without fear of retribution

Because the Israelites had spent so many generations in the midst of pagan worship and had largely accepted it, they needed a strict law to keep Jesus at the forefront of their thinking. The Law of Moses was a school master, because it taught the Children of Israel to look forward to Jesus. Consisting of many different covenants and rules, the Law of Moses was complex and very hard for people to follow. When the Law of Moses was revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai, it offered a way to handle disobedience and transgression and a way to constantly remind the people to turn their minds and hearts toward Jesus glory. However, it was not to be an eternal law. The Children of Israel carried the Law of Moses with them wherever they immigrated, including those who kept the records on the American continent which record eventually was condensed into the Book of Mormon. After Jesus completed His mission of sacrifice and atonement, making repentance and resurrection possible, the law was fulfilled. This means animal sacrifice was ended and most of the law of Moses was replaced with the two Great Commandments, while retaining the eternal commandments.

I love the Book of Mormon and the Bible. The later because it tells so many stories of Jesus coming and Jesus life. It gives me so many ideas on how to live better so I can be happy on earth and see God again. The former, because it brings into focus so many questions created in my Bible studies. Clarification is always a good thing. I'm thankful to live in an era, when I can worship how, where, and what I may, and where I can have and read my own set of scriptures without fear of retribution unto death. It is wonderful to have these liberties, denied to believers of Jesus for millennia.