14 And now behold, I
ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God?
Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this
mighty change in your hearts?
15 Do ye exercise
faith in the redemption of him who created you? Do you look forward with an eye
of faith, and view this mortal body raised in immortality, and this corruption
raised in incorruption, to stand before God to be judged according to the deeds
which have been done in the mortal body? (Alma 5:14-15).
Alma asks the congregation a series of important questions.
·
Have ye spiritually been born of God?
Alma experienced this spiritual rebirth.
“For, said he, I have repented of my sins, and have been
redeemed of the Lord; behold I am born of the Spirit.
“And the Lord said unto me: Marvel not that all mankind,
yea, men and women, all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, must be born
again; yea, born of God, changed from their carnal and fallen state, to a state
of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters;
“And thus they become new creatures; and unless they do
this, they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God.
“I say unto you, unless this be the case, they must be cast
off; and this I know, because I was like to be cast off” (Mosiah 27:24-27).
·
Have ye received his image in your countenances?
“Alma the Younger will later equate divine rebirth (being
born of God) and the accompanying mighty change of heart with receiving the
Lord’s ‘image in [one’s] countenance’ (Alma 5:14)…”[1]
“The Lord’s image in one’s countenance? Alma had seen it
(see Alma 36:5–27, especially v. 22). He knew his father had seen it on a
courageous prophet who was willing to suffer in the pattern of his Redeemer to
the last moments of his life.”[2]
“Alma described what happens when we are not only present
but counted as Christ’s disciples when he said, “Have ye spiritually been born
of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced
this mighty change in your hearts?” (Alma 5:14.) Have ye “felt to sing the song
of redeeming love?” (Alma 5:26.) Spirituality is all about feeling the Spirit
of God, wanting it with us, sharing the Spirit with others, and heeding its
prompting.”[3]
“[W]hen we are baptized, we are spiritually born of God and
are entitled to receive His image in our countenances. We should experience a
mighty change of heart so that we can “become new creatures” and exercise faith
in the redemption of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, in order to maintain
our standards of worthiness.”[4]
“Our outward appearance is a reflection of what we are on
the inside. Our lives reflect that for which we seek. And if with all our
hearts we truly seek to know the Savior and to be more like Him, we shall be,
for He is our divine, eternal Brother. But He is more than that. He is our
precious Savior, our dear Redeemer. We ask with Alma of old, ‘Have ye received
his image in your countenances?’ (Alma 5:14).”[5]
·
Have ye experienced this mighty change in your
hearts?
“Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old
man with his deeds;
“And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge
after the image of him that created him” (Colossians 3:9-10).
“And they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe
all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety
and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a
mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do
evil, but to do good continually” (Mosiah 5:2).
“Simply stated, testimony-real testimony, born of the Spirit
and confirmed by the Holy Ghost—changes lives. It changes how you think and
what you do. It changes what you say. It affects every priority you set and
every choice you make. To have a real and abiding testimony of the gospel of
Jesus Christ is to be ‘spiritually … born of God,’ to ‘[receive] his image in
your countenances,’ and to experience a ‘mighty change in your hearts’ (Alma
5:14).”[6]
·
Do ye exercise faith in the redemption of him
who created you?
“And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge
after the image of him that created him” (Colossians 3:10).
“Know ye not that there are more nations than one? Know ye
not that I, the Lord your God, have created all men, and that I remember those
who are upon the isles of the sea; and that I rule in the heavens above and in
the earth beneath; and I bring forth my word unto the children of men, yea,
even upon all the nations of the earth” (2 Nephi 29:7).
·
Do you look forward with an eye of faith, and
view this mortal body raised in immortality, and this corruption raised in
incorruption…
“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made
alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22).
“So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption,
and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass
the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory” (1 Corinthians
15:54).
“But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour
Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality
to light through the gospel” (2 Timothy 1:10).
“O how great the plan of our God! For on the other hand, the
paradise of God must deliver up the spirits of the righteous, and the grave
deliver up the body of the righteous; and the spirit and the body is restored
to itself again, and all men become incorruptible, and immortal, and they are
living souls, having a perfect knowledge like unto us in the flesh, save it be
that our knowledge shall be perfect” (2 Nephi 9:13).
“And if their works are evil they shall be restored unto
them for evil. Therefore, all things shall be restored to their proper order,
every thing to its natural frame—mortality raised to immortality, corruption to
incorruption—raised to endless happiness to inherit the kingdom of God, or to
endless misery to inherit the kingdom of the devil, the one on one hand, the
other on the other” (Alma 41:4).
“So here we have the Lord’s promise of a resurrection for
the just and the unjust, a subsequent righteous judgment from God for our
deeds, and rewards of good or bad things according to his promises. Even though
we will not experience the resurrection until later, we believe now that we
actually will one day. In light of that belief, we live our lives in a way that
is consistent with that expectation, looking forward to the time when through
Christ we are truly resurrected.”[7]
·
…to stand before God to be judged according to
the deeds which have been done in the mortal body?
“And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not alone,
but I and the Father that sent me” (John 8:16).
“I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ,
who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom” (2 Timothy
4:1).
“In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus
Christ according to my gospel” (Romans 2:16).
“But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set
at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of
Christ” (Romans 14:10).
“Wherefore, if they should die in their wickedness they must
be cast off also, as to the things which are spiritual, which are pertaining to
righteousness; wherefore, they must be brought to stand before God, to be
judged of their works; and if their works have been filthiness they must needs
be filthy; and if they be filthy it must needs be that they cannot dwell in the
kingdom of God; if so, the kingdom of God must be filthy also” (1 Nephi
15:33).
“But God ceaseth not to be God, and mercy claimeth the
penitent, and mercy cometh because of the atonement; and the atonement bringeth
to pass the resurrection of the dead; and the resurrection of the dead bringeth
back men into the presence of God; and thus they are restored into his
presence, to be judged according to their works, according to the law and
justice” (Alma 42:23).
[1] Becoming
Sons and Daughters at God’s Right Hand: King Benjamin’s Rhetorical Wordplay on
His Own Name, Matthew L. Bowen, Journal
of the Book of Mormon and Other Restoration Scripture 21/2 (2012): 10.
[2] “What
Meaneth the Words That Are Written?” Abinadi Interprets Isaiah, Ann Madsen,
Journal of Book of Mormon Studies
10/1 (2001): 12.
[3] “Walk
with Me,” Sister Elaine L. Jack, April 1994 General Conference.
[4] Born
Again, President James E. Faust, April 2001 General Conference.
[7] The
Mythical “Manuscript Found,” Matthew Roper, FARMS Review 17/2 (2005): 135.
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