2 Nephi, in the Book of Mormon, is a difficult chapter for many people to read. However, it is filled with valuable teachings about Jesus Christ and is an essential read for those who want to understand Mormon doctrines about the Lord Jesus Christ. Mormon is a nickname some people use when talking about the Mormon people, although it should not be used as the name of the Church.

In this book, the prophet Nephi and his brother Jacob are teaching the people. Nephi took as his text the prophecies of the Biblical Isaiah. The people of the book of Mormon took with them to their new homeland somewhere in the Americas the Jewish scriptures that were available in 600 BC, when they left Jerusalem. However, in ancient times, many people could not read. The scriptures had to be read to them by their leaders. Nephi quoted extensively from Isaiah, although the translation here differs somewhat from the King James translation. He also explained many of the scriptures to his people, helping them to understand that they, as descendants of the Jews, were recipients of the promises made to the Jews.

When he finished teaching from the book of Isaiah, he began to speak directly about Jesus Christ. 2 Nephi 25 explains the purpose of the Book of Mormon and the goal of modern Mormons. It helps to clarify some essential beliefs, many of which are misunderstood by people who don’t have been incorrectly taught what Mormons believe. After explaining that Jesus Christ would come to the earth in the future, he says, in verse 23:

For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.

Many people are surprised to learn the Book of Mormon teaches the doctrine of grace. This is explained in previous articles, but briefly, Mormons do believe we are saved by grace. It would be impossible for anyone to save himself, no matter how carefully and correctly he lived his life. We are not capable of perfection and so our sins must be paid for by someone who lived a sinless life, came to earth to atone for our sins voluntarily, and was half divine (though His heritage as God’s son) and half mortal (through his mother’s heritage). Only Jesus Christ could fulfill these requirements. Had He rejected His mission, we would have been doomed.

Through His atonement, all rise from the dead. This gift is given freely to everyone, regardless of behavior or belief. Other portions require activation. Even those who say they don’t believe in works actually generally do, since they believe you are only saved if you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior—and that, obviously, is a work. Repentance also requires actions. Many also follow the Biblical teaching that you must be baptized, also a work. The real question, then isn’t whether or not Mormons believe in works, since all Christians do, but how many works and how they are applied to eternity.

Mormons believe that although our works don’t save us, they are evidence of our faith. Mormons believe that Nephi’s admonition that we are saved by grace after all we can do includes repentance, baptism, and enduring to the end. This last piece refers to continuing to have faith and to keep the commandments of Jesus Christ. After all, how can we call ourselves followers of Christ if we don’t do the things He taught us to do?

Near the end of the Book of Mormon, a prophet named Moroni taught, “Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind, and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ (Moroni 10:32).

In other words, we have to demonstrate that we really have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior. Parroting words we don’t really mean will have no impact on our salvation. Being saved, for Mormons, is an eternal process. In fact, many Christians are beginning to question the idea that just saying the words once is not enough. “Once saved, always saved” seems to be a license to sin and also makes it too easy to simply forget about God. Once some people have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior, they figure their work is done and they can now live their life any way they choose, seldom even thinking of God.

Clearly this is not what our most wise Heavenly Father had in mind. He would not create a system that gave us permission to forget Him. Being saved, then, is possible only through grace, but we must then honor our commitment to Jesus Christ by following in His footsteps.

The next portion of this chapter cover rejoicing in the Savior and will be discussed in the next article.

In this series of articles on Christ in the Book of Mormon, we’ve spent a great deal of time exploring verses related to the atonement. 2 Nephi 2 was almost entirely on that subject. Today we will explore 2 Nephi 9, which also discusses the atonement of Jesus Christ in-depth.

In the previous article on Christ in the Book of Mormon we studied the prophet Lehi’s dying teachings to his young son Jacob. In this chapter, Jacob is now grown and teaching the gospel himself under the direction of his brother Nephi, who is the new prophet. The family has separated into two groups, one led by the wicked Laman, and the other by Nephi.

Jacob, like his father, is teaching about the atonement. Much of the Book of Mormon expounds on the topic of being saved, which is why Mormons just roll their eyes when told they don’t believe we are saved by Jesus.

