Four final exhortations to “deny not” are all included in verses 32 and 33. After having expanded his range of audience to include people in “all the ends of the earth” (10:24), Moroni goes on to exhort everyone to “come unto Christ and lay hold upon every good gift.” He then places the next two “denys” at the center of a small inverted parallelism or chiasm in 10:32:
4. “Come unto [1] Christ,
and [2] be perfected in him,
and [3] deny yourselves of all ungodliness;
5. and if ye shall [3] deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, minds, and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace
ye may [2] be perfect
in [1] Christ.”
And then in 10:32–33, he doubly intensifies his final point, with a direct parallelism:
6. “And if [4] by the grace of God
ye are [5] perfect
in [6] Christ, ye can in nowise
[7] deny the power of God” (10:32).
7. “And again, if [4] ye by the grace of God
are [5] perfect
in [6] Christ,
and [7] deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ” (10:33).
Having completed his seven-fold emphasis on the word “deny,” Moroni signals to all readers that everyone should make special efforts to avoid ever wrongly denying the manifestations of God’s spirit unto us.
Obviously, the exhortation to “deny not” occupies a profoundly central place here in Moroni 10, as it has throughout the Book of Mormon. It was a key concern for Mormon as well as for Moroni. The word deny (denied, denieth, or denying) is used 83 times in the Book of Mormon, more than twice as often as it is found in the Bible.
In trying to unpack fully why Moroni chose to end his writings with this particular set of instructions and warnings regarding “denying,” it helps to make use of a full set of analytic tools. For example, here are some reflections in this regard that I find most intriguing and beneficial.
Here is yet another significant set of seven in scripture. This number may convey several meanings. It is an apocalyptic number of completion (7 vials, 7 trumpets, 7 seals, etc.), and thus is appropriate here at the completion of the Book of Mormon. Note also the importance of sealing in Moroni 10:2, so perhaps Moroni intended these 7 words to function in way as his fully authoritative personal seal. Seven was also a number of priestly sanctification, especially with the 7-fold sprinklings of the blood in Leviticus (and note the mention of the blood of Christ in 10:33). It also signified power and victory, as Joshua conquered Jericho marching around the city seven times, blowing trumpets, rams’ horns. The usage in Moroni 10 seems purposeful, to herald in, as Moroni says, Christ’s coming in triumph through the air to meet us at the judgment bar of God (10:34).
It would also seem purposeful that these negative 7 denies are counterbalanced with precisely fourteen (7 x 2) appearances in Moroni 10 of the most positive word, Christ. In effect, Moroni is saying that the grace of God, perfecting us in Christ, both in heaven and earth, will outdo by double any inclination we might have to deny the power or the gifts or the goodness of God.
Realizing that the word “deny” is used often in legal contexts, especially in the courtroom challenges or judicial interrogations reported in the cases of Sherem, Korihor, and others in the Book of Mormon, this may also help us notice the full force and effect of the judicial nature of Moroni 10. Here Moroni deals pointedly with God’s justice, with our ultimate courtroom appearance before the judgment bar of God. In Moroni’s exhortations that we “deny not the power” and “deny not the gifts” of God, strong threads of legalisms can also be found. This legal register intensifies the seriousness of denying things that should not be denied, as the following consideration of Moroni 10 through this lens repeatedly shows.
1. There is the legal context of sealing. In ancient legal practice known in Lehi’s day, as we can tell from Jeremiah 32, in finalizing a legal document, the document would be written with one part open and the other part sealed so that the document could be opened someday by an authorized judge to determine the validity of the terms of the document. Thus, Jeremiah buried a deed of acquisition in a jar to be available in years to come to prove the truth of his prophecies and make them undeniable.
2. From other sources, including actual Hebrew or Aramaic documents, three witnesses were required, and they would empress their private seals on clay or wax attached to the document as their affirmation that the document was legally authorized and binding. As Moroni has no other humans that he can call as his witnesses, he calls upon the most undeniable witnesses possible, namely God the Eternal Father, Christ, and the Holy Ghost, to manifest the truth of his record, with certitude, to all who would know in this life or who will know in the world to come.
