📜 11 For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my firstborn in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.
Why Is There Opposition?
Opposition is not God abandoning us—it is God trusting us. It is the stage on which our agency, our discipleship, and our joy become real.
Opposition exists because, without it, nothing in our mortal experience could become—no righteousness, no growth, no joy, no agency, no life. Lehi’s words in 2 Nephi 2:11 show us that opposition is not a flaw in God’s plan but the very structure that makes our becoming possible. What follows is a devotional, communal breakdown—organized around the four principles Adversity, Agency, Mortality, and Opposition.
1. Opposition Is Required for Anything to
Have Meaning
“For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things.”
Lehi begins with a universal law: all things require opposition. Without it, our world collapses into sameness. We would not know joy because we would never feel sorrow. We would not know light because we would never see darkness. We would not know God because nothing would contrast with Him. Our experience would flatten into a single, undifferentiated state.
📜 10 But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.
Opposition is what gives our lives texture, color, and meaning. Job understood this when he asked, "Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?" (Job 2:10). His words echo Lehi’s truth: without both the sweet and the bitter, our experience would collapse into sameness, and nothing in our discipleship would carry weight, depth, or meaning.
Opposition is what gives our lives texture, color, and meaning.
Adversity — Why Hardship Must Exist
Opposition gives shape to every form of adversity we face. If there were no resistance, no pressure, no struggle, then our souls would remain “one body… dead, having no life.” Without adversity:
▪︎ We would never learn courage because
nothing would threaten us.
▪︎ We would never learn endurance
because nothing would stretch us.
▪︎ We would never learn compassion
because no one would hurt or hunger.
▪︎ We would never learn to call upon God
because nothing would drive us to Him.
Adversity becomes the arena where our character is revealed and refined. We discover who we are and who God is because something stands against us.
Essential Scriptures for the Adversity Section
📗 Isaiah 30:20 — “The Lord give you the bread of adversity.”
This verse teaches that adversity is given—not random, not wasted. It aligns perfectly with the point that adversity shapes us and awakens our dependence on God.
📒 Mosiah 24:14 — “I will… ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders.”
This is one of the clearest scriptures showing God visiting His people in their afflictions, not removing adversity but strengthening us within it. It matches the theme that adversity reveals who God is.
📒 Alma 32:6 — “Their afflictions had truly humbled them.”
This verse shows adversity producing humility, openness, and spiritual receptivity—exactly the kind of soul‑shaping described.
📘 D&C 121:7 — “Thine adversity… shall be but a small moment.”
This anchors adversity in an eternal perspective, reinforcing that hardship is temporary but transformative.
📘 D&C 122:7 — “All these things shall give thee experience.”
This is the doctrinal backbone of this entire section: adversity is the arena of experience, refinement, and becoming.
Why These Five Are the Essentials
Each of these verses directly supports the core claims:
▪︎ Adversity is intentional.
▪︎ Adversity reveals God’s nearness.
▪︎ Adversity refines our character.
▪︎ Adversity is temporary but meaningful.
▪︎ Adversity is the engine of experience
and growth.
Together, they form a complete doctrinal witness that adversity is not random suffering—it is the very environment where we learn courage, endurance, compassion, and dependence on God.
2. Without Opposition, Righteousness and
Wickedness Could Not Exist
“If not so… righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness.”
If everything felt the same, then nothing could be called righteous or wicked. Our choices would have no moral weight. Our actions would have no consequence. Our discipleship would have no direction. We would not grow because there would be nothing to choose between. We would not repent because nothing would be wrong. We would not rejoice because nothing would be right.
📜 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
Jesus affirmed this same truth when He taught that our Father “maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45). In a shared world where both blessing and hardship fall on all of us, righteousness becomes a genuine choice rather than a guaranteed reward, and wickedness remains a real alternative rather than an impossibility. This shared condition is what gives our discipleship moral weight—our hearts are revealed not by our circumstances but by the choices we make within them.
Opposition awakens our moral awareness and gives our choices purpose.
Agency — Why Choice Requires Contrast
Lehi teaches that without opposition, “righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness.” If everything felt the same—no sweet, no bitter—then:
▪︎ We would have no meaningful choices.
▪︎ We would have no moral clarity.
▪︎ We would have no reason to turn
toward God or away from Him.
▪︎ We would have no accountability
because nothing could be chosen.
Opposition creates the contrast that makes agency possible. Our agency becomes sacred because it is exercised in a world where real alternatives exist.
Essential Scriptures for the Agency Section
📒 2 Nephi 2:27 — “Men are free… to choose liberty and eternal life.”
This is the clearest doctrinal statement on agency in all scripture. It directly supports the point that we have meaningful choices because opposition exists.
📒 2 Nephi 2:16 — “Man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed.”
This verse explicitly ties agency to enticing alternatives—sweet and bitter, good and evil. It is a perfect doctrinal match for this section.
