31:2
What would make you say that you MUST do _____________? What "must" you do? The law requires that we must do certain things. Our jobs tell us what we must do. Our families may have expectations about what we must do. However, although we often say what we must do, we still have our agency. We decide what we do. We choose not to break the law because we don't want to live in jail. We make choices based on our desires/motivations.
Nephi speaks about what he must do. "Wherefore, the things which I have written sufficeth me, save it be a few words which I must speak concerning the doctrine of Christ; wherefore, I shall speak unto you plainly, according to the plainness of my prophesying." If you click on the footnote, it takes you to 2 Nephi 11:4-6. These verses talk about the four things that Nephi "delights" in:
"My soul delighteth in proving unto my people the truth of the coming of Christ."
"My soul delighteth in the covenants of the Lord which he hath made to our fathers."
"My soul delighteth in his grace, and in his justice, and power, and mercy in the great and eternal plan of deliverance from death."
"My sould delighteth in proving unto my people that save Christ should come all men must perish."
So, what Nephi delights in is what is motivating him to say that he MUST speak concerning the doctrine of Christ. It's probably healthy to consider what we feel we MUST do in our lives. What things are optional and which are not?
Must we go to our jobs?
Must we clean our homes?
Must we brush our teeth twice a day?
Must we look for opportunities to serve?
Must we study the scriptures daily?
Must we search out ancestors through FamilySearch?
Must we be kind to every person we meet - including those who bug us?
Must we attend the temple regularly?
Consider this, if the overwhelming majority of our "must do's" are secular, we may not be experiencing life with an eternal perspective.
31:3
"For my soul delighteth in plainness; for after this manner doth the Lord God work among the children of men. For the Lord God giveth light unto the understanding; for he speaketh unto men according to their language, unto their understanding." Nephi adds a fifth thing that he delights in: plainness.
He clarifies what he means. He knows that the Lord uses plainness to "work among the children of men." The Lord meets people where they are and teaches in a way that is easy for men to understand. He teaches according to "their language, unto their understanding."
God wants us to understand his will. God wants us to not be endlessly searching for truth and then working hard to understand the basics of the gospel. Sure, there are truths and mysteries that only reveal themselves to people after much study - but this also uses the principle of plainness. When our minds are ready to understand a mystery, that mystery seems plain to understand.
This life isn't about endlessly trying to understand the gospel. This life is about learning to submit to the principles that Jesus taught. Life is about overcoming our natural desires, not understanding complicated precepts.
The gospel is not a riddle to be solved!
31:7, 9-11
"Know ye not that he was holy? But notwithstanding he being holy, he showeth unto the children of men that, according to the flesh he humbleth himself before the Father, and witnesseth unto the Father that he would be obedient unto him in keeping his commandments." Is there a good, standard reason why Jesus was baptized? Did Jesus need to covenant with God that Jesus would follow Jesus's gospel? That sounds weird doesn't it? Even John proclaimed that he should be baptized by Jesus - not the other way around.
So, why was Jesus baptized? Three reasons in these verses and one in verse 9:
"He showeth unto the children of men that, according to the flesh he humbleth himself before the Father."
"Witnesseth unto the Father that he would be obedient unto him in keeping his commandments."
"It showeth unto the children of men the straitness of the path, and the narrowness of the gate, by which they should enter, he having set the example before them."
He showed us that he was willing to humble himself before his Father. He also demonstrated to the Father that he would be obedient to anything he asked. These are good reasons.
I have been asked why I don't drink wine considering that Jesus himself drank (and created) wine. How could it possibly be wrong? My answer is that drinking wine is obviously NOT inherently wrong. There is nothing sinful in drinking wine - again, JESUS DRANK WINE AND JESUS DIDN'T SIN! So, why would I follow the Church's request to not drink wine? I think my reasons are the same as the reasons Jesus was baptized:
Show to others that I'm willing to humble myself to a principle of this gospel.
