“They Had All Things Common - They Were All Made Free, and Partakers of the Heavenly Gift”

Ed J. Pinegar, Richard J. Allen

This brief statement is evidence of the wondrous personal and societal transformation of the people deriving from the ministration of the Savior among them. He is the Father of humility and compassion, just as Satan is the father of pride and selfishness. Through Jesus Christ all pride is eliminated, for the people of the Lord choose to establish their lives upon a foundation of continual communion with God through the Spirit. This leads to a social structure based on charity and mutual concern, rather than on vertical relationships based on station or worldly acquisition. This is why the people are “all made free.” They were free of the crushing and destructive burden of pride and sin. That is why they were “partakers of the heavenly gift.” What is this gift if not the presence and continual operation of the Holy Ghost in their lives? When a people have the gift of the Spirit in full measure, then all things can be had in common, including earthly things.

Commentaries and Insights on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 2

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