Alma again emphasizes that, when we are raised from the
dead, we will either be raised with our desires to follow Christ and His
commandments, or evil should we have chosen to serve the devil. His reward will be evil.
And so it is on the
other hand. If he hath repented of his
sins, and desired righteousness until the end of his days, even so he shall be
rewarded unto righteousness.
So, if we repent and desire righteousness throughout our
lives, our reward will be based on our righteousness. This is redemption. Those that are evil suffer endless
darkness. We will be our own judges
whether we do good or evil.
“And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem
the children of men from the fall. And
because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever,
knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it
be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the
commandments which God hath given” (2 Nephi 2:26).
“Therefore, O my son, whosoever will come may come and
partake of the waters of life freely; and whosoever will not come the same is
not compelled to come; but in the last day it shall be restored unto him
according to his deeds” (Alma 42:27).
“And now remember, remember, my brethren, that whosoever
perisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto
himself; for behold, ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for
behold, God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free” (Helaman
14:30).
This is a message we frequently read in the Book of Mormon;
they are an important point in Alma’s teachings. We are responsible for what
occurs to us after death. It is the
choices and decision we make that determine our eternal fate. If we are cast off into the kingdom of the
devil, we will know this occurred because of the choices we made during our
life. We will remember we had the
opportunity to do good and follow Christ, but we willingly turned our backs on
Him and chose the devil.
It is appropriate that Alma voices this message. We have a man who made all the wrong choices
and was shown the consequences of his sins and the suffering he would face.
Alma knows well of what he teaches.
Every person who has lived or will
yet live upon the earth “shall be brought to stand before the bar of God, to be
judged of him according to [his or her] works whether they be good or whether
they be evil” (Mosiah 16:10). If our desires have been for righteousness and
our works good, then the judgment bar will be pleasing (see Jacob 6:13; Enos
1:27; Moroni 10:34). And at the last day we will “be rewarded unto
righteousness” (Alma 41:6).
Conversely, if our desires have
been for evil and our works wicked, then the judgment bar will be a cause of
dread. “We shall not dare to look up to our God; and we would fain be glad if
we could command the rocks and the mountains to fall upon us to hide us from
his presence” (Alma 12:14). And at the last day we will “have [our] reward of
evil” (Alma 41:5).[1]
God’s decrees cannot be changed. A way is prepared for us should we choose to
follow Christ and be saved.
He warned his son to risk not even one more offense against
God. “As a dog returneth to his vomit, so
a fool returneth to his folly” (Proverbs 26:11).
“But if he doeth it again, he shall not be forgiven, but
shall be cast out” (D&C 42:26).
Apparently, Corianton believed it was possible to move from
sin to happiness with no effort on his part.
Alma quickly corrected him, telling him not to think this would happen.
Then Alma makes it clear. “[W]ickedness never was happiness.” (Alma 41:10). “Alma’s
point is that God is going to restore our body to its perfect frame but that
this restoration applies only to the physical body. Salvation is conditional,
and there is a pending judgment for the guilty.”[2]
“Many sorrows shall be
to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about”
(Psalms 32:10).
“There is no peace,
saith my God, to the wicked” (Isaiah 57:21).
“But behold, your days of probation are past; ye have procrastinated
the day of your salvation until it is everlastingly too late, and your
destruction is made sure; yea, for ye have sought all the days of your lives
for that which ye could not obtain; and ye have sought for happiness in doing
iniquity, which thing is contrary to the nature of that righteousness which is
in our great and Eternal Head” (Helaman 13:38).
“And we see that these promises have been verified to the
people of Nephi; for it has been their quarrelings and their contentions, yea,
their murderings, and their plunderings, their idolatry, their whoredoms, and
their abominations, which were among themselves, which brought upon them their
wars and their destructions” (Alma 50:21).
“But behold this my joy was vain, for their sorrowing was
not unto repentance, because of the goodness of God; but it was rather the sorrowing
of the damned, because the Lord would not always suffer them to take happiness
in sin” (Mormon 2:13).
As President
Hinckley instructed the brethren last night, there is no peace in sin. There
may be ease, popularity, fame, and even prosperity, but there is no peace.
