Thursday, September 19, 2019

Mosiah 16:1-10


Chapter 16

God redeems men from their lost and fallen state—Those who are carnal remain as though there was no redemption—Christ brings to pass a resurrection to endless life or to endless damnation. About 148 B.C.

1 AND now, it came to pass that after Abinadi had spoken these words he stretched forth his hand and said: The time shall come when all shall see the salvation of the Lord; when every nation, kindred, tongue, and people shall see eye to eye and shall confess before God that his judgments are just.
2 And then shall the wicked be cast out, and they shall have cause to howl, and weep, and wail, and gnash their teeth; and this because they would not hearken unto the voice of the Lord; therefore the Lord redeemeth them not
3 For they are carnal and devilish, and the devil has power over them; yea, even that old serpent that did beguile our first parents, which was the cause of their fall; which was the cause of all mankind becoming carnal, sensual, devilish, knowing evil from good, subjecting themselves to the devil.
4 Thus all mankind were lost; and behold, they would have been endlessly lost were it not that God redeemed his people from their lost and fallen state.
5 But remember that he that persists in his own carnal nature, and goes on in the ways of sin and rebellion against God, remaineth in his fallen state and the devil hath all power over him.  Therefore, he is as though there was no redemption made, being an enemy to God; and also is the devil an enemy to God.
6 And now if Christ had not come into the world, speaking of things to come as though they had already come, there could have been no redemption.
7 And if Christ had not risen from the dead, or have broken the bands of death that the grave should have no victory, and that death should have no sting, there could have been no resurrection.
8 But there is a resurrection, therefore the grave hath no victory, and the sting of death is swallowed up in Christ.
9 He is the light and the life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened; yea, and also a life which is endless, that there can be no more death.
10 Even this mortal shall put on immortality, and this corruption shall put on incorruption, and shall be brought to stand before the bar of God, to be judged of him according to their works whether they be good or whether they be evil—
Mosiah 16:1-10

Continuing, Abinadi proclaimed the day will come when all the world will see and understand that salvation comes through Christ.

“And moreover, I say unto you, that the time shall come when the knowledge of a Savior shall spread throughout every nation, kindred, tongue, and people.
“And behold, when that time cometh, none shall be found blameless before God, except it be little children, only through repentance and faith on the name of the Lord God Omnipotent” (Mosiah 3:20-21).

The day will come when all the world will confess His judgments are just.  Alma2 proclaimed the same principle after awakening from blackout.  “Yea, every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess before him.  Yea, even at the last day, when all men shall stand to be judged of him, then shall they confess that he is God; then shall they confess, who live without God in the world, that the judgment of an everlasting punishment is just upon them; and they shall quake, and tremble, and shrink beneath the glance of his all–searching eye” (Mosiah 27:31).  The Lord revealed to Joseph Smith, “And this shall be the sound of his trump, saying to all people, both in heaven and in earth, and that are under the earth—for every ear shall hear it, and every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess, while they hear the sound of the trump, saying: Fear God, and give glory to him who sitteth upon the throne, forever and ever; for the hour of his judgment is come” (D&C 88:104).

At that time, the wicked will be cast out.  He Lord said:

“Yea, verily, to seal them up unto the day when the wrath of God shall be poured out upon the wicked without measure—
“Unto the day when the Lord shall come to recompense unto every man according to his work, and measure to every man according to the measure which he has measured to his fellow man” (D&C 1:9-10).

There will be the weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth among the wicked. What is meant by the gnashing of teeth? It is a figurative term for a “show of anger or dismay; angry complaining.” [1]

“The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
“And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 13:41-42).

This is all brought upon themselves because they refused to accept the word of the Lord.

The wicked become carnal and devilish.  They allow the devil to have power over them.  “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 and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father” (Mosiah 3:19).

The “old serpent” that caused Adam and Eve to fall now has power over them.  They are subjecting themselves to the devil.

“Therefore, if a man bringeth forth good works he hearkeneth unto the voice of the good shepherd, and he doth follow him; but whosoever bringeth forth evil works, the same becometh a child of the devil, for he hearkeneth unto his voice, and doth follow him.
“And whosoever doeth this must receive his wages of him; therefore, for his wages he receiveth death, as to things pertaining unto righteousness, being dead unto all good works” (Alma 5:41-42).