In verse 6, Jacob reminds his listeners that everyone will eventually die and because of that, there has to be a plan to allow them to be resurrected. The Fall of Adam had caused man to become separated from God. In the following verse, he says that because of the Fall, there is a need for an infinite atonement. If there was not an atonement, the first judgment of man would be the final one and no one would be able to rise from the dead or be forgiven and saved.

What is an Infinite Atonement?

Russell M. Nelson, a Mormon apostle, explained what Jacob meant by the term “infinite atonement” in verse 7:

“In preparatory times of the Old Testament, the practice of atonement was finite—meaning it had an end. It was a symbolic forecast of the definitive Atonement of Jesus the Christ. His Atonement is infinite—without an end. It was also infinite in that all humankind would be saved from never-ending death. It was infinite in terms of His immense suffering. It was infinite in time, putting an end to the preceding prototype of animal sacrifice. It was infinite in scope—it was to be done once for all. And the mercy of the Atonement extends not only to an infinite number of people, but also to an infinite number of worlds created by Him. It was infinite beyond any human scale of measurement or mortal comprehension.

Jesus was the only one who could offer such an infinite atonement, since He was born of a mortal mother and an immortal Father. Because of that unique birthright, Jesus was an infinite Being.” (See Elder Russell M. Nelson, The Atonement, General Conference, November 1996.)

What is Our Responsibility for the Atonement?

Atonement means to be “at one” and that means it brings us to a oneness with God. It does not mean, however, that accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior gives us a free pass to be as wicked as we choose to be. That wouldn’t actually make sense. The atonement came about because we are not perfect beings. It made it possible to repent, and repentance is a requirement. It is one of the things that makes the atonement infinite. We can repent as often as we need to.

(And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. (Acts 17:30-31)

If we repent once and accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, we are not then free to do anything we want to do. Jesus said that if we love Him, we must keep His commandments. Obedience to the commandments is a demonstration of the depth of our love for the Savior, if it is done for that reason. Those who obey without love receive no reward other than the natural rewards that come from doing the right thing. The eternal rewards, however, are for doing the right things for the right reasons. They don’t save us—only the atonement can do that—but they do demonstrate whether or not our declaration of faith is real and they show a commitment to become worthy of God’s presence. We will be ourselves when we die and Heaven won’t be worth much if it is filled with people who prefer sin to obedience.

The infinite atonement is one of God’s greatest gifts to mankind. Read the rest of the chapter to learn more about the relationship between the atonement and living a Christ-like life.

I joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, often inadvertently called the Mormon Church, when I was sixteen.  I had been experiencing a huge emptiness inside and was church-hopping, looking to fill it.  Although I enjoyed all the churches I visited, I had an undeniable spiritual experience the second I stepped into a Mormon meetinghouse, witnessing to me that this was the place.

Finding the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

I was attending a great high school, lived in a nice area, and wanted for nothing, except that my family was very unhappy—wretchedly so, actually.  There was no religion in our house, so I didn’t know how to turn to God for help, until I found the Mormons.

Now that I’ve been a part of The Church of Jesus Christ for many years, and have raised a happy family of my own, I sometimes wonder why I couldn’t be born into Mormonism.  Mormons believe we lived in a heavenly spirit realm with our Father in Heaven before we were born with mortal bodies.  He knew what kind of family I would be born into, and knowing what I now know, I realize He may have placed me there on purpose.  I watch children born to Mormon parents and see how they are nurtured spiritually.  They grow up learning the gospel, yes, but they also grow up knowing they have infinite worth and eternal potential.

Humble Beginnings

Sure, I did not grow up orphaned and malnourished in the wilds of Africa.  I was born after World War II, the first of the Baby Boomers.  We moved to L.A. when I was eight, and that was the center of the universe, with great schools, fine weather (OK, the smog devoured my lungs), the beach, the Beach Boys, Hollywood.  They say that if you were a white child in America during the 50’s, you got the best start of any child through all of history and in any location.  That’s what I got.

But I had a Jewish mother (although she hid her Jewishness, I should have known), and she had Narcissistic Personality Disorder.  I couldn’t do or say anything right.  Anyone close to my mother felt battered.  She was a dutiful, smart, talented person, but confiding in her was impossible.  I used to envy kids with compassionate mothers.  A Mormon mother would have been amazing.  The Mormon girls I knew loved being with their moms; they told their moms everything.

