2 Nephi 9

Atonement offers redemption from temporal & spiritual death.

Atonement is central in plan of salvation. How Jacob referred to temporal & spiritual death:

Temporal death: death of physical body and separation of spirit from physical body. As a result of Fall of Adam, all people will die temporally    2 Nephi 9:6

   “death”                                          2 Ne. 9:6
  “the death of the body”                    2 Ne. 9:10
  “the grave”                                     2 Ne. 9:11

Spiritual death: separation from presence of God.
We are all separated from God as a result of the Fall      2 Ne. 9:6
We further separate ourselves from God when we sin      Romans 3:23, Alma 12:16, Hel. 14:18

   “shut out from the presence of our God”         2 Ne. 9:9
   “the death of the spirit”                                  2 Ne. 9:10
  “spiritual death”   “hell”                                   2 Ne. 9:12
  “death”                                                          2 Ne. 9:39

• How did Savior overcome temporal & spiritual death?    2 Ne. 9:5–7, 12, 21–22 (see also Luke 22:44; Mosiah 3:7; D&C 19:16–19)

All people will be resurrected—saved from temporal death     2 Ne. 9:12–13, 22
What would happen to us without Christ’s Resurrection?         2 Ne. 9:6–9
   Temporal and spiritual death would be permanent.
   We would be shut out from God’s presence forever
   Our spirits would be subject to Satan.
   We would “remain with the father of lies, in misery.”
   Why are temporal & spiritual death an “awful monster”?          2 Nephi 9:10

Through Atonement, all people restored to God’s presence to be judged    2 Nephi 2:10; 9:15
Not all will be “saved in kingdom of God,” or permitted to dwell in God’s presence forever  2 Nephi 9:23,         Mormon 7:7

According to Jacob, what are things we must do to be “saved in the kingdom of God”?  2 Nephi 9:18, 21, 23–24, 39, 41, 50–52

·        Believe in Christ and come unto Him                                               2 Nephi 9:18, 23–24, 41

 “Please notice the requirement to ask in faith, which I understand to mean the necessity to not only express but to do, the dual obligation to both plead and to perform, the requirement to communicate and to act.” (Elder David A. Bednar, Ensign, May 2008, 94)

·        Endure crosses of world & despise shame of world  2 Nephi 9:18
What does endure the crosses of the world mean?     See Matthew 16:24 footnote 24d
JST Matt. 16: 26 And now for a man to take up his cross, is to deny himself all ungodliness, and every worldly lust, and keep my commandments.

What does despise shame of world mean?    See 2 Nephi 9:49

·        Hearken to the voice of the Lord     2 Nephi 9:21
How can we hear the voice of the Lord?   See D&C 1:38, D&C 18:33–36,  D&C 88:66

·        Repent, be baptized, and endure to the end   2 Nephi 9:23–24

·        Be spiritually minded   2 Nephi 9:39
What does it mean to be spiritually minded?  see also Romans 8:5–8
What does it mean to be carnally minded? 

·        “Feast upon that which perisheth not”    2 Nephi 9:50–51
What are some things that never perish? 

Remember words of God    2 Nephi 9:52
How does remembering help us receive all blessings of Atonement?   See 3 Nephi 15:1

“The key to the remembering that brings and maintains testimony is receiving the Holy Ghost. … Heavenly Father has given a simple pattern for us to receive the Holy Ghost not once but continually in the tumult of our daily lives. The pattern is repeated in the sacramental prayer: We promise that we will always remember the Savior…to take His name upon us…to keep His commandments… if we do that, we will have His Spirit to be with us. Those promises work together in a wonderful way to strengthen our testimonies and in time, through the Atonement, to change our natures as we keep our part of the promise. (Henry B. Eyring, “O Remember, Remember,” Ensign, Nov 2007, 66–69)

·        Pray continually & give thanks    2 Nephi 9:52
How does praying & expressing gratitude to HF help us draw nearer?

2. Certain attitudes & actions prevent us from receiving blessings of Atonement.

Transgressing & wasting days of probation       2 Nephi 9:27
 How might we waste the days of probation?  (not repent) See 2 Nephi 9:38  

• (hearden our hearts; procrastinate repentance) Alma 34:31–33  
•  (seeking happiness in doing iniquity) Helaman 13:38
• Placing other idols (learning, money) above God   2 Nephi 9:28–30, 37

How can pursuit of knowledge & riches prevent receiving blessings?    See 2 Nephi 9:28, 30, 42.
In what situations are learning and riches good?  See 2 Nephi 9:29,  Jacob 2:18–19.)

Being spiritually deaf & blind  2 Nephi 9:31–32

“…the medical term logokophosis… means “word deafness” or, in an extended gospel meaning, “the inability to hear or understand spoken directions.

“The scriptures are replete with directions …Yet time and again we have to be asked to be better listeners. President Marion G. Romney sometimes wonders out loud,

 ‘How many tellings does it take—how many repetitions of counsel? How many individual corrections must be given?’…

“How many of us turn a deaf ear to the admonitions from our modern-day prophets and stay passive, uninvolved, as when we half-listen to the radio? (Jacob de Jager, “The Greatest News of All Times Is That Jesus Lives,” Ensign, May 1986, 71)

 Being “uncircumcised of heart”   2 Nephi 9:33
Uncircumcised ancient Israelite men - breaking covenant   Genesis 17:11, 14
What does “uncircumcised of heart” mean?

Lying &committing murders & whoredoms    2 Nephi 9:34–36