“3 Nephi 27, Part 2: Becoming Sanctified through Jesus Christ,” Book of Mormon Teacher Manual (2024)
“3 Nephi 27, Part 2,” Book of Mormon Teacher Manual
3 Nephi 27, Part 2
Becoming Sanctified through Jesus Christ
Are there times when you have wanted to be more spiritually clean? When Jesus Christ taught His disciples in the ancient Americas, He explained important blessings that are available to those who follow His gospel, including sanctification through the Holy Ghost. This lesson can help you understand how to receive the Savior’s sanctifying power as you make efforts to live His gospel.
Helping students feel a sense of belonging. Seminary should be an environment where students are safe and supported and their contributions are valued. Demonstrate your love and care for students as you interact with them. Encourage class members to listen to one another and value their peers’ perspectives.
Student preparation: Invite students to read the first three paragraphs of “Holy Ghost” in Guide to the Scriptures (scriptures.ChurchofJesusChrist.org). Invite them to come prepared to share how they think the Holy Ghost can help them become sanctified, or more like the Savior.
Possible Learning Activities
Unclean
To help students prepare to study about their need to be cleansed from their sins, consider sharing the following account.
Elder Allen D. Haynie of the Seventy shared the following story from his childhood.
When I was nine years old, my white-haired, four-foot-eleven-inch (1.5 m) maternal grandmother came to spend a few weeks with us at our home. One afternoon while she was there, my two older brothers and I decided to dig a hole in a field across the street from our house. I don’t know why we did it; sometimes boys dig holes. We got a little dirty but nothing that would get us into too much trouble. Other boys in the neighborhood saw just how exciting it was to dig a hole and started to help. Then we all got dirtier together. The ground was hard, so we dragged a garden hose over and put a little water in the bottom of the hole to soften up the ground. We got some mud on us as we dug, but the hole did get deeper.
Someone in our group decided we should turn our hole into a swimming pool, so we filled it up with water. Being the youngest and wanting to fit in, I was persuaded to jump in and try it out. Now I was really dirty. I didn’t start out planning to be covered in mud, but that’s where I ended up.
When it started to get cold, I crossed the street, intending to walk into my house. My grandmother met me at the front door and refused to let me in. She told me that if she let me in, I would track mud into the house that she had just cleaned. So I did what any nine-year-old would do under the circumstances and ran to the back door, but she was quicker than I thought. I got mad, stomped my feet, and demanded to come into the house, but the door remained closed.
I was wet, muddy, cold, and, in my childhood imagination, thought I might die in my own backyard. Finally, I asked her what I had to do to come into the house. Before I knew it, I found myself standing in the backyard while my grandmother sprayed me off with a hose. After what seemed like an eternity, my grandmother pronounced me clean and let me come into the house. It was warm in the house, and I was able to put on dry, clean clothes. (Allen D. Haynie, “Remembering in Whom We Have Trusted,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2015, 121)
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What spiritual comparisons could you make between Elder Haynie’s story and our lives?
In 3 Nephi 27, as part of the Savior’s discourse to His Nephite disciples about His gospel, He taught about the consequences of sin and how we can overcome them and become spiritually clean.
Read 3 Nephi 27:19, looking for the Savior’s teachings.
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What does this verse teach you about your need for Jesus Christ and His Atonement?
Sharing the following paragraph can help students recognize their personal need for the Savior’s cleansing power.
Jesus Christ can cleanse you from the stain of sin and help you become holy. Think about your need to be cleansed from sin and how it might feel or does feel to be spiritually clean. As you study today, look for teachings that can help you better understand how you can access the Savior’s sanctifying power in your life.
Jesus Christ describes how we can be sanctified through the Holy Ghost
In 3 Nephi 27:20–22, the Savior taught what we can do to receive His sanctifying power and qualify for eternal life. To help you study these verses, copy the following chart into your study journal.
You may also want to copy this chart on the board so students can fill it out as a class after studying.
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Commandments |
Blessings |
|---|---|
Read 3 Nephi 27:20–22 and complete the chart based on what you find.
3 Nephi 27:20 is a doctrinal mastery passage. Consider marking doctrinal mastery passages in a distinctive way so you can locate them easily. You will have an opportunity in the next lesson to practice applying the doctrine taught in this passage to a question or situation.
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How would you summarize the Savior’s teachings in verse 20 as a statement of truth?
One truth we can learn is if we repent and come unto Jesus Christ by being baptized, then we can be sanctified by receiving the Holy Ghost and stand spotless before Him at the last day.
To be sanctified means to be “free from sin, pure, clean, and holy through the Atonement of Jesus Christ” (Guide to the Scriptures, “Sanctification,” scriptures.ChurchofJesusChrist.org).
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How do repentance and baptism help us experience sanctification through Jesus Christ?
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How might you respond to someone who wonders how these commandments apply to them after they have received the ordinance of baptism?
If needed, help students understand that because we are imperfect, we have opportunities to repent each day. We should also continually strive to keep our baptismal covenants after being baptized. Worthily partaking of the sacrament gives us an opportunity each week to renew those covenants. All of these actions help us become more spiritually pure.
The statements by Presidents Russell M. Nelson and Boyd K. Packer in the “Commentary and Background Information” section could be used to help teach these concepts.
Becoming Sanctified through the Holy Ghost
Jesus Christ’s words in verse 20 teach us that the way He helps us become sanctified is through the reception of the Holy Ghost.
President Henry B. Eyring of the First Presidency taught about the relationship between the Savior’s Atonement and the sanctifying influence of the Holy Ghost.
If you have felt the influence of the Holy Ghost today, you may take it as evidence that the Atonement is working in your life. For that reason and many others, you would do well to put yourself in places and in tasks that invite the promptings of the Holy Ghost. Feeling the influence of the Holy Ghost works both ways: the Holy Ghost only dwells in a clean temple, and the reception of the Holy Ghost cleanses us through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. (Henry B. Eyring, “Gifts of the Spirit for Hard Times,” Ensign, June 2007, 23)
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How have you noticed the refining influence of the Spirit in your life?
As part of discussing the previous question, consider sharing examples of how the Holy Ghost has helped you increase your spiritual purity. This could include ways the Holy Ghost has increased your desires to follow Jesus Christ or promptings the Holy Ghost has given you to avoid behaviors that were leading you away from the Savior.
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What are some ways we can invite the ongoing companionship of the Holy Ghost so we can regularly be blessed with its sanctifying influence?
Applying the Savior’s teachings to your life
The truths you have studied today are simple but essential to follow consistently so you can worthily return to the presence of God. Think about how you will apply in your life what you have learned and felt. You could choose one or more of the following options or choose a different way to apply these teachings.
Display the following options and give students sufficient time to ponder and possibly write a plan of action in their study journals. After they have finished, testify of the truths you have discussed in this lesson.
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Be more deliberate about repenting each day and resolve to follow the Savior more fully.
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Make your participation in the ordinance of the sacrament a more meaningful part of your Sunday worship.
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Identify a sin or distraction that is limiting your companionship with the Holy Ghost. Take the necessary actions to remove that sin or distraction from your life.
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Begin doing something that will give you greater access to the companionship of the Holy Ghost.