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.