Learning to Forgive and Being Healed

My husband and I moved our family abroad after about 15 years of marriage, and we enjoyed being far away from our families.  I know that sounds strange.  We were abroad for about 14 years and didn’t visit home often.  The first time my mother met my two youngest girls, the youngest was seven, and her sister, nine.  That was OK with me.

I did my best over time to forgive and to understand.  A name for her disorder, and the descriptions that came with it, were helpful.  When I was sixty, I was healed from the effects of her mothering through the power of the priesthood of The Church of Jesus Christ.  Several spiritual experiences enabled my mother to reach me from the afterlife and convey her love.

Now that I’m OK, do I wish I had had a Mormon mom?  Yes and no.

The Blessings From Not Having Mormon Parents

Had I had Mormon parents, I would have been in the Church from the beginning, learned the gospel and the children’s songs.  (There are eight year old Mormon children with a remarkable grasp on the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.)  I would have known how to pray and enjoyed the comfort of the tender mercies of God.  I would have been viewed as something even greater than what cumulative education could make of me.  I could have made spiritual decisions as well as logical ones.  I would have had an example I could rely on in my own mothering. Perhaps I might have been praised, too.

But I have a great heritage and amazing ancestors.  My father was a rocket scientist, and I have his love for learning how the earth works, and the cosmos.   I have my mother’s artistic eye and way with words.  I have learned from my mother’s mistakes and value my marriage so highly, that I have been a “mother bear” towards protecting it.  I also have a point of view of the gospel one can only get as a convert.  I know what life without it is like.  How grateful I am for it.  These things are so valuable to me, that I now see the wisdom in placing me in the family I got.  It was the only way for me to be what I am now.

Additional Resource:

Strengthening Families

In this series, we’re finding out what the Book of Mormon teaches about Mormons and Jesus Christ. What does their book actually say they believe? Mormons (a nickname for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) use both the Bible and the Book of Mormon, as well as two other books of scripture.

The Book of Mormon has smaller books by varying ancient authors, as does the Bible. Modern editors divided the book into chapters to make it easier to reference and we’ve been spending time a bit more time in 2 Nephi chapter 2 than we will on most other chapters. It contains the dying teachings of a prophet named Lehi to his young son Jacob. This chapter is about salvation—how people are saved.

Verses 6-30 bring about an important aspect of the subject of salvation. It ties the creation, the fall of Adam, and the atonement of Jesus Christ together into a unified topic. Each portion is dependent on the other, which is why we can never read a scripture or a religious teaching out of context. To understand one aspect, you must understand many others as well.

Read 2 Nephi 2:6-30

The late Bruce R. McConkie, a former Mormon apostle, taught that these three events—the creation, the fall, and the atonement—were the three most important events in the history of the world. God created our spirits and we lived with Him as spirits before coming to earth. We were ourselves and began there to decide who we wanted to become. We had agency—the right to choose for ourselves who we wanted to be and how we wanted to live. We brought that agency into the mortal world with us and so God created the world in such a way as to make agency possible. This made the fall possible, because Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden and told not to eat of the fruit, but were told it was entirely their choice, even though God told them not to.

Read Bruce R. McConkie on the role of creation.

Mormons believe they understood the full consequences of either obedience or disobedience. If they stayed in the Garden and never ate the fruit, they would live as they were forever, but they would be unable to have children, which means none of the rest of us would have gotten here. It also meant they would not have had the full experience of a mortality that involves hard work, opposition, trials, and sadness. While this sounds wonderful in theory, it is actually very limiting. If we never have any sadness, we don’t actually know there is happiness. Lehi told his son that opposition in all things was essential.

Satan provided the opposition in the Garden. He encouraged Eve to take the fruit and eat it. Mormons believe that her decision to do so was a transgression but not a sin. In fact, unlike most faiths, they honor Eve as a woman who had immense courage and faith. She volunteered to give up an easy life for a much harder one in order to become a mother and to bring God’s full plan into play. Mormons think it was a woman who made one of the most important and valuable decisions in history. The fall, then, was a blessing and not a tragedy.

