1 Nephi 14:7

7 For the time cometh, saith the Lamb of God, that I will work a great and a marvelous work among the children of men; a work which shall be everlasting, either on the one hand or on the other—either to the convincing of them unto peace and life eternal, or unto the deliverance of them to the hardness of their hearts and the blindness of their minds unto their being brought down into captivity, and also into destruction, both temporally and spiritually, according to the captivity of the devil, of which I have spoken.

There is lots of evidence in the scriptures showing the polarizing effect the gospel has on those who hear it. For example, Christ told his disciples that he would “set a man at variance against his father…a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me…” (Matthew 10:32–39) There really is very little middle ground or gray area when it comes to the Kingdom of God. In a couple of verses, Nephi will polarize all the churches into two: the church of the Lamb of God, and the church of the devil (vs. 10). We are told several times in the scriptures that no unclean thing can dwell in the Kingdom of God. This doesn’t leave much room for gray area. You are either clean or you’re out, which is why the Atonement is so critical.

Verse 7 tells us that in the latter days the Lord “will work a great and a marvelous work among the children of men” that will once again polarize people. This great and marvelous work is the restoration of the gospel in the latter days. The coming forth of the Book of Mormon is certainly a central feature of that restoration. It takes somewhat of a leap of faith to accept that Joseph Smith experienced the First Vision as he described, but the Book of Mormon is tangible evidence that must be dealt with. You can’t just ignore it and say it never happened. Once you read it, you either accept or reject it. The doctrines and gospel contained therein are powerful enough and plain enough that to even remain indifferent would be the same as rejection. So you either accept it as the word of God, or reject it as fraud. If the gentiles accept this Restoration (i.e. they enter into covenants with God) they are rewarded with “peace and life eternal.” If it is rejected, they are delivered by their own hardness of heart and blindness of mind into captivity and destruction. There really is no middle ground or gray area. I can’t think of anything in the scriptures that condones mediocrity or gray area. The Lord loves his people; He doesn’t just like them. He rejects the lack of commitment (Rev. 3:15–16). So we see how the restoration of the Gospel separates the wheat from the tares.

• Isaiah 29:14
• Matthew 10:32–39
• John 16:33
• 1 Nephi 13:35
• 1 Nephi 22:8
• 2 Nephi 29:1 (1–2, and really the whole chapter, 1–14)
• 2 Nephi 30:10
• 3 Nephi 21:9 (9–24)
• D&C 4:1
• Moses 1:39