D&C 59:9-12 - What does it mean to be "unspotted from the world" and how do we become unspotted?

All of us live in the world which is full of confusion, contention, and misinterpretation. The gospel is the one thing that contains the fullness of the truth on this earth. The best way to become unspotted from the world is to dedicate ourselves to the gospel and its teachings. God provides us with the Holy Ghost to guide us in the direction He would have us go. Amidst all of the chaos of this world, we can keep ourselves unspotted from the world by holding fast to God's teachings and living our lives like He asks us to.

In D&C 59:9-12, the Lord says that the best way to keep ourselves unspotted from the world is by participating in the sacrament every Sunday. The Sabbath day is appointed unto us to "rest from [our] labors, and to pay [our] devotions unto the Most High" (D&C 59:10). We should apply our weekly sacramental covenants to every other day of our lives. Each time we partake of the sacrament, we should repent of our sins and seek to improve our lives.

In John 17:15, Christ tells his disciples, “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.” Christ doesn't ask us to stay away from the world, but to stay away from the evils of the world. The point of our coming here to earth is to "mingle with the sons of men, to gain an experience that will bring them back to God; but not to partake of the sins of the world" (Ensign, David O. McKay "Unspotted from the World," August 2009). Christ has overcome the world, and we should follow His example--not by taking ourselves out of the world, but keeping ourselves from evil (see John 16:33).

David O. McKay analyzed these verses and said that we should not "conform to the fashions of the world." We should avoid temptations, which come in multiple forms: "temptation of the appetite; a yielding to the pride and fashion and vanity of those alienated from the things of God; or a gratifying of the passion, or a desire for the riches of the world, or power among men." Temptations may come in the same quiet way that spiritual promptings come. Our decision to respond to those temptations will weaken us, whereas if we choose to actively follow spiritually promptings we will be strengthened immensely. We can train ourselves to respond quickly to those spiritual promptings, avoiding the temptations of the world. Because we choose to act in accordance to God's will, we will be called "a peculiar people"--God's people. We can know that we are living exactly as God wants us to live, and as a result we will be extremely blessed and be an incredible example to others! (Ensign, David O. McKay "Unspotted from the World," August 2009)

Mosiah 15:11-12 - Who is Christ's seed?

11 Behold I say unto you, that whosoever has heard the words of the prophets, yea, all the holy prophets who have prophesied concerning the coming of the Lord—I say unto you, that all those who have hearkened unto their words, and believed that the Lord would redeem his people, and have looked forward to that day for a remission of their sins, I say unto you, that these are his seed, or they are the heirs of the kingdom of God.

12 For these are they whose sins he has borne; these are they for whom he has died, to redeem them from their transgressions. And now, are they not his seed?

Those who accept God's word and are baptized into his church become heirs to the kingdom of God. Every person baptized into the church becomes a part of Abraham's posterity and enjoys the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant.

We cannot become like Christ and receive the spiritual blessings of being God's seed if we are not willing to do our part. Bruce C. Hafen of the first Quorum of the Seventy said, "The Savior’s grace blesses [us] if we do our part. . . . We need grace both to overcome sinful weeds and to grow divine flowers. We can do neither one fully by ourselves. But grace is not cheap. . . .If we desire 'all that [the] Father hath' (D&C 84:38),  God asks all that we have. To qualify for such exquisite treasure, in whatever way is ours, we must give the way Christ gave—every drop He had: 'How exquisite you know not, yea, how hard to bear you know not' (D&C 19:15). Paul said, 'If so be that we suffer with him,' we are 'joint-heirs with Christ' (Romans 8:17). All of His heart, all of our hearts" (Ensign, "The Atonement, All for All," May 2004).

So we must do everything in our power to live righteously if we want to receive of God's grace. However, this does not mean God will not bless us along the way. The reason Christ suffered the atonement was so that He could understand all of our trials, pains, sufferings, etc. He suffered so that He could help us along the way. He isn't going to watch us struggle on our own until we're about to give up--He is right by our side the whole way.

We will receive the greatest blessings of the Abrahamic covenant if we keep our end of our covenants with God. We must keep our promises to follow His commandments and stand as a witness of God at all times and in all things and in all places, and in return God will bless us with His Spirit to guide us. We will be more in tune with the Spirit and more able to recognize God's hand in our lives.

Mosiah 4 - What can we learn and apply to our lives from King Benjamin in this chapter?

The first words that come out of King Benjamin's mouth in this chapter are, "My friends and my brethren, my kindred and my people" (Mosiah 4:4). We can already see the relationship King Benjamin has with his people. These words show that he truly cares and has a deep friendship with his audience. Throughout the chapter, we also see that he has an incredible testimony of God.

Some things that King Benjamin instructs in this chapter which we can apply to our own lives include the following actions:
- Trust in the Lord
- Be diligent in keeping God's commandments
- Believe in God - that he created all things, that he has all wisdom and power, that we can't comprehend all that he can comprehend.
- Repent and forsake your sins.
- Humble yourself.
- Ask God for forgiveness.
- Remember God's greatness and your own nothingness.
- Call on the name of the Lord daily.
- Stand steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come (Christ's reign on earth).

As a result of these actions, we will:
- Receive salvation.
- Always rejoice and be filled with the love of God.
- Always retain a remission of our sins.
- Grow in the knowledge of God.
- Live peaceably.
- Raise our children righteously.
- Help those that need help.