It was because of the Fall that a Savior became necessary. In order to return to God, we needed to live a sinless life. Obviously that wasn’t going to be possible. However, the plan of salvation made it possible for mercy to temper the laws of justice and so it allowed for a Savior. Only God’s son could fulfill that role. To do so He had to be willing to come to earth with a mortal mother so that He was partly divine and partly mortal. This allowed Him to be perfect and to die, but only if He chose to do so. He also had to do this voluntarily. He did all of this and it made it possible for us to live forever, overcoming the bands of death. It also made repentance possible. If we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior we can repent and be forgiven our sins. This allows us to live with God forever. However, it has to be a true conversion, one so powerful we are willing to give up our sins and live as Jesus taught us to live—and to do so out of love for Him, not just out of hope for reward. All the good works in the world can’t save a person who rejects Jesus Christ’s atonement because it is only through that atonement that salvation is possible.

The three steps of mortality come together to form a unified program Mormons call the Plan of Salvation.

Learn more about the creation:

We have been exploring a small percentage of the  teachings on Jesus Christ in the Book of Mormon. In these first articles, we have followed the family of a prophet named Lehi, born in Jerusalem, who followed God’s command to take his family to what is now known as the American continent around 600 BC.

In 2 Nephi, chapter 2, Lehi is about to die. They are living in their new home and the family is troubled. The two oldest sons, Laman and Lemuel, have gone from being rebellious teens to wicked adults, even trying to kill their younger brother Nephi. Others in the family, which includes spouses, the father of the spouses, and one person who chose to come with them, had also chosen wickedness. Some, however, were devout followers of God.

Two more children had been born into the family under challenging circumstances. As Lehi is dying, he calls each child in to speak with him. Jacob, born homeless in the wilderness and troubled by the violence in his own family, is the subject of this chapter. It contains Lehi’s final teachings to his second youngest son and discusses salvation and atonement.

In verse 4, Lehi tells Jacob, “And the way is prepared from the fall of man, and salvation is free.” This is something many people don’t think Mormons believe, so let’s look at this verse a little more. Mormons believe there are two parts to salvation: being saved from physical death and being saved from spiritual death.

Everyone dies, of course, and if Jesus Christ had not died and then risen from the death, our own deaths would be the end of everything. Because He made that amazing sacrifice for us—dying when He did not have to—we can be redeemed from dead. We can be resurrected and live forever. Everyone, even atheists, receive this part of salvation. There is no cost and there are no requirements.

In addition, we can be saved from spiritual death. This death is not automatic. It does come through the grace of Jesus Christ—we could not save ourselves from spiritual death no matter how hard we tried or how good we were. However, it is activated by our faith. We manifest that faith through our obedience to the commandments of God. I think most people would agree that if you say you have accepted Jesus Christ of your Savior, but you walk out of the church and proceed to rob a bank and to continue the sinful life you once led with no effort to improve, you probably haven’t really done so or the decision hasn’t really taken hold yet. Faith without works is dead because the greater our faith, the more we long to be like Jesus Christ and to honor His teachings. Our actions, then, are evidence of our faith if they are done for the right reasons.

Lehi explained this to his son:

And men are instructed sufficiently that they know good from evil. And the law is given unto men. And by the law no flesh is justified; or, by the law men are cut off. Yea, by the temporal law they were cut off; and also, by the spiritual law they perish from that which is good, and become miserable forever.

Wherefore, redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah; for he is full of grace and truth. Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered.

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.” (See 2 Nephi 2:5-8.)

It is our responsibility, then, to keep the commandments as a way of demonstrating our love and faith. However, since we are imperfect, we are sometimes going to make mistakes. The atonement of Jesus Christ also makes it possible to repent. Without the atonement, repentance would have no impact on us. The atonement had to be carried out by someone who was perfect and who was doing so voluntarily. Only Jesus Christ could meet the criteria and so our eternal lives were dependent on His willingness to sacrifice on our behalf.

Throughout the Book of Mormon, you will find repeated references to the atonement of Jesus Christ as the means through which we are saved. Salvation, however, is not a free pass to sin as much as we’d like without consequence. Everything God does is designed to bring us closer to a Christ-like existence and that means we need to honor the commandment Christ taught—or else there was no reason to teach them. Christians have an eternal motivation to become more like the Savior in order to be worthy to be found in His presence someday.

Mormon women tend to spend a lot of time thinking about motherhood, not just on Mother’s Day, but always. It is considered an essential part of our identity, whether or not we have children. Mormons (a nickname for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) believe that family life can last forever. In addition to that, Mormons believe we lived before this life as well, as spirits with God. These two pieces of information give motherhood a very powerful meaning that reaches further than it does for many people.

