July 13, 2020

Finishing up in chapter 13 of first Nephi, my attention was drawn to verse 40. Much of the gist of this chapter is drawing attention to the fact that precious truths of the Bible were foretold to be lost, deliberately and perhaps not deliberately, but nonetheless the chapter outlines the significant cost that will come as a result of this great loss, that being primarily confusion and stumbling, and blindness because of the loss of the "most precious parts of the gospel of the Lamb".  

Elder Holland stated, “Surely the most plain and precious of all truths lost from the Bible, particularly the Old Testament, are the clear and unequivocal declarations of the mission of Jesus Christ, his foreordained role as Messiah and Savior of the world, and the covenantal elements of his gospel, which have been taught from Adam down through each succeeding dispensation. Thus the Book of Mormon’s highest purpose is to restore to the universal family of God that crucial knowledge of Christ’s role in the salvation of every man, woman, and child who now lives, has ever lived, or will yet live upon the earth.”

1 Ne 13:40 is the only place in the chapter that I noticed where it identifies what some of those lost truths are, when it states the last records that come forth "shall make known unto all ... that the Lamb of God is the Son of the Eternal Father, and the Savior of the world, and that all men must come unto him, or they cannot be saved".  

I guess I need to study the Bible more closely, because I was under the impression that these truths are evident in the BIble. I guess what I love from verse 40 is the phrase, "All must come unto him".  I think 'coming' is much more than what so many Christians believe to be necessary, which is simply "accepting" Him as their Savior.  THe word "coming" connotes action, following, not just recognizing who He is but taking steps to be close to Him, to be where He is.  Then my mind immediately jumps to Ether 12:27 - the explanation of what happens when men "come".

Ether 12:27. And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

Fascinating thought - this is a promise from the Savior that if we do indeed come unto Him, His gift to us will be our understanding of our weakness so we can be made strong.  He will strengthen those who humble themselves - or in other words, if we're stripped of pride, we can be filled with strength.  But we must come, we can't just accept.  I do think that is an imperative that the restored gospel of Jesus Christ makes abundantly clear - we aren't saved by Grace alone, we have to come.