“The fall … resulted in the conditions of mortality that predispose a person to sin, that is, to being a fallen, ‘natural man,’ since "the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be forever unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit (Mosiah 3:19; cf. Mosiah 16:3).”[2]

 Thus all mankind were alost; and behold, they would have been endlessly lost were it not that God redeemed his people from their lost and fallen state.

“And now, my brethren, behold I say unto you, that if ye will harden your hearts ye shall not enter into the rest of the Lord; therefore your iniquity provoketh him that he sendeth down his wrath upon you as in the first provocation, yea, according to his word in the last provocation as well as the first, to the everlasting destruction of your souls; therefore, according to his word, unto the last death, as well as the first” (Alma 12:36).

Because of the fall of Adam, we are all subject to the devil and will not be able to receive salvation.  Alma2 told Zeezrom, “And now, my brethren, behold I say unto you, that if ye will harden your hearts ye shall not enter into the rest of the Lord; therefore your iniquity provoketh him that he sendeth down his wrath upon you as in the first provocation, yea, according to his word in the last provocation as well as the first, to the everlasting destruction of your souls; therefore, according to his word, unto the last death, as well as the first” (Alma 12:36). He told Corianton, “But behold, it was appointed unto man to die—therefore, as they were cut off from the tree of life they should be cut off from the face of the earth—and man became lost forever, yea, they became fallen man” (Alma 42:6).

Were it not for Christ, we would not have been redeemed from our fallen state.

According to Abinadi, the fall of Adam and Eve "was the cause of all mankind becoming carnal, sensual, devilish, knowing evil from good, subjecting themselves to the devil" (Mosiah 16:3–4). From this passage, we learn several things: (1) all men are carnal in their nature; (2) the cause of all men being carnal in their nature is directly traceable to the fall of Adam and Eve; and, (3) all men are not only carnal, but sensual, devilish and they all subject themselves to the devil. This "subjecting themselves to the devil" that "all mankind" does is synonymous with sin.3 As King Benjamin put it, "For the natural [carnal] man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam" (Mosiah 3:19). It would be hard to put it any more forcefully than that. Nephi comes close when he says, "Wherefore, all mankind were in a lost and fallen state" (1 Nephi 10:6).[3]

“[D]eath is swallowed up in Christ.”  Isaiah prophesied, “He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke [OR reproach of his people] of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it” (Isaiah 25:8).  Paul wrote, “So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting?  O grave [GR Hades, hell], where is thy victory?” (Corinthians 15:54-55).

Christ is the light of the world.  “Behold, I am he who was prepared from the foundation of the world to redeem my people.  Behold, I am Jesus Christ.  I am the Father and the Son.  In me shall all mankind have life, and that eternally, even they who shall believe on my name; and they shall become my sons and my daughters” (Ether 3:14).  Mormon wrote to Moroni, “And now, my brethren, seeing that ye know the light by which ye may judge, which light is the light of Christ, see that ye do not judge wrongfully; for with that same judgment which ye judge ye shall also be judged” (Moroni 7:18).

With Christ, there will be no more death.

Mortal will put on immortality; corruption will put on incorruption.  “Behold, I say unto you, that there is no resurrection—or, I would say, in other words, that this mortal does not put on immortality, this corruption does not put on incorruption—until after the coming of Christ” (Alma 40:2).

We will all stand before the judgment bar of God and be judged according to our lives, be they good or evil.

“Final judgment occurs after the resurrection (see Mosiah 16:10–11). However, it is implicit in Abinadi's teaching that there must be some judgment prior to the resurrection. This is apparent from Abinadi's description of two temporally separated resurrections. Obviously, at the time of the first resurrection there must be a separation of mankind into two groups: those who are able to participate in the first resurrection and those who are not. This must, of necessity, occur before resurrection and final judgment. The division of the inhabitants of the spirit world into paradise and hell or outer darkness, described previously, also supports the concept of some judgment prior to resurrection and final judgment.”[4]


[1] The Free Dictionary, Entry – “gnashing of teeth.”
[2] Adam's Fall in the Book of Mormon, Second Temple Judaism, and Early Christianity, Stephen D. Ricks, Maxwell Institute.
[3] Cry Redemption: The Plan of Redemption as Taught in the Book of Mormon, Corbin T. Volluz, Maxwell Institute. 
[4] The Way of Life and the Way of Death in the Book of Mormon, Mack C. Stirling, Maxwell Institute.

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