Acts 13-14 Help when facing opposition

Acts 13:39

Elder D. Todd Christofferson

“Jesus suffered and gave His life to atone for sin. The power of His Atonement can erase the effects of sin in us. When we repent, His atoning grace justifies and cleanses us (see 3 Nephi 27:16–20). It is as if we had not succumbed, as if we had not yielded to temptation” (“That They May Be One in Us,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2002, 71).

Acts 13:51. “They shook off the dust of their feet”

Elder James E. Talmage of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles provided this explanation regarding shaking off the dust from one’s feet:

“To ceremonially shake the dust from one’s feet as a testimony against another was understood by the Jews to symbolize a cessation of fellowship and a renunciation of all responsibility for consequences that might follow. It became an ordinance of accusation and testimony by the Lord’s instructions to His apostles as cited in [Matthew 10:14]. In the current dispensation, the Lord has similarly directed His authorized servants to so testify against those who wilfully and maliciously oppose the truth when authoritatively presented” (Jesus the Christ, 3rd ed. [1916], 345; see also D&C 24:15; 75:18–22; 84:92–96). However, because of its serious nature, the practice of shaking off the dust from one’s feet should never be done except under the direction of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.