Lessons 15 & 16: Put Off The Natural Man & The Mighty Change of Heart

Reading Assignment:

• Mosiah 1-6

Additional Reading:

• Fasting with Power - Elder Shayne M. Bowen of the Seventy
• The Dual Nature of Man - President David O. McKay
• As a Child - President Henry B. Eyring
• The Service that Counts - President Thomas S. Monson
• The Challenge to Become - Elder Dallin H. Oaks

Questions to Ponder:

• What did King Benjamin teach about service? (Mosiah 2:17–19.) What is the role of service in the life of a disciple of Christ?
   
  • What impresses you about the way Benjamin served as king? (Mosiah 2:10–16) What effect did King Benjamin's leadership have on his people? (Mosiah 1:1; 6:7) What do we learn about effective leadership from King Benjamin's example?
     
• What does it mean to be an unprofitable servant? Why are we unprofitable servants to God even if we praise and serve Him with all our souls? (Mosiah 2:20–25;) What does this teach us about the grace, works and the Atonement? What does this teach us about pride and humility?
   
• As unprofitable servants, we are "eternally indebted to [our] heavenly Father, to render to him all that [we] have and are" (Mosiah 2:34). How can we do this? (Mosiah 2:17, 22; 4:10) What will Heavenly Father give us when we give Him "all that [we] have and are"? (Mosiah 2:22, 41; see also D&C 84:38)
   
• The angel said that "the natural man is an enemy to God" (Mosiah 3:19). What is the meaning of the phrase "natural man"? How can we:
  • "[Put] off the natural man"?
     
  • Yield to "the enticings of the Holy Spirit."?
     
  • Become "a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord."? How does the Atonement help us become true saints?
     
  • Become "as a child."? How can we become "alive in Christ," as little children are?
     
• What is the difference between gaining a testimony and conversion as it is described by Dallin H. Oaks? How does this question relate to the "mighty change of heart" described by King Benjamin? (Mosiah 5:2–5)
   
  • Why is it important for us to know that the people who heard King Benjamin's sermons and experienced a mighty change of heart were already members of the Church?
     
  • Once we have experienced a "mighty change … in our hearts" (Mosiah 5:2), what challenges do we face in maintaining this change? How can we meet these challenges?
     
  • How is this mighty change of heart connected to King Benjamin's council about putting off the natural man?