Mormon 7:5

Know ye that ye must come to the knowledge of your fathers, and repent of all your sins and iniquities, and believe in Jesus Christ, that he is the Son of God, and that he was slain by the Jews, and by the power of the Father he hath risen again, whereby he hath gained the victory over the grave; and also in him is the sting of death swallowed up.

As Mormon writes his final words to the posterity of a destroyed civilization, the shares a powerful lesson with a promise. He tells his readers to "come to a knowledge of [their] fathers," thus echoing the commandment to "remember", which appears often in the Book of Mormon. Remembering means not only knowing who our fathers were, but also knowing what they knew. In other words, it is to regain the knowledge the fathers had about God, Christ, and the Plan of Salvation, which was lost through apostasy. It is to discover again what we should have known all along. Once the knowledge is restored, we can recognize our sins and repent, believe in Christ, and accept him as our Savior. That is Mormon's whole purpose and his labor of love.

3 Nephi 21:22

But if they will repent and hearken unto my words, and harden not their hearts, I will establish my church among them, and they shall come in unto the covenant and be numbered among this the remnant of Jacob, unto whom I have given this land for their inheritance;

This prophecy is about those who accept the gospel and enter into the covenants of baptism and the temple. We are added to the Lord's chosen people because of our covenants, regardless of our birth heritage or DNA. We therefore share in the inheritance of the promised land with the rest of Lehi's descendants. The same is true of our spiritual homeland. We can be accepted into the celestial kingdom because of covenants, and because of the covenant Christ made with the Father to be our Redeemer, Mediator, and Savior.

3 Nephi 1:22

And it came to pass that from this time forth there began to be lyings sent forth among the people, by Satan, to harden their hearts, to the intent that they might not believe in those signs and wonders which they had seen; but notwithstanding these lyings and deceivings the more part of the people did believe, and were converted unto the Lord.

The sign of a night without darkness at the Savior's birth was dramatic enough to get people's attention so they would listen to the message of the gospel and the Messiah. Many were converted, or at least they joined the church. But conversion cannot be dependent on a sign. Just a few years later, this skin-deep conversion would slip away for many, and the people for the most part would return to apostasy. There are many ways to plant the seed of faith in people's hearts, but the seed must be nurtured and carefully cultivated, or it will not bear fruit.

Alma 26:6-7

Yea, they shall not be beaten down by the storm at the last day; yea, neither shall they be harrowed up by the whirlwinds; but when the storm cometh they shall be gathered together in their place, that the storm cannot penetrate to them; yea, neither shall they be driven with fierce winds whithersoever the enemy listeth to carry them. But behold, they are in the hands of the Lord of the harvest, and they are his; and he will raise them up at the last day.

These are words that can and should be said of us who are converted in our hearts unto Christ. He will not let us be beaten down, scattered, and destroyed. He will gather us in and protect us. We need not fear the storms of the world, for Christ has overcome the world.

Mosiah 14:3-12

He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

All we, like sheep, have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquities of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb so he opened not his mouth.

He was taken from prison and from judgment; and who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the land of the living; for the transgressions of my people was he stricken.

And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no evil, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

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.

He shall see the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied; by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death; and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bore the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

The prophet Abinadi used the words of Isaiah to prophesy the coming of the Messiah. No more beautiful or poignant language can be found to express the cost of Christ's atonement: "a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed; the Lord hath laid on him the iniquities of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted; he was taken from prison and from judgment; he was cut off out of the land of the living; for the transgressions of my people was he stricken. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief; he shall bear their iniquities; he hath poured out his soul unto death; and he bore the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." How can any soul not be touched by such great love?

Mosiah 3:7

And lo, he shall suffer temptations, and pain of body, hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can suffer, except it be unto death; for behold, blood cometh from every pore, so great shall be his anguish for the wickedness and the abominations of his people.

Note that the angel focuses on the events in Gethsemane more than on the cross as the most intense and powerful experience of the atonement. It was in the garden of the "Olive Press" that blood came from every pore of Jesus' body. Many today do not recognize or understand the significance of Christ's Gethsemane experience. The Book of Mormon makes clear what has been obscured in the Bible. And how appropriate that Adam introduced sin into world while in a garden, and so the Savior paid for the sins of the world while in a garden.