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Moroni 7 is the great cornerstone of the Book of Mormon's teaching on charity, and one of the most beautiful sermons in all of scripture. Moroni preserves it from his father Mormon — a few of the words of my father Mormon, which he spake concerning faith, hope, and charity (v. 1), preached in the synagogue to the peaceable followers of Christ. The sermon is the Book of Mormon's companion to Paul's hymn to love in 1 Corinthians 13, and in some ways its deepening: where Paul defines charity, Mormon names its source — charity is the pure love of Christ (v. 47). The chapter unfolds as a connected argument that builds from how to discern good from evil, through faith and hope, to the summit of charity. Mormon teaches that every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good... is inspired of God (v. 13); that faith lays hold on every good thing; that faith requires hope, and hope requires meekness, and the meek must needs have charity; for if he have not charity he is nothing (v. 44). And he ends with the command to pray with all the energy of heart to be filled with the pure love of Christ. It is the chapter that gathers the whole gospel into three words and crowns them with the greatest — charity, the pure love of Christ, which never faileth.
The chapter moves in a connected sequence. First, how to judge good from evil (vv. 5–19): by their works ye shall know them; all good comes of God and all evil of the devil; that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually (v. 13); the light of Christ is given to every man to judge, that ye may know good from evil (vv. 16–18). Second, faith (vv. 20–39): faith is the way to lay hold on every good thing; good things come by faith in Christ, through the ministering of angels and the word of God; it is by faith that miracles are wrought (v. 37), and miracles have not ceased except through unbelief. Third, hope (vv. 40–43): faith requires hope — hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal. Fourth, charity (vv. 44–48): faith and hope require meekness, and the meek must have charity — charity suffereth long, and is kind... charity never faileth (vv. 45–46); charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever (v. 47); and the saints must pray... with all the energy of heart to be filled with it (v. 48).
The verses that carry the chapter are these. Verse 13 gives the test of good — that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually. Verse 33 gives faith's power — if ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient. Verses 45–46 give charity's nature — charity suffereth long, and is kind... charity never faileth. Verse 47 gives its definition — charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever. And verse 48 gives the command — pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love. The chapter exists to teach the three great virtues — faith, hope, and charity — as a connected ascent, and to crown them with charity, the pure love of Christ, the love that never fails and without which a person is nothing, prayed for with all the energy of heart.
How to judge good from evil (verses 5–19)
Wherefore, all things which are good cometh of God; and that which is evil cometh of the devil... But behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God. — Moroni 7:12–13
Mormon begins by giving the saints a tool they can use every day — a way to judge good from evil. The principle is clear and binary: all things which are good cometh of God; and that which is evil cometh of the devil (v. 12). And the practical test follows: that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually (v. 13). This is the same test Christ gave in Ether 4:12 (whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do good is of me), now expanded into a usable rule of discernment. Anything that inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God; anything that persuadeth men to do evil, and believe not in Christ... is of the devil (v. 17). And Mormon names the faculty by which we judge: the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil (v. 16), the light of Christ as plain as the daylight is from the dark night (v. 15). This is a profoundly democratic doctrine — every person is given the light of Christ, the inborn capacity to know good from evil, and a simple test to apply it. Mormon equips the ordinary disciple to discern the source of every influence: does it invite to good and to Christ, or to evil and away from him? The test is plain, and the light to apply it is given to all.
Faith lays hold on every good thing (verses 20–39)
And Christ hath said: If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me. — Moroni 7:33
Mormon turns to faith, and he frames it as the way to lay hold upon every good thing (v. 21). Since all good comes of Christ (v. 24), the way to lay hold on good is faith in Christ. And faith is powerful: if ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me (v. 33) — the same doctrine Moroni taught in Ether 12, that by faith all things are fulfilled (Ether 12:3). Mormon insists that faith is the engine of miracles and the channel of angels: it is by faith that miracles are wrought; and it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men (v. 37). And he presses the consequence: if miracles and angels have ceased, it is because of unbelief, and all is vain (v. 37) — for no man can be saved... save they shall have faith in his name (v. 38). This is the same argument Moroni made in Mormon 9 and Ether 12 — that the miraculous never ceases except through unbelief, because God is unchanging and works according to the faith of the children of men. Mormon makes faith the foundation of the whole ascent: faith lays hold on every good thing, works miracles, brings angels, and is the indispensable condition of salvation.
Faith requires hope, and hope requires meekness (verses 40–43)
What is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise. — Moroni 7:41
Mormon now shows that faith and hope are inseparable — if a man have faith he must needs have hope; for without faith there cannot be any hope (v. 42) — and he names exactly what the disciple hopes for: hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal. This is not vague optimism but a specific, anchored hope — the resurrection, eternal life, grounded in the atonement and according to the promise. Faith in Christ produces hope in resurrection; the two rise together. And Mormon adds the necessary foundation of both: he cannot have faith and hope, save he shall be meek, and lowly of heart (v. 43). Meekness is the soil in which faith and hope grow; none is acceptable before God, save the meek and lowly in heart (v. 44). This is the same lowliness Alma required for the seed of faith (Alma 32:16) — the humble heart that can receive. Mormon is building a connected chain: meekness makes faith possible, faith makes hope possible, and meekness-with-faith-and-hope leads, necessarily, to the summit — charity. If a man be meek and lowly in heart, and confesses... that Jesus is the Christ, he must needs have charity (v. 44).
