DAY 28 – II Nephi 1:55-100

55 And now, Zoram, I speak unto you: Behold, thou art the servant of Laban; nevertheless, thou hast been brought out of the land of Jerusalem, and I know that thou art a true friend unto my son Nephi, for ever.
56 Wherefore, because thou hast been faithful, thy seed shall be blessed with his seed, that they dwell in prosperity long upon the face of this land;
57 And nothing, save it shall be iniquity among them, shall harm or disturb their prosperity upon the face of this land for ever.
58 Wherefore, if ye shall keep the commandments of the Lord, the Lord hath consecrated this land for the security of thy seed with the seed of my son.
59 And now, Jacob, I speak unto you: Thou art my first born in the days of my tribulation in the wilderness.
60 And behold, in thy childhood thou hast suffered afflictions and much sorrow, because of the rudeness of thy brethren.
61 Nevertheless, Jacob, my first born in the wilderness, thou knowest the greatness of God; and he shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain.
62 Wherefore thy soul shall be blessed, and thou shalt dwell safely with thy brother Nephi; and thy days shall be spent in the service of thy God.
63 Wherefore, I know that thou art redeemed, because of the righteousness of thy Redeemer: for thou hast beheld, that in the fullness of time, he cometh to bring salvation unto men.
64 And thou hast beheld in thy youth his glory; wherefore, thou art blessed even as they unto whom he shall minister in the flesh:
65 For the Spirit is the same, yesterday, to-day, and for ever.
66 And the way is prepared from the fall of man, and salvation is free.
67 And men are instructed sufficiently, that they know good from evil.
68 And the law is given unto men.
69 And by the law, no flesh is justified, or, by the law, men are cut off.
70 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 for ever.
71 Wherefore, redemption cometh in and through the holy Messiah: for he is full of grace and truth.
72 Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered.
73 Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the holy Messiah,
74 Who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit,
75 That he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise.
76 Wherefore, he is the first fruits unto God, inasmuch as he shall make intercession for all the children of men;
77 And they that believe in him, shall be saved.
78 And because of the intercession for all, all men come unto God;
79 Wherefore, they stand in the presence of him, to be judged of him, according to the truth and holiness which is in him.
80 Wherefore, the ends of the law which the Holy One hath given, unto the inflicting of the punishment which is affixed, which punishment that is affixed is in opposition to that of the happiness which is affixed, to answer the ends of the atonement;
81 For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things.
82 If not so, my first born in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass; neither wickedness; neither holiness nor misery; neither good nor bad.
83 Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one;
84 Wherefore, if it should be one body, it must needs remain as dead, having no life, neither death nor corruption, nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.
85 Wherefore, it must needs have been created for a thing of nought;
86 Wherefore, there would have been no purpose in the end of its creation.
87 Wherefore, this thing must needs destroy the wisdom of God, and his eternal purposes; and also, the power, and the mercy, and the justice of God.
88 And if ye shall say there is no law, ye shall also say there is no sin.
89 And if ye shall say there is no sin, ye shall also say there is no righteousness.
90 And if there be no righteousness, there be no happiness.
91 And if there be no righteousness nor happiness, there be no punishment nor misery.
92 And if these things are not, there is no God.
93 And if there is no God, we are not, neither the earth, for there could have been no creation of things, neither to act nor to be acted upon; wherefore, all things must have vanished away.
94 And now, my son, I speak unto you these things, for your profit and learning:
95 For there is a God, and he hath created all things, both the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them is;
96 Both things to act, and things to be acted upon;
97 And to bring about his eternal purposes in the end of man, after he had created our first parents, and the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and in fine, all things which are created, it must needs be that there was an opposition;
98 Even the forbidden fruit in opposition to the tree of life; the one being sweet and the other bitter;
99 Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man, that he should act for himself.
100 Wherefore, man could not act for himself, save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other.