3. Accurately discerning the truth has practical, philosophical, and theological importance in ordinary life, but it is also the primary reason for calling witnesses in a judicial proceeding. Notice that Moroni avers not only that we may know by this means “the truth” but also may know that which is “just” (10:6), another indication that Moroni is thinking of eternal justice and judgment in his concluding affidavit.
4. Seeing the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost in their principal role as witnesses stems directly from the opening words of the resurrected Christ in 3 Nephi 11. Of all the things that he could have said about the Godhead, Jesus there explained their reciprocal roles of mutual witnessing and corroboration. Each member of the Godhead is sustained and validated by the testimony of the two others, so that in the mouth of two witnesses each of them, and all things, can be established. Jesus said, “And I bear record of the Father, and the Father beareth record of me, and the Holy Ghost beareth record of the Father and me” (11:32). It was Jesus’s foundational logic of legitimacy that he bore record of his doctrine from the Father, and if anyone believes in Christ, he also believes in the Father, and unto him “will the Father bear record of [Jesus], for [the Father] will visit him with fire and with the Holy Ghost” (11:35). Moroni invokes precisely this theological understanding of the divine order of justice as he buried his sealed record and promised that all may know epistemologically the truth of that record as well as the ethical goodness of it by the power and gifts of God, who bears witness of the Holy Ghost by giving manifestations of the Spirit.
5. Moroni next mentions ten gifts of the Spirit, arranging them in five pairs. Perhaps he has the structure of the Ten Commandments in mind here, with their two tables of five each. Under the law, the Ten Commandments will be used in the heavenly court, and what we, the defendants or the accused, can offer in our behalf is the evidence of all the gifts that we have accepted, and not denied. For unto those who have received in few things will be given more, but from those who have rejected or refused will be taken. Thus, it seems that Moroni lists these gifts here not only because he knows these gifts personally, but also that they are the kinds of gifts that everyone can seek after and obtain. These gifts come to each person separately, meaning individually and personally, “according as he will” (17), meaning according to the desires of our hearts, and thus they are the evidence that reveals our inner character and spirit. As gifts of the Spirit are evidenced in our lives, we are proven to be Christ’s followers.
6. Moroni then exhorts the Lamanites to remember that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. In a legal context this can mean that he can be absolutely counted on to judge righteously and to always keep his promises (10:19).
7. Moroni next summarizes briefly his father’s words on faith, hope, and charity, now in the context of legally qualifying someone to be admitted into the presence and kingdom of God.
8. Finally, in speaking to his first audience, Moroni introduces into evidence the veracity of Christ’s own testimony: “And Christ truly said unto our fathers: If ye have faith you can do all things which are expedient unto me” (10:23), thus concluding his adjuration to the Lamanites.
9. Turning his attention to his second audience, to all the ends of the earth, Moroni then comments on his depositing of the record, entering it into the heavenly court’s record, and by giving his deposition of its integrity, as he testifies as its final scribe and custodian. Here again, in speaking to the universal audience, we find many broader legal or jurisprudential elements.
10. Moroni then inveighs two conditional curses upon all people, using the traditional “Wo,” or curse formula:
First, “Wo unto you if the power and gifts of God shall be done away among you because of your unbelief,” but Moroni adds here a saving clause, namely allowing for the condition that even if only one person has spiritual gifts, that’s still good, because it means that faith, hope and charity have not completely passed away (10:24–25).
Second, “Wo unto them who shall do these things away [or in other words, deny the gifts of the Spirit and power of God], and die in their sins.” But again there is a saving proviso, namely that the curse will not have effect if one repents, touches not the evil gift, and comes unto Christ.
11. Then, in addition to testifying for a second time that he speaks this according to the words of Christ (10:23, 26), Moroni offers two absolute declarations that he is telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth: First, “I lie not” (10:26), and second, “You will see I lie not” (10:27).
12. Twice he situates the listeners before the judgment seat of God: “for ye shall see me at the bar of God” (10:27), and a I will “meet you before the bar of the great Jehovah, the Eternal Judge” (10:34). Whether the judgment bar is pleasing or pleading (the spelling of this word in the Original Manuscript is questionable) is quite beside the point. Obviously, it will be pleasing for Moroni who expects to find himself fully vindicated, while for those who meet him there it may or may not be so pleasing but rather, for some of them, they will be found pleading.