Charity, the pure love of Christ (verses 44–48)
And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. — Moroni 7:45
Here Mormon reaches the summit, and he gives the great anatomy of charity, nearly verbatim with Paul's hymn (1 Corinthians 13:4–7). Charity is described by what it does and does not do: it suffereth long, and is kind — patient and gentle; it envieth not... is not puffed up... seeketh not her own... is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil — the death of pride and selfishness; it rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth; and it beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things — the four boundless verbs of love that does not quit. This is the most complete portrait of love in scripture, and Mormon, the old soldier who watched his nation drown in hatred and bloodshed, preserves it as the one thing his people lacked and the one thing that could have saved them. The list is not abstract; every quality of charity is the opposite of what destroyed the Nephites — they envied, they were puffed up, they sought their own, they were provoked, they rejoiced in iniquity, they bore and believed and endured nothing. Charity is the cure for everything the Book of Mormon has shown going wrong, and Mormon sets it forth in full.
But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him. — Moroni 7:47
This is the verse the whole chapter exists for, and it is Mormon's deepening of Paul. Paul defined charity by its qualities; Mormon names its essence: charity is the pure love of Christ. Charity is not merely a virtue we cultivate; it is the pure love of Christ — his love, the love he has for us, bestowed upon us, flowing through us. This reframes the entire chapter. The list of qualities (v. 45) describes how Christ loves, and charity is having that very love — being filled with Christ's own love for others. And it endureth forever — when all things must fail (v. 46), even faith and hope passing into sight and fulfillment, charity remains, because it is the love of Christ, which is eternal. Whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him — charity is the final test, the one possession that matters at the judgment. Mormon, who titled his whole life's grief over a loveless people, makes the pure love of Christ the summit of the gospel and the measure of the last day. The man who watched charity die in his nation preserves its definition as the greatest of all things.
Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him. — Moroni 7:48
The chapter ends with a command and a promise, and the command is the key to obtaining charity: pray... with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love. Charity is not self-generated; it is bestowed by the Father upon all who are true followers of his Son. It is a gift, to be prayed for with all the energy of heart — the whole intensity of the soul poured into the petition to be filled with the pure love of Christ. And the promise is the highest in the gospel: those filled with this love become the sons of God, and when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is (echoing 1 John 3:2). Charity is the love that makes us like Christ, that prepares us to see him and be made like him at his appearing. The chapter that began with how to judge good from evil ends with the prayer to be filled with the very love of Christ, so that we might become like him. This is the destination of the whole ascent — faith laying hold on good, hope anchored in the resurrection, and charity, the pure love of Christ, making us his sons and daughters, like him, when he appears. Mormon's sermon ends where the gospel ends: in becoming like Christ through his own love, prayed for with all the energy of the heart.
How the chapter is built
Moroni 7 is built as a connected ascent, a single staircase climbing from the ground of discernment to the summit of charity. The steps are linked by an unbroken logic: first the light of Christ to know good from evil (vv. 5–19); then faith to lay hold on the good once discerned (vv. 20–39); then hope, which faith requires and which anchors in the resurrection (vv. 40–43); then meekness, which faith and hope require (v. 43); and finally charity, which the meek believer must needs have (v. 44), crowned as the pure love of Christ that never faileth (vv. 45–47). Each step necessitates the next — if a man have faith he must needs have hope... he cannot have faith and hope, save he shall be meek... he must needs have charity. The architecture is a chain of necessity, each virtue requiring and producing the others, rising to charity at the top. This is why the chapter cannot be reduced to its famous charity verses alone; charity is the summit of a staircase, and the whole climb — discernment, faith, hope, meekness — is the way up to it.
The chapter is also built as the Book of Mormon's deepening of Paul's hymn to love, and the relationship is deliberate. Mormon's anatomy of charity (v. 45) is nearly verbatim with 1 Corinthians 13:4–7, and his ranking of charity as greatest (v. 46) matches Paul's the greatest of these is charity (1 Corinthians 13:13). But Mormon adds what Paul leaves implicit: the definition — charity is the pure love of Christ (v. 47) — and the means — pray... with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love (v. 48). The architecture takes Paul's description and grounds it in Christ (charity is his love) and makes it obtainable (it is bestowed in answer to prayer). Mormon does not merely echo Paul; he completes him, naming charity's source and the way to receive it. The chapter is structured so that the reader, having admired charity in Paul, learns from Mormon both what it truly is (Christ's own love) and how to get it (fervent prayer to be filled).
And the chapter is built to end not in admiration but in petition, turning the whole sermon into a prayer. After defining charity as the greatest of all and the pure love of Christ, Mormon does not leave the reader merely informed; he commands them to pray... with all the energy of heart to be filled with it (v. 48). The architecture drives the entire ascent toward this final imperative. The point of teaching faith, hope, and charity is not to describe them but to obtain them, and charity — being a gift bestowed, not a virtue manufactured — can only be obtained by asking. So the chapter ends on its knees, the doctrine become a prayer, the reader sent to the Father to be filled with the pure love of Christ. This is fitting for the chapter that crowns the Book of Mormon's teaching on love: it does not end with a definition but with a petition, because charity is finally not something we understand but something we receive — the love of Christ, prayed for with all the energy of heart, bestowed on his true followers, making them like him.