“Wickedness never was happiness” (Alma 41:10). One cannot be at peace if one is
living a life out of harmony with revealed truth. There is no peace in being
mean-spirited or contentious. There is no peace in vulgarity, promiscuity, or
permissiveness. There is no peace in addiction to drugs, alcohol, or
pornography. There is no peace in being abusive to others in any way, whether
it be emotionally, physically, or sexually, for those who are abusive will
remain in mental and spiritual turmoil until they come to Christ in all
humility and seek forgiveness through complete repentance.[3]
We are all in a carnal state in this life. “For the natural man is an enemy to God, and
has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields
to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and
becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child,
submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all
things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth
submit to his father” (Mosiah 3:19).
“For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Romans 8:6).
“O, my beloved brethren, remember the awfulness in transgressing
against that Holy God, and also the awfulness of yielding to the enticings of
that cunning one. Remember, to be carnally–minded
is death, and to be spiritually–minded is life eternal” (2 Nephi 9:39).
All that are in this carnal state will suffer the deepest,
harshest pain possible. They have turned
against God. Alma describes these people
as being “without God in the world.” (Alma 40:11). Having gone against the nature of God, “they
are in a state contrary to the nature of happiness” (Alma 41:11).
The Book of Mormon makes it clear
that happiness is our destiny. It speaks of dwelling “with God in a state of
never-ending happiness.” (Mosiah 2:41.) It is also made clear that “all things
shall be restored to their proper order, every thing to its natural frame …
raised to endless happiness to inherit the kingdom of God, or to endless misery
to inherit the kingdom of the devil.” We also learn that we are “raised to
happiness according to [our] desires of happiness.” (Alma 41:4–5.)…
The Book of Mormon speaks of men
that are in a “carnal state … and in the bonds of iniquity; they are without
God in the world, and they have gone contrary to the nature of God; therefore,
they are in a state contrary to the nature of happiness.” (Alma 41:11.) … The
doctrine is concisely summarized by Alma: “Behold, I say unto you, wickedness
never was happiness.” (Alma 41:10; italics added.) If we are not pure, we would
be miserable in the presence of God and Christ, who are by their very nature
happy and joyful and cannot look upon sin with any allowance.[4]
Alma asks Corianton, does restoration mean taking something
in a natural state and giving them an unnatural state, “or to place it in a
state of opposite to its nature?” (Alma 41:12).
Alma clarifies the meaning of restoration. It will restore evil for evil and good for
good. “Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall
do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand”
(Daniel 12:10).
“And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according
as his work shall be” (Revelation 22:12).
Alma advised Corianton to be merciful, deal justly, judge
with a righteous judgement, and always o good. “And now, verily, verily, I say
unto thee, put your trust in that Spirit which leadeth to do good—yea, to do justly,
to walk humbly, to judge righteously; and this is my Spirit” (D&C 11:12). If he does this, he will receive a reward and
have mercy and justice restored.
Whatever we send out will be returned to us. Alma would later tell Corianton, “Therefore, O
my son, whosoever will come may come and partake of the waters of life freely;
and whosoever will not come the same is not compelled to come; but in the last
day it shall be restored unto him according to his deeds. If he has desired to
do evil, and has not repented in his days, behold, evil shall be done unto him,
according to the restoration of God” (Alma 42:27-28). “He that hath pity upon
the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him
again” (Proverbs 19:17).
“CAST thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it
after many days” (Ecclesiastes 11:1).
Alma 41:13-15 is an example of chiasmus in the Book of
Mormon.
“In other words, righteous judgment balances justice and
mercy through the atonement of Jesus Christ. The iconic chiasmus and
parallelism of Alma 41:13–15 illustrate that righteous judgment is a perfect
fulfillment of the Lord’s laws of restoration and compensation: the meaning of
the word restoration is to bring back again . . .
[A] good for that which is good;
[B] righteous for that which is
righteous;
[C] just for that which is just;
[D] merciful for that which is
merciful . . .
[D] see that you are merciful unto
your brethren;
[C] deal justly,
[B] judge righteously,
[A] and do good continually;
and if ye do all these things then
shall ye receive your reward;
[D] yea, ye shall have mercy
restored unto you again;
[C] ye shall have justice restored
unto you again;
[B] ye shall have a righteous
judgment restored unto you again;
[A] and ye shall have good rewarded
unto you again.[5]
[2] Painting
Out the Messiah: The Theologies of Dissidents, John L. Clark, Journal of
Book of Mormon Studies 11/1 (2002): 26.
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