The Book of Mormon Brings Men Unto Christ
Introduction
President Ezra Taft Benson taught us, "The Book of Mormon brings men to Christ through two basic means. First, it tells in a plain manner of Christ and His gospel. It testifies of His divinity and of the necessity for a Redeemer and the need of our putting trust in Him. It bears witness of the Fall and the Atonement and the first principles of the gospel, including our need of a broken heart and a contrite spirit and a spiritual rebirth. It proclaims we must endure to the end in righteousness and live the moral life of a Saint.
"Second, the Book of Mormon exposes the enemies of Christ. It confounds false doctrines and lays down contention. (See 2 Ne. 3:12.) It fortifies the humble followers of Christ against the evil designs, strategies, and doctrines of the devil in our day. The type of apostates in the Book of Mormon are similar to the type we have today. God, with his infinite foreknowledge, so molded the Book of Mormon that we might see the error and know how to combat false educational, political, religious, and philosophical concepts of our time.”
[1]Throughout the whole Book of Mormon, we find references that support President Benson’s statement. This book teaches us to come unto Christ and to be wary of the enemies of Christ that surround us in this life. We learn of our purpose here on earth, and of Christ, our Savior and Redeemer. It tells us plainly of the principles of the gospel, and this so that we will know and live them. In order to more fully understand how to come unto Christ we must first look at an inspired dream that is told in the beginning of this book.
In 1 Nephi, readers are introduced to the account commonly referred to as Lehi’s Dream. Immediately, we are thrown into a land that is described as “a dark and dreary waste” and unless we ask God for deliverance, we cannot escape this land.
[2] This is our search for truth, gospel truth, in a world of conflicting religions. Only when we ask God in faith will he enlighten our mind as to the right path to follow. Then Lehi sees a rod of iron that represents the path to living with God again, it is dangerous and difficult, and we are required to work diligently to get to the fruit at the end. The rod is also our personal conversion and sprititual rebirth. God will never leave us to go through our journey alone. Especially when the rocks come and slip us, we are told that as long as we cling to the rod, we will not fall into Satan’s clasp.
We learn that Satan has placed traps and enemies of Christ along our path towards God. Satan has placed a bank, which is dangerous and an immediate path to the river below, directly beside the rod of iron and surrounding the tree. This bank represents the false notion that once we sin we cannot climb back onto the path, instead Satan makes us think that it is too high to climb back up to the rod, and that we slipped too far. He convinces us that we are now too dirty, from the fall and the river below, to once again cling to the rod and to repent. Satan also blinds us with a mist of darkness, or rather the voice of the world that is coupled with the wickedness that surrounds all of us here on earth. If we are not concentrating on the eternal, we will blindly let go of the rod and be lost. There is also a spacious building that is “great” in size and those within the building mocked and scorned those at the tree, these people were caught up in pride because of their vast possession and wealth. This pattern of overcoming opposition and continuing on the “strait and narrow path” towards the fruit of the tree is how we come unto Christ.
Part One: Tells Plainly of Christ and His Gospel
In Lehi’s dream, we are taught clearly of Christ and His gospel. We are told that this is the only path that will “make one happy.”
[3] This happiness comes because of the tree, which is the love of God. We come closer to God and understand His love for us as we learn more of how we came to be here through the creation of the earth as related to our purpose here. We also learn more about the purpose of the fall of Adam and Eve, as well as understanding our need for the Atonement in our lives, because of the natural man within each of us, and because of our sin. We also learn that we need and are constantly taught that we must be spiritually reborn or we cannot come unto Christ. We learn that faith, repentance, baptism-both by water and by fire, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end are all necessary for us to come unto Christ.
Creation
We need to learn of Christ and His gospel, and in order to better understand, we need to learn about why we are here, and how we came to be here. We are all creations of God, and we are important and of great worth to Him.
[4] We are here to learn obedience and to worship our Heavenly Father. We, as well as the earth, are His direct creations, and He continues to direct and command His creations today. We are created in His physical and spiritual image, and are preserved through this life so that we will find joy and learn of God and find peace in Him
[5]. God loves all His creations and therefore provided a way and plan for us to come back to Him. He sent His beloved Son to walk after the manner of men, to give an example to all His creations of what to do in order to come unto Him again.
