The Spirit Will Not Always Strive With Man

One scriptural phrase that appears in all standard works is that of the Spirit not always striving with man.  In the Pearl of Great Price, the Lord said to Noah, “My Spirit shall not always strive with man” (Moses 8:17).  This is repeated in the Bible in the Old Testament, “My spirit shall not always strive with man” (Genesis 6:3).  In the Doctrine and Covenants the Lord proclaims, “My spirit shall not always strive with man,” inviting the world to repent before the Spirit is taken away (D&C 1:33).  The Book of Mormon repeats the phrase twice.  Nephi tells us that “the Spirit of the Lord will not always strive with man” and then the Lord tells the Brother of Jared, “Ye shall remember that my Spirit will not always strive with man” (2 Nephi 26:11, Ether 2:15).  So clearly this is an important principle for us to remember: we don’t have unlimited chances.  I think we see this in numerous examples throughout the scriptures. 

                Laman and Lemuel were clearly given numerous chances from the Spirit to repent, but there was a point at which the Spirit stopped striving with them.  After having seen an angel, heard the voice of God, been saved miraculously from almost certain death on the sea, and been taught countless times by the words of Nephi and Lehi, they were unable to make lasting changes.  They did repent from time to time, but they always returned to their pride.  Finally the Spirit stopped striving with them, and the Lord told Nephi to “depart from them and flee into the wilderness” (2 Nephi 5:5).  It’s unlikely that they ever felt the Spirit again in their lives after Nephi and all those who heeded the words of the Lord left them. 

                I think another example of this is Judas, the apostle and traitor of the Lord.  For three years this man had followed the Lord, seen countless miracles, and heard the most powerful teachings ever given.  He had witnessed the power of God in all of its glory, seeing the Son of Man walk on water, multiple the bread, and even raise the dead.  And yet, he still chose to betray the Savior.  The Lord obviously knew of Judas’s weakness and must have worked with him and strived with him in every way possible to get him to put the things of God first.  But in the end Judas chose differently, and finally the Lord told him, “That thou doest, do quickly” (John 13:27).  The Savior was not condoning the actions of Judas, but I think He was telling him that He was done striving with him—Judas was going to do what he was going to do and the Lord would not give him endless chances to repent. 

                We see the same principle applied to whole cities in the scriptures.  Sodom and Gomorrah had many chances to repent, but when they didn’t it eventually became too late and they were destroyed.  The city of Ammonihah in the Book of Mormon were given several chances and two powerful witnesses inviting them to repent, but when they had rejected every word of God they were destroyed.  When the Savior walked in Galilee He also condemned three specific cities who as a whole apparently continued to reject Him even after the miracles shown to them.  He said, “Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes….  And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell (Luke 10:13, 15).  These three cities had their chance to accept the Son of God who walked in their midst and performed great miracles, but ultimately it became too late for them and the Savior stopped striving with them to repent. 

                So the message for us is that the Spirit of the Lord will not endlessly try to get us to heed His voice.  If we fail to listen, then at some point we will no longer have the guidance of the Spirit.  And perhaps the principle applies to specific invitations from the Spirit to us; we may not be in the dire spiritual state of Judas and Laman and Lemuel, but if the Spirit keeps telling us to change some part of our lives and we never heed that voice, at some time the invitations will stop.  It won’t be because the change is no longer needed but because the Spirit will not always strive with us.  And then at that point we will have to face the consequences of our deaf ears.