Crucifying the Flesh

The Prophet Joseph Smith's mission was prophesied by Joseph of Egypt, who foretold that one of the purposes of the Book of Mormon was for "the convincing them of my word, which shall have already gone forth among them" (2 Nephi 3:11). Often in Latter-day Saint culture we think of the Bible to back up the Book of Mormon, but the inverse of this--the Book of Mormon to clarify, expand, and expound the Bible, is one of its main purposes.

Abinadi's commentary on an Isaiah Messianic prophecy is a prime example. I have found the abundance of pronouns in Isaiah 53 to be a real problem to understand what's going on. One verse particularly seems to have too many pronouns. The Isaiah verse reads,

"Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand" (Isaiah 53:10).

Who is "the Lord" here? Is it Heavenly Father being "pleased" in His Beloved Son, as in other verses? It sounds like the Father in this context. And it is, but perhaps not in the same way as one might imagine. It is not Heavenly Father in the original Hebrew. It is Jehovah--the "Word made flesh" (John 1:14). Click here for a link to the original Hebrew. 

In this context, Jehovah is the Father and Jesus Christ the Son. The premortal Jehovah declared Himself as the Father and the Son to the brother of Jared. He said, "Behold, I am Jesus Christ. I am the Father and the Son. In me shall all mankind have life, and that eternally, even they who shall believe on my name; and they shall become my sons and my daughters" (Ether 3:14).

Abinadi explains this in the Book of Mormon:

"And because he dwelleth in flesh he shall be called the Son of God, and having subjected the flesh to the will of the Father, being the Father and the Son—

"The Father, because he was conceived by the power of God; and the Son, because of the flesh; thus becoming the Father and Son—

"And they are one God, yea, the very Eternal Father of heaven and of earth" (Mosiah 15:2-4).

The concept of "one God" in this case doesn't merely mean being one in purpose. Abinadi is describing Jehovah as "the Eternal Father" and Jesus Christ as the Son. Yes, subjecting to the will of Heavenly Father is true and important, but Jesus Christ always subjected His own will to the will of His eternal role as Jehovah, the God of the Old Testament. Thus, Isaiah can speak in the past tense of the will of Jehovah as the eternal Father, as surely as if it had already occurred in the flesh. Or, in other words, it's already a done deal. Some LDS scholars call this tense "prophetic perfect."

Does this have an implication for us as mere mortals? If Jesus set the perfect example by always subjecting His will to his premortal divine purposes as Jehovah, what could have been our premortal will? And what is our mission here on earth?

The next verse makes another comparison. Abinadi teaches, "And thus the flesh becoming subject to the Spirit, or the Son to the Father, being one God, suffereth temptation, and yieldeth not to the temptation, but suffereth himself to be mocked, and scourged, and cast out, and disowned by his people" (Mosiah 15:5).

The Spirit becomes the Father and the flesh becomes the Son. As I was working through the steps of recovery, a wonderful bishop once counseled me that whenever the flesh wars against the Spirit, the Spirit should always win. I have been far from perfect in following his advice, but I can testify of the power of this principle. I know I am happier when I follow the Spirit.

The real clincher comes two verses later: "Yea, even so he shall be led, crucified, and slain, the flesh becoming subject even unto death, the will of the Son being swallowed up in the will of the Father" (Mosiah 15:7).

Not only was Jesus willing to lay down His life and suffer death for all mankind, He was equally willing to allow the will of the flesh to be "swallowed up" in every case. Thus, He "suffereth temptation, and yieldeth not to the temptation."

Two verses of scripture and an apostolic quote come to mind. Paul taught this idea of crucifying the flesh, or the natural man or woman, on at least two occasions. He spoke of baptism as a covenant relationship with Jesus Christ and the baptismal font being in similitude to the grave.

In Romans he said, "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. . . Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin" (Romans 6:4,6). The "old man" of flesh is dead in the water.

Previously, Paul taught the Galatians about the "works of the flesh" and the "fruit of the Spirit." He said, 

"Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

"Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

"Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like . . .

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

"Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

"And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts" (Galatians 5:19-24).

Elder Neal A. Maxwell once said, "One of the best ways we can put 'off the natural man' is to starve him (Mosiah 3:19). Weakened, he is more easily dislodged. Otherwise, he insists on getting his ticket punched at every stop on the temptation train" (Neal A. Maxwell, "The Seventh Commandment: A Shield," Oct. 2001).