The rhetorical function of this verse is to explain the “unless” introduced in the previous verse. Why should there be a difference between infants and men? Because of the condition that includes both the infants and the men—the fall that means both of them are in a “natural” state. (According to v. 16, “natural” is equivalent to “fallen.”) In verse 16 the infant was fallen, yet saved. In verse 19, men are fallen (natural), yet condemned. Why?
The natural man is condemned because of his fallen nature and because of his sins. Because men make the willful decision to sin, in contrast to infants who cannot make such decisions, such men are enemies to Yahweh. This injunction echoes Benjamin’s earlier preaching against those who willfully rebel against Yahweh—a good definition of an enemy. Thus, Benjamin is consistent: Those who choose to follow the “evil spirit” by choosing to sin are enemies to Yahweh. Once again, however, there is an “unless,” which is couched in the language of transformation: “unless [italics mine] he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things.” The language Benjamin uses is very descriptive and instructive.
First, while we become “natural man” because of the fall, we are not left alone. The Holy Spirit entices us. The choice to follow God is not distasteful, but rather a recognition of the joyous taste of the gospel and the choice to acquire more. Next, to yield to those enticings requires that we transform our natures: to put off the natural man and to become a “saintly” child. Benjamin then describes the attributes of that “child.”
When we remember that the ancient world made no distinction between religion and politics (see commentary accompanying 2 Nephi 32:1), the quality of “submissiveness” takes on added meaning beyond the spiritual realm in which we could see its applications. In the context of Benjamin’s times, submissiveness should be understood as enjoining upon his hearers support for their new identity as a people and for the new government, while rejecting any lingering sympathies toward the old religion.