Years ago while studying what had become one of my favorite chapters of scripture, 2 Nephi 2, a precept was opened to my mind that has had a profound effect on my discipleship and my efforts to strengthen others in their discipleship. My purpose is to share what I am learning and invite you to consider making this precept a part of your discipleship.
In the midst of explaining agency, opposition, and the Fall of Adam, Lehi teaches:
And because [Satan] had fallen from heaven, and had become miserable forever, he sought also the misery of all mankind. Wherefore, he said unto Eve, yea, even that old serpent, who is the devil, who is the father of all lies, wherefore he said: Partake of the forbidden fruit, and ye shall not die, but ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil” (2 Nephi 2:18).
After explaining the implications of the Fall of Adam, Lehi teaches his young son:
...the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the commandments which God hath given (2 Nephi 2:26).
I had read these verses literally hundreds of times in my studies over the years, but this particular morning it seems I was prepared to start learning something that had been staring me in the face for decades, every time I studied 2 Nephi 2. I do not have the words to adequately describe the power and peace of that morning. It is a treasured and deeply personal moment.
In verse 18 we are taught the archetype temptation of the adversary - “Partake of the forbidden fruit, and ye shall not die, but ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil” (2 Nephi 2:18). We might translate this verse today as “go ahead, partake of the forbidden fruit, whatever that forbidden fruit may be - sexual permissiveness, immodesty, swearing, anger, stealing, gossip, unhealthy and habit forming substances, dishonesty, unkindness, lies, or a million other forms of forbidden fruits (Mosiah 5:29). Go ahead, you won’t die. In fact, you will be even better because you will know good and evil.” Even more simply, “go ahead and enjoy the ‘forbidden fruit’ (often said with a cynical and taunting ‘ooh aaaah’), it won’t hurt you, in fact it will make you stronger because you will know good and evil!” This is the pattern of virtually every temptation - go ahead, partake of (fill in the blank)! It will not hurt you, it will make you better because you will know more - good and evil. There are a variety of succinct renditions of this pattern: ah, go ahead, its no big deal; everyone is doing it; are you too good to join in; what are you afraid of; why can't you just go along; come on, enjoy life...
In contrast, in verse 26, Nephi explains that “the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the commandments which God hath given” (2 Nephi 2:26).
I remember feeling that I had missed something that morning as I read verse 26. My eyes wandered back over the prior verses until I reached verse 18. I scanned forward through the verses until 26, and then back and forth for several minutes. Again, I sensed I was missing something.
Then, like a lightening bolt, it jumped out at me - and versus from! Satan’s temptation was to know good AND evil, Christ’s invitation is to know good FROM evil! All of a sudden I started to think of times when I had allowed the Adversary and others to convince me to partake of whatever flavor of forbidden fruit he had offered. At the same time, I recognized the many times when the Savior had invited me to act for myself and know good from evil - warning me of the looming danger of a particular choice. The difference between the temptation of the Adversary and the invitation of Christ could not be more stark - know good AND evil versus know good FROM evil.
I have since learn that Lehi had actually introduced the precept of knowing good from evil at the very beginning of his instruction to Jacob:
And men are instructed sufficiently that they know good from evil. And the law is given unto men. And by the law no flesh is justified; or, by the law men are cut off. Yea, by the temporal law they were cut off; and also, by the spiritual law they perish from that which is good, and become miserable forever (2 Nephi 2:5 italics added).
Then, and ever since, I began to notice that every admonition from prophets throughout the Book of Mormon that referred to the issue of choosing good or evil were that the people would know good FROM evil - not good and evil. Consider the following. Samuel calling the Nephites to repentance:
...remember, remember, my brethren, that whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free. He hath given unto you that ye might know good from evil, and he hath given unto you that ye might choose life or death; and ye can do good and be restored unto that which is good, or have that which is good restored unto you; or ye can do evil, and have that which is evil restored unto you (Helaman 14:31 italics added).
Samuel is teaching the causal relationship between our freedom to choose good or evil and the resurrected state we will be awarded. While we are free to choose, choosing evil is choosing death, spiritual death - we distance ourselves from God. How much better to know good from evil.
Another example. Alma testifying of the goodness of God:
Yea, and I know that good and evil have come before all men; he that knoweth not good from evil is blameless; but he that knoweth good and evil, to him it is given according to his desires, whether he desireth good or evil, life or death, joy or remorse of conscience (Alma 29:5 italics added).
Everyone on this earth is confronted with good and evil. There are some who do not know good from evil, who are not provided the capacity to do so. These, include children and those who do not yet know the gospel or are prevented from knowing or accepting it. For the rest of us, we receive of God according to our desires, whether for good or evil, which is the same as choosing life or death, or of remorse of conscience.
It is interesting to note Alma’s description of Adam’s and Eve’s state following their partaking of the fruit:
Now, we see that the man had become as God, knowing good and evil; and lest he should put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat and live forever, the Lord God placed cherubim and the flaming sword, that he should not partake of the fruit (Alma 42:3).
We would be wrong to believe that this verse suggests that Adam and Eve were godlike once they had partaken of the forbidden fruit. Quite the opposite. They definitely knew good and evil. However, they had not yet learned to choose good from evil. That takes time. Therefore, they were prevented from partaking of the fruit of the tree of life, and thereby living forever, so they could have the time to learn to choose good from evil and to repent when they choose evil. Through this process they would prepare to meet God once again and enjoy his life.
Mormon summarizes The Book of Mormon instruction on this issue perfectly:
...it is given unto you to judge, that ye may know good from evil; and the way to judge is as plain, that ye may know with a perfect knowledge, as the daylight is from the dark night. For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God...Wherefore, I beseech of you...that ye should search diligently in the light of Christ that ye may know good from evil; and if ye will lay hold upon every good thing, and condemn it not, ye certainly will be a child of Christ (Moroni 7:15,16, and 19 italics added).
We are given the ability, right, and responsibility to judge good from evil. The way to judge good from evil is plain, we can know with a perfect knowledge as well as we know daylight from night. Why? We each have the Spirit (or Light) of Christ to know good from evil. My experience is we get in trouble when we fall for the deception, “it’s not that bad.” This is actually a form of Satan’s prototypical temptation - go ahead, partake; it won’t hurt you; in fact you will be better off. When we are rationalizing something is “not that bad” we are on a very slippery slope toward choosing evil, not good. I am finding it is much better to ask, "Is it good?" I find that when I can't answer the question regarding a choice with a simple, "yes, its good," I should be careful and think a little more deeply about the choice, asking God for guidance.
The Book of Mormon precept is we can recognize good from evil and partake of the good, avoiding all evil choices. We follow Christ when we increasingly know good from evil. We follow the Adversary when we increasingly know good and evil. This has become one of the most important precepts I am learning from the Book of Mormon. As I abide by this precept I draw closer to God.
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