For Mormon, the Messiah’s appearance in the New World constituted proof positive that Yahweh fulfills his promises. The prophets promised that the Atoning Messiah would come, and he did. Mormon has no doubt that the ancestors’ record is correct. This Atoning Messiah came and therefore faith in Yahweh is justified, for Yahweh fulfills promises.
Even though the Atoning Messiah’s appearance altered the nature of faith in the sense that the promise was now fulfilled, it still did not remove the need for faith. Even knowing that the Savior had come, humankind must believe in his name to lay hold on all good things. For Mormon, the foundation of faith has shifted. Before the Messiah’s appearance, faith rested on the foundation of prophetic promise. Afterward, it rested on the foundation of that appearance. That reality shores up the new requirements of faith: that we believe in the effectiveness of the Savior’s words to lead us to the good things of God.