Mosiah 5

Where we are

This is the chapter where the covenant actually gets made. Benjamin has preached the doctrine (Mosiah 3), the people have collapsed and cried and been forgiven and been told how to hold onto that forgiveness (Mosiah 4). Now Benjamin pauses and asks the simplest possible question: do you believe what I've said? And the whole crowd answers at once, with one voice — and what follows is the most unified covenant confession in the Book of Mormon. If you're looking for the chapter that defines what it means to be born again before John ever wrote the words, this is it.

The chapter moves in three clean steps:

1. Benjamin asks, and the people answer with one voice (vv. 1–5).
2. He declares them spiritually begotten of Christ and tells them to take his name upon them (vv. 6–12).
3. He closes with the warning of the good shepherd and the strange voice (vv. 13–15).

And four verses carry most of the weight:

1. v. 2 — the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent… has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually. The mighty change, named.
2. v. 7 — ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you… ye are born of him. Adoption made literal.
3. v. 8 — there is no other name given whereby salvation cometh; therefore, I would that ye should take upon you the name of Christ. The name, given.
4. v. 12 — that ye hear and know the voice by which ye shall be called, and also, the name by which he shall call you. The shepherd who knows his own.

Benjamin's inquiry and the one-voice response (verses 1–5)

And now, it came to pass that when king Benjamin had thus spoken to his people, he sent among them, desiring to know of his people if they believed the words which he had spoken unto them. — Mosiah 5:1

Notice what Benjamin does here. He doesn't assume he's converted anyone. He sends among the people to ask whether they believed. That's a small thing, but it's not a small thing. A prophet-king could simply declare the people covenanted and move on. Instead he checks. He wants to know, from them, in their own words. It's the same instinct behind Joshua's choose you this day whom ye will serve (Josh. 24:15) and the Ethiopian eunuch's own confession before he's baptized (Acts 8:36–37). Real covenants ask for real consent. Benjamin won't skip that step, even with an entire nation standing in front of him.

And they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually. — Mosiah 5:2

This is one of the most important sentences in the Book of Mormon. Read it slowly: a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually. Not "we've decided to behave better." Not "we're trying harder." Something has actually changed in them — a change wrought by the Spirit, not manufactured by willpower — and the evidence is that evil no longer appeals to them the way it used to. That's a very different claim than moral resolve, and it's worth sitting with the difference.

Ezekiel will describe the same thing centuries later, on the far side of the exile: a new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh (Ezek. 36:26–27). Paul will call it being a new creature where old things are passed away (2 Cor. 5:17). Titus will call it the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost (Tit. 3:5). Benjamin's people are living the doctrine before any of those writers put it into words.

That closing phrase — no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually — is doing something specific. It's not describing better behavior. It's describing a changed disposition, the actual bent of the will. Paul will describe the same reversal: that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin (Rom. 6:6). Benjamin's people already know what that feels like from the inside.

And we, ourselves, also, through the infinite goodness of God, and the manifestations of his Spirit, have great views of that which is to come; and were it expedient, we could prophesy of all things. — Mosiah 5:3

Here's something easy to miss: the people themselves start to see. Great views of that which is to come; and were it expedient, we could prophesy of all things. Whatever gift had been reserved for the king and the prophets is suddenly available to the whole assembly. That's a striking claim for an entire nation to make about itself, and it anticipates Moses' wish out loud in the wilderness — would God that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit upon them (Num. 11:29) — and Joel's promise that God will pour out my spirit upon all flesh (Joel 2:28), a promise Peter will quote at Pentecost (Acts 2:17–18). Benjamin's crowd is already living inside that promise, three ways before Joel writes it down.

And it is the faith which we have had on the things which our king has spoken unto us that has brought us to this great knowledge, whereby we do rejoice with such exceedingly great joy. And we are willing to enter into a covenant with our God to do his will, and to be obedient to his commandments in all things that he shall command us, all the remainder of our days, that we may not bring upon ourselves a never-ending torment, as has been spoken by the angel, that we may not drink out of the cup of the wrath of God. — Mosiah 5:4–5

Notice how total this covenant is — all things that he shall command us, all the remainder of our days. Not a partial yes. Not a probationary yes. It's the same sweeping language Israel used at Sinai, all that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient (Ex. 24:7), and again at Shechem, the Lord our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey (Josh. 24:24). And notice, too, that the people aren't covenanting blind. They still remember exactly what the alternative looks like — a never-ending torment… the cup of the wrath of God — the very language Benjamin used back in Mosiah 3:25–26. This isn't a covenant made under pressure or in the dark. It's made with open eyes, which is what makes it worth something.

