Did Your Study of the Book of Mormon Move You Closer to Jesus Christ?

My Come Follow Me studies for this week took me to Moroni 10, the last chapter in the Book of Mormon – Another Testament of Jesus Christ, in a lesson titled “Come unto Christ, and Be Perfected in Him.” The lesson was introduced with the following information. 

The Book of Mormon opens with Nephi’s promise to show us that “the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith” (1 Nephi 1:20). The book closes with a parallel invitation from Moroni: “Remember how merciful the Lord hath been” (Moroni 10:2-3). What examples of the Lord’s mercy have you seen in the Book of Mormon? You might think of the merciful way God led Lehi’s family through the wilderness and across the great waters, the tender mercies He showed to Enos when his soul hungered for forgiveness, or the mercy He showed to Alma, a bitter enemy of the Church who became one of its fearless defenders. Or your thoughts might turn to the mercy the resurrected Savior showed to the people when He healed their sick and blessed their little children. Perhaps most important, all of this can remind you of “how merciful the Lord hath been” to you, for the Book of Mormon was written to invite each of us to receive God’s mercy—an invitation expressed simply in Moroni’s farewell words, “Come unto Christ, and be perfected in him” (Moroni 10:32).

The scripture block for this week contained at least three principles that could be discussed. They are: (1) I can know the truth of all things by the power of the Holy Ghost (Moroni 10:3-7), (2) God has given me spiritual gifts (Moroni 10:8-25), and (3) I can be perfected through the grace of Jesus Christ (Moroni 10:30-33). I feel prompted to discuss the third principle. Here are the verses for this principle:

30 And again I would exhort you that ye would come unto Christ, and lay hold upon every good gift, and touch not the evil gift, nor the unclean thing.

31 And awake, and arise from the dust, O Jerusalem; yea, and put on thy beautiful garments, O daughter of Zion; and strengthen thy stakes and enlarge thy borders forever, that thou mayest no more be confounded, that the covenants of the Eternal Father which he hath made unto thee, O house of Israel, may be fulfilled.

32 Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.

33 And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot.

Moroni’s counsel to “come unto Christ” involves more than learning of and thinking about Him. Rather, this is an invitation to come unto Christ in the most complete sense possible – to become as He is. As you look back on your study of the Book of Mormon this year, what have you felt and learned about Jesus Christ? How has the Book of Mormon helped you to come unto Him. Are you more likely to rely more completely on His grace? How has your study helped you to “deny not” the Savior’s power?

Consider sharing your own witness of the Book of Mormon with someone who needs to hear it, including loved ones, and friends who may not know of its message. I can think of two bits of understanding that I gained in the past two or three weeks.

The first experience that I wish to share happened this week when we studied Moroni 10, which is famous for verses 4-5 about how to learn if the Book of Mormon is true.

4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.

The lesson material suggested an April 2019 General Conference talk titled “Seeking Knowledge by the Spirit” and given by Elder Mathias Held of the Seventy. Elder Held spoke of two young men in dark suits who came to the home and taught he and his wife about the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Elder Held and his wife wanted to know how they could know if what the missionaries were teaching was true. They knew of the scripture saying that we can “know them by their fruits,” so they decided to look for the fruits with “the eyes of our very rational minds.” They found a Church with (1) “friendly and happy people and wonderful families,” (2) no paid clergy but members who “accept assignments and responsibilities,” and (3) “A church where Jesus Christ and families are at the center of everything.”

There were other things that they liked about: (1) “the emphasis on personal growth, on education, on hard work and self-reliance,” (2) “the remarkable humanitarian program,” and (3) “the general conferences, with the wonderful music and the profound spiritual principles shared there.”

The Herds liked what they saw and could not find any faults with the Church. However, they wanted to know everything before being baptized. After ten months of studying the gospel, they read in Mosiah 18, “As ye are desirous to … bear one another’s burdens, … and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, … if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord?”

These investigators of the Church of Jesus Christ recognized this passage from the Book of Mormon to be the answer to their questions about being baptized. This experience resonated with me and taught me that the Book of Mormon can answer all kinds of questions. As a long-time member, I sought to gain confirmation that the Church of Jesus Christ is true, and I found my answer in Third Nephi 27 where Jesus Christ teaches that His Church will be called by His name and built upon His teachings.

