Day 8; 2 Nephi 8-11

Day 8; 2 Nephi 8-11 

I am tackling the Book of Mormon in 60 days. My plan is to have the Book of Mormon studied by the end of 2011. During my challenge, I will post a daily blog of my reading, in this blog I will share with you... my thoughts, feelings, opinions and knowledge about the Book of Mormon. Do you have questions? Comments? Please... lets start a discussion. I would be more than happy to answer your questions, comments or concerns!

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How the Book of Mormon came about: http://youtu.be/FMQEb9A9L2g

Scripture Thought (What I Learned):  

               

  Scripture to Note: 2 Nephi 10:23; "Therefore, cheer up your hearts, and remember that ye are free to act for yourselves - to chose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life."

                Chapter 8: starts off with Isaiah speaking about the last days and how the Lord will comfort Zion, those who are good in the last days will be redeemed and taken to Zion where they will be filled with Joy. "Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy and holiness shall be upon their heads..." (2 Nephi 8:11). Those who follow Christ will be uplifted in that day. He continues on to say that man should not be afraid of man "...who shall die, and of the son of man, who shall be made like unto grass?" (2 Nephi 8:12), essentially we should not fear man, because man is just like us, weak... and will die and will be like unto grass (kind of like returning to dust).

                You can compare Chapter 7 of 2 Nephi to Isaiah Chapter 51 and the first two verses of Chapter 52, as they are very similar.

                Chapter 9: talks about why it was important that Adam and Eve did what they did. Why did they have to fall? Why did they have to partake of the fruit in the Garden of Eden? What was the purpose for that?

                We learn that it was in fact very important that Adam and Eve partake of the fruit... "For as death hath passed upon all men, to fulfill the merciful plan of the great Creator, there must needs be a power of resurrection, and the resurrection must needs come unto man by reason of the fall; and the fall came by reason of transgression; and because man became fallen they were cut off from the presence of the Lord."

                When Adam and Eve partook of the fruit, they disobeyed God and were cast out of the Garden of Eden. Because of this they were now subject to death, and by death their spirits would rise up again to meet God. In the Resurrection our bodies and spirits will join together again in a perfected state, to be no more separated. We must be careful however in this life, as to what we choose to do with our life, because after death, they "...who are righteous shall be righteous still; wherefore, they who are filthy shall be filthy still..." (2 Nephi 9:16) This means that if you lead a good life while you are on the earth, then you will continue to lead a good life. If you for example are filthy in this life, you steal, rape, murder or do all kinds of wicked things... you will still be that same person. Dying will not change your attitude or habits. What you carry into the next life will still be the same.

                Through the Atonement of Christ however we can overcome the physical death that was introduced to us by the Fall of Adam and Eve. Our responsibility however is to "...repent, and be baptized in his name (Jesus Christ), having perfect faith in the Holy One of Israel, or they cannot be saved in the kingdom of God. And if they will not repent and believe in his name, and be baptized in his name, and endure to the end, they must be dammed; for the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has spoken it." (2 Nephi 9:23-24) - Here it is laid out in very simple terms, in order to be saved you must:

                1. Have Faith in Jesus Christ

                2. Repent of your sins.

                3. Recieve a baptisim by the propery Authority

                4. Recieve the Holy Ghost

                5. Endure to the End (basically do what you promised to do, and that is follow the            commandments)

                If we do those things, then the Atonement of Jesus Christ, His pain and suffering on the cross will redeem us, but only through our completion of our end of the deal.

But what about those who never receive a knowledge of Jesus Christ and his Atonement?

                That's what I love about the Book of Mormon it answers all questions... "For the Atonement satisfieth the demands of his justice upon all those who have not the law given to them..." (2 Nephi 9:26) How great is that? Those who truly have not heard of these things will not have that held against them. This however does not mean that they have a free ride, they will eventually have to chose to accept or deny, Jesus Christ and his mercy.

                Chapter 9 really warns those who have had the law given to them... "...wo unto him that has the law given... and that transgresseth them, and that wasteth the days of his probation, for awful is his state!" (2 Nephi 9:27) For those of us who know these things, for everyone one who has been taught concerning these things, and chooses to disobey and break the commandments of God, will have to answer to Him at judgement. We must not waste our limited time on this Earth will things that have no value, we must use every minute that has been given to us, for good.

                We must also take heed to the warnings written within this chapter, it states "Wo unto..." the liar, the murderer, those who commit whoredoms, those who worship idols and all who commit transgressions (sins) before the Lord (2 Nephi 9:34-39). We must not sin, and "...remember the awfulness in transgressing against the Holy God..." "... Wo unto all those who die in their sins; for they shall return to God, and behold his face, and remain in their sins" (2 Nephi 9:38-39). No one knows, when they will die, and therefore we must do anything to stay clean and on the right path, so that we don't meet God, in our sins.

                Now, let's be honest. I know that a lot of people do not like to hear about sin, why would we want to hear about it? We are all guilty (if we are the age of liability, 8) of some sin, somewhere in our life, even if it was just a bad thought. We are human, we must put off the natural man that is inside of us... and no matter what we do we cannot be perfect, at least not in this life. That is why it is so important that we cleave unto God and accept Jesus Christ, by having faith, repenting of our sins, being baptized, receive the Holy Ghost and Endure to the End.

Chapter 9, ends with this: "...is it expedient that I should awake you to an awful reality of these things? Would I harrow up your souls if your minds were pure? ...If ye were holy I would speak unto you of holiness; but as you are not holy (no one is in this life, but our goal is to constantly work on becoming perfect)...it must needs be expedient that I teach you the consequences of sin." (2 Nephi 9:47-48)

Chapter 10-11:

                Jacob (Nephi's Brother), addresses his people (around 550 BC) and tells them that in Jerusalem the Jews shall crucify Jesus, and because of this the people of Jerusalem shall be scattered around the world, until they chose to believe in him. America will become a land of liberty with no kings. God will fortify the land and protect it from others nations. He quotes God saying "... by the words of three... I will establish my word..." (2 Nephi 11: 3) - The Book of Mormon has the testimony of the 3 witnesses in the front of the book, therefore establishing his word.

                My reading ends with... "My soul delighteth in proving unto my people that save Christ should come all men must perish. For if there be no Christ there be no God; and if there be no God we are not, for there could have been no creation. But there is a God, and he is Christ, and he cometh in the fulness of his own time." (2 Nephi 6-7)

                I want to say, that I personally know that what I have read is true, and I can testify to you that Jesus Lives! He is my redeemer and through his everlasting mercy, we can all return to live with God! =)