The declaration of spiritual begetting and the new name (verses 6–12)

And now, these are the words which king Benjamin desired of them; and therefore he said unto them: Ye have spoken the words that I desired; and the covenant which ye have made is a righteous covenant. — Mosiah 5:6

Benjamin ratifies what the people just said. Their declaration wasn't the last word — his acceptance is. The covenant needed both a people willing to speak it and a prophet willing to seal it, the same pattern Moses follows at Sinai when he takes the blood and says, Behold the blood of the covenant (Ex. 24:8). A covenant isn't just spoken into being. Somebody with the authority to do it has to say yes back.

And now, because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters. — Mosiah 5:7

This might be the most Christ-centered sentence in the whole chapter. Notice the verb: not "declared" the children of Christ, but begotten. That's genealogical language, not honorary language. Christ isn't just claiming these people as followers — he's claiming them as offspring. John will say almost exactly this: as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (Jn. 1:12–13), and later, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God (Jn. 3:3, 5). Benjamin's people are born again in every sense John will later mean it — six hundred years before John writes a word of it.

And under this head ye are made free, and there is no other head whereby ye can be made free. There is no other name given whereby salvation cometh; therefore, I would that ye should take upon you the name of Christ, all you that have entered into the covenant with God that ye should be obedient unto the end of your lives. — Mosiah 5:8

This is the instruction the whole chapter has been building toward: take upon you the name of Christ. Taking the name is the act that seals the covenant — the people mark themselves as belonging to the one who begot them. Luke will later record the first time that name gets used as a label for an entire community: the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch (Acts 11:26). Benjamin's people already carry it, generations before Antioch coins the word.

And notice the phrase right before it — under this head ye are made free. Headship and freedom sit together here the same way they will in Paul, he is the head of the body, the church (Col. 1:18), and in John, if the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed (Jn. 8:36). Being under Christ's headship isn't bondage. It's the thing that makes you free.

And it shall come to pass that whosoever doeth this shall be found at the right hand of God, for he shall know the name by which he is called; for he shall be called by the name of Christ. — Mosiah 5:9

And now it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall not take upon him the name of Christ must be called by some other name; therefore, he findeth himself on the left hand of God. — Mosiah 5:10

Benjamin sets these two verses as a pair — right hand, left hand — and Christ himself will draw the same picture at the judgment: then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father (Matt. 25:34), and to the other side, then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me (Matt. 25:41). There's no third option in view. You bear the name, or you're called by some other name. The choice made now is the choice that shows up at the judgment.

And I would that ye should remember also, that this is the name that I said I should give unto you that never should be blotted out, except it be through transgression; therefore, take heed that ye do not transgress, that the name be not blotted out of your hearts. — Mosiah 5:11

Benjamin promised this name back at the start of his reign (Mosiah 1:11–12), and here he delivers it. But notice where the name is written — not on a tablet, not on a record, but in your hearts, and it can be blotted out by transgression. This is the same picture Jeremiah paints, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts (Jer. 31:33), and Paul makes explicit — a letter written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart (2 Cor. 3:3). The name isn't a badge you wear. It's something that can fade from where it's actually written, which is why Benjamin tells them to guard it.

I say unto you, I would that ye should remember to retain the name written always in your hearts, that ye are not found on the left hand of God, but that ye hear and know the voice by which ye shall be called, and also, the name by which he shall call you. — Mosiah 5:12

This verse names the shepherd doctrine before Christ himself will ever preach it: the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out… for they know his voice (Jn. 10:3–4), I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine (Jn. 10:14). Benjamin is describing the exact relationship John will later describe — a shepherd who knows his sheep by name, and sheep who know his voice well enough to follow it anywhere.

The good shepherd and the strange voice (verses 13–15)

For how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served, and who is a stranger unto him, and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart? — Mosiah 5:13

Benjamin's point is simple and hard to argue with: you don't come to know a master you've never served. Knowledge of Christ isn't theoretical. It comes from actually serving him. Christ will say it the same way — if any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God (Jn. 7:17) — and John's first letter agrees: hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments (1 Jn. 2:3). Doing comes before knowing, not the other way around.