The second experience happened two weeks ago when we studied Moroni 1-6. In Moroni 6:5, we read, “And the church did meet together oft, to fast and to pray, and to speak one with another concerning the welfare of their souls.” This verse brought my patriarchal blessing to my mind, particularly the five different places where it counsels me to stay active in the Church. Then, I thought about the testimony meeting where I first began to question my testimony, which led me on a six-month quest to gain confirmation and the experience discussed in a paragraph above. If I had not been in that meeting on that day, I would not have heard the testimonies given and might not have ever decided to gain confirmation of my own testimony.

Grace

            Grace is a beautiful name for girls. I first became aware of the name in my childhood or youth when I learned about Grace Kelly. Now I have a granddaughter with Grace as her middle name. Grace is an attribute that we recognize in others, such as “She was a gracious hostess” or “He is graceful when he dances.”

            Grace is also a gospel principle that many people have difficulty understanding. I thought that I understood it fairly well until I attended Time Out for Women (TOFW) last weekend and learned about grace from Brad Wilcox. Many of his remarks can be found in his book titled Changed through His Grace and in this article titled “What We’ve Misunderstood about Grace.”  In this post I will share the notes that I took at TOFW.

            Wilcox began his talk by sharing a quote given by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland at General Conference: “Come as you are but don’t expect to stay that way.” He then proceeded to describe “grace” as “good will or favor given with compassion.” He said that grace is how God engages with us as we strive to become like him. He quoted President Dieter F. Uchtdorf as saying in 2015, “Grace is divine assistance,” meaning that grace can be seen in our lives as it changes us. He quoted Sheri Dew as saying, “Grace is not the Atonement. Grace is the power that the Atonement makes available to us.”

            We read in Doctrine and Covenants 88:33: “For what doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receive not the gift? Behold, he rejoices not in that which is given unto him, neither rejoices in him who is the giver of the gift.” God does not continue to offer gifts if we are not willing to receive them. Maybe parents can learn something from His example.

            Wilcox shared part of the first verse of the hymn “I Stand All Amazed” with us: “I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me, confused at the grace that so fully He proffers me.” He then explained that there is a difference between “offer” and “proffer.” While dictionaries say that the two words mean basically the same, Wilcox said “offer” means to make something available while “proffer” means to put something in one’s hands. In other words, I can offer food by making it available, but I would proffer it by actually serving it to an individual. Jesus makes his love available to us, but He puts grace in our hands.

            Wilcox said that “grace” is like scholarships in that it is given to help us improve but it does not actually do the work for us. The Lord gives us a little bit of knowledge. If we accept the principle and make it part of our lives, He gives us a little bit more. We read the following in

2 Nephi 28:30:

For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have.

            This principle is clearly shown in the Parable of the Talents. The master plans to go on a trip. He gives one servant five talents, one servant two talents, and one servant one talent before he left. When the master returned he learned that the five talents had become ten and the two talents had become four, and he praised the two servants. He also learned that the one talent had been buried and had not increased. The master took the one talent and gave it to the servant who had ten. (See Matthew 25.) This principle is also taught in the Doctrine and Covenants where we read: “For unto him that receiveth it shall be given more abundantly, even power” (Doctrine and Covenants 71:6).

            Wilcox compared “talents” with “books” and “kingdom of God” with “library” by sharing how he deals with his grandchildren. He gives each grandchild a book when they are born because he knows books will help develop language. He continues to give books to them as they learn to read. When they report to him that they read a book, he gives them more books. This is the way God bestows His gifts. When we show him that we appreciate what He has already given to us, He gives us more. As we receive ordinances and make covenants with God, we are prepared to receive and make more. Wilcox said that the endowment is a story of how we receive and engage in the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Have you been changed by the story?

            Wilcox said that Jesus Christ accepted the Kirtland Temple – flaws and all – and does the same with us. We must remember that change takes time and that change without challenge is not change at all. Wilcox shared an experience from high school when he learned that it did not matter whether he was in the front of the bus or the back of the bus because the bus would take him safely home no matter where he sat. He then emphasized that the important thing for us is to stay in the “bus,” meaning our covenant relationship with God. If we stay in our covenant relationship (the bus), Jesus (the bus) will get us safely home. When we need assistance, we should not look down or to the side, but we should look up for divine assistance. We should look up for grace. Grace is the source of righteousness and worthiness and the power that helps us change.