All Are Under Sin

In a revelation to Sidney Rigdon, Parley P. Pratt, and Leman Copley, the Lord said this, “Wherefore, I will that all men shall repent, for all are under sin, except those which I have reserved unto myself, holy men that ye know not of” (Doctrine and Covenants 49:8). The first part of this verse is similar to what Paul taught. To the Galatians he wrote, “But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe” (Galatians 3:22). And to the Romans he said, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). To the people at Athens he declared, “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent” (Acts 17:30). Paul affirmed that all were under sin and all needed to repent. Other modern scriptures affirm that all must repent; said the Lord to Oliver Cowdery, “For, behold, I command all men everywhere to repent…. For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him” (Doctrine and Covenants 18:9, 11). Moses recorded about the time of Enoch: “And they were preachers of righteousness, and spake and prophesied, and called upon all men, everywhere, to repent; and faith was taught unto the children of men” (Moses 6:23). All men and women everywhere are called upon to repent—no matter what age we lived in, the Lord has made it clear that we have all sinned and need repentance.

               But what about this exception in section 49? Who are “those which I have reserved unto myself, holy men that ye know not of”?  The first group that comes to mind are those prophets who chose to remain on the earth to preach the gospel and work for the salvation of men until the end of the world.. John the Beloved, described as a “flaming fire and a ministering angel,”  as well as the three Nephites, surely had no need of repentance in their translated state (Doctrine and Covenants 7:6). The Nephite disciples were told, “Ye shall not have pain while ye shall dwell in the flesh, neither sorrow save it be for the sins of the world” (3 Nephi 28:9). Surely that included the pains of their own sins, and they were in some kind of holy translated state that allowed them to live. But the Lord said here that these were “holy men that ye know not of” and they did have at least some knowledge of John and the three Nephites. So perhaps were are others as well who have followed the same course and remained voluntarily on the earth to preach the gospel. As the Lord told Nephi, “Know ye not that there are more nations than one? Know ye not that I, the Lord your God, have created all men, and that I remember those who are upon the isles of the sea” (2 Nephi 29:7). Of all the nations of the earth that the Lord remembers, it would not be surprising if some righteous prophets among them chose as well to remain and preach the gospel until the Second Coming.

               The other group that the Lord may have been referring to is the righteous in the city of Enoch. They were described this way: “And Enoch and all his people walked with God, and he dwelt in the midst of Zion; and it came to pass that Zion was not, for God received it up into his own bosom; and from thence went forth the saying, Zion is Fled” (Moses 7:69). Surely with their righteousness so great that they were taken up into heaven to be with God, they have no more need to repent and are indeed “holy men [and women]” that we don’t know of. Whoever it was that the Lord was referring to who needed no more repentance, surely it was not referring to us and our need is clear: we must keep repenting.