Alma 13:1-3

Chapter 13

Men are called as high priests because of their exceeding faith and good works—They are to teach the commandments—Through righteousness they are sanctified and enter into the rest of the Lord—Melchizedek was one of these—Angels are declaring glad tidings throughout the land—They will reveal the actual coming of Christ. About 82 B.C.

1  AND again, my brethren, I would cite your minds forward to the time when the Lord God gave these commandments unto his children; and I would that ye should remember that the Lord God ordained priests, after his holy order, which was after the order of his Son, to teach these things unto the people.

2  And those priests were ordained after the order of his Son, in a manner that thereby the people might know in what manner to look forward to his Son for redemption.

3  And this is the manner after which they were ordained—being called and prepared from the foundation of the world according to the foreknowledge of God, on account of their exceeding faith and good works; in the first place being left to choose good or evil; therefore they having chosen good, and exercising exceedingly great faith, are called with a holy calling, yea, with that holy calling which was prepared with, and according to, a preparatory redemption for such.

Alma 13:1-3 (Emphasis mine)

Alma(2) reminds the people that the Lord ordained priests, after his holy order, after the order of his Son.  This was done so the people would know what to look forward to in the plan of redemption.

He then raises an interesting issue.  He states that they were ordained having been “called and prepared from the foundation of the world according to the foreknowledge of God, on account of their exceeding faith and good works; in the first place being left to choose good or evil;” (verse 3).  What is Alma(2) telling us? 

M. Catherine Thomas wrote:

“In Alma 13:3, Alma uses the phrases ‘from the foundation of the world’ and ‘in the first place’ to refer to premortal events. He speaks in particular of certain people receiving a calling into the holy order. To understand more about the holy order, we have to understand the house of Israel and its organization in the premortal world.

“Out of all of Heavenly Father's spirit children, a smaller group distinguished itself by its exceeding faith in the Lord Jesus Christ during the conflicts that occurred incident to the war in heaven. Those who were valiant in these conflicts, and in other ways also, demonstrated both their abilities and their desires to become actively involved in the cosmic work of redemption through the great atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ…” [1]       (Emphasis mine)

Alison V.P. Coutts adds:

“From this passage we learn that ordinations to the priesthood in mortality are a result of (1) preparation of the individual in premortality (given that the ‘world’ was ‘founded’ before it was physically created), (2) faith and good works, (3) choices of good over evil, (4) the opportunity to exercise faith, and (5) the provision of redemption. It follows that these stipulations are part of a plan that was conceived before the earth was created, even a plan to direct the creation of the earth and the course of its inhabitants. This gave me hope that I too was part of a plan; I mattered, and my being here on earth was not just a convergence of biological events.” [2] (Emphasis mine)

So we can understand that the callings and ordinations we experience in this life were based on our experiences, progress, and growth in the pre-existence.  We had the chance to choose between good and evil and chose good.  We were prepared for these callings.

Hugh Nibley observes:

“They had earned a place in the priesthood here because of something righteous they had done in the first place …  Notice ‘being left.’ [see verse 3] When God leaves you, then you can choose good or evil. Leave me alone if I'm going to choose [between] good and evil. These people way back there were left to choose good or evil, and they chose good. You are the one that makes the decision … You'll concentrate on the thing that you want to. That decides what you will do. Your mind flits around with tremendous speed, like your eyes, and decides what you like to look at and what you are going to do.  That's why anything like drugs [are so harmful]. That's why the Word of Wisdom is so important—that we be absolutely cold sober.” [3] (Emphasis mine)

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[1] Alma the Younger, Part 1, M. Catherine Thomas, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed October 31, 2011.

[2] From a Convert's Viewpoint, Alison V.P. Coutts, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, , accessed October 31, 2011.

[3] Lecture 49: Alma 12-14, Hugh W. Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed October 31, 2011.