The Doctrine of Christ, Real Intent, and Enduring to the End - Second Book of Nephi, Chapter Thirty-One (2 Nephi 31)

You can read the entire chapter at the following link: https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/31?lang=eng

Nephi decides to make a summation here. He wants to make sense for the reader of everything he has previously shared—his own experiences and prophecies, the prophecies of his brother Jacob, and the words of Isaiah. It’s as if he knows that the reader is saying, “All of what you say is quite breathtaking, but what does it mean for me in my day where I live?” Nephi tells us that he “delighteth in plainness” (verse 3), which is another way of saying, “Let’s get down to what really matters.”

Little surprise that Nephi takes us directly to the life of Jesus Christ for what really matters. It’s a 2,500-year-old version of teaching via today’s well-known mantra “What would Jesus do?” Or, perhaps, more precisely, “What will Jesus do, and how can we follow his example?” Nephi simply calls these teachings “the doctrine of Christ” (verse 2).

In verses 4-9, Nephi is presumably drawing from the vision he received decades earlier just after his family left Jerusalem (see verses 27-33 of 1 Nephi 11). He relates the key aspects of the pattern that he knows Jesus will set for us during his time on earth more than 500 years later:

1. Being baptized by water in the Lord’s name
2. Receiving the Holy Ghost
3. Keeping His Father’s commandments

As Nephi says, it can be stated very plainly. And yet, Jesus is the only person on earth who was or ever will be able to do these three things without breaking any of the Father’s commandments. But even if we will not achieve the perfection Jesus achieved, by following Him we can have our sins taken away and speak with the “tongue of angels” (verse 13).

According to Nephi, via direct revelation from Christ (verse 12), a key ingredient in this process is called “real intent.” Real intent means that our motives are pure in our search for knowledge, or, in other words, that we will act in a manner that is consistent with the knowledge we are given, “acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God” (verse 13). In the last chapter of the Book of Mormon (Moroni 10), Moroni states that real intent is necessary in order for the Lord to answer our prayers regarding the truthfulness of the book. I believe that principle applies in most cases when we seek truth—the Lord will generally only reveal that truth to us once we have resolved to act in accordance with whatever His will is. Real intent turns our faith into action, which then solidifies our knowledge of divinely revealed principles of truth.

Again, according to Nephi via revelation coming from Christ, real intent is necessary for us to actually receive the Holy Ghost, which is sometimes referred to as the “baptism of fire” (verse 13). In the ordinance of confirmation in our Church, we are admonished to receive the Holy Ghost, but when this actually takes place is dependent on our faith and real intent. During the day of Pentecost, as related in Acts 2, the Holy Ghost came as with a great rushing of the wind and endowed the apostles with matchless power to convince others of the gospel of Christ. In like manner, the baptism of fire will help us in our transformation from weak but willing servants to people who have been mightily cleansed and who feel the Lord working through them. It is often accompanied by an actual feeling that can occur deep within us.

One of the reasons it is important for us to recognize our personal baptism of fire is that it strengthens us to be able to continue on in this world in a way that embodies faith, hope, charity and joy. We know that life is a series of highs and lows, and that it ultimately ends with the death of our bodies. The gift of the Holy Ghost, which is something that can only be received after entering onto the “strait and narrow path” after our baptism by one with real authority from God (verses 17-18), makes it possible for us to “endure to the end” with peace and love in our hearts. It is the answer that many search for in vain through one form of escapism or another.

To avoid deceptive and harmful paths, it is important for us to know that through the comfort and guidance of the Holy Ghost, external trials and challenges will not force us into fear, anger, and despair so long as we choose to withstand and overcome them. It is an awesome promise that hints at our divine heritage and destiny.

Nephi tells us that the Father Himself told him that the words Nephi heard from Christ are “true and faithful,” and that those who “endureth to the end” shall be saved (verse 15). Of course, greater responsibility comes with the greater power and knowledge we receive when we embark on the path of discipleship through baptism by water and fire.

