22 Wherefore, these things shall go from generation to
generation as long as the earth shall stand; and they shall go according to the
will and pleasure of God; and the nations who shall possess them shall be
judged of them according to the words which are written.
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.
24 And, notwithstanding we believe in Christ, we keep the
law of Moses, and look forward with steadfastness unto Christ, until the law
shall be fulfilled.
25 For, for this end was the law given; wherefore the law
hath become dead unto us, and we are made alive in Christ because of our faith;
yet we keep the law because of the commandments.
Discussing his record, Nephi makes clear his record will be passed “from generation to generation as long as earth shall stand” (2 Nephi 25:22). They will go forth to the entire world. And, those that possess these records will be judged according to the words in the records.
Nephi wrote the words of the Lord. “For I command all men, both in the east and
in the west, and in the north, and in the south, and in the islands of the sea,
that they shall write the words which I speak unto them; for out of the books
which shall be written I will judge the world, every man according to their
works, according to that which is written.”
(2 Nephi 29:11).
During his ministry in the Americas, the Savior told the
Nephites:
“Write the things which ye have seen and heard, save it be
those which are forbidden.
“Write the works of this people, which shall be, even as
hath been written, of that which hath been.
“For behold, out of the books which have been written, and
which shall be written, shall this people be judged, for by them shall their
works be known unto men.
“And behold, all things are written by the Father; therefore
out of the books which shall be written shall the world be judged.
“And know ye that ye shall be judges of this people,
according to the judgment which I shall give unto you, which shall be
just. Therefore, what manner of men
ought ye to be? “Verily I say unto you,
even as I am” (3 Nephi 27:23-27).
Elder Neal Maxwell sums up the future of the Book of Mormon.
“We know the book's influence will continue to grow. ‘Wherefore,
these things shall go from generation to generation as long as the earth shall
stand; and they shall go according to the will and pleasure of God; and the
nations who shall possess them shall be judged of them according to the words
which are written’ (2 Nephi 25:22). Among other words foretelling the book's
growing influence are these: ‘The day cometh that the words of the book which
were sealed shall be read upon the house tops’ (2 Nephi 27:11). Hence the Book
of Mormon's best days still lie ahead!”[1]
The believers, Nephi tells us, do all they can to convince
children and brethren to believe in Christ.
Why? “[F]or we know that it is by
grace that we are saved, after all we do” (2 Nephi 25:23).
What is meant by this statement? In Romans, Paul wrote:
“Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be
justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
“But now the righteousness of God without the law is
manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
“Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus
Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
“Therefore being justified only by his grace through
the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (JST Romans 3:20-24).
What is mean by the law in these scriptures? The law referred to is the Law of Moses. It will not save us. Only the atonement of Christ and His grace
will save us.
Alma2 told Corianton:
And now, there was no means to reclaim men from this fallen
state, which man had brought upon himself because of his own disobedience;
Therefore, according to justice, the plan of redemption
could not be brought about, only on conditions of repentance of men in this
probationary state, yea, this preparatory state; for except it were for these
conditions, mercy could not take effect except it should destroy the work of
justice. Now the work of justice could
not be destroyed; if so, God would cease to be God.
And thus we see that all mankind were fallen, and they were
in the grasp of justice; yea, the justice of God, which consigned them forever
to be cut off from his presence.
Alma 42:12-14
We fell because of disobedience. We could be saved only through the plan of
redemption. Without it, justice would
have laid claim to our souls. Through
Christ’s grace, the plan of redemption became a reality.
Noel Reynolds writes:
Nephi had two principal purposes for this record, and he
points them out to us. Let's look at 2 Nephi 25:23 first, because
this is his principal purpose: "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." So his first and principal purpose is to persuade his
descendants to believe in Christ. Why? Because man can only be saved through
the grace of Christ. He says, "It is by grace that we are saved, after all
that we can do."[2]
Nephi tell us all our works cannot save us. We cannot do enough to be saved. Everything we do falls short. What ultimately saves us is the grace of
Christ.
Without grace no one except Christ would be saved. But it is
also essential that each of `us do all that is within our power to live fully
the principles of the gospel. Even if all we do is pitifully small compared to
what the Savior does for us, it is still absolutely vital to our salvation.
"It is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do" (2 Nephi
25:23).[3]
As we have seen, Nephi understand Christ and His role in our
salvation. He knew that it was through
the atonement of Christ we will be saved and not the Mosaic Law. Even with this knowledge, they kept “the law
of Moses, and [looked] forward with steadfastness unto Christ, until the law
shall be fulfilled” (2 Nephi 25:24).
