In contrast to the Old World Hebrews who rejected their prophets and scriptures, the believing Nephites were given additional spiritual knowledge, particularly about the Christ who would come bringing salvation.

A principal purpose of the Book of Mormon is to teach the descendants of the apostate Hebrews about the Christ. There are many passages in the Book of Mormon that attempt to do this, often by using Hebrew literary devices such as Biblical allusions and chiasms. Christ is often placed at the center of these chiasms to show his prime importance. Nephi’s “we rejoice in Christ” message in 2 Nephi 25:23-29 is an interesting example. Here Nephi uses a chiasm to show his fellow Hebrews how their entire system of religious law, the Law of Moses, points to Christ. Read as English prose, Nephi’s message seems repetitive and somewhat foreign:

For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do. And, notwithstanding we believe in Christ, we keep the law of Moses, and look forward with steadfastness unto Christ, until the law shall be fulfilled. For, for this end was the law given; wherefore the law hath become dead unto us, and we are made alive in Christ because of our faith; yet we keep the law because of the commandments. And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins. Wherefore, we speak concerning the law that our children may know the deadness of the law; and they, by knowing the deadness of the law, may look forward unto that life which is in Christ, and know for what end the law was given. And after the law is fulfilled in Christ, that they need not harden their hearts against him when the law ought to be done away. And now behold, my people, ye are a stiffnecked people; wherefore, I have spoken plainly unto you, that ye cannot misunderstand. And the words which I have spoken shall stand as a testimony against you; for they are sufficient to teach any man the right way; for the right way is to believe in Christ and deny him not; for by denying him ye also deny the prophets and the law. And now behold, I say unto you that the right way is to believe in Christ, and deny him not; and Christ is the Holy One of Israel; wherefore ye must bow down before him, and worship him with all your might, mind, and strength, and your whole soul; and if ye do this ye shall in nowise be cast out. 

But the repetitiveness has a purpose — to create a chiasm that is built around and centered on Christ. To the classical Hebrew reader, this chiasm would have served to emphasize Nephi’s message that the Law of Moses is likewise built around and centered on Christ. Here is Nephi’s message in chiastic form, with parallel elements shown in color for each level.

For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do. And, notwithstanding we believe in Christ,

we keep the law of Moses,

and look forward with steadfastness unto Christ, until the law shall be fulfilled.

For, for this end was the law given;

wherefore the law hath become dead unto us, and we are made alive in Christ because of our faith; yet we keep the law because of the commandments.

And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies,

that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.

Wherefore, we speak concerning the law that our children may know the deadness of the law; and they, by knowing the deadness of the law, may look forward unto that life which is in Christ,

and know for what end the law was given.

And after the law is fulfilled in Christ, that they need not harden their hearts against him

 when the law ought to be done away.

And now behold, my people, ye are a stiffnecked people; wherefore, I have spoken plainly unto you, that ye cannot misunderstand. And the words which I have spoken shall stand as a testimony against you; for they are sufficient to teach any man the right way; for the right way is to believe in Christ and deny him not; for by denying him ye also deny the prophets and the law. And now behold, I say unto you that the right way is to believe in Christ, and deny him not; and Christ is the Holy One of Israel; wherefore ye must bow down before him, and worship him with all your might, mind, and strength, and your whole soul; and if ye do this ye shall in nowise be cast out.

Nephi has effectively highlighted the important elements of his message — belief in Christ, keeping the law, the fulfillment of the law, the purpose (end) of the law, the deadness of the law, and the prime importance of Christ — by repeating them all in reverse order! And that forms a chiasm.

An interesting thing about genuine chiasms is that they usually have a logical turning point that coincides with the physical turning point at the center. In this chiasm, the turning point is the change in subject from “we” (Nephi and his fellow preachers) to “they” (Nephi’s children) and “you” (Nephi’s brethren).  Everything before the center point is what Nephi and his fellow preachers do, and everything after the center point is what he hopes his children and unbelieving brethren will do. Speaking for himself and his fellow preachers, Nephi says that “we” believe in Christ” and “we” keep the law ” and “we” are made alive in Christ and “we” preach of Christ SO THAT “our children” may know Christ and so “they” can look forward to life in Christ and so “they” won’t harden their hearts, etc.

The arrangement of text in chiastic form draws the reader’s attention to the center, and that’s  where the focal point of the message is usually placed. In this case, the focus is squarely on Christ as Nephi rejoices in him and hopes that his children will also.  The word Christ appears 14 times throughout the message but is repeated most densely at the center, with “we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophecy of Christ.”

There is another fascinating thing about Nephi’s chiasm. Much is made in Mormonism of the phrase, “it is by grace that we are saved after all we can do,” at the beginning of Nephi’s message. Nephi is apparently saying that  we are ultimately saved by grace through Christ, but we must also “do” something for that to happen. What is less clear is what exactly we must do. The parallel structure of the chiasm can help us figure out what Nephi is talking about. “All we can do” at the beginning of the chiasm is echoed by “ye do” at the end. “Ye do” in turn refers to “believe in Christ” and “bow down before him and worship him with all your might, mind, and strength” (see also Moroni 10:32). Thus,  what is required of us is to believe in and worship God in Christ. This interpretation of the chiasm is verified by Moroni’s statement that, “if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness and love God with all your might, mind, and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you…in Christ” (Moroni 10:32). So what is required of us in order for God’s grace to be sufficient? We must stop sinning and give our hearts to him.

This belief in and worship of Christ doesn’t actually save us, however, any more than keeping “the law” does. We are saved solely “by grace”; or, in other words “salvation is free” (2 Nephi 2:4-6). That’s what “grace” means. We can’t earn salvation any more than a poor student earns a government grant for college — you can’t earn a gift. But the poor student can qualify for the free money, which at least involves having a need, making some commitments, and filling out some paperwork. Similarly, we can qualify for salvation, which is the “greatest of all the gifts of God” (1 Nephi 15:36). Our belief in and devotion to Christ is the living faith of which James spoke (James 2) that qualifies us for that gift.

The idea of salvation by grace is central to the message of the Book of Mormon. It is so important that Moroni, the last prophet, ends the Book of Mormon with this message:

Come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in no wise deny the power of God. And again, if ye, by the grace of God, are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father, unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy without spot. And now I bid unto all, farewell. I soon go to rest in the paradise of God, until my spirit and body shall again reunite, and I am brought forth triumphant through the air, to meet you before the pleasing bar of the great Jehovah, the eternal Judge of both quick and dead. Amen.

We are commanded to be perfect. Yet it is not through works that we become that way, it is by coming unto Christ and through his grace.

Easter is a celebration of Christ’s return to life after breaking the bands of death. An Easter egg is a symbol not only of his return to life but also of our rebirth as we escape the bands of sin and find new life in him. In 2 Nephi 25:23-29, Nephi creates an Easter egg in a classical Hebrew manner by putting Christ at the center of a chiasm that teaches how we may be “made alive in Christ.”

See also “The Gift of Grace” by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf