Nephi wrote, “I glory in plainness; I glory in truth; I glory in my Jesus” (2 Nephi 33:6). According to John Tvedtnes, this phrase contains an authentic parallelism (such as is found in typical biblical poetry), wherein the word “truth” parallels the name “Jesus,” making them synonymous. In support of the idea that “truth” is one of the titles of Jesus, we note that he is called “the true Messiah” (2 Nephi 25:18), “the true vine” (1 Nephi 15:15), and “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). The Lord is also called the “God of truth” (Isaiah 65:16, where the Hebrew reads elohe amen; Ether 3:12 [referring to Jesus]).
Now in order to more fully understand the linking of the term “plainness” to “truth” and “Jesus,” let us first turn to the Doctrine & Covenants. In D&C 93:24 we find the following definition of truth: “And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come.” In similar phrasing the Bible speaks of Jesus as he “which is, and which was, and which is to come” (Revelation 1:4, 8; 4:8; cf. John 1:1), thus defining him in the same manner as truth. Indeed, the title rendered in English as Jehovah means “he exists” and is the third person equivalent of the “I am” of Exodus 3:14 (cf. D&C 39:1). Thus it is with interest that we also find Jacob linking “Christ,” “truth” and “plainness” with a “perfect knowledge” of “things as they really are, and of things as they will be”:
And now, beloved, marvel not that I tell you these things; for why not speak of the atonement of Christ, and attain to a perfect knowledge of him, as to attain to the knowledge of a resurrection and the world to come?
Behold, my brethren, he that prophesieth, let him prophesy to the understanding of men; for the Spirit speaketh the truth, and lieth not. Wherefore, it speaketh of things as they really are, and of things as they really will be; wherefore, these things are manifested unto us plainly, for the salvation of our souls. (Jacob 4:12-13)
[John Tvedtnes, “Faith and Truth,” in Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, Vol. 3, No. 2, Fall 1994 Fall, pp. 114-115] See the commentary on Alma 32:21]