God created Adam and Eve so that we, His spirit children, would have a way to come here to earth for the purpose of learning good from evil and being tested. Because Adam was created, eventually there came the fall of man, and through that fall, we were seperated from God. There needed to be a fall so that God’s spirit children could begin to come down onto the earth. This was impossible without a fall, and exodus from God. This teaches us that we were created in order to learn to come back to our Father in Heaven through the power and means of His Son.
Fall
The fall came because of the agency of Adam and Eve. It was necessary in God’s plan, and because of that fall, our natural body sins. The natural, or fallen and sinful, part of our existence comes because we were all born into a fallen world and into a state of spiritual death, as we were seperated from the presence of God. We are “natural [men and women]” until we live the commandments and repent. “For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man.”
[6] A fall was necessary for there to be progression and for us to be here today. The fall was the result of transgression, and resulted in a spiritual separation from God. Unless we repent and realize that we need a Savior, a plan, and resurrection, our spiritual separation cannot be overcome.
The fall proved that God was truthful, that He was and is constant in His word. The fall signifies that man’s agency is intact and that God is honest and true always. We are here to have experiences in order to have joy, but we make mistakes along the way, and thus we experience a spiritual death until we repent. Spiritual death comes as a result of our own disobedience. Our first spiritual death came because of our carnal body. This can only be overcome through resurrection.
As mortal men and women, we are in a naturally fallen state. In the scriptures, we are clearly told, “the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam.”
[7] But, we are able to come closer to exemplifying godlike qualities as we follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost, casting aside our sins and working to be more Christlike, and as we truly apply the atonement in our lives. Because there was a falling away from God, there also needed to be some way of progressively working and correcting imperfections within each of us. This was so that we could once again come unto God. So Christ was sent to atone and redeem mankind, his beloved brothers and sisters.
Atonement
We are here to learn, and in learning, we make mistakes. There would be no path towards God and salvation if there were no atonement made on our behalf.
[8] Christ offered himself as a sacrifice; he sacrificed his purity to take upon him our sins, and to atone for each person on earth. We also learn that in order for Christ’s atonement to save us, to wash us clean of the stain of sin, we must approach him with a broken heart and contrite spirit.
[9] According to God’s justice, His plan can only be brought about through the repentance of His creations, His children. The atoning sacrifice brings together and satisfies the demands of justice and mercy
[10]. Christ’s sacrifice provides mercy to mortal man. Mercy constitutes that there is someone willing and able to assume our debt and pay the price and arrange terms for our redemption
[11].
Alma 41 also teaches us about the act of restoration. This means to restore something to the original state, repentant to repentant, wicked to wicked states respectively. Restoration restores us to what we have done, unless we have repented through Christ’s atonement. If God was not just, then we would not become gods and He would not be God. This is why justice restores the good that we have done, and why Satan’s plan is to destroy justice.
Obedience or defiance to moral laws has eternal consequences according to the light of Christ. Mercy through grace and truth has an enabling power that comes from Christ. The enabling power of the atonement refers to the fact that “[Christ] will take upon him [our] infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.”
[12] This enables men and women to overcome the fall of Adam, overcome personal sin, repent, and ultimately strengthen and help us become like God. In this way, we come unto Christ in word, thought, and action. Justice dictates that for obedience and adherance to the law, we are blessed and happy, and if we violate these laws, we will be punished and miserable. Summarized, the Book of Mormon teaches us that Christ pays the eternal consequences for our sins; he allows us to suffer the temporal consequences and then takes the eternal consequences upon himself.
Throughout Alma 7, we learn that when Christ was sent here, he learned how to oppose temptation and he suffered pain, affliction, and temptations of all kinds. This he did for the purpose of fulfilling his word, his oath, his promise to God and to each one of us, his brothers and sisters. He gave his word, his strength of resolution to see his purpose on earth through to the end, and to take upon himself the pains, sins, and sicknesses of his people. In order to blot out the transgressions of all His children, he had to have a body of flesh and blood. Through His atoning sacrifice, he puts his stain over my sins. He blocks that sin from being brought against me in the final judgement. He essentially steps in front of me and takes my punishment, saying to the Father that he atoned for that sin, and it was as if it never happened.
