Guest Post: Chauncy C. Riddle
This is the most important verse in the Book of Mormon. That is a strong value judgment. But there are some reasons why it might be so.
The verse is 2 Nephi 26:24:
“He (God) doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw all men unto him. Wherefore he commandeth none that they shall not partake of his salvation.”
“Benefit” means doing good, blessing, and ministering to others. God does this because of his heartfelt love for each human. The totality of all human beings is “the world” in the scriptures. Christ has suffered for the sins and pains of each and every human being in order to be able to bless each one with forgiveness of sins, resurrection, and glory.
He hopes to bless each human will all, with exaltation in eternity. But he respects each person and will put upon each only that which each has shown he or she wants to receive and does follow the covenant path to become able to receive. Not everyone can stand to receive all that God tries to give them. The reasons why this verse is the most important verse come under three headings:
1. This verse gives us a most important feature of our knowledge about our God.
2. This verse solves the problem of evil in the world.
3. This verse sheds great light on the commandments God has given us
Knowledge About Our God
1. This verse gives us a most important feature of our knowledge about our God.
Usual discussions of the nature of God sometimes focus on how much he knows, what he can do, and where he is.
Our God is said to be omniscient, that he knows everything that can be known, past, present, and future. In the Book of Mormon, Jacob exclaims: “Oh how great the goodness of our God. For he knoweth all things and there is not anything, save he knows it.” (2 Nephi 9:20). This means God is never puzzled or in the dark about anything. He knows and understands all things. Therefore he knows how to bless each of his children.
Usual discussions also emphasize the power of God, that he has all power. This means that he can do anything that can be done. The Savior said: “All power is given unto me in heaven and in the earth.” (Matthew 28:18). Thus he is never frustrated by the inability to bless each human being.
Our God is also present everywhere in the universe. “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.” (Psalms 139:7-10) This is to say that wherever any of his children are in the universe, God finds and blesses them.
And our God is also good, which is to say that he blesses or helps each of his children to enjoy as much blessing as each can stand to receive. And this is where our special verse from the Book of Mormon quoted above applies. It is well understood by mankind that God blesses his children. What is not as well known is what this verse explains: God only blesses his children. Some persons are wont to attribute curses to God, and the scriptures actually use that word.
But this verse in the Book of Mormon tells us that any so-called curse from God is actually a blessing and will result in some great benefit and opportunity for the recipient. Thus, God only blesses. Everything he does is to advance the happiness, power, and well-being of his children. But again, he will not put upon any child of his any blessing in eternity that a person cannot profit from. Thus some are damned to spare them blessings which would cause them to regress. And this damnation itself is a blessing.
The Problem of Evil in the World
2. This verse solves the problem of evil in the world. Anything is evil if it is not as good as it could or should be. Every human sin is evil, something which need not and should not be.
For every human sin shortens the blessings and welfare of the sinner’s fellow beings. God’s commandments are given so that we will have guidance and power not to do evil, but to bless only, even as God does. God holds each human being accountable for all evil each has done, and our Savior counts any evil we do to any person as if we had done it unto him. If we repent of doing evil, our Savior forgives us. But if we will not and do not repent, he must hold us accountable on the day of judgment.
But there is a lot of evil in this world that is not the doing of any human being. There are diseases, natural disasters such as storms and volcanic activity, opposition from wild animals, heat and cold that devastate, etc. The point of this special scripture from the Book of Mormon is that all so-called evil in this world is the hand of God delivering something to his human children which will eventuate blessings that they will eventually recognize and be grateful for.
For God’s hand is in all things. Nothing happens in this universe except with his permission. He lets what we call evil treatment by humans and by natural disasters in nature function as avenues for blessings greater than the evils humans suffer. Thus each human should be grateful for any suffering he or she undergoes, understanding that if he or she will turn to God as a little child and humbly submits to the so-called evils that come upon them, that paves the way for greater blessings from God.
“For the natural man (a man without Christ in this mortal world) is an enemy (does not love) to God, and has been since the fall of Adam (because of the influence and temptations of Satan) and will be forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit (accepts Jesus Christ as his father and guide), and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint (having the companionship of the Holy Spirit) through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love (for Christ and for all of God’s creation), willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him (to bless him), even as a child doth submit to his father (for that person who comes unto Christ counts Christ as his father)” (Mosiah 3:19)
This discussion of evil makes no sense to those who do not believe in the immortality of the human soul: no pre-mortal and no post-mortal human existence. For only in the post-mortal life do all the evils of mortality become known as blessings.
Thus everything God brings to pass happens because God is using it to bless his children, to help each enjoy all the blessings and powers of God himself if they can stand to receive such magnificence.
Shedding Great Light on God’s Commandments
3. This verse sheds great light on the commandments God has given to us, his mortal children. Salvation in Christ is to change our personal character from the way we were, as the natural man in this mortality, into the character and nature of Christ himself. This is done by the individual exercising faith in Christ unto repentance from everything we are and do that is not like him, to “come unto the measure of the fullness of the stature of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:13)
This explains why our Savior commands us to: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven, for he maketh his sun to shine upon the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust … Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect.” (Mathew 5: 44-48) This is what Christ himself does, and he bids us to follow his example.
This verse in the Book of Mormon is the most important verse because it clarifies for us the most important characteristic of our God: that his heart is filled only with unmixed, pure love for all of his children and for all creation. Knowing the most important thing about God our Father is the most important thing any human could know. And gaining and using that pure love from him in order to purely minister to others is the most important thing any human will ever do.
Guest Post: Chauncy C. Riddle
Author of “Think Independently”.