You’re Going to Make It!

In the last days of his mortal life, the prophet Lehi gathered his children one-by-one to offer his final words of counsel and teaching. In the midst of his counsel to Jacob, nearly hidden in the middle of a verse, is a powerful truth that has become one of my favorite teachings in the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. Lehi tells his son in 2 Nephi 2:3: “I know that thou art redeemed.” How did Lehi know this? How did he have such certainty and assurance regarding his son’s future exaltation? Ponder the full statement from Lehi to his son: “I know that thou art redeemed, because of the righteousness of thy Redeemer” (2 Nephi 2:3). Lehi’s statement had little to do with Jacob’s personal righteousness and everything to do with the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And the same is true for our salvation. In Alma chapter 24, the king of the Anti-Nephi-Lehis holds a council with his people. These converted Lamanites are threatened by war and refuse to take up arms due to their past sins. It is here that the king offers a beautiful and correct interpretation of Nephi’s “all we can do.” One day while reading the Book of Mormon one word at a time, his words jumped off the page and the spirit touched my heart, connecting the dots of Alma 24 and 2 Nephi 25. Notice what the king says and how he says it, including the repeated wording. “And now behold, my brethren, since it has been all that we could do (as we were the most lost of all mankind) to repent of all our sins and the many murders which we have committed, and to get God to take them away from our hearts, for it was all we could do to repent sufficiently before God that he would take away our stain” (Alma 24:11, emphasis added). Coincidental wording? I don’t believe the Lord inspires his prophet’s words haphazardly, and this particular wording provided a tender mercy of understanding in my own life. Mighty to Save The Savior is called the Savior because he saves us. Completely and wholly. Jesus is truly “the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). His only limitation is he can’t save us in our sins (see Alma 11:34-37). We have to repent to unlock His redeeming power in our lives, but once we do, we experience “the immediate goodness of God” (Mosiah 25:10). Listen carefully to these words of scripture regarding the Savior and our exaltation. While our personal efforts are a way for us to show our love for our Heavenly Father and Savior (John 14:15) and a key part of our eternal development, you’ll see that in the grand scheme it is not our personal righteousness but “the righteousness of (our) Redeemer” that saves and exalts us. “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25, emphasis added). “Yea, come unto Christ and be perfected in Him” (Moroni 10:32, emphasis added). “Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him – Saying: Father, behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased; behold the blood of thy Son which was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified; Wherefore, Father, spare these my brethren that believe on my name, that they may come unto me and have everlasting life” (D&C 45:3-5, emphasis added). In speaking of those who will inherit the Celestial Kingdom, section 76 says they are “just men [and women] made perfect through Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, who wrought out this perfect atonement through the shedding of his own blood” (Doctrine and Covenants 76:69). It is any wonder Alma invites us to “cry unto (the Savior) for mercy; for he is mighty to save” (Alma 34:18, emphasis added). The gospel invites us to look to the Lord Jesus Christ, who truthfully tells each of us “I am able to make you holy” (Doctrine and Covenants 60:7).