Mosiah 3:19

[pam]

Mosiah 3Â*

19 For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.

Quotes for Discussion

“One of the most disputed issues among so-called Christian theologians has been the question of the basic nature of man. Some of these theologians have argued that man is born evil into this world as an infant; thus the only way this evil can be removed is by receiving the sacrament of baptism. Still other theologians have argued that man is born innocent and remains basically good; some of them thus conclude that inasmuch as man is basically good he has no need for a redeemer to atone for his sins.

“It should be clear to students of the Book of Mormon that the prophets definitely reject both the doctrine of the natural depravity of man and the doctrine that man is so good by nature he has no need for a redeemer. Benjamin, the prophet and king of the Nephites, said that ‘an angel from God’ taught him that although infants are born in a state of innocence, after they become accountable they can become enemies to God if they do not accept the saving principles and ordinances of the gospel.” (Daniel Ludlow, A Companion to Your Study of the Book of Mormon, pp. 177-8)

Brigham Young

“How difficult it is to teach the natural man, who comprehends nothing more than that which he sees with the natural eye!…Talk to him about angels, heavens, God, immortality, and eternal lives, and it is like sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal to his ears; it has no music to him; there is nothing in it that charms his senses, soothes his feelings, attracts his attention, or engages his affections, in the least.” (JD 1:2 as taken from King Benjamin’s Speech: Made Simple, by John W. Welch, and Stephen D. Ricks, p. 17)

Hartman Rector Jr.

“(Speaking of Mosiah 3:19) This is strong testimony borne against man, but a perusal of the pages of history leaves little doubt as to its truthfulness. Man's inhumanity to man has always been and is now everywhere in evidence.

“How can fallen human nature be changed from evil to good? Basically, this must be the most important question confronting mankind. All other questions seem to pale into insignificance when compared to this one, because man cannot be saved in his sins. And yet there are those who say, ‘You can't change human nature.’ This claim is very frequently and flippantly made. Of course it is false. President David O. McKay taught something completely different from this in 1945 when he said: ‘Human nature will have to be changed on an enormous scale in the future or the world will be drowned in its own blood.’” (Conference Report, Apr. 1970, p. 102)

The angel gives Benjamin four steps of the process of spiritual rebirth. They are:

1) yield to the enticings of the Holy Spirit

2) put off the natural man

3) become a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord

4) become as a child.

“The transformation from the natural state to the spiritual state…is accomplished only through the mediation and atonement of Jesus Christ, through the power of the Holy Ghost. No one goes from death to life without that enabling power we call the grace of God. Programs to develop self-control, plans to modify human behavior, and schemes directed toward the shaping of more appropriate actions have fallen and will forever fall far short of the mark which Christ has set. These programs are at best deficient and at worst perverse. In the language of President Ezra Taft Benson:

‘The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature.’ ("Born of God" 6)

“Those who are born again or born from above-who die as to the things of unrighteousness and begin to live again as pertaining to the things of the Spirit-are like little children. First and foremost, these people are, like children, clean and pure. Through the atoning blood of Christ they have had their sins remitted and have entered the realm of divine experience. Putting off the natural man involves putting on Christ. As Paul counseled the Saints in his day, those who put off the ‘old man’ are ‘renewed in the spirit of [their] mind.’ They ‘put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness’ (Ephesians 4:22-24), and ‘which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him’(Colossians 3:10).” (Book of Mormon Symposium Series, edited by PR Cheesman, MS Nyman, and CD Tate, Jr., 1988, p. 155)

Bruce R. McConkie

“If a man ‘yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord’ (Mosiah 3:19), then he is born again. His spiritual death ceases. He becomes alive to the things of the Spirit; he returns to the presence of God because he receives the gift of the Holy Ghost; and he is alive to the things of righteousness. He crucifies the old man of sin, becomes a new creature of the Holy Ghost, and walks in a newness of life. This is what is meant by being born again.” (The Promised Messiah, p. 350)