King Benjamin's people react to his speech in chapter 4. Did I mention last week that Ben-Yamin means son of my right hand? It indicates a favored person, and King Benjamin certainly was favored by both his people and the Lord. Anyway, according to verse 2, the Nephites "had viewed themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth. And they all cried aloud with one voice, saying: O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be purified; for we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who created heaven and earth, and all things; who shall come down among the children of men."

There's an interesting consequence of their humility that occurs in verse 3: "And it came to pass that after they had spoken these words the Spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they were filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins, and having peace of conscience, because of the exceeding faith which they had in Jesus Christ who should come, according to the words which king Benjamin had spoken unto them." This is a striking picture of the process of repentance painted in the first three verses of Mosiah 4.

We're not done yet, however. King Benjamin emphasizes diligence as a necessary prerequisite to salvation. Starting with verse 6 we read: "I say unto you, if ye have come to a knowledge of the goodness of God, and his matchless power, and his wisdom, and his patience, and his long-suffering towards the children of men; and also, the atonement which has been prepared from the foundation of the world, that thereby salvation might come to him that should put his trust in the Lord, and should be diligent in keeping his commandments, and continue in the faith even unto the end of his life, I mean the life of the mortal body -- I say, that this is the man who receiveth salvation, through the atonement which was prepared from the foundation of the world for all mankind, which ever were since the fall of Adam, or who are, or who ever shall be, even unto the end of the world." So the same means of salvation is given to us as was given to the ancient Nephites, or any other people who ever lived, and that means includes being diligent in keeping the commandments and continuing in faith until the end of our lives. It's not a one day thing where you utter the name of the Lord, magically become "saved," and go on with your life. As popular as that concept is in non-denominational Christianity, that's not how God works.

King Benjamin stresses that there's only a single way to salvation -- don't bother looking for loopholes or alternate routes. You have to believe in God, you have to "repent of your sins and forsake them" (verse 10), and you have to always remember the Lord, "calling upon the name of the Lord daily, and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel" (verse 11). Do you remember what was spoken by the mouth of the angel? Last week we talked about the fact that an angel had appeared to King Benjamin and instructed him in things that formed a major part of his speech: the life, ministry, and sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and Him as the only means of salvation for mankind. Verse 12: "And behold, I say unto you that if ye do this ye shall always rejoice, and be filled with the love of God, and always retain a remission of your sins; and ye shall grow in the knowledge of the glory of him that created you, or in the knowledge of that which is just and true." So a remission of sins is not something to be taken for granted: you need to follow certain steps (diligence) to retain it.

An exceedingly large portion of the commandments are economic, and that's what King Benjamin gets into for pretty much the rest of the chapter. Be on the lookout for attitudes that are popular in contemporary society; this is stuff that applies to us just as much as it did to the Nephites. Due respect for others and care for the temporal and spiritual needs of one's children are stressed first. This is how it should be: honesty in your dealings with others is an absolute necessity for those who would claim to be followers of Christ. Likewise, taking care of the needs of one's own family is prerequisite to being able to comply with the following commandments.

Verse 16: "And also, ye yourselves will succor those that stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need; and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish." In other words, there is no excuse for anyone to be starving in places where there is an established community of those who would call themselves Latter-day Saints. It reflects poorly on us. Here's an attitude we see frequently these days, an ideology I've heard expressed even in the Elders Quoroms of the Church: "Perhaps thou shalt say: The man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments are just" (verse 17). That's a bad idea; it's not our place to judge whether someone in poverty is deserving of our help or not. We should never, ever say they deserve what they are getting. The consequences of doing so are great, as explained in verse 18: "But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this the same hath great cause to repent; and except he repenteth of that which he hath done he perisheth forever, and hath no interest in the kingdom of God."

These principles are really emphasized. The only reason we have been blessed with more than we need is to see if we will use it to help those who don't. That is the commandment of God -- it's effectively the law of consecration, and a prerequisite to salvation. Instead of being obedient to these oft-repeated commandments, however, we choose to spend our excess on luxuries for ourselves. We buy iPhones, big screen televisions, new cars, and other such stuff. We don't seem to notice that when Spencer W. Kimball spoke of possessions as false idols, he was talking about my iPhone, about your car, or about your television. It's us who are committing the grave sin of idolatry, at the expense of the suffering poor. Do we think that we'll have place in the Lord's kingdom when we've let his children starve so that we could spend the money he's lent to us on false idols?

These instructions are so important that King Benjamin repeats them in verses 21 and 22: "And now, if God, who has created you, on whom you are dependent for your lives and for all that ye have and are, doth grant unto you whatsoever ye ask that is right, in faith, believing that ye shall receive, O then, how ye ought to impart of the substance that ye have one to another. And if ye judge the man who putteth up his petition to you for your substance that he perish not, and condemn him, how much more just will be your condemnation for withholding your substance, which doth not belong to you but to God, to whom also your life belongeth; and yet ye put up no petition, nor repent of the thing which thou hast done." Unfortunately, in my experience, it has mostly only been the poor who have followed these instructions in the first place. I visit all sorts of people, and it's the ones in the most abject poverty that concern themselves greatly to make sure I have something to eat and a place to stay at night while visiting their town. It breaks my heart to see the suffering act so selflessly while those of us who have refuse to use it toward helping others.

The same thing has occurred throughout Church history. The Saints seem to only be able to live the law of consecration during hard times. Where the United Order was established, it tended to fall apart when the people became prosperous and, having the taste of prosperity, some desired more. It takes only three words to break your covenants and destroy the United Order: "It is mine." The struggling economy and concerns over recession and depression are the hot topics of the news lately, and I can't help but wonder if God isn't blessing us by taking away the distraction of money. The suffering related to poverty isn't fun, but it seems to be the only way we'll ditch our pride for long enough to serve the Lord.

Once again, in verse 26: "And now, for the sake of these things which I have spoken unto you -- that is, for the sake of retaining a remission of your sins from day to day, that ye may walk guiltless before God -- I would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to their wants." One of my favorite scriptures of all time is from the New Testament, James 1:27: "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world."

King Benjamin makes an excellent remark towards the end of chapter 4, in verse 29: "And finally, I cannot tell you all the things whereby ye may commit sin; for there are divers ways and means, even so many that I cannot number them." Watch yourselves, he tells us, and keep the commandments and endure to the end.

Again the Nephites have a strong, favorable reaction to King Benjamin's words. In chapter 5, verse 2: "And they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually." The Nephites then make a covenant to be obedient to God's commandments for the rest of their lives, and so King Benjamin can make good on his promise to give them a new name. This is an important part of many ancient traditions, by the way. In verse 7: "And now, because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters." He exhorts his people to always remember this name and to keep the commandments, since it can only be blotted out "through transgression" (verse 11).

In chapter 6, the names of everyone who entered into the covenant with God to keep his commandments were taken down. Verse 2 reads: "And it came to pass that there was not one soul, except it were little children, but who had entered into the covenant and had taken upon them the name of Christ." Priests were ordained to teach the Nephites, and Mosiah was given charge of the kingdom. The death of King Benjamin is mentioned in verse 5. Verses 6 and 7 mention that Mosiah was a righteous king who worked the earth himself for his own support. Next week we get to learn what happened to the people who followed Zeniff back to the land of Nephi.

Further Reading

Church Educational System, Church History in the Fulness of Times (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2000).

Spencer W. Kimball, The False Gods We Worship (Ensign, June 1976).

John W. Welch, Stephen D. Ricks, King Benjamin's Speech: "That Ye May Learn Wisdom" (Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1998).

Neal A. Maxwell, Men and Women of Christ (Bookcraft, 1991).