📒 Helaman 14:30 — “Ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves.”
This reinforces that agency is a universal mortal condition, not an exception.
📚 Moses 7:32 — “I gave unto man his agency.”
This grounds agency in God’s character and intention. It strengthens the point that agency is sacred because God Himself bestowed it.
📘 D&C 29:39 — “They could not be agents unto themselves… if they never should have bitter they could not know the sweet.”
This is the doctrinal backbone of the entire section. It states plainly that agency requires contrast—exactly what is being taught.
Why These Five Are the Essentials
Each of these verses directly supports the core claims:
▪︎ We are free to choose.
▪︎ Agency requires enticement and contrast.
▪︎ We act for ourselves.
▪︎ God intentionally gave us agency.
▪︎ Without bitter and sweet, agency collapses.
Together, they form a complete doctrinal witness that agency is only possible because opposition exists, and that our choices carry moral weight because real alternatives stand before us.
3. Without Opposition, Holiness and Misery
Would Disappear
“Neither holiness nor misery.”
Holiness requires a path—a climb, a turning, a refining. Misery reveals our need for God, our longing for deliverance, our hunger for redemption. Without the pull of either direction, we would remain spiritually numb. We would not seek sanctification because nothing would call us upward. We would not seek mercy because nothing would wound us.
Opposition stirs our souls toward God and away from emptiness.
📜 39 And it must needs be that the devil should tempt the children of men, or they could not be agents unto themselves; for if they never should have bitter they could not know the sweet—
The Lord expressed this same truth when He taught that “if [we] never should have bitter [we] could not know the sweet” (D&C 29:39). Holiness becomes real to us only because misery exists beside it; sanctification becomes desirable only because we have felt the wounds that make us seek healing. This contrast is not cruelty—it is the very condition that awakens our hunger for redemption and draws us toward the God who alone can make us whole.
Mortality — Why Our World Is Built on Tension
Lehi’s phrase “a compound in one” describes a world where everything collapses into sameness. Mortality is intentionally not that world. Instead, we live in a realm of:
▪︎ Life and death
▪︎ Corruption and incorruption
▪︎ Happiness and misery
▪︎ Sense and insensibility
This tension is what makes mortality a proving ground. We experience joy because we have tasted sorrow. We value peace because we have known conflict. We seek redemption because we have felt the weight of the Fall. Mortality’s oppositions are not punishments—they are the scaffolding of our transformation.
Essential Scriptures for the Mortality Section
This is the doctrinal center of the entire section. Mortality is a designed state of tension—life/death, joy/sorrow—so we can grow, choose, and be transformed.
📒 2 Nephi 2:25 — “Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.”
This verse explains why mortality contains both joy and sorrow. Joy exists because the Fall introduced the conditions—opposition, tension, mortality—that make joy possible.
📒 Alma 34:32 — “This life is the time… to prepare to meet God.”
This reinforces mortality as a proving ground, a place of becoming, not a place of sameness or stasis.
📒 Alma 12:24 — “A probationary state, a time to prepare.”
This verse pairs perfectly with the theme that mortality’s oppositions are scaffolding for transformation.
📚 Moses 6:48 — “By his fall came death; and we are made partakers.”
This grounds mortality in the Fall and explains why life/death, joy/sorrow, corruption/incorruption exist in the first place.
Why These Five Are the Essentials
Each of these verses directly supports the core claims:
▪︎ Mortality is a probationary state of
tension.
▪︎ Joy exists because mortality
contains contrast.
▪︎ Mortality is the time of becoming.
▪︎ Mortality is structured for preparation
and growth.
▪︎ Mortality’s oppositions originate in the
Fall.
Together, they form a complete doctrinal witness that mortality is intentionally built on tension—life and death, joy and sorrow, corruption and incorruption—so that we can be transformed.
4. Without Opposition, Good and Bad Would
Lose Their Distinction
“Neither good nor bad.”
Goodness becomes visible only when contrasted with what is not good. We recognize kindness because we have seen cruelty. We cherish peace because we have tasted conflict. We value truth because we have encountered deception. Without these contrasts, our hearts would never learn discernment.
Opposition teaches us to see, to discern, and to choose the good.
📜 5 If thou art called to pass through tribulation; if thou art in perils among false brethren; if thou art in perils among robbers; if thou art in perils by land or by sea;
📜 6 If thou art accused with all manner of false accusations; if thine enemies fall upon thee; if they tear thee from the society of thy father and mother and brethren and sisters; and if with a drawn sword thine enemies tear thee from the bosom of thy wife, and of thine offspring, and thine elder son, although but six years of age, shall cling to thy garments, and shall say, My father, my father, why can’t you stay with us? O, my father, what are the men going to do with you? and if then he shall be thrust from thee by the sword, and thou be dragged to prison, and thine enemies prowl around thee like wolves for the blood of the lamb;
🗝 7 And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.