The atonement recovers our spirits from the natural man and pays the price needed for us to repent and live with God again if we apply the atonement. Because there was the atonement, we needed a process to revive our spirit, after the spiritual death which accompanies sin. The atonement provides a path to forgiveness, and so there must be a spiritual rebirth to completely restore the harm which was done.
Spiritual Rebirth
We are asked in the scripture, “Have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?”
[13] Spiritual rebirth is what causes a change to be wrought in our spirit and hearts. We have a desire to do good continually and this also brings personal revelation
[14]. This is the process by which we are adopted into God’s family. The signs of this having occurred in one’s life are: (1) you have no disposition to do evil, only to do good, you are willing to teach and be taught, (2) you serve others around you, (3) you have Christ’s image and light in your own countenance, (4) you sing songs of hymn and redeeming love, and finally (5) you have the desire to build the kingdom the way Christ would. Through being born of God, we lose our life and take on Christ’s life’s purpose.
This process of spiritual rebirth is about seeing, viewing, and entering God’s kingdom or His presence. This allows us to see through the mists of darkness; these mists lift and become thinner until they are gone completely from our eyes. We do this by living lives of goodness, service, and commitment. We are born again when we enter into a covenant relationship with Christ. We renew our spiritual rebirth by partaking of the sacrament each week. These covenants that we renew are essential for our eternal progression. They are our step by step tutoring from Father in Heaven in order to become more like Him as we enlist in His work. This is also an expression of a willing and faithful heart. The Book of Mormon prepares us for the first spiritual rebirth. This rebirth comes through baptism and the Holy Ghost by faith.
After we fully repent, our spirit is born again and we become new and better people. There are no smudges or holes still in us after we truly repent. We start again, completely clean, with a new will and new way of life.
[15] Spiritual rebirth reflects our appreciation of the atonement of Jesus Christ and our depth of conversion. We are born of God and become His children when we make and keep covenants, and when our hearts are truly changed through faith on Christ. Spiritual rebirth is impossible without faith. Faith, repentance, baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost are what make this possible.
Faith
When our hearts are changed through faith on Christ’s name, then we are spiritually reborn and we become God’s children. Only through faith on Christ can the atonement be applied to our lives and we are made clean and white in his blood.
[16] We are made alive in Christ because of our faith, meaning our spirits are made alive after their death, which occurred because we sin.
[17] Faith also allows us to have personal communication and revelation through the Holy Ghost.
[18] Faith is the binding power of the gospel; it is what allows us to have testimonies. Faith does not mean that you own a perfect knowledge, it means believing in something that you cannot see, something that you cannot physically test.
[19]Faith does not come easily nor quickly, it comes through the Holy Ghost when we are ready for it. We have heard the gospel’s truths, and have let those teachings sink into our hearts. Then we are filled with a desire to know for ourselves if this is true. We continue to obey the commandments which enable us to be receptive to the Spirit of the Holy Ghost. When we do these things and add mighty prayer, this is when our faith allows us to receive answers to questions.
[20]Faith is action and power, it is an actual power that exists, and it is superior to all other powers. We gain this power and faith as we learn correct doctrine. When we exercise faith, we have a desire to become more like God and this means taking the first steps and covenants to enter into His strait and narrow path. This first step is recognizing that we have sinned and need to repent.
Repentance
Repentance means to turn away from sin and covenant to forsake that sin.
[21] Later in the book of Mosiah it tells us that those who don’t repent are not Christ’s and He won’t receive those people in His church.
[22] Already, we know that sin is a gross act, because it separates us from God. But because God loves us, he sent His son, Jesus Christ, to atone for our sins, and provide a path of repentance for each of us to travel. This path starts with fully confessing our sins to Heavenly Father and covenanting to forsake them. This means telling Him all that you have done, not just a part of it.
[23] Repentance is subtle. It is the process of daily moving closer to the Lord with goodness, service, and commitment.
