2 Nephi 31:13-14

13 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I know that if ye shall follow the Son, with full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real intent, repenting of your sins, witnessing unto the Father that ye are willing to take upon you the name of Christ, by baptism—yea, by following your Lord and your Savior down into the water, according to his word, behold, then shall ye receive the Holy Ghost; yea, then cometh the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost; and then can ye speak with the tongue of angels, and shout praises unto the Holy One of Israel.

14 But, behold, my beloved brethren, thus came the voice of the Son unto me, saying: After ye have repented of your sins, and witnessed unto the Father that ye are willing to keep my commandments, by the baptism of water, and have received the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost, and can speak with a new tongue, yea, even with the tongue of angels, and after this should deny me, it would have been better for you that ye had not known me.

 2 Nephi 31:13-14

What do we do if we desire to follow Christ?  Nephi gives us direction.

To follow Christ, we must follow him “with full purpose of heart” (2 Nephi 31:13).  We can have no hypocrisy nor can we deceive God.  We must have “real intent to take upon you the name of Christ, by baptism” (2 Nephi 31:13).  Paul wrote to the Galatians and told them, “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.  For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:26-27).

After we receive baptism, we are given the gift of the Holy Ghost.  This will bring forth a baptism of fire that will allow us to speak “the tongues of angels” (2 Nephi 31:13).

Noel Reynolds has written and commented on this verse.

And so again we have the pattern. First, we have the pattern in the vision. We see Jesus himself setting the pattern—humbling himself, being baptized, and receiving the Holy Ghost—and then we see the Father and Jesus repeating the pattern to Nephi, who hears their voices. Nephi concludes, or sums this up, by saying: "Wherefore, my believed brethren, I know that if ye shall follow the Son [and now he puts some extra wording in', with full purpose of hearth, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real intent, repenting of your sins?" (2 Nephi 31:13).[1]

When men love their evil ways, it is not easy to turn away to a path of obedience to the Lord. Nephi reports the instructions of the Father and the Son through which he learned that this turning to follow the Son could not be accomplished unless one acts "with full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real intent, repenting of your sins" (2 Nephi 31:13).[2] 

While Nephi’s writing, the voice of Christ came to him.  He tells Nephi that, “After ye have repented of your sins, and witnessed unto the Father that ye are willing to keep my commandments, by the baptism of water, and have received the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost … after this should deny me, it would have been better for you that ye had not known me” (2 Nephi 31:14). 

This concept of the unpardonable sin was mentioned by Christ during his earthly ministry.  “Whosoever therefore shall confess me [GR solemnly covenant with, promise me] before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32-33).

Paul wrote to Timothy:  “If we suffer [GR endure, remain constant], we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us” (2 Timothy 2:12). 

Hebrews tells us, “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame” (Hebrews 6:4-6).

Peter also wrote, “For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them” (2 Peter 2:21).

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[1] Nephi's Teachings (part 2), Noel Reynolds, Maxwell Institute, accessed January 26, 2014.

[2] The True Points of My Doctrine, Noel B. Reynolds, Maxwell Institute, accessed January 26, 2014.