Show to God that I will be obedient.
I am developing my ability to be humble and obedient. Believe me, I need practice with this. I don't fully understand what the purpose of this restriction is but I will follow what the church is teaching. I imagine that this ability to humble myself and be obedient is a talent that will be necessary throughout eternity as I continue to have faith in God and follow what he teaches me - regardless of my ability to understand. This is a worthwhile exercise.
Finally, Jesus demonstrated that there is a strait path and narrow gate. The expectation for all of God's children, even Jesus Christ, is exactness in following God's word. This isn't a gospel of "follow us if you want to."
Nephi emphasizes this in verse 10. "And he said unto the children of men: Follow thou me. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, can we follow Jesus save we shall be willing to keep the commandments of the Father? And the Father said: Repent ye, repent ye, and be baptized in the name of my Beloved Son." We are to follow Jesus Christ and we cannot follow him and ignore the commandments. Jesus himself demonstrated this!
31:13-14
"Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I know that if ye shall follow the Son, with full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real intent, repenting of your sins, witnessing unto the Father that ye are willing to take upon you the name of Christ, by baptism—yea, by following your Lord and your Savior down into the water, according to his word, behold, then shall ye receive the Holy Ghost; yea, then cometh the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost; and then can ye speak with the tongue of angels, and shout praises unto the Holy One of Israel." I was baptized when I was eight. I'm not sure I acted with "full purpose of heart." I had no "hypocrisy and deception." I am not sure of how "intentional" I was. I don't think repenting was on my radar... I do remember knowing about Jesus and I was willing to take Jesus's name upon me.
So, I'm not sure I followed the prescribed process as an eight year old. I'm glad I was baptized at eight but it might have been more impactful if I was baptized when I was older and was more conscious about the decision and commitment. I'm not suggesting that the church changes this policy but it may have been better for me. Perhaps my discipleship would have been more intense and sincere from an earlier age.
I think a key here is that we "receive the Holy Ghost." Fully receiving the Holy Ghost is be willing to listen to the promptings I receive. If I receive the Holy Ghost, I will have testimony building experience after experience. My discipleship will strengthen. My faith building experiences will stack up. Truly, I will be able to "shout praises unto the Holy One of Israel."
However, if I go through all of that and then deny it, that's a problem. "But, behold, my beloved brethren, thus came the voice of the Son unto me, saying: After ye have repented of your sins, and witnessed unto the Father that ye are willing to keep my commandments, by the baptism of water, and have received the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost, and can speak with a new tongue, yea, even with the tongue of angels, and after this should deny me, it would have been better for you that ye had not known me." What does this mean? Is this about a severe punishment? Not necessarily. I think it has more to do with progression trajectory. If we know something and rebel against it, that's a character-shaping process. We are consciously diverting from God's will. We become a rebel.
Being a rebel is much worse than being ignorant. An ignorant person may simply need to be exposed to the truth. Once exposed, they may choose to enter the gate and proceed down the strait path. The progression arc for that previously ignorant person is upward. The progression arc for someone that knows the truth and rebels against it is downward. Truly, it would be better if the rebel was simply ignorant.
31:16
"And now, my beloved brethren, I know by this that unless a man shall endure to the end, in following the example of the Son of the living God, he cannot be saved." There is a verse in D&C 20:29 that says "endure in faith on his name to the end." I think that this is a more accurate description of what's expected. It's not just about enduring the trials of life until the end. It's not even about being obedient until the end of our lives.
The point is to endure IN FAITH. To be faithfully following Christ to the end is about continued progress. Enduring to the end isn't just the fifth and final step in the gospel of:
Faith.
Repentance.
Baptism.
Gift of the Holy Ghost.
Endure to the end.
