The introduction to The Book of Mormon asserts a bold claim in the first paragraph. “It is a record of God’s dealings with ancient inhabitants of the Americas and contains the fulness of the gospel.”
For years I always wondered what that means. It doesn’t outline every single doctrine and principle of the gospel. And most of The Book of Mormon’s teachings are also found in the Bible. So how does it contain the fulness of the gospel?
I puzzled over this topic all the time on my mission, since our purpose is to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ, and The Book of Mormon is our primary tool. When this question came up, I would answer that The Book of Mormon centers around the doctrine of Christ and teaches it more clearly than the Bible, but in the back of my mind I wanted to find a more concrete answer.
Three months before I went home, my mission president invited all the missionaries to study The Book of Mormon cover to cover and mark every reference to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I learned so much over this experience, and as I reached 3 Nephi 11, it all connected.
These are my personal insights – I’m not claiming that this is the only true and accurate interpretation, but it is one which has helped me solidify my understanding of the fulness of the gospel, and what makes The Book of Mormon not only unique, but absolutely essential.
What is the gospel of Jesus Christ?
In 3 Nephi 11 Christ teaches His doctrine. Faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. These are the same principles missionaries teach, and that we find in the Articles of Faith.
31 Behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, I will declare unto you my doctrine.
32 And this is my doctrine, and it is the doctrine which the Father hath given unto me; and I bear record of the Father, and the Father beareth record of me, and the Holy Ghost beareth record of the Father and me; and I bear record that the Father commandeth all men, everywhere, to repent and believe in me.
33 And whoso believeth in me, and is baptized, the same shall be saved; and they are they who shall inherit the kingdom of God.
This passage is key in defining the fulness of the gospel. These are the steps necessary to inherit salvation in the kingdom of God. The Bible teaches these truths, although more sparsely than the Book of Mormon. But it’s definitely there! Acts 2 is a prime example of how Peter taught the doctrine of Christ:
37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
What makes the contents of the Book of Mormon different?
Which brings us back to what makes the Book of Mormon different. The answer I found is in 3 Nephi directly before 31-33. Christ descended from Heaven, ministered to the Nephites one by one, then he called forward the prophet Nephi.
He bestowed the power to baptized upon Nephi and other worthy disciples. Then he gives an interesting statement:
“On this wise shall ye baptize; and there shall be no disputations among you.”
Then he clearly spells out exactly how to perform baptism.
“23 … Behold, ye shall go down and stand in the water, and in my name shall ye baptize them.
24 And now behold, these are the words which ye shall say, calling them by name, saying:
25 Having authority given me of Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
26 And then shall ye immerse them in the water, and come forth again out of the water.”
No gray area. At all.
What other ordinances did Christ show the Nephites?
He continues to teach the people how to live the doctrine of Christ – through faith and repentance. In 3 Nephi 18 he teaches exactly how to administer the sacrament.
3 And when the disciples had come with bread and wine, he took of the bread and brake and blessed it; and he gave unto the disciples and commanded that they should eat.
4 And when they had eaten and were filled, he commanded that they should give unto the multitude.
5 And when the multitude had eaten and were filled, he said unto the disciples: Behold there shall one be ordained among you, and to him will I give power that he shall break bread and bless it and give it unto the people of my church, unto all those who shall believe and be baptized in my name.
6 And this shall ye always observe to do, even as I have done, even as I have broken bread and blessed it and given it unto you.
In the same chapter, Christ confers Priesthood authority by the laying on of hands.
“36 And it came to pass that when Jesus had made an end of these sayings, he touched with his hand the disciples whom he had chosen, one by one, even until he had touched them all, and spake unto them as he touched them.
37 And the multitude heard not the words which he spake, therefore they did not bear record; but the disciples bare record that he gave them power to give the Holy Ghost.”
This is how The Book of Mormon contains the fulness of the gospel!
The Book of Mormon doesn’t just teach about the fulness of the gospel, — these passages contain instructions and examples of administration. Within the Bible there is a lot we can infer, but only in the Book of Mormon do we find explicit instructions on how to perform these ordinances – from Christ himself.
The last book, The Book of Moroni is notorious for how short the first few chapters are. But look at how essential these chapters are: It’s not just instructions on performing ordinances, these chapters contain the exact wording used to ordain, confer the Holy Ghost, and bless the sacrament. All essential elements of the fulness of the gospel.
Imagine if Moroni hadn’t recorded these things! We would still have these ordinances in our day, but we can strengthen our testimony of The Book of Mormon as we see that the ordinances we perform are a restoration of the gospel Christ taught anciently.
I am so excited to continue studying the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ contained within The Book of Mormon as we do Come, Follow Me. Every time I do, my testimony of the restoration grows stronger, and I recognize the perfect love of our Heavenly Father and Savior, Jesus Christ.
If you’re looking for some tools to enhance your Come, Follow Me study of The Book of Mormon, I have a FREE 2020 Come Follow Me reading chart to help you stay organized in 2020!