And again, doth a man take an ass which belongeth to his neighbor, and keep him? I say unto you, Nay; he will not even suffer that he shall feed among his flocks, but will drive him away, and cast him out. I say unto you, that even so shall it be among you if ye know not the name by which ye are called. — Mosiah 5:14

Benjamin reaches for a homely, everyday image — nobody keeps a stray animal that belongs to someone else. It gets driven off. Whoever doesn't carry Christ's name doesn't belong to his fold, and the fate is the same one Christ describes at the judgment: he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats (Matt. 25:32–33). The master knows his own. Everything else gets sent away.

Therefore, I would that ye should be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in good works, that Christ, the Lord God Omnipotent, may seal you his, that you may be brought to heaven, that ye may have everlasting salvation and eternal life, through the wisdom, and power, and justice, and mercy of him who created all things, in heaven and in earth, who is God above all. Amen. — Mosiah 5:15

Three words carry the closing charge — steadfast, immovable, abounding. Steadfast is firmness; immovable is resistance to being pushed; abounding is the positive, active work that keeps going. Paul will echo all three together: be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord (1 Cor. 15:58). And the reward for that kind of life is being sealed — the same language Paul uses when he says believers are sealed with that holy Spirit of promise (Eph. 1:13) and sealed unto the day of redemption (Eph. 4:30). Then the chapter simply ends: Amen. One word, and it functions the way the twelve amens function at the close of Deuteronomy's blessings and curses (Deut. 27:15–26) — the covenant, sealed shut.

The chapter's architecture

The chapter falls into three clean panels. Verses 1–5 give the people's acceptance. Verses 6–12 give Benjamin's ratification and the bestowal of the name. Verses 13–15 give the discipleship that has to follow from bearing that name. The theological center sits at verses 2, 7, and 8 together — the mighty change, the spiritual begetting, and the taking of the name. That's the whole sequence in three verses: a heart changed, a birth, a name.

Read as a whole, the chapter functions like a covenant-ratification ceremony, the same shape as Israel's covenant at Sinai — the people accept, and Moses seals it with blood (Ex. 24:3–8) — and the renewal at Shechem under Joshua (Josh. 24:14–27). The people speak; the prophet ratifies; the discipleship follows.

And there's one more thing worth noticing, something every Latter-day Saint reader will recognize instantly. Take upon you the name of Christ (v. 8) is the exact phrase that survives into the sacramental prayer — willing to take upon them the name of thy Son (D&C 20:77; Moro. 4:3). What Benjamin's people did once, as a nation, standing together at the temple, every disciple since has renewed quietly, one week at a time, at the sacrament table.

How this sits in the literature of its time

Hidden providence

Three things are worth sitting with.

First, verse 7 — spiritually begotten you… ye are born of him — is the Book of Mormon's clearest statement of what Christ will teach Nicodemus by night in John 3, and what John will write in his own gospel about becoming children of God (Jn. 1:12–13). What Christ will personally teach in Jerusalem, Benjamin has already taught at the temple in Zarahemla, six centuries early.

Second, verse 12 — hear and know the voice by which ye shall be called — is the good shepherd doctrine of John 10 in miniature, long before Christ ever tells the parable himself: the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name. Benjamin's people already know what it feels like to be known that way.

Third, verse 8 — take upon you the name of Christ — anticipates the very moment in Acts 11:26 when the disciples are first called Christians at Antioch. And it doesn't stop being ancient history. It's the same phrase every Latter-day Saint repeats, in essence, every time the sacrament prayer is offered.

Where this lands

Three practices worth carrying out of this chapter.

First, expect the mighty change — and actually let it happen. Verse 2 isn't describing self-improvement. It's describing something the Spirit does in a person. Don't settle for managing your own behavior when what's actually on offer is a changed disposition. There's a real difference between gritting your teeth through temptation and simply not wanting the thing anymore, and Ezekiel names the same gift: a new heart… I will put my spirit within you (Ezek. 36:26–27).

Second, retain the name in your heart, and don't let anything blot it out. Verse 11 is specific about where the name lives — not on a wall, not on a record, but in the heart, and transgression is what erases it. Carry the name of Christ into your conscience, your speech, your judgment, your daily dealings. Guard it the way you'd guard anything worth keeping.

Third, learn to know the voice by which you're called. Verse 12 assumes this is something you can actually get better at — recognizing the Shepherd's voice in scripture, in prompting, in conscience, until it's unmistakable. The point of knowing the true voice that well is exactly what John says next: a stranger's voice, they will not follow (Jn. 10:3–5).