Enduring to the end is about repeating the cycle over and over again. It's about continually exercising faith. It's about continual repentant. Obviously, we can only be baptized once but we can recommit on our covenants over and over - both the baptismal covenant and the covenants we make in the temple. We need to constantly receive the gifts of the Holy Ghost. We need to follow the promptings that we receive. the definition of "enduring to the end" is to be willing to repeat this cycle over and over again throughout our entire probation.
Sometimes, old people retire from work and then retire from church service. There is sometimes an unwillingness to serve in some callings. I've heard, "been there, done that" in rejection of a calling. Not good. We can continue serving and progressing and having faith and receiving the Holy Ghost when we're 90. It was inspiring for Marci and I to teach at the MTC and have couples who were extremely old accepting callings to the far corners of the world. They had served in dozens of callings but were still serving. Not only serving, but wanting to serve full-time. Amazing.
31:17
Technically, it isn't baptism that cleanses us from our sins. "For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost." Repenting and truly receiving the Holy Ghost is what burns our sins from us. The effects of the Holy Ghost is what causes the remission of sins. The purification is repentance NOT being washed of sin in the waters of baptism.
31:19-20
"And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save." Of course baptism isn't the end of the road. It is the starting gate. It is finding the right road. Once you've found the road, now it's time to proceed forward. We proceed forward through faith in Christ. The vehicle that moves us forward isn't our willpower. We cannot rely on that. We can only rely "wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save."
Now for my favorite verse of scripture. "Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, 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."
Our steadfastness should be "in Christ." We must be willing to lean into our progress. We must "press foward."
With our faith in Christ, we will certainly have a "brightness of hope." Our future is secured. Christ already won. No matter what happens in our misery-filled lives, the ending is perfectly joyful.
Our motivation must be the same as Christ's - "a love of God and of all men." If our motivation is love, we'll delight in our discipleship. If our motivation is anything else, we'll run out of fuel long before the end.
What will help us in our journey? "Feasting upon the word of Christ" will give us strength and understanding. Feasting on Christ's words will help us know him and feel close to him. That closeness will be essential in enduring to the end.
31:21
"And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God. And now, behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which is one God, without end. Amen." This is essential information. The doctrine of Allah or Buddha will not save us. The plan of salvation is centered on Jesus Christ. He is God's only son. Only Jesus's sacrifice provides salvation. That infinite sacrifice cannot be ignored by any soul who desires to enter the kingdom of God.
There are a thousand ways to be a good person in this life. All of that is good. A faithful Buddhist monk is developing their spiritual strength. Good. That Buddhist monk is not damned to hell because he isn't baptized. At some point, however, in this life or the next, that monk will need to be taught the gospel of Jesus Christ and accept Jesus as their Savior. Every knee will bow.
32:1-3
So many are attempting to discover the purpose of life. They feel lost. They are struggling and don't know what they are doing. They may see their life as pointless and themselves as worthless. They don't know if they are living a good life or not. Sometimes, I hear people stating that, as long as they aren't hurting anyone, what they are doing is fine. This is, of course, wrong.
Nephi knew that others were feeling this way. "And now, behold, my beloved brethren, I suppose that ye ponder somewhat in your hearts concerning that which ye should do after ye have entered in by the way. But, behold, why do ye ponder these things in your hearts?" Nephi asks the question because there is no need to feel lost or confused about how we should be living.
"Do ye not remember that I said unto you that after ye had received the Holy Ghost ye could speak with the tongue of angels? And now, how could ye speak with the tongue of angels save it were by the Holy Ghost? Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do." He's making three connections:
When you receive the Holy Ghost, you can speak with the tongue of angels.
Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost and speak the words of Christ.
We should feast upon the words of Christ because they tell us all the things that we should do.
The Holy Ghost will show us the way we should go AND the way we should go has been taught by Jesus Christ. The Holy Ghost is a compass. The words of Christ are the map. The words of Christ and the Holy Ghost both give us our bearings.
Perhaps a better metaphor may be our ability to learn and the books that we read. Our ability to learn is a gift of the Spirit. It is a power. But we cannot learn through this ability alone. There has to be source material. We CAN inherently learn but we need something to learn. Both our ability to learn and source material is what is needed for us to acquire knowledge.
