The Effect of the
Law: Lehi’s description of the law’s effect
seems very pessimistic: “And the law is given unto men. And by the law no flesh
is justified; or, by the law men are cut off.” The language, and intent, of
this verse echoes Paul in Romans: “Therefore by the deeds of the law there
shall no flesh be justified in his sight; for by the law is the knowledge of
sin” (Rom. 3:20). The concept that “no flesh is justified” by the law is common
to both. Lehi has a slightly different reading of the nature of the law. Rather
than Paul’s “by the law is the knowledge of sin,” Lehi has the law cutting men
off from God. While the two concepts appear different, they are both referring
to the same idea.
Lehi establishes first that human
beings have the capacity to distinguish between good and evil and then that God
commands humans to choose good. This is the law, whose purpose is to exalt us.
Ironically, its immediate effect is to condemn us, because mortals are incapable
of living it completely. Thus, “by the law no flesh is justified”; and in both
Lehi and Paul’s statements, the law is the instrument against which we are
measured and found in sin (hence, cut off from God in Lehi’s vision).
The eternal law itself cannot exalt us
because violating any portion of that law places us in a position of nonjustification.
Lehis acknowledges that this is exactly what he means, for his second sentence
defines the first: “by the law no flesh is justified; or, by the law men are
cut off.” The law cuts us off from God. It does not bring us closer—again because
we will, perforce, violate the law.
Lehi’s next sentence further defines
our predicament: “By the temporal law they were cut off; and also, by the
spiritual law they perish from that which is good, and become miserable
forever.” While he does not define “they” at this point, they are Adam and Eve,
to whom he returns later in the discourse. In the context of the Garden of
Eden, and the law, Lehi’s two types of separation are understandable. The “temporal
law” is the Fall’s physical impact of their daily lives—e.g., difficulties in
earning their daily bread. The “spiritual law” with its spiritual fall
separated them from all that was good—by definition, God’s presence. Therefore,
the effect of the spiritual fall was eternal misery.
As I read Lehi’s sermon, he is
constructing his case in dramatic extremes: the world’s condition had there
been no Atoning Messiah. Lehi is showing the darkness of despair before the Messianic
hope brightens our lives. (Brant A. Gardner, Second Witness: Analytical and
Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon, 6 vols. [Salt Lake City: Greg
Kofford Books, 2007], 2:38-39)
