Lesson 8 - “O How Great the Goodness of Our God”

Purpose:

To help class members understand their need for the Atonement of Jesus Christ and to teach them how to receive all the blessings of the Atonement.

Reading Assignment:

• 2 Nephi 6-10

Additional Reading:

• His Grace Is Sufficient - BYU Speeches - Brad Wilcox
• Have You Been Saved? - Dallin H. Oaks
• No Other Gods - Dallin H. Oaks

Questions to Ponder:

• What did the Savior do to overcome temporal death and spiritual death? (See 2 Nephi 9:5–7, 12, 21–22; see also Luke 22:44; Mosiah 3:7; D&C 19:16–19).
   
• Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, all people will be resurrected—saved from temporal death (2 Nephi 9:12–13, 22). What would happen to us without the power of Christ’s Resurrection? (See 2 Nephi 9:6–9).
   
• Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, all people will be restored to God’s presence to be judged (2 Nephi 2:10; 9:15). However, not all people will be “saved in the kingdom of God,” or permitted to dwell in God’s presence forever (2 Nephi 9:23; Mormon 7:7). 
   
  • What are some of the things we must do to be “saved in the kingdom of God”? (See 2 Nephi 9:18, 21, 23–24, 39, 41, 50–52).
     
• What does it mean to endure the crosses of the world and despise the shame of the world (2 Nephi 9:18).
   
• What does it mean to you to be spiritually minded? How does being spiritually minded lead to “life eternal”? What does it mean to be carnally minded? How does being carnally minded lead to spiritual death? What can we do to become more spiritually minded? (See 2 Nephi 9:39; see also Romans 8:5–8).
   
• What are some things that never perish? How can we “feast” on these things? (See 2 Nephi 9:50–51).
   
• What are some attitudes and actions that prevent us from receiving all the blessings of the Atonement? (See 2 Nephi 9:27–38).
   
• In what ways do we choose either the way of everlasting death or the way of everlasting life? (See 2 Nephi 2:26–27).
   
• Why is it important to remember that “it is only through the grace of God that [we] are saved”?