July 2004 Ensign - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

52
BOOK OF MORMON
PRINCIPLES
Submitting
OurWill to the Father’s
Abinadi helps us
understand how
bringing our desires
into harmony with
God’s will can bring
us spiritual power.
BY ELDER BENJAMIN DE HOYOS
Area Authority Seventy
Mexico South Area
Without a doubt, one of the great sermons
in the Book of Mormon is
found in the powerful words of the
prophet Abinadi. With great clarity, he gives
expression to the doctrine of the Atonement
of Christ and its effects upon all humankind.
One aspect of the Atonement made clear
by Abinadi has to do with the power we
receive as we follow the Savior’s example
and submit the desires of the flesh to the will
of God. The prophet Abinadi describes this
characteristic:
“I would that ye should understand that
God himself shall come down among the children
of men, and shall redeem his people.
“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. . . .
“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. . . .
“Yea, even so he shall be led, crucified, and
ABINADI APPEARING BEFORE KING NOAH, BY ARNOLD FRIBERG
slain, the flesh becoming subject even unto
death, the will of the Son being swallowed up
in the will of the Father” (Mosiah 15:1–2, 5, 7).
Seeking a Mighty Change
As we read the scriptures daily, searching
the inspired words that lead many to know
of their surety and to live accordingly, the