5 And men are instructed sufficiently that they know good from evil. And the law is given unto men. And by the law no flesh is justified; or, by the law men are cut off. Yea, by the temporal law they were cut off; and also, by the spiritual law they perish from that which is good, and become miserable forever.
I have mentioned before in this journal how interesting it is
to me that the scriptures in general, and especially the Book of Mormon,
explain the gospel so logically. It’s interesting that these subjects of the Spirit
are explained and understood by the mind’s logic (plus faith), but they are believed by the Spirit. The Lord told
Oliver Cowdery that when he wanted inspiration (or confirmation) in his
decisions he should “study it out in [his] mind,” and didn’t mention his heart
or emotions (D&C 9: 8 (7–9)). So here begins one of those very clear and
reasonable explanations of the Atonement and its relationship to justice and
mercy.
The first thing Lehi states, as if it is already so well
established that it needs no explanation is that everyone knows enough that
they know the difference between good and evil. Most people are taught that by
their parents, but even those who are not still have the light of Christ given
to them (Moroni 7: 16). Another name for that is “conscience.” I always found
it interesting to realize that conscience
includes the word science in it. In
fact, these related, but seemingly opposite words share the same root word that
refers to knowledge. They are just two different ways of knowing different
kinds of things. Science is how we know about physical things; conscience is how we know about moral,
ethical, or other non-physical things that are no less real, yet cannot be measured.
Lehi makes the simple statement that the law was given to
men. He’s probably referring to the law under which they lived, the Law of
Moses, which is a specific kind of law, but my question is that if all men know
good from evil anyway, why is a law even necessary? The short and easy answer
is that not everybody heeds his or her conscience. And so a law is provided as
a lowest common denominator of what it takes for a society to function without
destroying itself. But, as the Doctrine
and Covenants tells us, if we are keeping the laws of God, we have no need
to break the laws of the land (see D&C 58: 21). We are dealing with
different kinds of law. The law of the land really is a civilization’s lowest
common denominator. However, when people want to draw close to God they must
embrace a higher law, which includes, but goes beyond the law of the land.
Russell M. Nelson, in speaking of a specific law taught, “Regardless of what
civil legislation may be enacted, the doctrine of the Lord regarding marriage and
morality cannot be changed. Remember:
sin, even if legalized by man, is still sin in the eyes of God!” (CR October
2013, emphasis is the Elder Nelson’s). Our conscience tells us what laws are
right, and if we live according to our consciences we will, by default, be
keeping the laws of God and man. But, as Lehi states, the law alone will not
justify us. “Justification means ‘to be pardoned from punishment for sin and
declared guiltless’” (Book of Mormon
Student Manual, REL 121–122, 2009. p. 51).
The Atonement is what allows justification. Laws, including
the Law of Moses, dictate actions and behavior, but cannot control what we
think or feel. This is because our agency cannot be taken away from us. Nobody
keeps the law perfectly, and even if they do there is no guarantee that they want to. That’s why there is no
justification in the law. So because the law cannot look on our intentions or
our heart, by the law men are cut off. Because we have both a temporal and
spiritual nature there is both a temporal and spiritual law. It is possible to
keep the temporal law and not the spiritual, but someone who is truly keeping
the spiritual law is most likely also keeping the temporal law, and doing it
for the right reason. True happiness comes by keeping both sets of laws, but
there are eternal consequences for breaking spiritual laws. I would say that
the priority, then, is to keep the spiritual law, so that we do not “perish
from that which is good, and become miserable forever.”
Overarching all this is the realization that all is lost
without the Atonement. We simply cannot perfectly keep both temporal and
spiritual sets of laws. In our imperfection we make mistakes; we stumble. We
depend on the Atonement more than we probably realize.
- Leviticus 7: 20 (20–21)
- Romans 3: 20 (20–24)
- Romans 7: 5 (JST)
- Galatians 2: 16
- Galatians 3: 2–3
- 1 Nephi 10: 6
- 2 Nephi 9: 6 (6–38)
- 2 Nephi 25: 23
- Mosiah 13: 28 (27–28)
- Alma 11: 42 (40–45)
- Alma 12: 16 (16, 24, 36)
- Alma 42: 7 (6–11)
- Alma 42: 14 (12–16)
- Helaman 14: 16 (15–18)
- Moroni 7: 16