[24]Repentance begins with an awakening in a person: a realization that they have sinned and a belief that they can repent. This combines with faith, which in this case would be acting on the will of God rather than our own, and as we adopt that will as our own and live it, we begin this change. Repentance is really changing our way, and aligning our path with God’s. Repentance is changing your view of something, and your mind, and turning to God’s view. Elder Anderson said, “The invitation to repent is rarely a voice of chastisement but rather a loving appeal to turn around and to ‘re-turn’ toward God. It is the beckoning of a loving Father and His Only Begotten Son to be more than we are, to reach up to a higher way of life, to change, and to feel the happiness of keeping the commandments.”
[25]The opportunity to repent through the power of the atonement is one way that we can truly come unto Christ as we rededicate ourselves to Christ. As we promise to become better and to improve ourselves one day at a time.
Baptism
While the Savior was on the earth, he gave us the example of baptism. Jesus Christ’s baptism was a symbol of his humility and obedience. “And now, if the Lamb of God, he being holy, should have need to be baptized by water, to fulfill all righteousness, O then, how much more need have we, being unholy, to be baptized, yea, even by water!”
[26] This brings us to the reason for our own baptism. Baptism is the gate to the strait and narrow path. There are two baptisms that must occur, by water and of the spirit. These baptisms show that we “shall follow the Son, with full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God….”
[27]Baptism by water is how we gain access to the atonement and how we repent. We make covenants of obedience and humility with God.
In the scriptures it says, “He that is baptized in [Christ’s] name, to him will the Father give the Holy Ghost.”
[28] This brings us to the second part of baptism, baptism by fire or by the Holy Ghost. Through the atonement, our Savior authorizes the Holy Ghost to cleanse us in a baptism by fire. This is also the “spirit” birth which we all need.
[29] Elder Bruce R. McConkie said that those who are sanctified, which comes after baptism, are those who have “had evil and sin and iniquity burned out of their souls as though by fire, and the figuritive expression there is ‘the baptism of fire’.”
[30]Baptism must be both by fire and by water in order for it to bring a person unto Christ, and for that person to understand the significance of that ordinance. Baptism is the gate through which we enter to get onto the strait and narrow path spoken of in Lehi’s dream. Baptism is also the only way that we can receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. This is how we receive counsel, admonition, and warnings from our Father in Heaven.
Gift of the Holy Ghost
The gift of the Holy Ghost is bestowed upon all those who are baptized with the proper authority. The gift of the Holy Ghost is also referred to as the “tongue of angels” because it is how God communicates with all His children.
[31] We come unto Christ when we allow the Holy Ghost to influence our actions, and as we offer a contrite spirit and a broken heart unto God.
We also receive a remission of our sins through baptism of fire and the gift of the Holy Ghost.
[32] “And after they had been received unto baptism, and were wrought upon and cleansed by the power of the Holy Ghost, they were numbered among the people of the church of Christ.”
[33] It is through the cleansing power of the Holy Ghost that we gain access to the enabling power of the atonement. This gift is also how we become reconciled to God. We become reconciled when we seriously and consciously start doing those things that will assure us eternal life in the realms ahead.
[34]After we have received the gift of the Holy Ghost into our lives, we must act upon the promptings that we receive. Those promptings are what will daily lead us unto Christ. As soon as we understand this, we then move to the next commandment from Heavenly Father. That commandment is to endure to the end.
Enduring to the End
Enduring to the end is one of the hardest parts of the gospel, because it denotes bearing with patience our trials. It also can mean that we need “to continue in the same state without perishing.”
[35] The blessings promised to those who endure to the end are that “they shall be lifted up at the last day, and shall be saved in the everlasting kingdom of the Lamb.”
[36] Enduring to the end means that a person is constantly aware and fighting against Christ’s enemies. This is also the only way that we can attain a remission of our sins and become sanctified.
Our Savior, Jesus Christ, taught how important this concept of endurance was when he said, “whoso repenteth and is baptized in my name shall be filled; and if he endureth to the end, behold, him will I hold guiltless before my Father at that day when I shall stand to judge the world.”
[37] He then went on to add that those who do not endure to the end shall be “hewn down and cast into the fire from whence they can no more return, because of the justice of the Father.”
[38] This explains the importance and great emphasis that Christ places on enduring to the end. Living the gospel is not a one day thing, we are told to endure.
