3 Nephi 14:15-20

Brant Gardner

There are no changes from Matthew 7:15–20.

After Jesus told his followers that it will be difficult to find and walk the path that he sets out, and which leads to eternal life, the next important question is how could one discover that path?

Jesus warns them that because they are in the world, and the world’s gates are wide and roads are broad, that it will be the path of least resistance to go that way. There will be many temptations to follow that easier path. There will be false prophets who will promise another way, perhaps an easier way. However, it will not be a way that leads to eternal life.

Verses 16–19 elaborate with an example that an agrarian people would understand. They understood the nature of trees and fruit, and therefore they would easily understand that the fruit bore an important relationship to the nature of the tree. Here, the image of the fruit would certainly have triggered Nephite memories of the fruit of the Tree of Life, and the goal of taking that fruit which is desirable above all others.

The lesson is concluded in verse 20. How shall we know if one who is asking us to follow is someone who should be followed? “By their fruits ye shall know them.” We live in a world where it has become even easier to be attracted by comforting words, which can so easily be distanced from the speakers’ actions because we do not know them and may never meet them. It is therefore imperative that we understand the true actions and heart of those who would preach to us, and follow only those whose hearts and actions demonstrate God’s laws.

Book of Mormon Minute

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