While those in verse 12 have reverted to non-Nephite social classes, including ignoring the poor, those in verse 13 are following their covenant to Yahweh-Messiah to be egalitarian and care for those in need. Mormon stresses that these church-men undertook such charity “for Christ’s sake, who should come.”
On a social level, the contention focuses on social stratification manifest in costly apparel and personal wealth. On the religious level, the contention is between those who believe in the Atoning Messiah and those who deny him. Mormon linked the two in his description of good church-men: Those who believed in economic egalitarianism also believed in the Atoning Messiah’s coming. This division results in the tremendous apostasy prior to the Messiah’s birth.