The Holy Ghost and the words of Christ remove any uncertainty about our individual purpose in life. We can know EXACTLY what we must do after we "have entered in by the way."
Most of my life I have been nibbling on the words of Christ. I wasn't a bad person but I didn't "hunger and thirst" after the words of Christ. I am attempting to do that lately and I can say that it has an effect on my character adn behavior. The words of Christ can transform a person. We can spend our entire lives studying and practicing what he taught.
32:5
"For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do." The key part here is that we must RECEIVE the Holy Ghost. What does that mean? We must seek after its promptings and then follow those promptings. To enjoy any gift, we must accept it. We must use it. We must care for it. If we reject the gift or ignore or neglect it, it becomes worthless to us.
32:7
"And now I, Nephi, cannot say more; the Spirit stoppeth mine utterance, and I am left to mourn because of the unbelief, and the wickedness, and the ignorance, and the stiffneckedness of men; for they will not search knowledge, nor understand great knowledge, when it is given unto them in plainness, even as plain as word can be." Have you ever been restrained by the Spirit? I've experienced this. It's sad.
Sometimes, it's clear that the person is NOT in a place where they can receive any knowledge or testimony. Jesus said this in colorful terms, "Don't cast your pearls before swine." Pigs will not respect or appreciate beautiful pearls. They'll simply walk all over them. It won't do them or you a bit of good.
People are sometimes not ready to understand mysteries. If you attempt to convince someone of a principle they aren't ready to accept, they may build up an argument against the correct principle. The next time they hear your pearl, they will simply set it aside because, in their mind, they've already discredited what you said before.
If someone is not ready or willing to accept the truths you're teaching, they will not accept it and will certainly not be willing to "search knowledge." You can make a perfect argument fully proving your point - they will not buy it. You can be completely clear and plain, "even as plain as word can be." It won't matter if they're not spiritually prepared. So, when you're prompted to stop talking, listen to that prompting.
32:9
"But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul." It is important that we pray. Why is prayer so key to our spiritual development? I see four primary reasons:
Prayer increases our humility as we regularly interact with a superior being. We recognize our dependence on God. It's harder to think that we're the source of goodness in our lives.
Our relationship with our Heavenly Father increases as we truly interact with him. Interacting involves speaking and listening.
Prayer before any significant effort puts us in the right frame of mind. Our perspective is improved as we remind ourselves what is really important in this worldly world.
We may actually get some important direction or promptings that will affect our direction or decision. This gives God an opportunity to direct our lives for good.
As we align ourselves with God, that doesn't mean that everything we try will succeed. But, it can ALWAYS be that our "performance may be for the welfare of thy soul." Whether all of our secular efforts are successful or not, the Lord can turn any experience for our good. As Jesus told Joseph Smith, "all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good."
33:1-2
"And now I, Nephi, cannot write all the things which were taught among my people; neither am I mighty in writing, like unto speaking; for when a man speaketh by the power of the Holy Ghost the power of the Holy Ghost carrieth it unto the hearts of the children of men." Nephi claims to be better at speaking then writing. He says that Holy Ghost, when speaking, will carry the words "unto" the heart of people. To me, having an impact on others through speech seems to fall into three levels:
When we speak without the power of the Holy Ghost, our words can fall on deaf ears. Our words may get into their ears and into their brains, but it certainly won't get to their hearts. They likely won't remember what was said an hour later. No impact.
When we speak WITH the power of the Holy Ghost, the words are carried to their hearts. It is through the Holy Ghost that the words have a chance of affecting their hearts and bring them closer to Christ.
