I Know That I Shall Be Lifted Up

At the end of his brief account Enos said this: “And I soon go to the place of my rest, which is with my Redeemer; for I know that in him I shall rest. And I rejoice in the day when my mortal shall put on immortality, and shall stand before him; then shall I see his face with pleasure, and he will say unto me: Come unto me, ye blessed, there is a place prepared for you in the mansions of my Father” (Enos 1:27). These words highlight one of the themes that we see in many of the prophets and righteous people throughout the Book of Mormon: they knew they were saved through Jesus Christ. Enos had heard the voice of the Lord, received a remission of his sins, and he knew that through the Redeemer he would come into the mansions of the Father. We don’t see people in the Book of Mormon who questioned whether they were good enough or had done enough or were worthy enough to enter the kingdom of God; rather, we see many whose faith was so strong in Christ that they knew they would be saved because of Him. Lehi summed up how he knew Jacob would be saved: “Wherefore, I know that thou art redeemed, because of the righteousness of thy Redeemer; for thou hast beheld that in the fulness of time he cometh to bring salvation unto men” (2 Nephi 2:3). It was the righteousness and power and goodness of Christ that gave the faithful among the Nephites a sure knowledge that they would enter the kingdom of God. When we have “perfect faith in the Holy One of Israel” then we can know that we will be “saved in the kingdom of God” (2 Nephi 9:23).

                There are several other places we see this confidence in salvation among the Nephites. Lehi declared this about himself: “But behold, the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell; I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love” (2 Nephi 1:15). He knew the Lord had redeemed him and that he would be encircled by God’s love forever. His son Nephi also wrote with great trust about his salvation because of the Savior: “I glory in plainness; I glory in truth; I glory in my Jesus, for he hath redeemed my soul from hell…. Christ will show unto you, with power and great glory, that they are his words, at the last day; and you and I shall stand face to face before his bar;… I pray the Father in the name of Christ that many of us, if not all, may be saved in his kingdom at that great and last day” (2 Nephi 33:6, 11-12). He was redeemed because of Jesus and Nephi knew that he would stand on the right hand of God in His kingdom. Those Lamanites taught by Ammon and his brethren also spoke with confidence about their salvation because of their faith in Christ. When threatened with death they said this: “And now, my brethren, if our brethren seek to destroy us, behold, we will hide away our swords, yea, even we will bury them deep in the earth, that they may be kept bright, as a testimony that we have never used them, at the last day; and if our brethren destroy us, behold, we shall go to our God and shall be saved” (Alma 24:16). Even though they had committed so many serious sins earlier in their lives, their faith in Christ was such that He would save them in God’s kingdom if they were killed. Despite the terrible wickedness around him, Mormon was also confident in his own salvation: “My heart has been filled with sorrow because of their wickedness, all my days; nevertheless, I know that I shall be lifted up at the last day” (Mormon 2:19). He knew that he had full trust in the Lord and therefore no matter what happened to the Nephite nation as a whole, he would be saved in the kingdom of God. His son Moroni similarly wrote with confidence concerning his own future: “And now I bid unto all, farewell. I soon go to rest in the paradise of God, until my spirit and body shall again reunite, and I am brought forth triumphant through the air, to meet you before the pleasing bar of the great Jehovah, the Eternal Judge of both quick and dead” (Moroni 10:34). It is fitting that the final words of the Book of Mormon is an expression of perfect faith in the power of the Savior to save. Surely the message to each of us is that we should not doubt the Savior and His power to save us—no matter who we are, if we have faith in Him and trust in His commands, He is “mighty to save” even us (2 Nephi 31:19). If we will truly “believe on his name” and “not harden [our] hearts” we can have the assurance that we “shall be saved in the kingdom of God” (2 Nephi 25:13, Jacob 6:4).