After establishing that we are here on Earth to act or be
acted upon, he teaches Jacob we are all free in this life. Samuel, the Lamanite taught:
“And this to the intent that whosoever will believe might be
saved, and that whosoever will not believe, a righteous judgment might come
upon them; and also if they are condemned they bring upon themselves their own
condemnation.
“And now remember, remember, my brethren, that whosoever
perisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto
himself; for behold, ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for
behold, God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free” (Helaman
14:29-30).
What the Lord does, is done for us. Nephi wrote, “He doeth not anything save it
be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world, even that he layeth
down his own life that he may draw all men unto him. Wherefore, he commandeth none that they shall
not partake of his salvation” 2 Nephi 26:24.
Ammon would proclaim, “Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of
every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and
his bowels of mercy are over all the earth.
Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give
thanks unto my God forever. Amen.” (Alma
26:37). Finally, Alma2 would
teach, “For behold, the Lord doth grant unto all nations, of their own nation
and tongue, to teach his word, yea, in wisdom, all that he seeth fit that they
should have; therefore we see that the Lord doth counsel in wisdom, according
to that which is just and true” (Alma 29:8).
Mack Stirling writes:
“The concept of a way leading to spiritual life in
opposition to a way leading to spiritual death pervades the Book of Mormon.
Near the end of his great discourse on opposition in all things, Lehi declares
that ‘men are free according to the flesh; . . . And they are free to choose
liberty and eternal life through the great Mediator of all men or to choose
captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil’ (2
Nephi 2:27). Likewise, Lehi's son Jacob challenges us to ‘remember that ye are
free to act for yourselves—to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of
eternal life’ (2 Nephi 10:23). Ultimately, all men who hear the word of God
will choose one of these two mutually exclusive possibilities, spiritual life
or spiritual death. No other option exists…
“[T]hose who have the option to repent, but who do not,
suffer the never-ending torment of the second death (hell). To assume that only
those who commit the unpardonable sin of denying the Holy Ghost suffer the
awful state of the second death is to ignore the repeated warnings of the Book
of Mormon prophets to those for whom repentance is an option but who choose to
remain in their sins. The great division in mankind described by the Book of
Mormon is between those who hearken to the voice of God and those who do not,
not between those who commit the unpardonable sin and everyone else.”[1]
Christ is our Mediator.
We must listen to his commandments, be faithful, and choose eternal
life. Hugh Nibley writes:
“So we also have our part in achieving in the Atonement. How
is it all done? The explanation of the Predestinationists, Neoplatonists, and
Moslems is simply that God does it all because he can, which leaves us
completely irresponsible nonentities. That is not what we want. We want to be
one with the Father, which obviously is completely beyond our present capacity;
it is only the Son who can help us: then ‘look to the great Mediator, and
hearken unto his great commandments’ (2 Nephi 2:28). He will tell us just what
to do, for he is anxious to help us. ‘Be faithful unto his words, and choose
eternal life, according to the will of his Holy Spirit’ (2 Nephi 2:28).”[2]
As we have seen, choice is an essential part of the plan of
salvation. We can choose to follow God’s
commandments and obtain eternal life.
The alternative is choosing the way of the devil. His goal is “to bring you down to hell, that
he may reign over you in his own kingdom” (2 Nephi 2:29). Paul wrote the Romans:
“For in so doing sin shall not have dominion over you;
for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
“What then? shall we
sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? [May it not be!]
“Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to
obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of
obedience unto righteousness?
“But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but
ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
“Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of
righteousness” (JST Romans 6:14–18).
During his great vision, the angel told Nephi, “For the time
cometh, saith the Lamb of God, that I will work a great and a marvelous work
among the children of men; a work which shall be everlasting, either on the one
hand or on the other—either to the convincing of them unto peace and life
eternal, or unto the deliverance of them to the hardness of their hearts and
the blindness of their minds unto their being brought down into captivity, and
also into destruction, both temporally and spiritually, according to the
captivity of the devil, of which I have spoken.” (1 Nephi 14:7).
When confronting Zeezrom, Alma2 explained:
“It is given unto many to know the mysteries of God;
nevertheless they are laid under a strict command that they shall not impart
only according to the portion of his word which he doth grant unto the children
of men, according to the heed and diligence which they give unto him.
“And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same
receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his
heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto
him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full.
“And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given
the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his
mysteries; and then they are taken captive by the devil, and led by his will
down to destruction. Now this is what is
meant by the chains of hell” (Alma 12:9-11).
Bruce Satterfield explains these teachings in the Book of
Mormon.
“The Book of Mormon teaches that on the one hand the Spirit
of Christ is the agent that entices men and women to do good (Moroni 7:16–17).
On the other hand, it is the ‘the will of the flesh and the evil which is
therein, which giveth the spirit of the devil power to captivate’ that entices
men and women to do evil (2 Nephi 2:29). Without the Spirit of Christ there
would be no opposing enticements and, therefore, no agency. With evil as the
only enticement, man would forever become evil with no hope of change.”[3]
[1] The Way of Life and the Way of Death in the
Book of Mormon, Mack C. Stirling, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute.
[3] The Divine Justification for the Babylonian
Destruction of Jerusalem,
Bruce Satterfield, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute.
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