Come Follow Me - Mosiah 1-3 (part 2): "No Other Name"

A verse-by-verse study of Mosiah 2-3, examining the place of grace and works in salvation, and exploring 3 key elements of conversion: humility, righteous desires, and faith in Christ. Part 2 of a 2-part series to accompany your Come Follow Me study of the Book of Mormon for April 13-19.
Disclaimer: The content of these videos is the sole responsibility of their creator and does not reflect the official position of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or the Church Educational System. Images used herein are intended for educational purposes alone and remain the intellectual property of their creators.

[@laceyosborn3223]

I cannot express enough how thankful I am for these videos. They have transformed my study and created opportunities for personal revelation.

[@Unshaken]

I'm so grateful they've been a blessing to you! Of course, you mentioned "your study" and "personal revelation," so you're obviously putting in the work too :) No wonder those blessings are coming your way!

[@marylindsay7653]

I have longed for this! You are the answer! Thank you thank you!!

[@redhotsnow14]

During this lesson it dawned on me that the symbol of the cross, which means a lot to other Christians but is less emphasized by our church, really has some symbolic potential I’d never considered before. Specifically, that the vertical beam could represent Christ looking up to his father in obedience to his will while the horizontal beam represents his arms stretched out to humanity to encompass them in the gift of his atoning sacrifice. Also, that it represents the two great commandments of the law, upon which, as it states in Matthew 22:40 “hang all the law and the prophets,” namely the worship and love of God (the vertical) and the love of mankind (the horizontal).

[@PeteBooboo]

Anyone can say what they want about the cross or the meaning of it. The main purpose was the sacrifice and what you viewed in your own mind . What was viewed in my mind was suffering for our sins and loving us so much to make sure we were saved by the blood of the Lamb, murder is murder. Even though they had murder in their hearts then sacrifice our Savior our Savior had nothing but unconditional love for each of us. His love and sacrificed has then etched in stone, everything else we are to ponder in our hearts and minds after reading the words of the prophets. The Romans did not care at the time what the cross meant to anyone. You have to ask yourself does our opinions of the cross or any other does not matter. Only truth comes from the Holy Spirit of Truth that's why when we have questions we asked God for the answers so that it can be revealed to us. Just like listening to our brother Jared teach. When our brother Jared teaches, I feel the Holy Spirit of Truth.

[@PeteBooboo]

Thank you Elder Jared for taking the time out of your schedule to explain these scriptures to us. Your knowledge of the scriptures has been very helpful and by the Holy Ghost it teaches us. Look at the bright side now, we are all now edified and that's the way it's done! Now let's go do something with the things we have learned❤

[@deborahlofgran5636]

I too am so grateful for these videos. Every day I Listen to them as my daily come follow me Study. I love the way you use the Scriptures to relate to our every day life. I love the humor as well. Got to be the best Teacher I’ve ever heard. I am marveled every day and My faith and testimony increase daily. I can’t thank you enough

[@Unshaken]

Thank you for your kind words. It's a blessing to be able to spend our time in such a powerful book. Thank you for watching!

[@rosadiaz3998]

Brother Halverson I thank you so much for this lessons; I don't know the reasons for your lessons to be shortened but as for me I love the verse by verse teachings; we are in a time when time is a gift and in this instance I have learned that there's more meaning in every verse, your explanation helps me to capture the dimensional feeling of God, our Savior's and our fallen humanity as well as the possibilities for progression. I get it that is a sacrificed time also and I am very grateful for your love and devotion to share your thoughts, experiences and knowledge of Scripture History as well as your personal experiences. It's great that there's digital archives to search for your longer scripture lessons to study.

[@michelebbrady]

Brother Halverson, your commentaries have been a source of great light to me during this pandemic. I am reviewing these Book of Mormon videos at the same time as I follow your Doctrine in Covenants videos and I am being filled. Thank you!

[@Unshaken]

Thank you so much! I was just figuring out how to film back when I made these first videos (I still haven't figured it out completely!), but I'll stand by the content. I'm so grateful for the truths in the Book of Mormon! I'm impressed with your desire to go back to keep learning!