However, the Holy Ghost cannot force someone to open their heart and embrace what you're saying. People always have their agency and can choose to close their heart and not let the message in where it can have lasting impact. In verse two, we read, "But behold, there are many that harden their hearts against the Holy Spirit, that it hath no place in them; wherefore, they cast many things away which are written and esteem them as things of naught." Even with the partnership with the Holy Ghost, many will reject you and the Spirit and consider what you're saying as "things of naught."
If we speak with the power of the Holy Ghost, those words will be carried unto their heart - it is then up to them to let that message in. If we don't speak with the Holy Ghost, our ability to have any influence on someone we're speaking to disappears. If we speak from our wisdom rather than with the direction of the Holy Ghost, we're wasting our time. We may head home after delivering our well-thought speech and think we did an amazing job. Without the Holy Ghost, our clever, amazing talk is a waste of everyone's time.
33:4-5
Words can be powerful. Relationships are built on words. Disputes are based on words. History is written with words. Principles and precepts are taught with words. "And the words which I have written in weakness will be made strong unto them; for it persuadeth them to do good; it maketh known unto them of their fathers; and it speaketh of Jesus, and persuadeth them to believe in him, and to endure to the end, which is life eternal." If words can:
Persuade people to do good.
Persuade people to believe in Jesus Christ and endure to the end.
Then, words are worthwhile. We should never hesitate if we are prompted to speak or call or text or send an email. We should not worry about the consequences of speaking up to testify of Jesus Christ and attempt to persuade people to do good. We can all follow the example of Jesus.
His words also "speaketh harshly against sin." I hear folks say that, if you speak harshly against sin, that you are being mean and Christ wasn't mean. It's as if we are supposed to accept all behavior from someone we love. No. Christ spoke harshly against sin. He was not afraid of offending the sinner.
When people are criticized, the default for most is to be defensive. Nephi said, "no man will be angry at the words which I have written save he shall be of the spirit of the devil." If someone is angry at the truth, they are certainly not aligned with it. Of course we should be kind to people. But that does not extend to happily accepting sin. We can embrace the person without embracing the sin.
33:7
"I have charity for my people, and great faith in Christ that I shall meet many souls spotless at his judgment-seat." He starts this sentence with talking about his charity for his people. Yet, he doesn't express faith in his people, his faith is in Christ. CHRIST is why "many souls" will be spotless. He didn't say, "I have charity for my people and have faith that they will change their ways and be righteous." He does not trust in flesh. He knows how flawed we are. We cannot, ever, lift ourselves from our natural state.
33:11
"And if they are not the words of Christ, judge ye—for Christ will show unto you, with power and great glory, that they are his words, at the last day; and you and I shall stand face to face before his bar; and ye shall know that I have been commanded of him to write these things, notwithstanding my weakness." Nephi was imperfect but did what he was commanded to do. We should focus on the instructive, faith-promoting things that he wrote. They are words of a perfect being related by an imperfect one.
If there was social media back in the time of Nephi, we could probably discover all kinds of dirt on Nephi. He likely made mistakes regularly. He even called himself "wretched." He admits that he has weakness even in his ability to write Christ's words. There are those who focus on the mistakes and forget the meaning in his writing. It is the classic case of throwing the baby out with the bath water.
Those who condemn the church because of the foilables of past leaders are doing the same thing. General Conference is coming soon and there will be those who nitpick every word and look for any inconsistency. They seek out sentences that might offend. They are ready to be triggered. If they would simply change their focus from this to seeing the helpful and saving truth that will be shared, they would be better people.
I am comforted to know that EVERY SINGLE PERSON will realize that Nephi was a prophet and the Book of Mormon is actually true. All must accept Christ to be saved. Part of that is admitting that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is His church on the earth.
33:12
"And I pray the Father in the name of Christ that many of us, if not all, may be saved in his kingdom at that great and last day." I think that Nephi correctly understands our destiny. We are ALL saved from death and hell. We will all land in some part of God's kingdom. The distinguishing factor in the degree of our salvation will be what we're willing and able to do after we meet God. As we know, “This life is the time for men to prepare to meet God."
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