After relating these amazing revelations that have come to him directly from the Father and the Son, Nephi gives the following admonition to his people, and to us (in verses 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.

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.

Light and Truth Flood the Earth and Accelerate the Work - Second Chapter of Nephi, Verse Thirty (2 Nephi 30)

You can read the entire chapter at the following link: https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/30?lang=eng

This chapter helps us better understand how direct a role the Book of Mormon is playing in the process by which Jesus Christ is carrying out Heavenly Father’s great plan of salvation and redemption. As we learned in the previous chapter, it complements the Bible and its great truths, which of course center around the life, ministry, death, resurrection, and exaltation of our Lord and Savior.

Nephi unfolds to us the effects that truth can have on people across distance and time. There are the Jews who have miraculously maintained their identity as a people over thousands of years and despite bitter hardships and persecutions. There are the lost Israelites, including the people descended from the Nephites and Lamanites on the American continent. And there are the “Gentiles,” many of whom may have ancestral connections with Israel that have been forgotten through the generations. All of them can embrace the truth and enter into the covenant based on repentance and faith in Christ (verse 2).

Great promises attend those who accept the truth and enter into the Lord’s covenant. Verse 6 gives us a taste of some of the blessings these people will find. They shall rejoice. They shall have “scales of darkness” fall from their eyes. They shall begin a process of becoming a “pure and delightsome” people.

As these people allow the Lord to reshape them into something of great virtue and power, the Lord’s work accelerates. This is of course no coincidence, for clearly the Lord uses those who covenant with him to turn to their neighbors and share the benefit of their experience. It is a classic domino or snowball effect. Among those who pay attention, there is so much to discern.

Inspired judgment and restitution are already in evidence among us, as people abide by the principles of truth Lord has taught them either directly or through His authorized messengers. When repentant and humble men and women counsel together for a righteous purpose, there’s nothing like it. The Lord elevates their efforts so that they can help “judge the poor and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth” (verse 9).

As the Lord’s work progresses, aided by the spread of truth to the corners of the world, those who are open to accepting this truth, and thus transforming their lives for the better, become separate from those who close their hearts and minds. This great division has consequences, for just as Biblical stories (especially those in Genesis about the great flood and Sodom and Gomorrah) teach us that the Lord found it necessary at certain times in the past to destroy persistent wickedness in the world, we are taught that this will take place again (verse 10).

Sad as this destruction will be for those who have chosen evil over good, it will represent a deliverance and cleansing of the earth for those who have embraced the Lord’s healing power in their lives. And no longer will they face the opposition that has plagued them and sought to slow their acquisition of further knowledge and illumination.

The point at which this division will become complete is Christ’s Second Coming, when only those who have let light into their lives will be able to abide the refining presence of the Lord. 

Nephi weaves a passage from Isaiah 11 (verses 9-15) into his prophecy to show us the poetic contrast between our current struggles and the peace that will come between all the creatures of the world, and—perhaps most important—the willingness of those who remain on earth to receive truth from whatever source provides it, even if that source is (counterintuitively) a little child rather than a more fully experienced adult. Hence the phrase “and a little child shall lead them” in verse 12.

The images of truth and knowledge flooding the earth are awe-inspiring. From verses 15-17:

For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea…. The things of all nations shall be made known…unto the children of men. There is nothing which is secret save it shall be revealed; there is no work of darkness save it shall be made manifest in the light.

Finally, we learn from Nephi (in verse 18), as we also learn from the apostle John (in Revelation 20), that Satan “shall have power over the hearts of the children of men no more.” Or at least not “for a long time” before he returns for the climactic conflict between the forces of good and evil.

Nations as Witnesses - Second Book of Nephi, Chapter Twenty-Nine (2 Nephi 29)

You can read the entire chapter at the following link: https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/29?lang=eng

In this chapter, Nephi describes in even greater detail how the coming of the Book of Mormon will affect humanity and the course of God’s plan for it. And, by speaking in the first person on behalf of the Lord, the power of his words are magnified.

