2 Nephi 31:13

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Reference Search: 2 Nephi 31:13

13 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I know that if ye shall follow the Son, with full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real intent, repenting of your sins, witnessing unto the Father that ye are willing to take upon you the name of Christ, by baptism-yea, by following your Lord and your Savior down into the water, according to his word, behold, then shall ye receive the Holy Ghost; yea, then cometh the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost; and then can ye speak with the tongue of angels, and shout praises unto the Holy One of Israel.

Quotes for Discussion

Follow Christ’s Example of Baptism

It is good to see these youngsters here this morning….How were you baptized? “Put your head down under the water and brought you back up.” …How was Christ baptized? “He was baptized the same way.” Who did it? “John the Baptism.” …He put him right under the water, didn’t he? …What happened after he came up out of the water? …Was there any voice that said anything? “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). He never said that before he was baptized, did he? …It was after he was “dunked” under the water and brought back up, then the voice of the Father came from heaven and said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” That’s what he says about you because you were baptized under the water and brought up. You may not have heard the voice, but God was saying about you, “This is my boy, in whom I am well pleased.”

Matthew Cowley Speaks [salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1954], 364-365

“Acting no hypocrisy”

Speaking about the many times Jesus condemned hypocrisy, President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., said: “Taking the New Testament alone, you will gain little idea of the kind of life the Romans led in Palestine, the kind of life that the Christ condemned, and yet….it has seemed to me that the one sin that the Savior condemned as much as any other was the sin of hypocrisy—the living of the double life, the life we let our friends and sometimes our wives believe, and the life we actually life” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1960, p. 90).

The word hypocrite is translated from a Greek word meaning an actor on the stage. A hypocrite is, therefore, a person who pretends to be something he is not, or one who assumes different roles that do not reflect his real thinking and feeling.

Nephi wrote that we must follow Christ “with full purpose of heart” and “with real intent” (2 Nephi 31:13) to receive the blessings of the Holy Ghost. “Full purpose of heart” suggests a total commitment of the inner man to Christ; “real intent” conveys the idea of sincere or pure motives. Moroni later wrote of this principle when he indicated that a testimony of the book of Mormon is received through seeking “with a sincere heart, with real intent” (Moroni 10:4). He also wrote that true righteousness is based on the intent of the heart (see Moroni 7:6-9).

BYU BOM Student Manual, p. 43

Receive the Holy Ghost

Now I am going to say something that maybe I could not prove, but I believe is true, that we have a great many members of this Church who have never received a manifestation through the Holy Ghost. Why? Because they have not made their lives conform to the truth. And the Holy Ghost will not dwell in unclean tabernacles or disobedient tabernacles. The Holy Ghost will not dwell with that person who is unwilling to obey and keep the commandments of God or who violates those commandments willfully. In such a soul the spirit of the Holy Ghost cannot enter. That great gift comes to us only through humility and faith and obedience. Therefore, a great many members of the Church do not have that guidance. Then some cunning, crafty individual will come along teaching that which is not true, and without guidance which is promised to us through our faithfulness, people are unable to discern and are led astray. It depends on our faithfulness and our obedience to the commandments of the Lord if we have the teachings, the enlightening instruction, that comes from the Holy Ghost.

When we are disobedient, when our minds are set upon the things of this world rather than on the things of the kingdom of God, we cannot have the manifestations of the Holy Ghost. Did you ever stop to think what a great privilege it is for us to have the companionship of one of the members of the Godhead? Have you thought of it that way? That is our privilege, if we keep the commandments the Lord has given us.

Joseph Fielding Smith, We Are Here to Be Tried, Tested, Proved, Brigham Young University Speeches of the Year [25 Oct. 1961], pp. 4-5