📜 8 The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?
📜 9 Therefore, hold on thy way, and the priesthood shall remain with thee; for their bounds are set, they cannot pass. Thy days are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less; therefore, fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever.
The Lord taught Joseph Smith this same truth when He said that “all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good” (D&C 122:7). The very trials that press against us become the experiences that sharpen our discernment—teaching us to recognize goodness because we have walked through what is not good, to value truth because we have faced deception, and to cherish peace because we have endured turmoil. Opposition becomes the teacher that reveals what goodness truly is.
Opposition Itself — Why God Built It Into the Plan
Lehi’s declaration is absolute: “It must needs be.” Not optional. Not accidental. Necessary.
Opposition exists because:
▪︎ God’s purposes require a world
where we can grow.
▪︎ Growth requires choice.
▪︎ Choice requires contrast.
▪︎ Contrast requires opposition.
If God removed opposition, He would remove our becoming. We would remain spiritually inert—no life, no death, no joy, no sorrow, no holiness, no transformation.
Opposition is the structure that allows us to rise, to repent, to choose Christ, and to become like Him.
Essential Scriptures for the Opposition‑Itself Section
📒 2 Nephi 2:11 — “It must needs be that there is an opposition in all things.”
This is the doctrinal anchor. It states the necessity of opposition in absolute terms—exactly what this section teaches.
📒 2 Nephi 2:15 — “Forbidden fruit in opposition to the tree of life.”
This verse shows that opposition was intentionally built into the very structure of the Garden—God placed contrasting choices at the foundation of mortality.
📘 D&C 29:39 — “The devil should tempt… or they could not be agents unto themselves.”
This verse explains why opposition is necessary: without enticement in both directions, agency collapses. It directly supports the point that growth requires choice, and choice requires contrast.
📘 D&C 122:7 — “All these things shall give thee experience.”
This verse teaches that opposition is not incidental—it is the mechanism by which we gain experience, refinement, and transformation.
📚 Moses 6:55 — “Taste the bitter, that they may know to prize the good.”
This verse reinforces that opposition is essential for discernment, joy, and spiritual awakening. Without the bitter, the good would be meaningless.
Why These Five Are the Essentials
Each of these verses directly supports the core claims:
▪︎ Opposition is necessary.
▪︎ God built opposition into the plan from
the beginning.
▪︎ Agency requires enticement in
both directions.
(D&C 29:39)
▪︎ Opposition produces experience
and becoming.
▪︎ Without bitter and sweet, nothing can be
prized or understood.
Together, they form a complete doctrinal witness that opposition is not a flaw in the plan—it is the plan’s structure, the very condition that allows us to rise, repent, choose Christ, and become like Him.
5. Without Opposition, All Things Would
Collapse Into One Dead State
“All things must needs be a compound in one… it must needs remain as dead.”
If opposition were removed, everything would merge into a single, lifeless state—no movement, no change, no becoming. We would not progress because nothing would push us. We would not feel because nothing would touch us. We would not live because nothing would awaken us.
Opposition keeps our souls alive, responsive, and capable of becoming more.
📜 55 And the Lord spake unto Adam, saying: Inasmuch as thy children are conceived in sin, even so when they begin to grow up, sin conceiveth in their hearts, and they taste the bitter, that they may know to prize the good.
The Lord taught that we “taste the bitter, that [we] may know to prize the good” (Moses 6:55). Without that contrast, everything would collapse into sameness—nothing to awaken us, nothing to stretch us, nothing to distinguish life from death or good from anything else. The bitter keeps us spiritually alive because it sharpens our awareness of the good and calls us toward the life God offers us.
6. Without Opposition, There Would Be
No Life, No Death, No Joy, No Sorrow
“Having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.”
These opposites define our mortal experience. They shape our journey, our learning, our longing, and our hope. Without them, we would not be mortal beings on a path of transformation. We would be static, unchanging, untouched.
Opposition is the condition that makes our mortal journey possible.
General Conference Talk That Pairs With This Section
"Opposition in All Things" By Elder Mathias Held Of the Seventy (April 2024)
"To be able to exercise our agency, we need to have opposing options to consider."
Elder Mathias Held’s message reinforces this truth by showing that our mortal experience must contain both joy and sorrow, life and death, sweetness and bitterness for our agency and discipleship to be real. When he teaches that “to be able to exercise our agency, we need to have opposing options to consider,” he is echoing Lehi’s declaration that without these contrasts, we would be static and untouched—unable to grow, unable to choose, unable to become. His words remind us that the full range of mortal experience is not accidental but divinely designed to shape us, refine us, and draw us toward the Savior who walks with us through every rise and fall of our journey.