As many accept the Book of Mormon and come to know of its divine origins, the process begins whereby the Lord is setting “his hand again the second time to recover my people, which are of the house of Israel” (verse 1). God does not forget or act against the covenants he has made, and it is important for Nephi to be able to demonstrate this to his people so that they are better able to understand the greater purpose of their religion and civilization. Verse 2 tells us that the record of the Nephites will “hiss forth unto the ends of the earth” through those in the latter days who accept the Book of Mormon and spread its message abroad.

What should be a glorious opportunity to spread eternal truth to others—giving them access to joy, salvation, and sanctification—ends up being met with opposition. Nephi tells us that many in the latter days will reject the Book of Mormon because they already have the Bible. As mentioned in the previous chapter, those who are not open to the idea that God reveals His will through many sources ultimately hurt themselves the most. But, as we remember from how those in the great and spacious building from Lehi’s dream (described in verses 24-28 of 1 Nephi 8) helped turn some of the partakers of the fruit from the tree of life away from truth and goodness through their skeptical mocking, the closed-minded can infect others with their cynicism. The lesson for us is to beware of our own actions in this regard.

Nephi points out the hypocrisy that people have engaged in over generations by insisting on the Bible as the only possible source of God’s truth. History has shown that some of these people have treated those whose ancestors were responsible for the Bible—the Jews—as outcasts at best, and as targets of horrendous persecution and violence at worst.

And what thank they the Jews for the Bible which they receive from them?.... O ye Gentiles, have ye remembered the Jews, mine ancient covenant people? Nay; but ye have cursed them, and have hated them, and have not sought to recover them. (verses 4-5)

Nephi goes on to remind us that the Lord is the creator and ruler of all peoples on the earth, and that He is the ultimate judge of who and how many of his peoples should be privileged to bring forth records containing His words. And, by the evidence of the Book of Mormon together with the Bible (and probably other records that will come forth from other peoples in the future), the Lord has determined to prove His existence, His attributes, His plan for our salvation through Christ’s atonement, and—most important—His love for all mankind.

For behold, I shall speak unto the Jews and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto the Nephites and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto the other tribes of the house of Israel, which I have led away, and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto all nations of the earth and they shall write it. (verse 12)

Nephi not only teaches the truth that God’s word is revealed through many different sources, but he also prophesies that the bringing together of the different records is a sign of the bringing together of the Lord’s covenant people. Why is it so wonderful that the records come together? Because that means the Lord and His servants on earth are gathering scattered people from Israel, reminding them of their divine potential and shared heritage, and helping them right their course back in His direction. Combined, the records have a power that they would not have on their own.

This prophecy closely mirrors something taught by the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel, whose ministry among the exiled Jews in Babylon began around 590 B.C. as Nephi and his family made their journey through the wilderness and to the Americas. In his account (verses 15-24 of Ezekiel 37), Ezekiel teaches that the Lord will command the families of Judah and Joseph (the sons of Jacob, also known as Israel, through whom the covenant promises flow) to each make a record on a “stick” (a wooden writing tablet). 

The stick of Judah (or the Jews) is the Bible, and the stick of Joseph is the Book of Mormon, as the Nephites come from Joseph’s ancestral line. 

Indeed, just as there is a principle that having more than one person as a witness for a specific evidentiary claim greatly validates that claim, the Lord—through Nephi—applies a similar principle to the idea of using more than one nation as a way to bolster the case for His existence and His faithfulness to the everlasting covenant He made with Abraham. 

Know ye not that the testimony of two nations is a witness unto you that I am God, that I remember one nation like unto another? Wherefore, I speak the same words unto one nation like unto another. And when the two nations shall run together the testimony of the two nations shall run together also. (verse 8)