2 Nephi 2:5

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Reference Search: 2 Nephi 2:5

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.

Quotes for Discussion

Know good from evil

Parents and teachers need to know that a youngster can tell right from wrong. This knowledge may be distorted or perverted or covered up in unfortunate life experiences, but intuitively, as a part of the spiritual endowment of all humanity, there is a knowledge of right from wrong.

That gives me great hope, for then I understand that every child of God, however reprobate [corrupt] he may have become…has hidden within him the spark of divinity and a sensitivity to that which is wrong as compared to that which is right.

Boyd K. Packer, Teach Ye Diligently, pp. 81-82

“No flesh justified by law”

Men…would be cut off temporally because they do not keep the law perfectly; and they would be cut off spiritually because…”no unclean thing can dwell…in [God’s] presence” (Moses 6:57).

Gerald N. Lund, Jesus Christ, Key to the Plan of Salvation, 88

Obedience to the law, be it the law of Moses or the fulness of gospel law, will not resurrect or exalt a man. Had there been no atoning sacrifice there would be no resurrection, no eternal life, no celestial kingdom, no saved beings. Only in that which Christ did for us, that which we could not do for ourselves, is the hope of salvation granted to men.

Some have falsely supposed that salvation comes by obedience to divine law alone, and that God is God by virtue of his knowledge of eternal laws coupled with his ability to live in harmony with them. Were this the case, law would be our God; no atoning sacrifice, no redeemer would have been necessary. Such a doctrine makes of God a divine engineer, a master scientist, who, having discovered eternal law, now conforms his every action to it. In fact, law is the servant of God, not his master or copartner. God is the giver of the law, the author and maker of it. Such is the testimony of all scripture- such was the doctrine of the Prophet Joseph Smith. (See D&C 29:31-35; D&C 82:4; D&C 88:36-38; Teachings, p. 354.)

Joseph Fielding McConkie and Robert L. Millet, Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, 4 vols., 1:, p.193)

We believe that through the sufferings, death, and atonement of Jesus Christ all mankind, without one exception, are to be completely and fully redeemed, both body and spirit, from the endless banishment and curse to which they were consigned by Adam's transgression; and that this universal salvation and redemption of the whole human family from the endless penalty of the original sin, is effected without any conditions whatever on their part; that is, they are not required to believe or repent, or be baptized, or do anything else, in order to be redeemed from that penalty; for whether they believe or disbelieve, whether they repent or remain impenitent, whether they are baptized or unbaptized, whether they keep the commandments or break them, whether they are righteous or unrighteous, it will make no difference in relation to their redemption, both soul and body, from the penalty of Adam's transgression. The most righteous man that ever lived on the earth, and the most wicked wretch of the whole human family, were both placed under the same curse without any transgression or agency of their own, and they both alike will be redeemed from that curse, without any agency or conditions on their part.

Apostle Orson Pratt, in James E. Talmage, Articles of Faith, p.430

The Individual effect of the Atonement makes it possible for any and every soul to obtain absolution from the effect of personal sins, through the mediation of Christ; but such saving intercession is to be invoked by individual effort as manifested through faith, repentance, and continued works of righteousness. The laws under which individual salvation is obtainable have been prescribed by Christ, whose right it is to say how the blessings made possible by His own sacrifice shall be administered. All men are in need of the Savior's mediation, for all are transgressors….That the blessing of redemption from individual sins, while open for all to attain, is nevertheless conditioned on individual effort, is as plainly declared as is the truth of unconditional redemption from death as an effect of the fall. There is a judgment ordained for all, and all will be judged "according to their works." The free agency of man enables him to choose or reject, to follow the path of life or the road that leads to destruction; therefore it is but just that he be held to answer for the exercise of his power of choice and that he meet the results of his acts.

James E. Talmage, Articles of Faith, p.81