Jacob tells us this knowledge of Christ was not unique.
“Behold, [all the holy prophets which were before us]
believed in Christ and worshiped the Father in his name, and also we worship
the Father in his name. And for this intent
we keep the law of Moses, it pointing our souls to him; and for this cause it
is sanctified unto us for righteousness, even as it was accounted unto Abraham
in the wilderness to be obedient unto the commands of God in offering up his
son Isaac, which is a similitude of God and his Only Begotten Son” (Jacob 4:5).
There is no doubt the Nephites understood the Law of
Moses. Having the brass plates would
have given them the entire Law. David
Seely explains:
The Book of Mormon specifically claims that Lehi and his
descendants understood the whole of the law of Moses as pointing toward Christ.
Jacob taught: "Behold, my soul delighteth in proving unto my people the
truth of the coming of Christ; for, for this end hath the law of Moses been
given; and all things which have been given of God from the beginning of the
world, unto man, are the typifying of him" (2 Nephi 11:4; cf. 2 Nephi
25:24–25, 27, 30; Alma 25:15; 30:3). King Benjamin further taught, "Yet
the Lord God saw that his people were a stiffnecked people, and he appointed
unto them a law, even the law of Moses. And many signs, and wonders, and types,
and shadows showed he unto them, concerning his coming; and also holy prophets
spake unto them concerning his coming" (Mosiah 3:14–15).[4]
The Law of Moses was a preparatory law. It was preparing the Jews for the coming of
the Messiah and the plan of salvation.
Nephi is clear when he says “the
law hath become dead unto us, and we are made alive in Christ because of our
faith; yet we keep the law because of the commandments” (2 Nephi 25:25).
Paul was very clear about the Law of Moses.
“Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law
by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is
raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
“For when we were in the flesh, the [sufferings] of sins,
which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
“But now we are delivered [released] from the law, that
being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and
not in the oldness of the letter.” (See also JST Rom. 7:5–27) (Romans 7:4-6).
After reading 1 Corinthians 7:14 (“For the unbelieving
husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is [cleansed] by the husband: else were your children
unclean; but now are they holy”), Joseph Smith went to the Lord for further
clarification of the verse. As a part of
the revelation, the Lord clarified the role of the Law of Moses and the atonement.
“Now, in the days of the apostles the law of circumcision
was had among all the Jews who believed not the gospel of Jesus Christ.
“And it came to pass that there arose a great contention
among the people concerning the law of circumcision, for the unbelieving
husband was desirous that his children should be circumcised and become subject
to the law of Moses, which law was fulfilled.
“And it came to pass that the children, being brought up in
subjection to the law of Moses, gave heed to the traditions of their fathers
and believed not the gospel of Christ, wherein they became unholy.
“Wherefore, for this cause the apostle wrote unto the
church, giving unto them a commandment, not of the Lord, but of himself, that a
believer should not be united to an unbeliever; except the claw of
Moses should be done away among them,
“That their children might remain without circumcision; and
that the tradition might be done away, which saith that little children are
unholy; for it was had among the Jews” (D&C 74:2-6).
Hugh Nibley sums up.
‘"And by the law,’ says Lehi, ‘no flesh is
justified’ (2 Nephi 2:5); merely keeping the law will not save you. If you
cling to it and make it your whole concern, you will find the temporal law cut
off, and even ‘the spiritual law’ will leave you to perish, not because it
fails of its purpose but because that purpose is limited to getting you to
where you are going: ‘For, for this end was the law given; wherefore the law
hath become dead unto us, and we are made alive in Christ because of our faith;
yet we keep the law because of the commandments’ (2 Nephi 25:25). The law leads
us back home; the at-one-ment takes place when we get there. In other words,
the law is all preparation. Everything we do here is to prepare for the
Atonement: ‘Therefore this life became a probationary state; a time to prepare
to meet God; a time to prepare for that endless state . . . which is after the
resurrection of the dead‘ (Alma 12:24). The early Christians taught that as
this life is a preparation for the next, so in the preexistence we had to
prepare for this one. To reach a stage where the test would be
meaningful—the plan itself being ‘prepared from the foundation of the world,’
well ahead of time and well understood by those who accepted it here—angels
were sent to remind men of that preparation (Alma 12:30; 13:2-5).”[5]
[4] Sacred
History, Covenants, and the Messiah: The Religious Background of the World of
Lehi, David Rolph Seely, Maxwell Institute.
[5] The
Meaning of the Atonement, Hugh Nibley, Maxwell Institute.
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