Enduring in the gospel sense means that we live the gospel principles everyday of our lives, continually seeking to become more like Christ, and to come unto Christ in word, thought, and deed. Endurance is important in the eternal perspective of all things. This means that as we endure, we work on “wax[ing] stronger and stronger in [our] humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling of [our] souls with joy…even to the purifying and the sanctification of [our] hearts.”
[39] Endurance is a lifetime pursuit and will bless us the most eternally.
In order to endure to the end, and to live eternally with Father in Heaven, we need to be aware that there are enemies to Christ that want to destroy us. Satan is real and he will try to tell us that there is no way to endure to the end. That there is no hope for us to endure faithfully to the end, and in this way, he lies to us.
Part Two: Exposes the Enemies of Christ
Throughout the Book of Mormon and in Lehi’s dream, we are introduced to the enemies of Christ. These enemies are those around us who try to pull us off the strait and narrow path, and away into the mist of darkness, the river of filthy water, and ultimately into the great and spacious building. The five main enemies warned of are the great and abominable church, pride, wealth, immorality, and anti-Christs.
Great and Abominable Church
In Lehi’s dream, we are introduced to “a church which is most abominable above all other churches, which slayeth the saints of God, yea, and tortureth them and bindeth them down, and yoketh them with a yoke of iron, and bringeth them down into captivity.”
[40] This church we are later told was formed by the devil. It was formed so that the devil “might lead away the souls of men down to hell—yea, that great pit which hath been digged for the destruction of men shall be filled by those who digged it….”
[41]Elder Bruce R. McConkie defined the devil’s church as such: “The titles Church of the devil and great and abominable church are used to identify all…organizations of whatever name or nature…which are designed to take men on a course that leads away from God and his laws and thus from salvation in the kingdom of God.”
[42] This church symbolically represents all these organizations. There is not one specific church of the devil. This church, today, could represent the world. Most of the world is influenced by the devil’s teachings and half-truths. We need to know about the origin and goals of this abominable church, so that we can escape being trapped within it.
This church is also defined by the people within it. The people are arrayed in golds and silvers; they wear silks and precious clothing, and persecute the saints for the praise of the world. These people are prideful.
Pride
The people in the Book of Mormon fell because of their pride. The proud stand and care only about the worldly judgements heaped upon them, rather than what God’s judgements are.
[43] In the Book of Mormon, we are given a lecture about this evil through Jacob, the brother of Nephi, as he speaks to his people. Jacob told his people that “the hand of providence hath smiled upon you most pleasingly, that you have obtained many riches; and because some of you have obained more abundantly than that of your brethren ye are lifted up in the pride of your hearts and wear stiff necks and high heads because of the costliness of your apparel, and persecute your brethren because ye suppose that ye are better than they.”
[44] Pride leaked into the hearts of these members of God’s church, and this started to create classes and division among the people.
“Pride is sometimes called the great sin of the spirit.”
[45] Pride drives the spirit from a person, and is therefore an enemy to Christ. We cannot hear the spirit’s promptings when there is pride in our hearts. Pride is a universal sin that everyone has. Jacob cries unto his people as he expounds upon this sin: “O that [the Lord] would rid you from this iniquity and abomination. And, O that ye would listen unto the word of his commands, and let not this pride of your hearts destroy your souls!”
[46] This is an enemy that will destroy any who consort with it. We must stay watchful and keep ourselves free of this enemy.
Pride, often times, comes in many forms. One form of pride is in the pursuit and acquisition of earthly gain and wealth in temperal substances.
Wealth
Wealth is not necessarily always an enemy to Christ; it all depends on what we do with it. President Benson stated, “Our motives for the things we do are where the sin is manifest.”
[47] We are told that before we seek for earthly riches, we need to lay up for ourselves riches in the kingdom of God. Only after we seek the kingdom of God will we “obtain riches if [we] seek them.”
[48] However, we are warned that if we do seek after riches we are to use those riches to do good to those around us.
Jacob counseled to “Think of your brethren like unto yourselves, and be familiar with all and free with your substances, that they may be rich like unto you.”
