They Fear to Sin

As I studied Helaman 15 today, I found that there is chiasmus in the structure. Although not as pronounced as Alma 36, I think it is there, and it highlights the focal point of the chapter. Here is how I would lay it out: 

·       A: “Except ye shall repent your houses shall be left unto you desolate” (v1).

·       B: “They shall see all these signs and wonders which shall be showed unto them” (v3).

·       C: “They are striving with unwearied diligence that they may bring the remainder of their brethren to the knowledge of the truth” (v6).

·       D: “Many of them as are brought to the knowledge of the truth, and to know of the wicked and abominable traditions of their fathers” (v7).

·       E: “Ye know of yourselves are firm and steadfast in the faith” (v8).

·       F: “They fear to take them up lest by any means they should sin” (v9).

·       F: “Yea, ye can see that they fear to sin” (v9).

·       E: “This because of their faith in Christ. And now, because of their steadfastness when they do believe in that thing which they do believe” (v9-10).

·       D: “The time shall come which hath been spoken of by our fathers… concerning the restoration of our brethren, the Lamanites, again to the knowledge of the truth” (v11).

·       C: “They shall again be brought to the true knowledge, which is the knowledge of their Redeemer” (v13).

·       B: “The mighty works been shown unto them which have been shown unto you” (v15).

·       A: “If they will not repent, and observe to do my will, I will utterly destroy them” (v17). 

The reason this becomes important is that it emphasizes the key message of the chapter as seen in the center (F) of the chiasmus: we should fear to do sin. That is at least one of the messages of Samuel the Lamanite for us today from this chapter. Sometimes as Latter-day Saints we are tempted to push the boundaries of the commandments and, especially for the youth, ask questions about how to be just good enough or how far we can go without sinning too much. But that is not the attitude that we should have; instead, if we are to have the steadfastness of these Lamanites who were firm in their faith, we should fear to sin. We should strive to “walk circumspectly before God” with a desire to do what He would have us do (v5). Our fear should not be to look bad in front of the world but rather to do wrong in front of God.

               A corollary to this idea of being afraid to sin before God is found in these words in modern revelation: “Fear not to do good, my sons, for whatsoever ye sow, that shall ye also reap; therefore, if ye sow good ye shall also reap good for your reward” (Doctrine and Covenants 6:33). We should not be afraid to do right, to keep the commandments, and to accomplish good things in the world. It shouldn’t matter what others think as long as we have confidence that what we are doing is good in the sight of God. We should not follow the example of the chief rulers in the days of Jesus described in the gospel of John this way: “Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God” (John 12:42-43). Our fear should be to sin, not to lose the praise of the world, and then we will have the faith and steadfastness of these Lamanite converts.