10 And because of the intercession for all, all men come unto God; wherefore, they stand in the presence of him, to be judged of him according to the truth and holiness which is in him. One of the purposes of the conscience is to lead us to greater light and knowledge that is inherent in anything that is good, which comes from God. This plan is why our Savior is at the center of everything we do. This is a private website maintained by a member of the Church. Perhaps what Nephi liked about Jacob was his plainness and clarity (see 2 Nephi 31:3). It has been a constant inspiration and source of good ideas. Answer . When he talks about the “ends of the law” this is what He is referring to. Eternal life is a life of community and happiness that no individual sorrow can overshadow. It requires all three members of the Godhead to get us back home to God. In 2 Nephi 1-2, Lehi teaches his sons foundational truths about God's great plan of happiness for His children. [3] 1: The Journey, http://www.fairmormon.org/perspectives/fair-conferences/2010-fair-conference/2010-restoring-the-original-text-of-the-book-of-mormon, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/1?lang=eng, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Second_Nephi&oldid=990725984, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 26 November 2020, at 04:30. The structure of Jacob’s mighty speech is quite simple. February 23, 2016 …I would that ye should look to the great Mediator, and hearken unto his great... LDS Scripture of the Day February 23, 2016. This is where we are first introduced to this idea that there are only two real choices we make in this life. More than anything he wanted his children to understand the nature of our mortal lives, and what is at stake here. Nephi then records in the book more of Isaiah— chapters 2[30] through 14[31] of Isaiah. Every time I read 2 Nephi 2 I see things I didn’t see before. 2 Nephi 2:7- “Broken heart and contrite spirit” This is an Old Testament phrase, found in Psalm 51:16-17. They will be able to live with God and Christ forever. Why is it repeated so many times and always seems contradictory? We have always existed. We are the reason for all His work in the universe. 2 Nephi 2:25-27 | Lehi's Discourse. 2 Nephi 8. It is this light that gives us our conscience. 8 Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise. Remember that the punishments of hell are necessary, because we cannot ignore the laws of God. All must come to understand that forgiveness and lasting spiritual growth cannot happen unless we rely on “the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah.” Remember that there is no other way to return to God and be saved in His kingdom without Christ. Nephi then prophesies that Christ himself will visit the Nephites in America after his death and resurrection. You'll get the latest posts from Gospelstudy.us! It is important to remember that just because Christ paid for our sins it doesn’t mean that all accountability for our sins have disappeared. They have only been transferred from our Father to Christ. There are as many variations of desire toward goodness as there are children of God to express them. Verse 7 is where Lehi points out that the Savior couldn’t achieve the point or ends of all of God’s laws, which was to offer exaltation to all His children, unless he was willing to offer himself as a sacrifice for our sins. Lehi and his family escaped from this when they left Jerusalem in 600 B.C. Every time I read 2 Nephi 2 I see things I didn’t see before. The one would have had no purpose without the other. Lehi blesses Zoram, the servant of Laban who had thrown in his lot with Nephi, as long as he and his seed obey the commandments of the Lord. In 2 Nephi, Nephi quotes extensively the words of Isaiah regarding the House of Israel. We must now answer to Christ for our behavior and choices. We do not understand how this is possible, but it is a requirement of the plan. His resurrection was the fulfillment of the final promise and condition of his role as Savior. Not all resurrected bodies are the same. We had to be in a place where we were completely free to choose between ultimate or complete good and all it stands for, and ultimate or complete evil, and all it stands for. He, and only he will determine who is considered worthy of what degree of glory and of what kind of resurrected body. (2 Nephi 23:6-8, Isaiah 13:6-8) Faith in God can help us avoid being paralyzed by the challenging experiences we face. The gospel of Christ should be easy to understand. I want you to find joy in Christ's teachings because you understand them. No one else can successfully become like Christ. It is the greatest expression of God’s love and the enjoyment that only exalted beings can experience. Life eternal comes from choosing good, and spiritual death comes from rejecting good in favor of evil. Lucifer was able to grow into the embodiment of evil before he came out in open rebellion against God when he was finally tossed out from God’s presence. And it is our Father who answers our prayers and directs the Spirit to do these things for us. And when we become justified we also begin to become pure of heart, which makes us holy. He has shown us that to successfully become like him, our Savior, we must seek after and worship our Father in all things, and do all that we do in our Savior’s name, the Christ, our Messiah. That person was our eldest brother, who goes by many titles. To do so would be to violate His own laws. What Next? This is not the condemnation we often think of. He uses terms that take some thinking or explaining to help us grasp the bigger picture for those terms. If we prefer not to have to deal with all of that then we will be judged in the end by what portion we were willing to accept when we were taught the truth. It is only because of his personal worthiness that our Father answers our prayers. Mar 1, 2020 | Book of Mormon | 0 comments. These were Isaiah’s words. Now Satan is just doing as much damage to as many of God’s children as he can before his final consignment to perdition. He is still in charge of everything that takes place. Christ has prepared the way for us to return to God, our Father. As you ask questions, ponder them over for a few minutes and study thoughtfully. John W. Welch Notes 2 Nephi 31 2 Nephi 31:1–2 — Nephi Writes His Last Words of Prophecy. In every way conceivable Christ stands between us and God, and we can only get to God through Christ. We must seek for his approval, since he is our final judge. As eternal beings we have always known the difference between basic good and evil, but mortality brings on a whole new level of choices between the two and the expressions of the two. These laws were still not something any of us could measure up to without making many mistakes along the way. There are conventions Lehi uses in describing the plan of salvation that can make it likely we miss important points along the way. Eternal life is exaltation. We are told over and over again in the scriptures that in the Father’s house are many mansions. Answer: There is power in using metaphors and imagery that learners can easily recognize and understand. We were all able to exercise that agency in the sphere in which we had been created as spirit children. Nephi was the fourth of six sons of Lehi and Sariah.He is believed to have been born in 615 BC. Those who choose more goodness through greater obedience to Christ will receive more glory in their resurrected body. I can’t imagine that Lucifer was as good as he could be, but then woke up one morning and decided to lead a crusade against the Creator Himself. There is no way to become like God without a Savior, and without complete obedience to him. Can there be anything more important to the immortal souls of all the earth than this message? Learn how your comment data is processed. We choose either one or the other, either life or death. It is the nature of the laws of God that cause us all to be condemned. 