Today I read 4 Nephi. I have always liked the book of 4 Nephi as it is a wonderful study in both what happens when the Spirit is poured out upon a people and what happens when a people start apostatising. It is really sad to watch the people of Nephi digress after the entire population was converted to the Lord.
It makes me wonder however about the effectiveness of the Spirit of the Lord. The entire people were converted to the Lord in a matter of 2 years according to the scriptures and the people stayed converted, all of them, until 200 years later just about. And there was no crime at all among the people due to the Spirit of the Lord. That is because the Spirit of the Lord has the power to change people's nature and disposition so that they no longer desire to do evil. I firmly believe that the reason the people started falling away after 200 years is because they were part of the 3rd if not 4th generation and were part of the generation that had not personally met Jesus.
But you have to wonder why the Spirit that was poured out upon the land started to lose it's effectiveness? But if you think about it, the Spirit of the Lord is not a deterent to sin. We know this because Satan apostasised in the very presence of the Lord. So we know that while the Spirit of the Lord if allowed into one's heart is the ultimate deterent against sin, it is not a sure fire thing. People still have their agency always and can choose to overcome the influence of the Spirit.
Alma taught us in Alma chapter 31 that the word of God has the greatest potential to lead people to do that which is good. And truly it does. After the Lord visited the Nephites the people were converted to Him wholly and completely. They had no more desire to do that which was evil, much like the people that heard King Bejamin's speech. The interesting thing to me is that the Spirit was poured out upon them so completely that the rest of the people who did not personally meet Jesus were also converted to the Lord and also had no more disposition to do that which was evil.
That is what is truly remarkable. It does not surprise me at all that the people who met the Savior were converted, but given my personal experiences it is surprising to see that the people who did not meet the Savior were also completely converted. However, I think it is a lot easier to be good when everyone else around you is also being good. Or perhaps the Spirit was just that strong, stronger than any of us have experienced.
Unfortunately the second half of the chapter is much sadder and harder to read because of the gradual decline of the Nephites and their return to their sins and apostacy. It doesn't really spell it out for us in the scriptures what started the decline of the Nephites other than pride and their great many possessions. However, even before that we are told that there was a section of the Nephites that fell away and desired to become Lamanites. We are not told why but I would imagine that it was quite similar to why the rest of the Nephites fell away.
The key I think is to make sure we are staying as true to the Spirit as possible and not sinning on purpose. As we strive to do what is right we can avoid the pitfalls that are around us we can keep the Spirit strong around us and keep working towards perfection. We each of us have to work towards perfection one day at a time. Until tomorrow.
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