Book of Mormon Lesson Plan 11

The Doctrine of Christ

Baptism

Look for the answers to the following two questions in 2 Nephi 31:5-10

• Why was Jesus baptized?
• To show us and set an example (v 7, 9)
• That he was humble (v 7)
• Witness to the Father (v 7)
• That he would be obedient and keep his commandments (v 7, 9)
• So he could receive the Holy Ghost (v 8)
• Why do we need to be baptized?
• To be humble
• To witness to the Father
• That we will be obedient and keep his commandments
• So we can receive the Holy Ghost
• And follow the example of the Son
• I like the word “witness” in verse 7.  What does it mean to witness?
• Greek term translated as “witness” in the OT and NT is μαρτυς – or martyr.  One of the ways we witness that we are willing to follow Jesus is by symbolically dying and being born again.
• When we witness something, we gain or share first-hand knowledge.  It involves commitment.

 

No Hypocrisy

Nephi encourages his people in verse 13 to act with full purpose of heart, without hypocrisy or guile.  What does that mean?

• Our whole soul is motivated by pleasing God and following his word
• We’re doing it for any reason other than wanting to do what is right.
• How do we put that into practice in our daily lives and actions?

 

Cleansing

Following baptism, we are cleansed by the power of the Holy Ghost.  Read verse 17.  Note that the remission of our sins comes after baptism by the power of the Holy Ghost.

 

As a kid, I often got splinters in my hands.  Mom would send me to wash my hands, and she would grab a needle and run it through a flame.  Why did she do that?  She was killing the germs.  Here we had water and fire working together to clean something and remove impurities.

 

The Witness of the Holy Ghost

Now that we have been baptized and received the Holy Ghost, we can receive a witness of the Father through the Holy Ghost. 

• Why is this important?
• How does the Holy Ghost witness to us? 
• More importantly, how does the Holy Ghost witness to you?

Endure to the End

Read 2 Nephi 31:19-20

• Imagine we are living in a wonderful kingdom, and you have been invited to an elegant ball at the royal palace.  You don’t come into the front gate and get a few feet in and hang out with the gardeners.  You go all the way to the house and enter to greet the king.  Same with the gospel.  Don’t quit with baptism and say “I’ve arrived.”  That gets you into the Celestial Kingdom, but not into the King’s palace!  Think about that…
• Revisit those verses.  What is it that got us this far?  Jesus Christ.  Look at these words:
• Unshaken faith
• Relying wholly upon the merits of Christ
• Steadfastness in Christ
• We are not saved by faith in our ability to repent, our ability to do better, or our ability to obey the commandments.  We are saved by Christ and our absolute, complete dependence on him.

Time permitting

Read 2 Nephi 32:3-5. 

• Here is the first recorded “show and tell.” 
• Why did that work as a kid?  It got us interested and helped us understand a concept.

Read 2 Nephi 33:15.  Nephi’s last verse summarizes the habit that defines Nephi to me.  “The Lord has commanded, and I must obey.”  How can we become more like that?