word “petra,” meaning rock, and from Petros into the English form of Peter. The addition of Cephas to Simon’s name was merely a figurative way to state that people will build off of what he teaches to come closer to God. (Or at least that is how I see it.) Therefore, by taking what I can learn from each prophet and seer, I build upon the Rock that is Christ, my Redeemer.

Second Nephi 9:452 states that if we “turn away from [our] sins; shake off the chains of him that would bind you fast; [and] come unto that God who is the rock of your salvation,” then we might be able to obtain salvation; and “salvation is free3,” meaning that it cannot be bought, it has to be a change of heart that enables us to achieve it. From the Fourth Article of Faith, we know that faith is the first principle in the Gospel, and it takes faith to make this change of heart. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said that “a convert’s new life is to be built upon faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His redeeming sacrifice—a conviction that He really is the Son of God, that He lives this very moment, that He alone holds the key to our salvation and exaltation. That belief is to be followed by true repentance, repentance which shows our desire to be clean and renewed and whole, repentance that allows us to lay claim to the full blessings of the Atonement.4”

Once a person begins to build upon the rock of faith and believe in Christ, and thereby salvation, then they can begin to make the necessary changes in their lives. For me, this included changing some of my friends and working on improving my language, and the hardest for me: forgiving myself for past sins. “ ‘President Howard W. Hunter (1907–95) observed: “It has always struck me as being sad that those among us who would not think of reprimanding our neighbor, much less a total stranger, for mistakes that have been made or weaknesses that might be evident, will nevertheless be cruel and unforgiving to themselves. When the scriptures say to judge righteously, that means with fairness and compassion and charity. That’s how we must judge ourselves. We need to be patient and forgiving of ourselves, just as we must be patient and forgiving of others.’ Apparently, many individuals do not understand the importance of self-forgiveness in the process of repentance. The Lord, however, makes no exceptions when He declares, “I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men” (D&C 64:10; emphasis added). This includes forgiving ourselves.5” While I am still working to forgive myself for some things, knowing that through Christ I can obtain salvation, and that I can build my testimony and my life on and around him, has allowed me to “press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God.6”


Works Cited:
1 St. John 1:42, including part of the JST
2 2nd Nephi 9:45
3 2nd Nephi 2:4
4 Jeffrey R. Holland, “Missionary Work and the Atonement,” Liahona, Oct 2001, 26 (From a talk given at the Provo (Utah) Missionary Training Center on 20 June 2000.)
5 D. Chad Richardson, “Forgiving Oneself,” Ensign, Mar 2007, 30–33
6 2nd Nephi 31:20