Mormons believe women, as a gender, were assigned to the role of motherhood before their births, when they still lived with God. This role is considered the most sacred one God can offer His children because He is entrusting His littlest ones to the mothers of the world.

Motherhood isn’t, as former Mormon leader Sheri L. Dew, who has not had the opportunity to marry or have children in this life, taught, just about childbirth:

When we understand the magnitude of motherhood, it becomes clear why prophets have been so protective of woman’s most sacred role. While we tend to equate motherhood solely with maternity, in the Lord’s language, the word mother has layers of meaning. Of all the words they could have chosen to define her role and her essence, both God the Father and Adam called Eve “the mother of all living”  —and they did so before she ever bore a child. Like Eve, our motherhood began before we were born. Just as worthy men were foreordained to hold the priesthood in mortality, righteous women were endowed premortally with the privilege of motherhood. Motherhood is more than bearing children, though it is certainly that. It is the essence of who we are as women. It defines our very identity, our divine stature and nature, and the unique traits our Father gave us (Sheri Dew, Are We Not All Mothers?, Ensign, October 2001).

Mormons believe all worthy women will have the opportunity to become a mother, either here or in Heaven. In the meantime, before those children come to us, we have a responsibility to all children, not just our own. In fact, even adults often find themselves needing mothering.

Mothers are, then, all women of all religions. There are children all over the world who need worthy examples, a loving teacher or friend, or an available relative.

For those Mormon women currently serving as mothers, however, there are special responsibilities for the parenting years. They have had a child of God placed in their care and they are expected to live up to such a great opportunity. Mothering is more than changing diapers or dispensing meals. It is more than cleaning up toys and mastering bedtimes. While it can seem that is mostly what there is to parenting some days, there is so much more.

With all my children grown up now I can look back on those times with some objectivity because I know how things turned out. People used to tell me to appreciate this time when the children were little because it wouldn’t last long. I’m not sure I believed them. It seemed to go on and on, particularly when the nights involved very little sleep. But those people were right. It seems short now, and none of the things I wished I had time for seem as important as the family time.

For a Mormon mom, eternity is never far from her mind. When she plans her parenting day, she has to think not just about getting through today, but about building for eternity. What can she teach her child, model for him, or do with him that will help him become more Christ-like and better prepared for eternity? Education, social skills, spiritual testimony…all these matter. How can she help him love his family more and to know he is loved? Is she making her family worthy of eternity?

No mother is perfect. It can be easy to look at the perfect family sitting in church with spotlessly dressed children in beautiful homemade clothes, perfectly behaved, and knowing all the answers in class and feel inferior. A Mormon mother knows, or is often reminded, that everyone has trials, even that seemingly perfect family. No mom gets through parenthood without some mistakes, both small and large. No one always gets it right.

A friend of mine says when she finds herself focused on past mistakes she reminds herself she did the best she could with what she knew at the time. Mostly, that’s what we all do. We do our best and hope for the best. There are no guarantees. As we read the scriptures, we see how many great parents had problem children because there are many influences in the world, not just ours. Satan wants our children and sometimes he wins…at least for a little while. Then we turn to a higher power for help getting our children back.

We have God on our side and a Mormon mom knows that with God on her side, she can never give up. She may not be perfect, but God knows she can be good enough—so she keeps moving through eternity with a prayer in her heart and faith in God.

Happy Mother’s Day—whether or not you are at this very moment a mother. Mother’s Day is really a day to celebrate the sacred natures of womanhood and that makes it a day to honor all women.

In this series of articles, we’re exploring the role of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Book of Mormon. This series will address only a very small percentage of the mentions of Christ. In Chapter 11 of 1 Nephi in the Book of Mormon, a teenager named Nephi wanted to understand the vision his father, the prophet, had seen. He went to God in prayer, as we can all do, to receive his own testimony of the vision, even though he believed his father.

Nephi reveals that he was “caught away in the Spirit of the Lord, yea, into an exceedingly high mountain,” a common way of describing visions in the Bible. The Spirit praised him for believing his father, the prophet, and for believing in Jesus Christ, who had not yet been born. He was told that after he was shown his father’s vision, he would then see a vision of Jesus Christ and he was to testify of Jesus from then on.

