"It is he that cometh to take away the sins of the world, yea, the sins of every man who steadfastly believeth on his name." (Alma 5:48)

The word "steadfast" is used primarily in the Latter-day scriptures and only rarely in the Bible. Steadfast comes from the root that means solid, firm or fast. To be steadfast is to be fixed or secure in a position. It has the sense of "a soldier maintaining his ground in battle." It also means to be fixed in our place of abode and has the sense of being a pillar or a foundation, that is, something firmly fixed, not to be moved or displaced. A steadfast person is one who is "unshaken, immovable in faith, resolution, friendship, belief, purpose, or affection" (Oxford English Dictionary). God is said to be steadfast in that he is unchanging and unchangeable.

In the gospel setting, steadfastness has the sense of endurance, fixedness of purpose, having a sense of certainty in our commitment to the gospel and in remembering and keeping our covenants. In particular, if we are steadfast we are rooted and immovable in our faith. In King Benjamin's important sermon, he admonished us to humble ourselves and, in the depths of that humility, call "upon the name of the Lord daily, and (stand) steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come" (Mosiah 4:11).

In the Doctrine and Covenants, we are told that we will be forgiven of our sins if we "remain steadfast in your minds in solemnity and in the spirit of prayer" (D&C 84:61).

Paul teaches that "we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end" (Hebrews 3:14). In addition to being steadfast in our minds and in our confidence, we must be sure and steadfast in our hope so that it will be an anchor of our souls (Hebrews 6:18).

Paul also teaches us that we can have power over our own will and sinful inclinations if we stand "steadfast in (our) heart" (1 Corinthians 7:37).

Finally, though steadfast has the sense of immovability and permanence, it also has the sense of continuance. In other words, we must be constant over time in our steadfastness. We must "continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel" (Colossians 1:23).

In one of the greatest promises in all of scripture, we are promised that if we "press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men (and) if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ and endure to the end, behold thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life" (2 Nephi 31:20).

Joseph A. Cannon is editor of the Deseret News.

E-MAIL: cannon@desnews.com