13. At that bar, twice Moroni announces that he plans to call God as his witness. God will be asked to answer Moroni’s question and answer: “Did I not declare?” and God will show that “what I have written is true” (10:29)
14. Twice Moroni talks about apprehending and producing evidence: Say “yes” to laying hold on every good gift, but say “no” to even touching the evil gift or the unclean thing (10:30). Laying hold on or possessing these good gifts will be an advantage in court, as these bring forth their evidences of good, just, and true works. But if people have refused these gifts and instead have defiled themselves with evil or unholy things, those things will surely be evidence testifying against themselves.
15. Interestingly, Moroni still sees merely touching something unholy as sufficient to transfer impurity, apparently a holdover from the ritual purity system as it was understood in ancient Israel. Perhaps, conversely, he now also associated the transfer of purity and power with touching, as he knows of the times when the people touched the resurrected Lord, when he touched each child one by one (3 Nephi 17:21), and “touched with his hand” each of his disciples and “gave them power to give the Holy Ghost” (3 Nephi 18:37), and in the same manner did the Nephite elders ordain priests and teachers by laying their hands upon them (Moroni 3:2).
16. What will then hopefully be the favorable legal verdict and order from this heavenly court is announced by Moroni in advance in a beautiful couplet: “awake, and arise from the dust, O Jerusalem; yea, and put on thy beautiful garments, O daughter of Zion” (10:31).
17. The covenant of God is mentioned twice, first attesting that the legal covenants of the Eternal Father will be fulfilled (10:31), and second, that we may by the grace of God become perfect in Christ through the shedding of the blood of Christ, in fulfillment of the covenant of the Father (10:33).
Perhaps these many doublets are all here to invoke the unstated but fundamental talonic principle that surely operates in this divine court, namely that if we have denied or refused the Christ and his gifts on earth, he must deny or renounce us before God in heaven.
18. Thus, the conditions of a favorable judgment are then given: “Deny yourselves of all ungodliness” and “love God with all your might, mind, and strength” (10:32), which is the first and the greatest of all the commandments.
19. Finally, the fulfillment of the promise of sanctification, holiness, and being without spot is certified, both “in the covenant of the Father,” and “through the shedding of the blood of Christ,” and “unto the remission of [our] sins” (10:33).
To succeed, it is most important, as Moroni repeatedly says, for us to “deny not,” in any way, shape or form. Linguistically, it helps to identify all that it might actually mean to “deny” something or someone. The English word “deny” comes from the Latin de-nego, or denare, literally meaning “to not say yes.” The word “deny,” whether in English, or in the Hebrew (which is kay-khash) or the Greek (arneomai) which stand behind the word “deny” in the KJV, has many strong meanings, at least a dozen, all of which can be instructive in reading Moroni 10. All of these commonly associated meanings appear to have meant something important to Moroni. Considering them all can help us can grasp all that Moroni is trying to tell us.
1. The word may mean to declare something not true or to declare something false propositionally. Thus, Moroni’s instruction that we deny not the spirit would mean we should not say that the affirmations of the Spirit are false. Moroni, of course, had preferred to be killed rather than deny or declare as false his testimony of Christ. This veracity, he said, would be borne out by the validation of his words by the Lord God himself, who will say at the Judgment, “did I not declare my words unto you, which were written by this man?” (10:27). In that way, all will know propositionally that Moroni has lied not (10:26).
2. The word may also mean to deny the existence of something ontologically, such as by asserting that the power of God and the manifestations of the Spirit are imaginary or fictitious, thus nullifying their existence. For Moroni, the existence of Christ was beyond dispute, although he knew that many people in his own day, as well as in future days, would still deny this. But Moroni had seen Christ, and he was absolutely confident that all people will meet him at the judgment bar of God, and so a denial in an ontological sense was also to be prohibited. This sense is found explicitly in Moroni 10:6: good denieth not the Christ, but acknowledgeth that he is.