Condescension of Christ

When the vision of the Lord Jesus Christ began, he saw Mary in Nazareth. An angel came to Nephi and asked him if he understood the term “the condescension of God.” He said he knew God loved his children, but he didn’t know everything.

A Mormon leader (Mormon is a nickname for people who belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) explained the term this way:

Here was Jesus—a member of the Godhead, the Firstborn of the Father, the Creator, Jehovah of the Old Testament—now leaving His divine and holy station; divesting Himself of all that glory and majesty and entering the body of a tiny infant; helpless, completely dependent on His mother and earthly father. That He should not come to the finest of earthly palaces and be … showered with jewels but should come to a lowly stable is astonishing. Little wonder that the angel should say to Nephi, ‘Behold the condescension of God!’” (Jesus Christ, Key to the Plan of Salvation [1991], 16).

Nephi saw that she was carried away by the Spirit for a time and then held a baby in her arms. The angel explained that this was Jesus Christ as an infant. The angel helped him make the connection between this scene and the tree his father had seen. The tree represented the love of God, and for God to send His only begotten Son to earth was proof of His great love for us.

Nephi watched as the now grown Jesus Christ began His ministry among the people. He saw John the Baptist baptizing Jesus and Jesus beginning to preach the gospel. Nephi saw that many bowed down and worshipped Jesus, but others cast Him away. He witnessed the twelve apostles. He also saw the many miracles and ministrations of the Savior.

Now Nephi witnessed the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ at the hands of those He had come to save. This was followed by the many attacks on the apostles.

Reaction of the World to Christ

Again, the angel tied this to Nephi’s father’s vision. In that vision there had been a great and spacious building where the popular and sophisticated gathered to mock those who worshipped God. It represented the pride of the world and the angel prophesied that it would fall in time.

In the next chapter, we learn that Nephi saw that Christ would not come only to the people of the Holy Land. He is the God of all people and a short time after His death and resurrection, He would also appear to Nephi’s descendants on the American continent, although Nephi did not yet know that was where he would someday live. Jesus would come to them for just a few days, to preach the gospel, perform miracles, and organize His church. This message helps the world to know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world—all the world that accepts Him.

Nephi’s understanding of the doctrine of Christ is made clear in the Atonement-centered words he chose as he taught his family. Jesus would be “the Lamb of God,” who would “take away the sins of the world” (1 Ne. 10:10). The term lamb puts the Savior’s ministry in the contexts of His atoning sacrifice and the law of Moses, with which Lehi’s family was familiar. Christ would take away our sins as a sacrificial offering in our behalf. Between 1 Nephi 10:10 [1 Ne. 10:10; 1 Ne. 14:27] and 14:27, Nephi uses the term lamb 57 times with reference to Jesus” (Kent P. Jackson, One Family’s Testimony of Christ, Ensign, February 2000).

 

In this series, we are exploring some of the references to the Lord Jesus Christ in the Book of Mormon. It would be impossible to discuss all of them, since the Savior is mentioned an average of every 1.7 verses. 1 Nephi, the book we are discussing first, has 474 references alone. The Book of Mormon, like the Bible, is a collection of smaller books, with 1 Nephi being the first one we currently have.

In a previous article from this series, we discussed a vision Lehi, a prophet, had about various reactions people have upon learning about Jesus Christ. In this article, we will discuss another portion of this vision, concerning the birth and ministry of the Savior. His son, Nephi, also received a vision on this after asking in prayer about the meaning of his father’s vision.

In 1 Nephi 10 we learn that Lehi knew not just that the Savior would be born, but even when it would happen and why He would come:

Yea, even six hundred years from the time that my father left Jerusalem, a prophet would the Lord God raise up among the Jews—even a Messiah, or, in other words, a Savior of the world.

And he also spake concerning the prophets, how great a number had testified of these things, concerning this Messiah, of whom he had spoken, or this Redeemer of the world.

Wherefore, all mankind were in a lost and in a fallen state, and ever would be save they should rely on this Redeemer. (1 Nephi 10:4-6)

These verses emphasize the Mormon view of Jesus Christ: He is the Savior of the world. He is the same Savior the prophets have testified throughout Biblical history. He is the Redeemer of the World. The world would remain in a lost and fallen state unless they relied on Him. This demonstrates that Mormons do indeed believe in the atonement of Jesus Christ and that no one can be saved without this atonement. As we’ll see in this series, the Book of Mormon is adamant that salvation comes only through Jesus Christ.