[@chrisblanc663]

I always had the sense I was misunderstanding 2 Nephi 25:23, and I kinda thought all we can do is repent. But by linking 2 nephi 10:24 to show where Nephi was going with his version clarifies it SO much. We truly are unprofitable servants, and can only stand in joy and wonderment at the love our God has for us, and showed us through the atonement of His Son. Thank you!!!

[@speciallady96]

I discovered your channel a few weeks ago and I have been truly edified. Thank you for ths time you put into this. I loved this explanation of grace and works... my continual repentance is all he asks of me....i can do that. I love it.

[@Unshaken]

Thank you! I'm so glad you went back to this lesson. I know the video quality isn't as good, but the principles are so important! And you said it perfectly--our continual repentance is all He asks, and we can do that!

[@tylerburns1364]

A timely lesson indeed. I'm someone who bristles as the thought of being indebted to anyone and I had to examine that propensity in myself and how it might effect my view of the gift of the atonement. So many weaknesses to address, and yet as you've said, my weakness reminds me of my need for Christ. Thank you as always brother.

[@nadinek8959]

I finally got it! the difference between works and grace. thank you for clearly making it clear. (I see through the glass darkly)

[@Unshaken]

I'm so glad to hear that! Those can be tricky doctrines, and it's so easy to err in either direction. But it's so important to make sense of it!

[@elbaalas9021]

Hermano’ eh quedado sin aliento , temblorosa yo amaba tanto este discurso sentía un gran amor y ud me ah llevado a dimensiones desconocidas , puedo pedir yo más no! Que grandiosas sus clases, me eh contristado perdone que le escriba en español, si quedo muda en mi idioma no puedo, no me vienen las palabras en inglés! Gracias 🙏 muchas gracias

[@Unshaken]

Muchisimas gracias por sus palabras bondadosas. Estoy agradecido que podemos estudiar las escrituras juntos!

[@steph20204]

Thank you, this lesson was utterly beautiful!

[@josephinehanse9841]

im the first one and im from holland woow this makes me so happy it makes me feel like i understand it all a bit beter and whene i read it again its so real thank you = dank je wel in dutch

[@Unshaken]

Thank you for tuning in, all the way from Holland! My brother served his mission there and loved the people and places he came to know.

[@douglasdetelj7364]

