“As the Lord God Liveth”
Nephi here swears with an oath (cf. 1 Nephi 4:33, 35, 37) that Christ’s is the only name under heaven by which salvation comes. In that day there was no more powerful way to attest to a verity than through the swearing of an oath. Nephi here makes the Lord—meaning in this case God the Father—his partner in testimony: either Jesus is the Christ and salvation is through him, or else God ceases to be God.
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