Come Unto Christ

In the final verses of the Book of Mormon, Moroni gave us this invitation: “And again I would exhort you that ye would come unto Christ…. Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness” (Moroni 10:32,34). That invitation to come unto the Savior is found throughout the Book of Mormon and is one of the major themes. For example, Amaleki wrote, “And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him” (Omni 1:26). Jacob wrote of his efforts to do the same: “Wherefore we labored diligently among our people, that we might persuade them to come unto Christ, and partake of the goodness of God, that they might enter into his rest” (Jacob 1:7). Nephi wrote of the Messiah: “For he is the same yesterday, today, and forever; and the way is prepared for all men from the foundation of the world, if it so be that they repent and come unto him” (1 Nephi 10:18). Nephi also described the Savior in these words: “He inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness” (2 Nephi 26:33). The angel likewise gave these words to Nephi in his vision: “The Lamb of God is the Son of the Eternal Father, and the Savior of the world; and that all men must come unto him, or they cannot be saved” (1 Nephi 13:40). This message is found all throughout the book and is the central invitation for all of us: come unto Christ.

               In many other passages of the Book of Mormon the Savior Himself gave us the same invitation. He said through the prophet Moroni: “Come unto me, O ye Gentiles, and I will show unto you the greater things, the knowledge which is hid up because of unbelief. Come unto me, O ye house of Israel, and it shall be made manifest unto you how great things the Father hath laid up for you” (Ether 4:13-14). He also said through Mormon: “Repent all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me, and be baptized in my name, and have faith in me, that ye may be saved” (Moroni 7:34). To the Nephites directly He said this: “Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life…. Whoso repenteth and cometh unto me as a little child, him will I receive, for of such is the kingdom of God. Behold, for such I have laid down my life, and have taken it up again; therefore repent, and come unto me ye ends of the earth, and be saved” (3 Nephi 9:14, 22). As He taught them He also said this: “And behold, I have given you the law and the commandments of my Father, that ye shall believe in me, and that ye shall repent of your sins, and come unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit. Behold, ye have the commandments before you, and the law is fulfilled. Therefore come unto me and be ye saved” (3 Nephi 12:19-20). He further explained, “Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day” (3 Nephi 27:20). These passages invite us to come unto Him and help us to see how we do that: we believe in Him, repent of our sins, keep the commandments, and bring forth a broken heart and contrite spirit. To come to Him we also seek to emulate little children: we humbly trust in Him like a child implicitly trusts her parents as we follow His commandments in faith. And, like a child, we emulate the Savior’s actions just like they emulate those around them. Indeed, as the introduction to the Book of Mormon declares, the book is a “witness that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God and that all who will come unto Him and obey the laws and ordinances of His gospel may be saved.”