“What Delivers a People from Bondage?”

Having examined the different types of bondage and the steps that lead people into bondage, we need to examine the process that leads people out of bondage. On the subject of deliverance from bondage, the stories of Limhi and his people and that of Alma the Elder and his people present some unique insights… .

The first step outlined in the Book of Mormon for removing the chains of bondage is to be humble before the Lord. Because of heartache and the heavy yoke of bondage, Limhi and his people humbled themselves before the Lord (Mosiah 21:13), “turn[ing] to the Lord with full purpose of heart” as Limhi had instructed (7:33). Notice that the command to turn to the Lord is not to be half-hearted, but rather requires one’s “full purpose of heart.” This process of being humbled requires a changing or “turning” that must occur in individual lives if they are to be spared or delivered from bondage. President N. Eldon Tanner declared: “A person who is guilty of a serious transgression cannot progress, and he is not happy while the guilt is upon him. Until he has confessed and repented he is in bondage” (78). Limhi’s people acknowledged their guilt and turned to the Lord for his help.

The second step that leads away from bondage is for people to engage in mighty prayer. Prayer should automatically accompany being humbled before the Lord. In Mosiah 21 we read that the people of Limhi “did humble themselves even in the depths of humility; and they did cry mightily to God; yea, even all the day long did they cry unto their God that he would deliver them out of their afflictions” (v 14). These Nephites learned to put their trust in the Lord as Limhi had encouraged them to do (Mosiah 7:33). Even though they sincerely and humbly relied on the Lord, “the Lord was slow to hear their cry” (Mosiah 21:15) because they had been slow to hear and respond to his word.

The third step of Limhi’s people toward deliverance from bondage was their willingness to covenant with the Lord to keep his commandments (Mosiah 21:32). Their obedience not only moved them toward freedom from physical bondage, it also enabled them to begin to enjoy a release from spiritual bondage before they had actually escaped from the hands of the Lamanites. In the words of President Marion G. Romney:

“Freedom thus obtained—that is, by obedience to the law of Christ—is freedom of the soul, the highest form of liberty. And the most glorious thing about it is that it is within the reach of every one of us, regardless of what people about us, or even nations, do. All we have to do is learn the law of Christ and obey it. To learn it and obey it is the primary purpose of every soul’s mortal life.” (Marion G. Romney, “The Perfect Law of Liberty.” Ensign, Nov. 1981, 45)

The fourth and final step in escaping bondage is to serve the Lord with all diligence (see Mosiah 7:33; 21:32). To both the Nephites and the Jaredites the Lord declared that freedom from bondage would continue for those who inhabit this choice land as long as they “serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ” (Ether 2:12; compare 2 Nephi 1:7). Once Limhi and his people had covenanted with God to serve him and keep his commandments, they were able to devise a plan of escape from their Lamanite captors (Mosiah 22). That Limhi and his people began to witness the hand of the Lord helping them in their time of bondage confirms the promise of the Lord “that he [would] pour out his Spirit more abundantly” upon those who would serve him and keep his commandments (Mosiah 18:10).” (Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate Jr., eds., Mosiah: Salvation Only through Christ [Provo: Religious Studies Center, 1991], 269–270)