Lesson 14

Moses 6:48–68

Introduction

In obedience to the Lord’s command, Enoch preached the gospel to his people. He taught about the consequences of the Fall of Adam and Eve and how we can overcome those consequences. He also explained why we must repent and be baptized.

Suggestions for Teaching

Moses 6:48–52

Enoch teaches about the consequences of the Fall and how to overcome them

Ask students to think of a time when they or someone they know needed to be rescued. If students cannot think of an example, be prepared to describe a time when you or someone you know needed to be rescued. Then ask the following questions (you may want to write the questions on the board before class begins):

• What caused the need for you to be rescued?

• What did you have to do in order to be rescued? Who rescued you?

After students respond, explain that Enoch taught his people how we can be rescued, or saved, from the consequences of the Fall of Adam.

Write the following incomplete statement on the board: Because of the Fall we …

Invite a student to read Moses 6:48 aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for the consequences that came because of the Fall of Adam and Eve. Ask a student to write the consequences on the board as students report what they find.

You might need to explain that the phrase “we are” means that the Fall opened the way for us to be born on the earth (see 2 Nephi 2:25). The term death in this verse can refer to both spiritual and physical death.

• What do you think the phrase “partakers of misery and woe” means? (Students might express that we are subject to the pains, sicknesses, sorrows, and difficulties of mortal life.)

Invite students to summarize the doctrine we can learn from Moses 6:48. They might respond with something similar to the following: Because of the Fall we leave God’s presence, come to the earth, receive physical bodies, experience sorrow, and suffer both physical and spiritual death. You may want to write this doctrine on the board. Remind students that the Fall was an essential part of Heavenly Father’s great plan of happiness and was necessary for our eternal progression.

Invite a student to read Moses 6:49 aloud. Ask the class to follow along and look for what happened after the Fall of Adam and Eve.

• According to Enoch, what did mankind become?

Explain that the words carnal and sensual refer to being preoccupied with worldliness and the gratification of physical desires, lusts, and pleasures. The word devilish implies being influenced by the devil. Explain that these words do not mean that our bodies are evil. Rather, they describe an aspect of our fallen condition and the consequences of yielding to the enticements of Satan (see Moses 5:13; D&C 20:20).

• What does our fallen condition do to our relationship with God?

Invite a few students to take turns reading aloud from Moses 6:50–52. Ask the class to follow along and look for what God told Adam we need to do to overcome our carnal and sensual nature (see also Mosiah 3:19). Invite students to report what they find.

You may want to suggest that students mark the word if in verse 52 as well as what the Lord admonished Adam (and each of us) to do.

• According to verse 52, what will we receive if we believe, repent, and are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ? (Students may use different words, but they should identify the following principle: If we believe, repent, and are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, then we will receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.)

• How does receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost help us overcome spiritual death (being separated from God’s presence)?

• How can the gift of the Holy Ghost help us as we seek to overcome our unrighteous desires?

Moses 6:53–68

Adam learned what we must do to overcome the Fall and enter the kingdom of heaven

Invite a student to read Moses 6:53 aloud.

• What did Adam ask the Lord? (You may want to suggest that students mark the question in verse 53.)

Ask students to discuss with a partner how they would answer the first part of Adam’s question: “Why is it that men must repent?” Invite a few students to explain their answers to the class.

Invite several students to each read aloud a verse from Moses 6:54–57. Ask the class to follow along, looking for how the Lord answered Adam’s question about why we need to repent. You may want to suggest that students mark what they find and then report it.

Explain that Elder Bruce R. McConkie of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught that the phrase “thy children are conceived in sin” in verse 55 means that we are “born into a world of sin,” a world in which evil exists and influences us in our fallen state (see A New Witness for the Articles of Faith [1985], 101).

• What do verses 54–55 teach us about accountability for sins?

• What does the phrase “they are agents unto themselves” (verse 56) mean?

• According to verses 56–57, what can we inherit if we use our agency to repent? (Students might use different words, but they should identify the following principle: If we use our agency to repent, we can inherit the kingdom of God.)

• According to verse 57, why will the unrepentant not inherit the kingdom of God?

Point out the phrase “dwell there, or dwell in his presence” in verse 57. Explain that because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, all of us will be redeemed from the Fall and brought back to the presence of God to be judged. However, only those who have repented of their sins can dwell, or stay, in God’s presence. (See Helaman 14:15–19 and 2 Nephi 2:10.)

Invite students to ponder their need to repent of their sins so they can dwell in God’s presence.

Ask students to discuss with a partner how they would answer the second part of Adam’s question in verse 53: “Why is it that men must … be baptized in water?” Invite a few students to explain their answers to the class.

Explain that in order to help his people understand why we must be baptized in water, Enoch quoted God’s words to Adam about this spiritual rebirth. Invite a student to read Moses 6:58–59 aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for what the Lord taught about being born again.

