Alma 5:16-21

Alma(2) is questioning the people.  By questioning them, they have to examine themselves and their lives.  Are they living the gospel?  If they had to “stand before God to be judged,” what would that judgment be? 

Here are the questions Alma(2) has asked the people:

1. Have you been spiritually been born of God?
2. Have you received his image in your countenance?
3. Have you experienced the mighty change in your heart?
4. Do you exercise faith in God?
5. Do you look forward to standing before God and being judged “according to the deeds which have been done in the mortal body?”

We should look at these questions and be asking them of ourselves as well!

¹⁶ I say unto you, can you imagine to yourselves that ye hear the voice of the Lord, saying unto you, in that day: Come unto me ye blessed, for behold, your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth?  ¹⁷ Or do ye imagine to yourselves that ye can lie unto the Lord in that day, and say—Lord, our works have been righteous works upon the face of the earth—and that he will save you?  ¹⁸ Or otherwise, can ye imagine yourselves brought before the tribunal of God with your souls filled with guilt and remorse, having a remembrance of all your guilt, yea, a perfect remembrance of all your wickedness, yea, a remembrance that ye have set at defiance the commandments of God?

Alma 5:16-18 (Emphasis mine)

Alma(2) has us imagine the day that we “hear the voice of the Lord saying unto you, in that day:  Come unto me ye blessed.”  These are the words we want to hear.  In the parable of the sheep and the goats, if we follow his teachings, if we serve others, we will hear “the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world … Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matthew 25:34, 40).

The opposite is also true.  If we have lived a wicked life, do we think we can “lie unto the Lord in that day?”  Do you believe that lie will save you?  There is a problem.  We will have “a perfect remembrance of all [our] wickedness.”  As I study the scriptures, I am convinced we will not be judged by Christ.  When we stand before Him, our “perfect remembrance” will cause us to judge ourselves worthy or unworthy. 

Many scriptures tell us we will have the remembrance of our lives.

And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein ye have been defiled; and ye shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that ye have committed.

Ezekiel 20:43 (Emphasis mine)

Wherefore, we shall have a perfect knowledge of all our guilt, and our uncleanness, and our nakedness; and the righteous shall have a perfect knowledge of their enjoyment, and their righteousness, being clothed with purity, yea, even with the robe of righteousness.

2 Nephi 9:14 (Emphasis mine)

O, all ye old men, and also ye young men, and you little children who can understand my words, for I have spoken plainly unto you that ye might understand, I pray that ye should awake to a remembrance of the awful situation of those that have fallen into transgression.

Mosiah 2:40 (Emphasis mine)

And if they be evil they are consigned to an awful view of their own guilt and abominations, which doth cause them to shrink from the presence of the Lord into a state of misery and endless torment, from whence they can no more return; therefore they have drunk damnation to their own souls.

Mosiah 3:25 (Emphasis mine)

The spirit and the body shall be reunited again in its perfect form; both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame, even as we now are at this time; and we shall be brought to stand before God, knowing even as we know now, and have a bright recollection of all our guilt.

Alma 11:43 (Emphasis mine)

Richard Rust continues this thought.

“Additional questions build to the ironic question, ‘say unto you, can you imagine to yourselves that ye hear the voice of the Lord, saying unto you, in that day: Come unto me ye blessed, for behold, your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth? (Alma 5:16). The ironic content is exposed by the following question: ‘Or do ye imagine to yourselves that ye can lie unto the Lord in that day, and say—Lord, our works have been righteous works upon the face of the earth—and that he will save you?’ (Alma 5:17). Probing more deeply with each rhetorical question, Alma eventually asks, ‘I say unto you, can ye think of being saved when you have yielded yourselves to become subjects to the devil?’ (Alma 5:20).” [1] (Emphasis mine)

¹⁹ I say unto you, can ye look up to God at that day with a pure heart and clean hands?  I say unto you, can you look up, having the image of God engraven upon your countenances? ²⁰ I say unto you, can ye think of being saved when you have yielded yourselves to become subjects to the devil? ²¹ I say unto you, ye will know at that day that ye cannot be saved; for there can no man be saved except his garments are washed white; yea, his garments must be purified until they are cleansed from all stain, through the blood of him of whom it has been spoken by our fathers, who should come to redeem his people from their sins.

Alma 5:19-21 (Emphasis mine)

How can someone be saved?  “[T]here can no man be saved except his garments are washed white … through the blood of him of whom it has been spoken by our fathers, who should come to redeem his people from their sins” (verse 21).  Alma(2) reminds them of the importance of Christ’s atonement. 

Abinadi spoke of Christ.  He told King Noah and his wicked priests “I say unto you, that salvation doth not come by the law alone; and were it not for the atonement, which God himself shall make for the sins and iniquities of his people, that they must unavoidably perish, notwithstanding the law of Moses” (Mosiah 13:28).  They could also rely on the words of Isaiah. “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5) and “[c]ome now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18).

Discussing white garments, Hugh Nibley writes:

“We're told in Leviticus and Deuteronomy that when the priest and his sons come out, having performed the sacrifice, their garments are spattered with this blood. That blood testifies that the sacrifice has been made, and the other garments are washed clean. The other blood is off then. So there's no contradiction in having garments washed clean by the blood of the Lamb. It testifies that they have been cleansed. Of course, we say this is all symbolic, but these symbols were very real to these people. Alma 5:21: It's the Lamb's blood on the garment of the high priest that makes your garment white. So that's what he's talking about here. Notice this rich symbolism. It will testify against you. We can't apportion guilt, because we're all guilty. We must all be purified. All our lives we have to repent.” [2]  (Emphasis mine)

John Welch and Robert Hunt add:

“You will recognize a priest by his white robes. Only priests and the very rich can afford such clothing. Imagine what it means for these priests if their robes get stained, as is often the case when they perform their sacrificial duties. With no laundromat or laundry detergent available, stains remain on clothes. This is an additional reason why white cloth is not used much and gives added insight to scriptures that talk about having our robes white or washed white in Christ's blood (see Alma 5:21). Getting clothes this white is particularly difficult, if not impossible, especially if they are stained.” [3]  (Emphasis mine)

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[1] "Know the Covenants of the Lord" - Sermons, Richard Dilworth Rust, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed March 5, 2012.

[2] Lecture 46: Alma 5, Hugh W. Nibley, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed March 5, 2012.

[3] Culturegram: Jerusalem 600 BC, John W. Welch, and Robert D. Hunt, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed March 5, 2012.