2 Nephi 2:25 Adam fell that men might be, and men are, that they might have joy. To God that bountiful harvest is the return of as many of His children as he can get. Question . Moses 1:39 tells us why God has a family – his purpose and goal for having children. A farmer in his field seeks his temporal (physical) salvation that comes from a bountiful harvest. 2 Nephi 31–33. This is why missionary work is so important to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This would violate and nullify the wisdom and the justice of God. And the way is prepared from the fall of man, and salvation is free. The first part, directly below, talks about all the parts of the plan of salvation discussed in this chapter, but without all the scripture quotes from the chapter. He was trying to show them why there had to be opposition in this life, why things have to be hard. Alma 37:47. If not so, my firstborn in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. That is my person opinion. It was not made up as time went along. Continual repentance is how we access the Savior’s atoning sacrifice on our behalf. There is no third state. In such usage, the word “gentile” means essentially “non-Jew” (see Introduction to the Book of Mormon; 1 Nephi 13:25–26, 42; 15:17; 2 Nephi 26:33; 27:1; 30:3). The Savior taught in parables, but he spoke of simple things so people would have the best chance of grasping His meaning. Resurrection for all of humanity was the final step in the Savior’s mortal work. We examine some of the political issues that Isaiah dealt with in his time period and then work to illustrate how these circumstances are similar to the Saints today. The purpose of receiving a mortal body was to ultimately gain an immortal and resurrected body. 2 Nephi 2:7- “Broken heart and contrite spirit” This is an Old Testament phrase, found in Psalm 51:16-17. 2 Nephi 31 records Nephi’s explanation of the purpose behind Jesus’ baptism, an event that Nephi had previously foreseen in vision (1 Nephi 11:27), in an attempt to expound “in plainness” upon “the doctrine of Christ” (2 Nephi 31:2–3).. Come Follow Me Helps and Resources “A Marvelous Work and a Wonder” We hope that these LDS Sunday School discussion questions over 2 Nephi 26-30 enrich your Come, Follow Me study and increase your testimony of the Savior.. Use them individually, in your family study, and in your Sunday School classes to dive deeper into the doctrines presented in the Book of Mormon. Wherefore, this thing must needs destroy the wisdom of God and his eternal purposes, and also the power, and the mercy, and the justice of God. Note: Nephi's prophecies (2 Nephi 25:7, 30:17) were not directed to the people of his day, but to future members of the house of Israel. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the commandments which God hath given. 2 Nephi 2. It is this change of heart, this loss of desire to be rebellious or stubborn before our maker that makes us more like Christ. If we wanted eternal joy, and lived our lives in mortality accordingly, then in the judgment that level of our goodness will be restored to us in the greatly increased capacity of our resurrected body. It is longer than my usual articles, so be mentally prepared for that when you start. Jacob continues reading from Isaiah: In the last days, the Lord will comfort Zion and gather Israel—The redeemed will come to Zion amid great joy—Compare Isaiah 51 and 52:1–2. 11 For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. 20 And they have brought forth children; yea, even the family of all the earth. This leads to the punch line tying back to 2 Nephi 2:26-27: There is a “punishment of the law” (2 Nephi 2:26) that is going to act on people. Many are perfectly happy with the idea of just having a glorified body; a resurrected body. Our Father gave us the laws by which we must live and behave. The advantage of being damned, and cut off from God’s presence is that we are now able to make any choice we want, and it doesn’t really matter, because we are already damned. 2 Nephi 20 For a historical background to this chapter, read 2 Kings 18 & 19 . Now that I have given an overview of the plan of salvation and how it works, and why it works, let’s look at what Lehi said to Jacob, his oldest born in the wilderness. [24] Then he prophesies about the birth, life, infinite atonement and death of Christ, calling on his people to repent and believe in the Savior. when he was finally tossed out from God’s presence. 19 And the Lord said unto me: These two facts do exist, that there are two spirits, one being more intelligent than the other; there shall be another more intelligent than they; I am the Lord thy God, I am more intelligent than they all. The Spirit teaches us the words of Christ. [26] Jacob continues by teaching about the various sins, such as lying, murdering, whoredoms, idol worship. It is from the Spirit that we receive our testimonies, our revelations, and our changes of heart as we seek to become like our Savior. [35] Nephi predicts the translation of the Book of Mormon and of the Three Witnesses who would testify that it was true. As the lawgiver, it is not possible for our Father to directly forgive us of our mistakes or our rebellions. Wherefore, the ends of the law which the Holy One hath given, unto the inflicting of the punishment which is affixed, which punishment that is affixed is in opposition to that of the happiness which is affixed, to answer the ends of the atonement—. Learning about this plan is what helps us live after the “manner of happiness.”. It is important to recognize that it is the nature of humanity that no two people are identical in desire, capability, propensity, etc. He also says that there will be scriptures that will come from some of the lost tribes of Israel. Yes, there will literally be hell to pay first, but even the punishment of hell is temporary, and Christ will save them from that eventually. That worked for me and it appears to be working fine now. 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