3. The Latin etymology of the word deny conveys a connotation of pushing away from. In other words, one denies to oneself the good gifts of God when one rejects or refuses to welcome or allow them or the Spirit into one’s life. The Greek arneomai, can mean to refuse an inheritance, or recline to be useful, blindly turning away from that which is fortunate. In this sense, Moroni punctuates his admonition to deny not the gifts of God with the emphatic reassurance that “they are given by the manifestations of the Spirit of God unto man, to profit them” (10:8). In this sense, Moroni had spent his life hoping that those who oppose him would no longer choose to push the gospel and the spirit away, but rather would voluntarily “come unto Christ, and lay hold upon every good gift” (10:30), and not refuse or push them away.
4. One also may deny someone or something to others by refusing to openly acknowledge those things. In this sense, an open denial or repudiation of the gifts becomes a public action and not just a personal abnegation. Moroni had seen such denials in the public actions of many of his recalcitrant brethren who, for example, denied members blessings of the spirit by propounding and implementing incorrect practices, such as infant baptism.
5. One can also deny by withholding something or not affording it to others. Understood this way, one would deny the gifts and power of God by seeing the needs of others for priesthood blessings or for encouraging validation of spiritual experiences and yet by discouraging or holding back the facilitation of the receipt of those gifts by those in need. In this vein, Moroni advises all to be generous and charitable, for “except he have charity ye can in nowise be saved in the kingdom of God” (10:21). This problem becomes even more extreme when one refuses to grant a specific request made by one in need, turning the spiritual beggar away, thus choosing to deny such a request.
6. There is also a relational sense in which one may deny one’s loyalty to someone else, by not admitting familiarity with or knowledge of that person. Thus, one would deny the gifts of God by failing to acknowledge openly that the gifts came from God, to recognize his hand in all things, and to thank him for those gifts. The Greek arneomai, which means “deny,” is often used in a legal context, and means to personally deny, disown, decline, resist, or reject, to renounce a duty or office. It often implies turning away from “a previous relationship of obedience and fidelity.” (Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, 1:470).
7. In a legal sense, one might negate or deny a contractual or covenant relationship simply by saying no. Jesus said, in a covenant-making context, let your speech be yes, yes or no, no, and the Latin word denego literally means saying no and not yes in a covenant making context. Thus, Moroni’s mention of “the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins” at the end of chapter 10 (in v. 33, see also v. 31) might then be the ultimate outcome of denying the gifts, particularly those relational blessings that are extended by the Father to his children as beneficiaries through his eternal covenant.
8. Similarly, either party to a promise may deny himself or herself by acting in contradiction to that promise. 2 Timothy assures that God himself cannot act in contradiction to his character or promises, which would be to deny himself. Moroni, somewhat similarly, works with this same concept as he exhorts readers to remember that God “is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and that all these gifts [of which Moroni has spoken], which are spiritual, never will be done away, even as long as the world shall stand, only according to the unbelief of the children of men” (10:19). Moroni’s point here is not to make an unhelpful theological statement that God is unchanging, impassive, and immobile, but rather to reassure positively that God will not and cannot walk away from the gifts of the Holy Ghost which Jesus promised or bestowed, either himself or through his twelve empowered and ordained disciples.
9. Finally, there are senses in which one may turn away from a bad thing, such as in denying yourself of all ungodliness (as Moroni says twice in 10:32 that we should do). One might abstain from or forego some temporal good, sacrificially denying oneself that optional benefit for some higher good. But one should not deny oneself something that one has been commanded to do, such as to seek the gifts of the spirit or to believe, as that would be to deny the faith.
Judging by his choice of words throughout this chapter, Moroni may well have had all nine of these meanings in mind. They all explain to us ways in which we should assiduously guard against ever denying the gifts or power of God. Just as King Benjamin could not state all the ways in which one can commit sin (Mosiah 4:29), we cannot say all the ways in which we can deny the powers and gifts of God. This topic was obviously of urgent important in Moroni’s mind. We would do well to check ourselves to be sure that we do not deny anything improperly. Otherwise, if we do not watch ourselves, our thoughts, our words, and our deeds, and observe the commandments of God, and continue in faith, even unto the end of our lives, we must perish (see Mosiah 4:30).