King Benjamin taught that it isn’t enough to just have a great initial change of heart, but in Mosiah 4:26 he says, “for the sake of retaining a remission of [our] sins from day to day,” we should continue to give of our substance, walk in wisdom and order, remember who we belong to, and increase our knowledge of Christ through study and service.

What did King Benjamin mean by “retaining a remission of [our] sins”? Could it be that by retaining a remission of our sins we are not retaining the forgiveness of sins that Christ already granted, but we are retaining the effects of that forgiveness? 

Those effects include peace, genuine love for others, the companionship of the Holy Ghost, angels who delight to be in our presence, and knowledge of God’s will for us. 

Wilford Woodruff taught this principle so beautifully when he said, “We must obtain the Holy Spirit of God and the mind and will of God concerning us, and be governed and controlled by it in all our movements and acts in order to be safe and secure unto ourselves salvation.”

King Benjamin and Wilford Woodruff taught us not only to receive a remission of our sins but how to retain that remission and be secure in our salvation. So let us seek forgiveness, and then retain the wondrous effects of that forgiveness by living according to the eternal principles outlined by King Benjamin, that we might know the mind and will of God concerning us.