Alma 5:36-42

³⁶ For behold, the time is at hand that whosoever bringeth forth not good fruit, or whosoever doeth not the works of righteousness, the same have cause to wail and mourn.  ³⁷ O ye workers of iniquity; ye that are puffed up in the vain things of the world, ye that have professed to have known the ways of righteousness nevertheless have gone astray, as sheep having no shepherd, notwithstanding a shepherd hath called after you and is still calling after you, but ye will not hearken unto his voice!  ³⁸ Behold, I say unto you, that the good shepherd doth call you; yea, and in his own name he doth call you, which is the name of Christ; and if ye will not hearken unto the voice of the good shepherd, to the name by which ye are called, behold, ye are not the sheep of the good shepherd.

³⁹ And now if ye are not the sheep of the good shepherd, of what fold are ye?  Behold, I say unto you, that the devil is your shepherd, and ye are of his fold; and now, who can deny this?  Behold, I say unto you, whosoever denieth this is a liar and a child of the devil. ⁴⁰ For I say unto you that whatsoever is good cometh from God, and whatsoever is evil cometh from the devil.

Alma 5:36-40 (Emphasis mine)

Alma(2) warns them that those that do not bring forth good fruit, “or whosoever doeth not the works of righteousness” will suffer for their choices.

The Savior taught what would happen to those who did not bring forth good fruit.  “And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire” (Matthew 3:10).  Warning His followers about false prophets, He tells them “[y]e shall know them by their fruits.  Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?  Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.  A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.  very tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.  Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:16-20).

The people who “have professed to have known the ways of righteousness nevertheless have gone astray.”  They have no shepherd.  They are on their own.  Yet, there is a Shepherd who still calls after His sheep.  Christ is calling them even now with his own voice.  If they ignore the voice, they “are not the sheep of the good shepherd.” 

King Benjamin made this clear in his great sermon.  He told the people “under this head ye are made free, and there is no other head whereby ye can be made free.  There is no other name given whereby salvation cometh; therefore, I would that ye should take upon you the name of Christ, all you that have entered into the covenant with God that ye should be obedient unto the end of your lives” (Mosiah 5:8).

Alma(2) questions them, asking if you’re not of Christ’s fold, “of what fold are ye?”  He answers his own question, telling the people “the devil is your shepherd and ye are of his fold.” 

The Savior warned us “[n]o man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other.  Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24).

Jacob taught “our spirits must have become like unto him, and we become devils, angels to a devil, to be shut out from the presence of our God, and to remain with the father of lies, in misery, like unto himself; yea, to that being who beguiled our first parents, who transformeth himself nigh unto an angel of light, and stirreth up the children of men unto secret combinations of murder and all manner of secret works of darkness (2 Nephi 9:9).

That’s our choice.  We can either accept Christ as our Shepherd and become part of His fold, or we can accept the devil as our shepherd and become part of his fold.  There is no other choice; it is either Christ or the devil.  Alma(2) reminds us “whatsoever is good cometh from God, and whatsoever is evil cometh from the devil.”

⁴¹ Therefore, if a man bringeth forth good works he hearkeneth unto the voice of the good shepherd, and he doth follow him; but whosoever bringeth forth evil works, the same becometh child of the devil, for he hearkeneth unto his voice, and doth follow him. ⁴² And whosoever doeth this must receive his wages of him; therefore, for his wages he receiveth death, as to things pertaining unto righteousness, being dead unto all good works.

Alma 5:41-42 (Emphasis mine)

Those who do good works belong to the good Shepherd.  Those who do evil works become a child of the devil.  Abinadi told King Noah “[the wicked] are carnal and devilish, and the devil has power over them; yea, even that old serpent that did beguile our first parents, which was the cause of their fall; which was the cause of all mankind becoming carnal, sensual, devilish, knowing evil from good, subjecting themselves to the devil.  Thus all mankind were lost; and behold, they would have been endlessly lost were it not that God redeemed his people from their lost and fallen state.  But remember that he that persists in his own carnal nature, and goes on in the ways of sin and rebellion against God, remaineth in his fallen state and the devil hath all power over him.  Therefore, he is as though there was no redemption made, being an enemy to God; and also is the devil an enemy to God” (Mosiah 16:3-5).

We will receive wages from whomever we follow.  If we follow Christ, we bring forth works of righteousness as our wages.  If we follow the devil, we receive spiritual death as our wages, “being dead unto all good works.”

Paul taught the “wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).  The Lord warned Joseph Smith that those who “love darkness rather than light, and their deeds are evil, and they receive their wages of whom they list to obey” (D&C 29:45).