I recently found these videos and just love Love love them! And when I finally heard someone expound upon King Benjamin’s discourse on the nothingness of man, I was thrilled! “Finally!” I Thought. But! But.... As quickly as I soared in rejoicing I crashed in disappointment! So close! And in my opinion, yet so far! For even this good brother, with all of his mastery of the scriptures, has partly missed the mark. He surely got it right when he said: “No matter how much we do we will be unprofitable servants”, and “ I will forever remain an unprofitable servant”. But then he contradicted himself when he went on to say: “A loan that we cannot help but repay” “It’s as if God can stamp debt, deficit, loss”. “As IF?” Really? As if? “Wait, there’s a way that I can chip away at my debt...” “... maybe there’s some way I can work my way out of the hole...” “That’s why we obey. That’s why we work so hard in the church. It’s so that we can pay God back, so that we’re no longer unprofitable servants.” No no no no NO! We can NEVER repay the debt. We will NEVER become “profitable servants”. To be a profitable servant we would have to pay God MORE than he paid in his Infinite Atonement! To be profitable we would have to give God more than he has given us. Just like an employee/ employer relationship. The employee has to make his employer MORE money than he would have made without him, and therefore he becomes a profitable employee. A profitable employee is not a detriment or a debt to the employer. The employee owes his employer nothing! For his employer is rewarded by the merits of his employee. So it is NOT with God. He can never profit from us. He is the one who has given and sacrificed all for what and who we are. Can the painting say he deserves something for giving partial payment to the painter? What does the painting have to offer that hasn’t been given him from the painter? And so it is with us. All we can give is our thanks in the form of obedience, because that is all the Painter has asked. King Benjamin said this more than once and in more than one way in his discourse. 24 And secondly, he doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you; and therefore he hath paid you. And ye are still indebted unto him, and are, and will be, FOEVER AND EVER; therefore, of what have ye to boast? He also said that we are worth less than dirt! Less than the dust of the earth. Less than dirt? Less than the lowest of earthly creations? The dirt that we trample on every day and take for granted? We are less than that? So says a prophet of God. Yes, we are less than dirt, because we were nothing but dirt when God created us and took us upon himself as his offspring. And less than dirt because even DIRT honors and worships and obeys it’s Creator. But we, his proud children, don’t. So of what have we to boast??? What have we to offer? What is in the right hand column of the “alleged ledger”, is nothing, for we are nothing. Something less than dirt has no value and can never repay anything, let alone and Infinite Sacrifice. Dirt is worthless unless someone makes something or grows something out of it. God has done that, not us. All he asks us is that OUT OF GRATITUDE we obey him so we can continue to have infinite blessings poured out upon us. Why? Because that is his work and glory and joy- the happiness and growth of his children. Not to repay him, for we cannot, EVER. We are and will be indebted to him forever and ever, as King Benjamin said. In reality there is no ledger. There can only be a ledger when someone has something of worth with which to repay a debt. How can something worth the less than the dust of the earth be used to pay a debt? It cannot. All we have to offer is our debt of gratitude. That’s why we obey. Out of gratitude for the Great Debt incurred Everything we are and everything we have is a gift from him. Since everything we have and are is a gift from him, what have we to offer in return? Only our thanks. Our gratitude. Our will. Our obedience. Not to repay a debt that is impossible to repay. But an expression of gratitude and love for the unspeakable gift of love. But even that comes from God, because “we love him because he first loves us.” No, my wonderful brother. You cannot pay one penny towards that debt, for if you had a penny it would only be because God gave it to you. But you can show your gratitude and love through obedience and service. I am glad this good brother feels so indebted! For surely we all are. But it is a debt we cannot only not repay, we cannot even BEGIN to repay. And we will be indebted and unprofitable forever. And that is OK with God, because of his great love. He only cares about giving and blessing, and not about receiving. And what he asks in return is nothing but obedience, and that for OUR benefit, and not his. Just like a loving parent.

[@fireinice3954]

About the poem; is there a different way of looking at that? After learning to LOVE to reconcile our will with Heavenly Fathers will then are we not loving to do what we love? I cannot express how much these videos have helped. I pray for your continued kindness of gifting those of us who for various reasons did not have the best seminary experiences with your incredible gift of opening the scriptures to us. I also keep you and your family in thoughts and prayers in gratitude.

[@Unshaken]

Thank you for your kind words and your prayers. The scriptures themselves are the real gift! Thanks for letting me study them with you!

[@devinthedataguy]

Even if we obey we are still unprofitable. The stamp doesn’t change. It continues to say deficit mosiah 2:24

[@brittanyerikson2984]

Wooo. Did you get a new mic? Sounds great!

[@Unshaken]

Making progress! :)

[@abulahab6528]

My takeaway is this: It is Godly to merge onto the I-15 with a burger in one hand, & texting with the other hand.

[@karinabloom135]

Your as good as your children think

[@carolburton7150]

Is there a way to get a transcript (written format)?

[@Unshaken]

Thanks for asking! I don't write everything out so unfortunately there's no transcript, but I'd be happy to share my lesson outline if that would be helpful. If you're on Facebook, feel free to message me (Jared Halverson) and I can email you my notes.

[@Kalamabbfan]

Nephi should have used the word, "despite" rather than "after".

[@PeteBooboo]

How old is needed is B obedient to the Commandments of God and listen to the spirit which directs you in life. If it commands you to help someone or call someone on the phone do it. The definition of works is something different then the true meaning of works in the church. Being obedient to God is Not does not qualify that definition. It only matters what is in your heart, if your heart is to get gain and get something from it to me that would be works of Darkness. You will always have someone looking for something to complain about in the church so they can complain and even though they don't understand complaining is a sin just as anger. Repent and you will feel better!