Elder Jeffrey R. Holland explained the meaning of “the doctrine of Christ” as used in 2 Nephi 31: “Although a phrase like ‘the doctrine of Christ’ could appropriately be used to describe any or all of the Master’s teachings, nevertheless those magnificently broad and beautiful expressions spread throughout the Book of Mormon, New Testament, and latter-day scriptures might more properly be called ‘the doctrines of Christ.’ Note that the phrase Nephi used is distinctly singular. In Nephi’s concluding testimony, and later in the Savior’s own declaration to the Nephites at his appearance to them, the emphasis is on a precise, focused, singular sense of Christ’s doctrine, specifically that which the Prophet Joseph Smith declared to be ‘the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel’” (Christ and the New Covenant, 49).