[49] It is when we forget that our brethren are like us that we allow wealth to take possession of our hearts. “Gold does not corrupt man; it is in the motive of acquiring that gold that corruption occurs.”
[50] When gold and gaining more controls our actions, this is when our heart turns from God. Wealth, without humility and understanding where it came from and for what purpose it came to us, can very quickly condemn a man. Wealth is an enemy to God in that it takes the hearts of righteous people and turns it to selfishness.
Immorality
Another enemy to God that is the result of selfish and unrighteous actions is warned of many times throughout the Book of Mormon. This enemy is immorality. In the Book of Mormon, we are clearly told, “I, the Lord God, delight in the chastity of women. And whoredoms are an abomination before me; thus saith the Lord of Hosts.”
[51] Sexual immorality puts a wall between a person and the spirit’s promptings. We are also warned that when the law of chastity is broken that families can be destroyed.
[52] Immorality is an enemy to God, as it causes serious emotional and spiritual harm.
We are warned in the For the Strength of Youth booklet, “In God’s sight, sexual sins are extremely serious because they defile the power God has given us to create life….”
[53] Sexual sin is constantly warned of in the Book of Mormon, there is a whole chapter in Alma devoted to this sin. Immorality has always been an enemy to God, since the beginning. This destroys the sacredness of the powers that God has bestowed in each of us, and quickly destroys a person. That you can commit sexual transgressions and be happy is a false teaching. This is one of the teachings that anti-Christs would have all people believe.
Anti-Christs
The Book of Mormon gives us examples of anti-Christs, so that we will know what to be watchful and wary of. Anti-Christs are those who teach false ideas, and draw the hearts of the believers away from truth. We were taught by Gerald N. Lund that the only way to combat these false teachings is with “revelation and true doctrine, not academic debate.”
[54] These are the people that demand a sign of God before they will believe in the truth.
[55] “Jacob introduces the first anti-Christ in the Book of Mormon. This anti-Christ, Sherem, like others who followed, used ‘much power of speech’ and flattering words to teach that ‘there should be no Christ’.”
[56]An interesting part of the story of the people of Ammon was that when Korihor came and tried to teach them his false ideas, they “caused that he should be carried out of the land.”
[57] This is interesting because they had lived their lives following Korihor-like teachings, and because of that they recongnized the danger of those teachings.
[58] In this story, we are taught that we can escape these anti-Christ teachings, however, in order to escape the poison of those teachings we have to be aware of them. We also have to know the damage them can cause if they are allowed to take root in our hearts. These teachings excuse sin in the name of religion, and teach that there is no repentance.
[59] “For they were of the profession of Nehor, and did not believe in the repentance of their sins.”
[60]These false teachings are enemies to God because they teach that there are no consequences for our actions performed here on earth. Nehor, an anti-Christ, “testified unto the people that all mankind should be saved at the last day, and that they need not fear nor tremble, but that they might lift up their heads and rejoice; for the Lord had created all men, and had also redeemed all men; and, in the end, all men should have eternal life.”
[61] These teachings are particularly dangerous because they undermine the whole purpose of our existence here, and clearly teach against the gospel of Christ. Anti-Christs will destroy the people of God, because they are sent from the devil. They are enemies to God that we need to be aware of. We need to watch for their lies.
These ideas are all around us today, and we were given examples of them in the Book of Mormon so that we would know how to combat them. The only way to combat these false ideas is to “[admonish] [them] with the words of God.”
[62]Conclusion
The Book of Mormon clearly teaches us how to come unto Christ, and of the enemies of God. These are taught to us so that we can improve ourselves and fortify our defenses against the tools and devices of Satan. Lehi’s dream introduces us to the treacherous paths that we will have to walk as we live our lives here on earth. Lehi warns us about the enemies of God that would try to pull us off the strait and narrow path that leads to God and life eternal. We also see what we need to do and what we need to avoid as we travel through life.
The Book of Mormon brings men unto Christ as it teaches us of the divinity of Christ, and how much we, as mortals, need his atoning sacrifice. It tells us about the fall of Adam and Eve and that physical separation from God. It testifies of the atonement of Christ and the first principles of the gospel, including our need for a spiritual rebirth. Lastly, it testifies of how necessary it is that we endure to the end in righteousness.
