14 Now I say unto you that ye must repent, and be born again; for the Spirit saith if ye are not born again ye cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven; therefore come and be baptized unto repentance, that ye may be washed from your sins, that ye may have faith on the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world, who is mighty to save and to cleanse from all unrighteousness.
15 Yea, I say unto you come and fear not, and lay aside every sin, which easily doth beset you, which doth bind you down to destruction, yea, come and go forth, and show unto your God that ye are willing to repent of your sins and enter into a covenant with him to keep his commandments, and witness it unto him this day by going into the waters of baptism.
16 And whosoever doeth this, and keepeth the commandments of God from thenceforth, the same will remember that I say unto him, yea, he will remember that I have said unto him, he shall have eternal life, according to the testimony of the Holy Spirit, which testifieth in me.
Alma 7:14-16 (Emphasis mine)
After prophesying about Christ’s life, he reminds them they must be born again to inherit the kingdom of heaven. The keys acts that must be performed are repentance and baptism.
Baptism is important because it is a witness to ourselves, the world, and God of our commitment to Christ. It means we are willing to repent and promise to keep his commandments.
Noel Reynolds writes about the importance of this act.
“Not only must the repentant sinner cease sinning, he must make a positive commitment to the Savior to keep his commandments, to walk the straight and narrow path, as he comes unto Christ. This covenant to remember Christ always, to take the name of Christ upon himself, and to keep all of Christ's commandments, is part of this process of turning and coming-and therefore a crucial element of repentance. This is the covenant that is witnessed to God and all the world by the convert through the baptism of water. Alma articulates this plainly to the Nephites in Gideon when he invites them to ‘lay aside every sin" and "show unto your God that ye are willing to repent of your sins and enter into a covenant with him to keep his commandments, and witness it unto him this day by going into the waters of baptism’ (Alma 7:15; cf. 2 Nephi 31:7, 13—14).” (Emphasis mine)
The True Points of My Doctrine, Noel B. Reynolds, Maxwell Institute, accessed August 29, 2011.
Hugh Nibley writes:
“This is the object; this is what we're after. We're going to find out that everybody's going to have eternal life anyway. They cannot die, we learn later on. The resurrection has been taken care of. So why are we so worried about eternal life? Well, if it's going to be eternal, the quality's going to be rather important, isn't it? Where you spend it and how you spend it has a great deal to say if it's going to be eternal. The [point] is not to go on living in the sewer. That's the difference. ‘And now my beloved brethren, do you believe these things?’ he asks you. As I said before, there's never been any dispute about the atonement. It's a very interesting thing; even among the doctors of the church, that word has never been debated. ‘Do you believe these things?’ I know them by the spirit, he says.” (Emphasis mine)
Lecture 47: Alma 5-10, Hugh W. Nibley, Maxwell Institute, accessed August 29, 2011.
17 And now my beloved brethren, do you believe these things? Behold, I say unto you, yea, I know that ye believe them; and the way that I know that ye believe them is by the manifestation of the Spirit which is in me. And now because your faith is strong concerning that, yea, concerning the things which I have spoken, great is my joy.
18 For as I said unto you from the beginning, that I had much desire that ye were not in the state of dilemma like your brethren, even so I have found that my desires have been gratified.
19 For I perceive that ye are in the paths of righteousness;
I perceive that ye are in the path which leads to the kingdom of God;
yea, I perceive that ye are making his paths straight.
20 I perceive that it has been made known unto you,
by the testimony of his word,
that he cannot walk in crooked paths;
neither doth he vary from that which he hath said;
neither hath he a shadow of turning from the right to the left,
or from that which is right to that which is wrong;
therefore, his course is one eternal round.
21 And he doth not dwell in unholy temples; neither can filthiness or anything which is unclean be received into the kingdom of God; therefore I say unto you the time shall come, yea, and it shall be at the last day, that he who is filthy shall remain in his filthiness.
Alma 7:17-21 (Emphasis mine)
(Formatting in verses 19-20 found in The Book of Mormon – A Reader’s Edition by Grant Hardy, pg. 270.)
Alma(2) is pleased with the people. The Spirit testified to him that the people of Gideon believe in his words and have been living the gospel. They are on the strait and narrow path that leads to heaven.
He then reminds them that no unclean things can be received into the kingdom of God. All who are filthy shall remain in their filthiness forever.
16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
1 Corinthians 3:16-17 (Emphasis mine)
19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
1 Corinthians 6:19 (Emphasis mine)
22 And now my beloved brethren, I have said these things unto you that I might awaken you to a sense of your duty to God, that ye may walk blameless before him, that ye may walk after the holy order of God, after which ye have been received.
23 And now I would that ye should be humble, and be submissive and gentle; easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times; asking for whatsoever things ye stand in need, both spiritual and temporal; always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive.
24 And see that ye have faith, hope, and charity, and then ye will always abound in good works.
Alma 7:22–24 (Emphasis mine)
Alma(2) is beginning the end part of his sermon. He explains to them that his words are so they may someday walk blameless for God.
He gave the people of list of traits they should show.
- Humility
- Be submissive and gentle
- Easy to be entreated (willing to do things when asked)
- Be full of patience and long-suffering
- Be temperate (moderate) in all things
- Be diligent in keeping the commands at all times
- Ask for what things you need (both spiritual and temporal)
- Return thanks to God for what we receive
- Have faith, hope, and charity
This is quite a list. If we are striving to live the way we should, these are things we all should be doing in our lives.
12 Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour is humility.
Proverbs 18:12 (Emphasis mine)
25 And may the Lord bless you, and keep your garments spotless, that ye may at last be brought to sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the holy prophets who have been ever since the world began, having your garments spotless even as their garments are spotless, in the kingdom of heaven to go no more out.
26 And now my beloved brethren, I have spoken these words unto you according to the Spirit which testifieth in me; and my soul doth exceedingly rejoice, because of the exceeding diligence and heed which ye have given unto my word.
27 And now, may the peace of God rest upon you, and upon your houses and lands, and upon your flocks and herds, and all that you possess, your women and your children, according to your faith and good works, from this time forth and forever. And thus I have spoken. Amen.
Alma 7:25–27 (Emphasis mine)
Alma(2) closes with a blessing on the people.
14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
2 Peter 3:14 (Emphasis mine)
8 I will hear what God the LORD will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly.
Psalms 85:8 (Emphasis mine)
1 MY son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:
2 For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.
Proverbs 3:1-2 (Emphasis mine)
27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
John 14:27 (Emphasis mine)
33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
John 16:33 (Emphasis mine)
The sermon and blessings left my Alma(2) are all the more powerful because of his background. M. Catherine Thomas writes:
“Perhaps among all the important things that one could learn from Alma, the account of his life gives us hope that there is a mighty power that can take a lost and fallen person and work a miraculous transformation. As one who has been redeemed, Alma can teach about the process of redemption and strengthen our faith that if we learn to work the principles that he did, we too can be born again and experience the joy promised in the scriptures, no matter who or what we have been.”
Alma the Younger, Part 2, M. Catherine Thomas, Maxwell Institute, accessed August 29, 2011.
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