He then prophesied that John the Baptist would come first to prophesy of the Savior and to baptize. He would even baptize Jesus Christ and would then testify that he had “had baptized the Lamb of God, who should take away the sins of the world (verse 10). Note that this verse includes another reference to the atonement.

The following verses tell of Jewish lack of acceptance of Jesus Christ and their eventual role in the crucifixion. Of course, nearly everyone, including Jesus, was Jewish, so this refers only to those who did reject him. In later Book of Mormon scriptures, there are strong warnings to those who try to persecute the Jews for the death of Jesus Christ. The people of the Book of Mormon were themselves Jews, but the Book of Mormon, while written by them, was written for our day.

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. But behold, I will return all these things upon your own heads; for I the Lord have not forgotten my people” (2 Nephi 29:4-5).

Yea, and ye need not any longer hiss, nor spurn, nor make game of the Jews, nor of any remnant of the house of Israel; for behold, the Lord remembereth his covenant unto them, and he will do unto them according to that which he hath sworn” (3 Nephi 29:8).

After Nephi heard the teachings of his father, he wanted to understand them and to have a testimony of them. Mormons teach that it isn’t enough to believe the words of another human being, although this is the starting point of a testimony. We also need to gain our own testimonies of Jesus Christ and the gospel by taking our questions to God in prayer. This is what Nephi would do and we’ll learn the results of this prayer in the next article in this series. It will contain a powerful prophecy of the life and mission of Jesus Christ.

In the previous article in this series, we met Nephi, a teenager whose father, Lehi, was a prophet in Jerusalem just before the fall of the city. The Book of Mormon tells us that Lehi’s life was in danger because of his prophecies, so God instructed him to take his family and flee the city, leaving everything behind but the absolute necessities for travel.

They traveled for about two weeks to the shores of the Red Sea and about three days beyond that. On their arrival in a place they called the Valley of Lemuel, they built an alter and thanked the Lord for their blessings.

The two oldest sons lacked faith and they chose to deal with their lack of faith by complaining about having to leave their wealth and home. Nephi, the fourth son, took his sadness to the Lord and came away with a testimony that this really was God’s will. He discussed his experience to his brother Sam:

“…behold, I did cry unto the Lord and he did visit me, and did soften my heart that I did believe…” (1 Nephi 2:16).

Sam believed Nephi’s testimony and the two of them supported their parents.

When Nephi returned to his father’s tent after speaking to the Lord, he learned that his father Lehi had experienced a dream, which God often used as a means of communication. In this dream, the Lord told Lehi to send the four boys back to Jerusalem to obtain some important records. These records contained the scriptures available at the time, a record of the Jews, and the family’s genealogy. Because they were going to leave the continent—although they didn’t know this yet—the records would be important if their descendants were to have the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Attitude Toward Trials

Naturally, Laman and Lemuel, the two older sons, whined about this. It was their standard response to everything. Sam appears to have just quietly packed his bags and gotten ready to go. Nephi, however, explained his feelings on the request in eloquent words that Mormons find helpful to recite when the Lord asks hard things of us:

I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them. (1 Nephi 3:7)

Sometimes when we pray, the answers catch us off-guard. We think we know exactly how life ought to progress and all we’re looking for is for God to say, “Oh, you’re so smart. Yes, do it exactly that way.” Instead, He often sends us off in directions that make no sense at all. The “perfect” job goes to someone else while we either don’t get one for a really long time or get one that we have no experience in. We find ourselves having to move to a place we vowed we’d never live. God gives us a task that is too hard, too far outside our comfort zone, and too complex—or that just doesn’t make any sense.

When God’s Requests Don’t Make Sense

Nephi’s brothers probably thought it made no sense to go all the way back for a book. Why didn’t they just bring it to start with? Who needs books anyway, they might have wondered. God didn’t explain why. He merely told them to go do it. Nephi understood that although he didn’t know why, it didn’t matter. He also knew that even though it seemed like an impossible task—the book belonged to a relative who was very mean and greedy—God would make it possible. If it weren’t possible and there was no other reason to go back, then God wouldn’t have sent them. He headed out with nothing but his faith as a plan.

