Day 2: Mosiah 4:1–21 — Joy After Repentance?

The Book of Mormon 21 Day Challenge

Day 2: Mosiah 4:1–21 — Joy After Repentance?

Scripture Focus: Mosiah 4:1–21

LDS Quote: “The joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives.”— Russell M. Nelson, Joy and Spiritual Survival

This reading centres on King Benjamin’s speech to his people, where—upon hearing the message of the coming Christ—the multitude is struck with guilt, falls to the ground, and pleads for mercy through the atoning blood of Jesus—over a century before Jesus is even born. The people receive joy, forgiveness, and commit to following God.

On the surface, this is a moving story of repentance and salvation. Like Day 1, it initially appears biblical. Joy after repentance is a deeply Christian theme. But as with any writing that claims to offer new revelation outside the Bible, we must look beyond the emotional language and test the doctrine beneath it.

We must remember that while the Book of Mormon may read like Scripture, it claims to be a “confirming” revelation—not the Bible itself—and this distinction is critical.

Ask a Christian what joy is, and they might quote verses like “The joy of the Lord is your strength” or “Rejoice in the Lord always”. But these familiar verses do not offer a strict definition—they instead point to the presence of joy in the life of a believer. To understand joy biblically, we must look beyond fleeting feelings and examine its deeper, spiritual meaning.

Joy, in the biblical sense, is not the same as happiness or pleasure. It is something more enduring—something rooted not in circumstances but in spiritual reality. Joy is a settled gladness that flows not from what is happening around us, but from something far more profound: what has been done for us, what has been promised to us, and Who holds our future. It is the lasting result of restoration, hope, and communion with the One who made us.

C.S. Lewis, in Surprised by Joy, offers this reflection:

“I call it Joy, which is here a technical term and must be sharply distinguished both from Happiness and from Pleasure. Joy (in my sense) has indeed one characteristic, and one only, in common with them; the fact that anyone who has experienced it will want it again... But then Joy is never in our power and pleasure often is.”

Lewis’s idea of joy stands in stark contrast to its modern usage. It is not the glow of comfort or the thrill of a good moment—it is a longing. A holy yearning for something beyond this world. Lewis described it as something almost painful, yet somehow welcome—a desire we wouldn’t trade for anything. Unlike pleasure, which we can often produce at will, this joy comes unbidden. It is a holy longing, not a spiritual pay-cheque, for as Paul writes in Romans 4:4, “Now to the one who works, the wages are not counted as a gift, but as what is due.”

When searching for “joy” in the official LDS Gospel Topics, the result is redirected to Happiness. This entry frames joy not as an eternal gift rooted in the presence of God, but as the result of obedience to the LDS plan of salvation. According to the Church:

“Our happiness is the design of all the blessings He gives us—gospel teachings, commandments, priesthood ordinances, family relationships, prophets, temples... His plan for our salvation is often called ‘the great plan of happiness.’”

In this system, joy is transactional. It comes not from a reconciled relationship with God through grace, but from participating in a list of LDS-specific obligations: priesthood ordinances, temple rituals, commandment-keeping, and personal righteousness. Even the Atonement of Christ is described only as a means to an end—“so we can be happy”—rather than the once-for-all act that secures eternal joy for the redeemed.

President Russell M. Nelson’s quote claims that “joy has everything to do with the focus of our lives.” While this sounds admirable, the LDS definition of “focus” is bound up in effort, commandment-keeping, and religious obligation. In contrast, Scripture calls us not to focus harder—but to fix our eyes on the One who has already finished the work.

The LDS doctrine repeatedly ties joy to temporal and eternal performance, suggesting that adversity, hard work, and moral behaviour are necessary paths to spiritual satisfaction. But in doing so, they reduce joy to something earned, rather than received. Their statement, “We will find peaceful, eternal happiness as we strive to keep the commandments…” reflects a merit-based worldview that departs from the biblical witness of joy as a fruit of union with Christ.

Even the well-known quote from 2 Nephi 2:25 — “Men are, that they might have joy” — is filtered through this moral framework. What sounds like a profound truth becomes the slogan of a system that conditions joy on the success of human effort. But true joy, as C.S. Lewis observed, is not in our power. It is a holy longing, not a spiritual pay-cheque, for as Paul writes in Romans 4:4:

“Now to the one who works, the wages are not counted as a gift, but as what is due.”

Biblical joy flows not from what we earn, but from what we’ve been freely given—it is a gift, a natural outpouring of knowing and trusting God. It is not the reward of religious performance but the expression of our hearts, our thoughts, and our praise in response to who God is and what He has done. It is our strength when we overcome (“the joy of the Lord is your strength” – Nehemiah 8:10), our comfort in affliction, our rest in the assurance of salvation, and is sustained by the Holy Spirit within us (Galatians 5:22). Joy, in the biblical sense, is not a transaction—it is the spiritual fragrance of a soul anchored in grace. It does not come from striving to meet religious expectations, but from resting in the God who saves, and rejoicing in the truth of His faithfulness.

While Mosiah 4:1–21 may, at first glance, read like a sincere moment of biblical repentance and joy, it must be understood within the Latter-day Saint framework. A Christian might see in King Benjamin’s people echoes of Psalm 51—a cry of repentance, a plea for mercy, and the joy that follows forgiveness.

But here lies the stark contradiction: according to Doctrine and Covenants 132:39, King David—the author of Psalm 51—lost his exaltation because of his sin. The LDS system declares that his repentance was not enough. If applied consistently, this undermines the very joy described in Mosiah 4, because repentance is not sufficient—not for David, and not for the modern Latter-day Saint.

In contrast to the biblical Gospel, which proclaims that the blood of Christ upon the cross cleanses us from all sin, the LDS system conditions joy and forgiveness upon temple worthiness, personal righteousness, and religious observance. Yes, there is joy in learning of God’s goodness—but in LDS theology, this joy is provisional. Therefore, one must read this passage not as a Christian would, but as a Latter-day Saint does—with a gospel that cannot fully save, and with joy that is only sustained by one’s own performance. Therefore, one must read this passage not as a Christian would, but as a Latter-day Saint does—with a gospel that cannot fully save, and with joy that is only sustained by one’s performance.