2 Nephi 2 – A Lot of Logic and Doctrine!

Lehi is speaking to his son, Jacob.  Lehi knows his time on earth is limited and he wants Jacob to understand the things he has been taught as a prophet of God.  Consequently, there is a lot of meat in this chapter and a lot of it is in the things we learn in the temple. 

• The Spirit is the same yesterday, today and forever.   Does this even need to be expounded upon?  God doesn’t change; man does!
• The way was prepared from the fall of Adam that salvation is free.  This is through our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.
• Men are instructed sufficiently to know good from evil (v5).  The Spirit spoken of in this verse is the Holy Ghost and the world knows it as a conscience.  “For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man that he may know good from evil. . .” (Moroni 7: 16)
• Redemption comes from Christ (v6), because he is full of grace and truth.  He loves us!  He wants us to return to our Heavenly Father. 
• In order to tap into that redeeming grace and love, we must have a broken heart and a contrite spirit.  What is a contrite spirit?  It is feeling or expressing remorse or penitence; affected by guilt (Dictionary definition).  What is penitence?  The action of feeling or showing remorse and the evil that we’ve done (Dictionary definition).
• It is important that those of us who have been taught these things make them known to the inhabitants of the earth.  Missionary work is what that boils down to.  Once we’ve been taught, we just teach our brothers and sisters.  Why?  So they can dwell in the presence of God as well (v8). 
• “He (Savior) is the firstfruits unto God, inasmuch as he shall make intercession for all the children of men; and they that believe in him shall be saved. (v9)  In the dictionary is the first agricultural product.  So Christ is the first product of a finished life on earth?  So what does finished mean?  I’m going to say to have lived on earth, completed our mission on earth, die, and to rise again as the Savior did. 
• We will be judged of Christ (v10).  This judgment will answer the ends of the atonement.  We will be judged according to our works and the desires of our hearts. (The Living Christ)
• The is opposition in all things (v11).  Gospel truth.
• Adam fell that men might be (v25).  Gospel truth as well.

 There are blessings because of the Fall of Man (Adam and Eve).  

• We can act for ourselves, aka make our own choices and suffer the consequences. (16)
• We are as God, knowing good from evil (18)
• We are allowed to work – to enjoy the fruits of our labors (v19).
• Our days are prolonged so that we can repent when we do things wrong (21)
• We can repent (v21).
• We can have children, aka families (v23).

I could probably dig more logic and doctrine out of this chapter, but these are the main ones.  We are so blessed for the Fall of Adam.  As it says in verse 23, without the Fall we would have not been born and we would not have been allowed to have families.