Things didn’t go easily and Laban, the man who owned the book, tried to kill them over it. The others wanted to give up, but Nephi held on to his testimony that if God asks you to do something he will help you do it. He continued to believe that God wouldn’t ask if it weren’t important. He went alone and got the book through a series of events that required God’s timing and that probably explained, aside from it being a lesson of faith, why they needed to go back.

“When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power” (Elder Donald L. Staheli, Obedience–Life’s Great Challenge, Ensign, May 1998, 82).

You might be interested to know that they were later sent back one more time, this time to obtain wives. Somehow, Laman and Lemuel didn’t find a need to complain about that journey at all. This one time, their desires lined up with God’s. For Nephi, though, lining up his will with God’s was a permanent way of life, not just one he practiced when he easily saw the benefits.

Read about Nephi’s journey to get the scriptures.

Mormons like to say that when Jeffrey R. Holland gets up to speak, Satan panics. His talks appeal to both Mormons and non-Mormons and one group of evangelical religion students, shown a video of one of his speeches, admitted it could have been given by one of their own leaders. Such a talk was given by Elder Holland in the Mormon General Conference in April 2013. Elder Holland is an apostle, in the same tradition as the Biblical apostles.

In his talk, which set the social media world buzzing, Jeffrey R. Holland’s talk was entitled “Lord, I believe.” He took as his text the New Testament story told in Mark 9. Jesus found his apostles arguing with a man. He asked what was wrong and learned the man had requested a blessing of healing for his seriously disabled son but had not received it. He pleaded with Jesus to help him. Jesus told him that all things were possible through faith. The father, tears in his eyes, cried out, “Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.”

He then helps us understand the lesson of this unusual statement. The use of the plural in his request for help tells us the entire family is suffering and so the Savior would be helping more than just the boy. However, this father does not have perfect faith. Does that matter? Jesus taught the father that it did not. Furthermore, the father did something very important. He began by stating his faith. Only then did he admit it was less than perfect. The faith we do have is more important than the portion we lack.

Jesus was able to heal the father based on the imperfect faith of the father. I promised a series of articles on Jesus in the Book of Mormon, and while most of Elder Holland’s talk quotes Bible verses, there is one portion of the Book of Mormon he quotes here and it’s important. There is a famous (to Mormons) sermon by an ancient prophet named Alma on faith. He explains that you need no more than a desire for faith in order to start building faith. This means that a person who is an atheist, but wishes he had faith, could begin the process and have God’s help. If he wishes or longs for faith, he can begin to nourish that longing by beginning to pray (even if he isn’t sure anyone is listening), studying God’s teachings, and trying to live a Christian lifestyle. Then he can monitor the impact those things have on his life and his heart. When he begins to realize these things are making his life better, the first faith begins to develop.

Elder Holland offers several lessons to be pulled from the story of Jesus’ rescue of this child. The first, mentioned above, is that we focus first on the faith we do have and not on how small or new it might be. “The size of your faith or the degree of your knowledge is not the issue—it is the integrity you demonstrate toward the faith you do have and the truth you already know.”

His second point is that focusing primarily on what the limitations of your faith is like “trying to stuff a turkey through the beak”. Elder Holland explained that it is okay to have questions and doubts, but that we must not let those questions and doubts interfere with faith’s ability to lead to miracles. Start from a position of faith and then go to God (not man) with the questions.

Many listeners have shared his comment on accepting the imperfections of our faith and of our practices:

So be kind regarding human frailty—your own as well as that of those who serve with you in a Church led by volunteer, mortal men and women. Except in the case of His only perfect Begotten Son, imperfect people are all God has ever had to work with. That must be terribly frustrating to Him, but He deals with it. So should we. And when you see imperfection, remember that the limitation is not in the divinity of the work. As one gifted writer has suggested, when the infinite fulness is poured forth, it is not the oil’s fault if there is some loss because finite vessels can’t quite contain it all. Those finite vessels include you and me, so be patient and kind and forgiving.

The final point is that it is okay to ask for help. The father in the Biblical story did just that. He asked Jesus to help him with the weaknesses still existing in his less than perfect faith. When there is an aspect of God’s doctrine we don’t understand or feel uncomfortable with, we need only pray and ask Him to help us understand it. We don’t have to trust the words of men, although listening to the teachings of our leaders is important. In the end, though, those words should lead us to ask God for a testimony of them.

Read “Lord, I Believe” or watch the video below.