Finally, “the Book of Mormon exposes the enemies of Christ. It confounds false doctrines and lays down contention. (See 2 Ne. 3:12.) It fortifies the humble followers of Christ against the evil designs, strategies, and doctrines of the devil in our day. The type of apostates in the Book of Mormon are similar to the type we have today. God, with his infinite foreknowledge, so molded the Book of Mormon that we might see the error and know how to combat false educational, political, religious, and philosophical concepts of our time.”
[63] This is why the Book of Mormon was written.
[1] Pres Ezra Taft Benson, "The Book of Mormon is the Word of God" Ensign , Jan, 1988, p. 3
[2] I Nephi 8:7
[3] 1 Nephi 8:10
[4] Jacob 2:21
[5] Mosiah 2:20
[6] Mosiah 3:19
[7] Mosiah 3:19
[8] Mosiah 13:28
[9] 2 Nephi 2:1-10
[10] Alma 41-42
[11] Book of Mormon Student Manual, pg 52
[12] Alma 7:12
[13] Alma 5:14
[14] Mosiah 5:2-3
[15] Book of Mormon Student Manual, pg. 167-168
[16] 1 Nephi 12:10
[17] 2 Nephi 25:25
[18] Jarom 1:4
[19] Alma 32:18, 21
[20] Enos 1:3-15
[21] Mosiah 4:10
[22] Mosiah 26:26-36
[23] Book of Mormon Student Manual, pg 164
[24] Book of Mormon Student Manual, pg 166
[25]179th Semi-Annual General Conference, Elder Andersen, “Repent…That I May Heal You”; Helaman 7:17
[26] 2 Nephi 31:5
[27] 2 Nephi 31:13
[28] 2 Nephi 31:12
[29] Book of Mormon Student Manual, pg 108
[30] Bruce R. McConkie, “Jesus Christ and Him Crucified”
[31] 2 Nephi 31:13-14
[32] 2 Nephi 31:17
[33] Moroni 6:4
[34] Book of Mormon Student Manual, pg 320
[35] 1928 Webster’s Dictionary, “endure”
[36] 1 Nephi 13:37
[37] 3 Nephi 27:16, emphasis added
[38] 3 Nephi 27:17
[39] Helaman 3:35
[40] 1 Nephi 13:5
[41] 1 Nephi 14:3
[42] Elder Bruce R McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, pg 137-138
[43] Pres Ezra Taft Benson, “Beware of Pride,” Ensign May 1989
[44] Jacob 2:13
[45] Book of Mormon Student Manual, pg 118
[46] Jacob 2:16
[47] Pres Ezra Taft Benson, “Beware of Pride,” Ensign May 1989
[48] Jacob 2:18-19, emphasis added
[49] Jacob 2:17
[50] Pres David O McKay, “Treasure of Life,” pg 174-75
[51] Jacob 2:28
[52] Book of Mormon Student Manual, pg 119
[53] Book of Mormon Student Manual, pg 237
[54] Gerald N. Lund, “Countering Korihor’s Philosophy,” Ensign July 1992
[55] Jacob 7:13-14
[56] Book of Mormon Studen t Manual, pg 127/ Jacob 7:2,4
[57] Alma 30:21
[58] Book of Mormon Student Manual, pg 213
[59] Book of Mormon Student Manual, pg 170
[60] Alma 15:15
[61] Alma 1:4
[62] Alma 1:7
[63] Pres Ezra Taft Benson, "The Book of Mormon is the Word of God" Ensign , Jan, 1988, p. 3
I know that my Savior lives and loves me. He will help me overcome my personal struggles, and help me remain safely away from the temptations of Satan. I know that I was saved, along with many other Spirits, to come to earth at this time. I know that Joseph Smith restored the full gospel to the earth. That God the Father and His son, Jesus Christ, appeared to him in the sacred grove, and that he was prepared to do this work. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and is God’s workings recorded by the ancient people who inhabited America. I know that as I build my weaknesses into strengths, and obey the commandments given me by my loving Father in heaven, I will grow to be more like my Father and grow closer to Him. I know that I was sent here for a purpose, that I have specific jobs that I must perform while here on earth.