The Covenant Conclusion
Opposition is not God abandoning us—it is God enabling us. It is God trusting us. It is the stage on which our agency, our discipleship, and our joy become real. It is the structure that allows us to grow, choose, feel, repent, rejoice, and ultimately become like Him.
Why D&C 122:7 Keeps Appearing in This Study
D&C 122:7 is the Lord’s own explanation of why opposition exists at all. It is the moment where God names the purpose behind everything Lehi teaches in 2 Nephi 2.
Lehi says:
▪︎ “It must needs be.”
▪︎ “Opposition in all things.”
▪︎ “All things must needs be a compound
in one.”
But the why behind those statements is not fully explained until Liberty Jail.
D&C 122:7 answers the question Lehi raises:
▪︎ Why must there be opposition?
▪︎ Because “all these things shall give thee
experience, and shall be for thy good.”
This is the doctrinal hinge of this entire study. Every section written —Adversity, Agency, Mortality, Good and Bad, Holiness and Misery—ultimately rests on this one truth:
Opposition is the mechanism of experience.
Experience is the mechanism of becoming.
Becoming is the purpose of mortality.
That is why D&C 122:7 keeps surfacing. It is the Lord’s own voice affirming the structure Lehi describes.
Why D&C 122 Is One of the Most Important Revelations on Opposition
Section 122 is not simply a list of trials. It is a revelation about the nature of God’s plan, spoken at the lowest point of Joseph’s life. In Liberty Jail, the Lord reveals five truths that define the doctrine of opposition more clearly than anywhere else in scripture.
1. Opposition is not random—it is divinely
bounded
The Lord lists the worst imaginable experiences (vv. 5–7), then says:
“Their bounds are set, they cannot pass.”
(v. 9)
Opposition is real, but it is not sovereign. God sets its limits.
2. Opposition is the curriculum of
discipleship
The Lord does not say Joseph’s trials are meaningless. He says:
“All these things shall give thee experience.”
(v. 7)
Experience is not a side effect of opposition—it is the purpose of it.
3. Opposition is the arena where we meet
Christ
Immediately after describing the jaws of hell, the Lord says:
“The Son of Man hath descended below them all.” (v. 8)
Opposition is not endured alone. Christ meets us in the lowest places.
4. Opposition reveals who we are becoming
The Lord’s question is piercing:
“Art thou greater than he?” (v. 8)
Opposition becomes the measure of our discipleship—not by how perfectly we endure, but by whether we endure with Him.
5. Opposition is temporary, but its fruits are
eternal
The Lord ends with:
“Fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever.” (v. 9)
Opposition ends. God’s presence does not.
Why D&C 122 Belongs at the Heart of a Study on Opposition
The entire devotional structure—Adversity, Agency, Mortality, Opposition Itself—echoes the architecture of D&C 122:
▪︎ Adversity → “If thou art called to pass
through tribulation…”
▪︎ Agency → “They could not be agents
unto themselves…”
(D&C 29:39, but fulfilled here)
▪︎ Mortality → “All these things…”
(the mortal curriculum)
▪︎ Opposition Itself → “Shall give thee
experience, and shall be for thy good.”
Section 122 is the Lord saying:
“Opposition is not a flaw in the plan.
Opposition is the plan that shapes you into who you must become.”
This is why this study keeps circling back to it.
This is why it belongs in every section.
This is why it is the doctrinal spine of this entire presentation.
Opposition: The Sacred Pattern of Our Becoming
I testify that opposition is not an accident in God’s design but a sacred necessity woven into the very fabric of our mortal experience. In every page of scripture and in every corner of our lives, we see the same divine pattern: God allows us to face the bitter so we may know the sweet; He permits struggle so we may discover strength; He allows sorrow so we may learn joy. As Lehi taught and as the Lord confirmed to Joseph in Liberty Jail, “all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.” In that assurance, we learn that God is not distant from our adversity—He is shaping us through it. Amen.
Opposition: The Furnace Where Disciples Are Formed
My final thoughts rest on this truth: opposition is the environment where our agency becomes real, where our discipleship gains depth, and where our joy becomes eternal. Without contrast, nothing could be chosen. Without tension, nothing could grow. Without sorrow, joy would be hollow. Without the Fall, redemption would be unnecessary. Mortality is not a mistake—it is a proving ground, a place where we learn to rise, to repent, to discern, to endure, and to become more like the Savior who descended below all things so He could lift us through all things.
Opposition: The Bridge That Leads Us Back to God
In closing, this entire study points to one covenant truth: God trusts us enough to place us in a world where our choices matter. He trusts us to walk through shadows so we can learn to seek His light. He trusts us to face opposition so we can become more than we were. And because of Jesus Christ—His descent, His suffering, His rising—every form of opposition can become a step upward, every sorrow can be sanctified, and every trial can be transformed into experience, wisdom, and holiness.
Through Him, opposition becomes not a barrier but a bridge leading us back to God.
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