• Why must we be born again? (Students may identify a variety of doctrines and principles, including the following: We must be born again in order to be sanctified from all sin and to inherit eternal life.)

• What does it mean to be “born again”? (To be born again is the spiritual process by which we come alive to things of the Spirit and gradually lose our desire to break God’s commandments.)

• How does being baptized by water relate to being born again?

To help students understand how baptism by water relates to being born again, invite a student to read aloud the following statement by Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles:

“We begin the process of being born again through exercising faith in Christ, repenting of our sins, and being baptized by immersion for the remission of sins” (“Ye Must Be Born Again,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2007, 21).

• According to verse 59, what three elements are essential to physical birth and being born again, or spiritual birth?

Write the following words on the board: water, Spirit, blood.

Invite a student to read Moses 6:60–61 aloud, and ask the class to look for why these elements are essential to being born again.

• According to verse 60, what role does each of these elements play in the process of being born again?

Explain that to be justified means “to be pardoned from punishment for sin and declared guiltless” (Guide to the Scriptures, “Justification, Justify”; scriptures.lds.org). 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.lds.org).

Invite a student to read aloud the following statement by President Henry B. Eyring of the First Presidency:

“Reception of the Holy Ghost is the cleansing agent as the Atonement purifies you. …

“… And when he is your companion, you can have confidence that the Atonement is working in your life” (“Come Unto Christ” [Brigham Young University fireside, Oct. 29, 1989], 4; speeches.byu.edu).

• According to President Eyring, how can we know if we are being purified through the Atonement of Jesus Christ?

Invite students to ponder a time when they felt the influence of the Holy Ghost. Ask them to think about where they were and what they were doing. You may want to challenge them to more frequently put themselves in places and engage in activities that invite the Holy Ghost into their lives so they can be purified and continue in the process of being born again.

Apply doctrines and principles

After students have identified, understood, and felt the truth and importance of a doctrine or principle found in the scriptures, teachers should encourage them to apply that truth in their lives. Application takes place when students think, speak, and live according to the principles they have learned. As students apply the principles of the gospel in their lives, they will receive promised blessings and will gain a deeper understanding and testimony of what they have applied.

Invite a student to read Moses 6:62 aloud, and ask the class to look for who makes it possible for us to be born again so that we can be sanctified from all our sins and inherit eternal life.

Ask a student to read Moses 6:63 aloud. Then ask the class the following questions:

• How does the fact that “all things are created and made to bear record of [the Savior]” (verse 63) help us understand the importance of His role in the plan of salvation?

• What do you feel when you reflect on how the Savior’s sufferings in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross of Calvary opened the way for you to be forgiven and cleansed of your sins?

Invite a few students to take turns reading aloud from Moses 6:64–68. Ask the class to follow along and look for what happened to Adam after the Lord had spoken with him. You may want to point out that these verses show Adam beginning the process of being born again through faith, repentance, baptism by immersion, and receiving the Holy Ghost. (You may need to explain that the phrase “quickened in the inner man” refers to being enlightened or enlivened by the Holy Ghost.)

• What do you think it means to become “one in [Christ]”? (One explanation might be that we become like Christ in our way of thinking and acting.)

Point out the phrase “and thus may all become my sons” in verse 68. Conclude by testifying that if we follow Adam’s example by believing in Christ and being baptized by water and the Spirit, we too can become covenant sons and daughters of God, born again through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

Commentary and Background Information

Moses 6:59. Water, spirit, and blood

Elder Bruce R. McConkie of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught how water, spirit, and blood are essential elements of both our physical and spiritual births:

“Two births are essential to salvation. Man cannot be saved without birth into mortality, nor can he return to his heavenly home without a birth into the realm of the Spirit. … The elements present in a mortal birth and in a spiritual birth are the same. They are water, blood, and spirit. Thus every mortal birth is a heaven-given reminder to prepare for the second birth. …

“In every mortal birth the child is immersed in water in the mother’s womb. At the appointed time the spirit enters the body, and blood always flows in the veins of the new person. Otherwise, without each of these, there is no life, no birth, no mortality.

“In every birth into the kingdom of heaven, the newborn babe in Christ is immersed in water, he receives the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, and the blood of Christ cleanses him from all sin. Otherwise, without each of these, there is no Spirit-birth, no newness of life, no hope of eternal life” (A New Witness for the Articles of Faith [1985], 288).

Moses 6:59–65. The necessity of the gift of the Holy Ghost to our salvation

Moses 6:59–65 confirms that the entire plan of salvation, including baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost, has been consistent and the same from the beginning. Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained how the gift of the Holy Ghost is essential to our salvation:

“The gift of the Holy Ghost is part of the new and everlasting covenant. It is an essential part of our baptism, the baptism of the Spirit. It is the messenger of grace by which the blood of Christ is applied to take away our sins and sanctify us (see 2 Nephi 31:17). It is the gift by which Adam was ‘quickened in the inner man’ (Moses 6:65)” (“The Power of Covenants,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2009, 22).