It is neat to see that if we do what King Benjamin tells us to do, we will naturally live righteously and seek opportunities to help others in the gospel. As observed by Elder Neal A. Maxwell, the virtues that King Benjamin encourages us to develop are "meekness, humility, patience, love, and spiritual submissiveness." Elder Maxwell states that we will never be able to repay God for all that He has blessed us with, but King Benjamin tells us that we must consecrate our lives to God so that we can become more and more like the Savior. Elder Maxwell says, "This objective—knowing and becoming like the Master—is at the heart of King Benjamin’s valedictory address"  (Ensign, "King Benjamin's Manual of Discipleship," January 1992).

3 Nephi 18:13 - What does God mean when He says that we should not do "more or less" than what He asks us to do?

How do we make sure that we are following God's commandments perfectly without doing "more or less"?

D&C 93:24 states: "And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come; And whatsoever is more or less than this is the spirit of that wicked one who was a liar from the beginning."

Elder Stephen E. Robinson stated: "In the context of the gospel, truth is what God has actually said, what he actually directs, what he actually requires—no more and no less. On a strait and narrow path (see D&C 132:22), it doesn’t matter whether we fall off to the right or to the left, we are in trouble either way. It doesn’t matter whether we are 'liberals' or 'conservatives,' whether we believe 'too little' or 'too much'—that is, if Satan can’t get us to abandon the principles of the gospel, he is content that we should live them obsessively or as fanatics. One is less than the will of the Lord; the other adds human requirements to his will. Either puts us in the territory of the wicked one. There are those today who are embarrassed that God and his servants have said so much on some things and who go about trying to discredit the Brethren and neutralize the revelations and commandments. We have others who are embarrassed that God and his servants have not said more on other things and who go about preaching principles and programs the Lord has not revealed. One takes words out of God’s mouth; the other puts them in. Each preaches a 'new, improved' gospel inspired by that wicked one who was a liar from the beginning, the very first alternate voice. It requires discipline to embrace as gospel and to teach as gospel exactly what the Lord has revealed, no more and no less, and to avoid revising the gospel to suit ourselves. But those who can do it will know things as they really are (see Jacob 4:13) and will avoid deception" (Ensign, "Enduring to the End," October 1993).

The gospel is simple. We can know exactly what the Lord wants us to do because of the commandments he has given us. Elder Henry B. Eyring said, "You will notice that the work is simple obedience. It is not complicated things; it is not fancy things or getting great spiritual manifestations" (Ensign, "A Life Founded in Life and Truth," July 2001).

The Spirit is what guides us to know what is right and wrong. President Joseph Fielding Smith said, "Every man has a conscience and knows more or less when he does wrong, and the Spirit guides him if he will hearken to its whisperings" (Doctrines of Salvation, comp. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols. [1954–56], 1:51.) We can all know the Lord's will by listening to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and obeying with exactness.

2 Nephi 29:1-2 - What does this verse mean when looking at the phrase ". . . when I shall proceed to do a marvelous work . . ."?

There is an editing technique called "parsing" that allows the reader to analyze specific clauses of a text and how those clauses modify each other. Each clause touching the left side of the margin is viewed as an independent clause, independent of previous clauses. Clauses that don't touch the left side of the margin modify the clause above them.
I was interested in analyzing 2 Nephi 29:1-2 to see how punctuation affects the meaning of the verses.


     But behold, 
there shall be many—
at that day 


Why is there an em dash after many?
In the above parsing interpretation, at that day does not modify many; rather it begins a whole new idea independent of there shall be many because of the em dash. But I would interpret the verse as shown below (where at that day and the clauses that follow refer back to many. This way, the questions of "who" many refers to and "when" there shall be many are answered):



     But behold,
there shall be many—
                         at that day
                                     when I shall proceed to do a marvelous work 
                                                                                         among them, 
                                                   that I may remember my covenants 
                                                                                     which I have made unto the children of men, 
                                                   that I may set my hand again 
                                                                                       the second time 
                                                                           to recover my people, 
                                                                                                    which are of the house of Israel;


Here, the em dash places greater emphasis on the content of the verse after there shall be many. In Royal Skousen's book, The Book of Mormon: The Earliest Text, Skousen states that John Gilbert, who added punctuation to the 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon, added more punctuation than is probably necessary for modern writing (xlii). Skousen's interpretation of 2 Nephi 29:1 takes out the em dash after there shall be many to clarify the meaning of the verse. Perhaps Gilbert, when he put in the punctuation, thought that it was important to emphasize the fact that many people will be present at that day when Christ performs a marvelous work. This verse shows that there is hope for many of us.

Verse two is a continuation of verse one, where that I may remember the promises modifies the phrase, I shall proceed to do a marvelous work.

 2And also,
                                                   that I may remember the promises
                                                                                          which I have made unto thee, Nephi,
                                                                                                             and also unto thy father,
                                                                                          that I would remember your seed;
                                            and that the words of your seed should proceed forth
                                                                                                                                 out of my mouth 
                                                                                                                                 unto your seed;
and my words shall hiss forth
                                     unto the ends of the earth,
                                     for a standard unto my people,
                                                                                which are of the house of Israel;

It is a neat discovery to see that there are several reasons that Christ will proceed to do a marvelous work and a wonder. He will do a marvelous work 1) that He may remember His covenants which He has made unto the children of men, 2) that He may set His hand again the second time to recover His people, which are of the house of Israel, 3) that He may remember the promises which He has made that He would remember the seed of Nephi, and 4) that the words of Nephi's seed should proceed forth out of God's mouth unto Nephi's seed.

Because of these results, God's words shall "hiss forth unto the ends of the earth, for a standard unto my people, which are of the house of Israel."