8 And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; and his mother shall be called Mary.
9 And lo, he cometh
unto his own, that salvation might come unto the children of men even through
faith on his name; and even after all this they shall consider him a man, and
say that he hath a devil, and shall scourge him, and shall crucify him.
10 And he sha1l arise
the third day from the dead; and behold, he standeth to judge the world; and
behold, all these things are done that a righteous judgment might come upon the
children of men.
11 For behold, and
also his blood atoneth for the sins of those who have fallen by the
transgression of Adam, who have died not knowing the will of God concerning
them, or who have ignorantly sinned.
12 But wo, wo unto him
who knoweth that he rebelleth against God!
For salvation cometh to none such except it be through repentance and
faith on the Lord Jesus Christ.
13 And the Lord God
hath sent his holy prophets among all the children of men, to declare these
things to every kindred, nation, and tongue, that thereby whosoever should
believe that Christ should come, the same might receive remission of their
sins, and rejoice with exceedingly great joy, even as though he had already
come among them. (Mosiah 3:8-13)
After describing the Savior’s mission, King Benjamin tells
the congregation he will be known as Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He will be “the Father of Heaven and earth,
the Creator of all things from the beginning.”
Samuel the Lamanite told the Nephites, “And also that ye might know of
the coming of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and of earth,
the Creator of all things from the beginning; and that ye might know of the
signs of his coming, to the intent that ye might believe on his name” (Helaman
14:12). Speaking to those who survived
the calamities that occurred at Christ’s death, He spoke from Heaven, telling
the people, “Behold, I am Jesus Christ the Son of God. I created the heavens and the earth, and all
things that in them are. I was with the
Father from the beginning. I am in the
Father, and the Father in me; and in me hath the Father glorified his name” (3
Nephi 9:15).
Benjamin also tells the congregation that his mother’s name
will be Mary.
The Savior will come to the Jews, offering them salvation
through faith on Him. They will reject
Him, claiming he is just a man who has a devil. During His ministry, when He
cast out devils, some claimed, “But some of them said, He casteth out devils
through Beelzebub the chief of the devils” (Luke 11:15). They will scourge and crucify Him.
After Christ is crucified, He will rise from the dead on the
third day. He will stand and judge the
world, “that a righteous judgment might come upon the children of men.”
How will those who sin in ignorance be judged? Even today, there are people in the world
who never learn Christ’s teachings. What
about these people. Benjamin addresses
this. Those who sin, “not knowing the
will of God,” will be covered by the atonement.
“[H[is blood atoneth for those … who have died not knowing the will of
God.”
Jacob was the first person in the Book of Mormon to teach
about this. “For the atonement
satisfieth the demands of his justice upon all those who have not the law given
to them, that they are delivered from that awful monster, death and hell, and
the devil, and the lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment; and
they are restored to that God who gave them breath, which is the Holy One of
Israel” (2 Nephi 9:26)
“Jacob was the first Book of Mormon prophet to explicitly
teach that ‘the atonement satisfieth the demands of his justice upon all those
who have not the law given to them’ (2 Nephi 9:26). This doctrine is not stated
before or after in the Book of Mormon until King Benjamin states that Christ’s ‘blood
atoneth for the sins of those ... who have died not knowing the will of God
concerning them’ (Mosiah 3:11). Thus Benjamin echoes not only the sterner
portions of Jacob’s message but also those pertaining to the atonement’s reach
to those who know not the law.”[1]
Alma2, calling on the people of Ammonihah to
repent, explained the Lamanites were better off than they were, because they
don’t know the law, but the people of Ammonihah do.
“Nevertheless I say unto you, that it shall be more
tolerable for [the Lamanites] in the day of judgment than for you, if ye remain
in your sins, yea, and even more tolerable for them in this life than for you,
except ye repent.
“For there are many promises which are extended to the
Lamanites; for it is because of the traditions of their fathers that caused
them to remain in their state of ignorance; therefore the Lord will be merciful
unto them and prolong their existence in the land” (Alma 9:15-16).
The person who knows the law and sins is rebelling against
God. Salvation only comes through faith
in Christ and repenting of our sins.
Nephi2 echoes these words when preaching to a Nephite crowd.
“And now, seeing ye know these things and cannot deny them
except ye shall lie, therefore in this ye have sinned, for ye have rejected all
these things, notwithstanding so many evidences which ye have received; yea,
even ye have received all things, both things in heaven, and all things which
are in the earth, as a witness that they are true.
“But behold, ye have rejected the truth, and rebelled
against your holy God; and even at this time, instead of laying up for
yourselves treasures in heaven, where nothing doth corrupt, and where nothing
can come which is unclean, ye are heaping up for yourselves wrath against the
day of judgment” (Helaman 8:24-25).
“Benjamin spoke adamantly about the great seriousness of
rebellious sin: ‘Wo unto him who knoweth that he rebelleth against God!’
(Mosiah 3:12) ... Benjamin’s theology is accurately Israelite when he explains
that ‘salvation cometh to none such’ rebellious sinners (compare Numbers
15:30–31), except through the extraordinary redemptive powers of Christ
(see Mosiah 3:12).”[2]
The Lord has sent prophets to all people “to declare these
things to every kindred, nation, and tongue” that whoever believes in Christ
will receive a remission of their sins.
They will “rejoice with exceedingly great joy.”
“If to be filled
with joy is the same as to be born again, it seems that the angel came from God to
authorize Benjamin to proceed with the much-anticipated experience—the
endowment of the Spirit and of the name. The angel says that the time has come
that these people may literally be ‘filled with joy’ and that ‘whosoever should
believe that Christ should come, the same might receive remission of their sins,
and rejoice with exceedingly
great joy’ (Mosiah 3:13).”[3]
“[T]he purpose of the Book of Mormon is to make all things present to us; it has been edited to delete anything not relevant to our condition. It makes no difference where or in which dispensation we live (Mosiah 3:13), all are tested equally. And now the Book of Mormon is holding the mirror up to our ugliness—no wonder we look the other way as it pleads with us, ‘[O], be more wise than we have been!’ (Mormon 9:31).”[4]
[1] Jacob’s
Textual Legacy, John Hilton, Maxwell Institute.
[2] King
Benjamin’s Speech in the Context of Ancient Israelite Festivals, Terrence Szink
& John Welch, Maxwell Institute.
[3] King
Benjamin and the Mysteries of God, M. Catherine Thomas, Maxwell Institute.
[4] The
Book of Mormon: Forty Years After, Hugh W. Nibley, Maxwell Institute.
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