Alma 11:22-37

22 And Amulek said unto him: Yea, if it be according to the Spirit of the Lord, which is in me; for I shall say nothing which is contrary to the Spirit of the Lord. And Zeezrom said unto him: Behold, here are six onties of silver, and all these will I give thee if thou wilt deny the existence of a Supreme Being.

23 Now Amulek said: O thou child of hell, why tempt ye me? Knowest thou that the righteous yieldeth to no such temptations?

24 Believest thou that there is no God? I say unto you, Nay, thou knowest that there is a God, but thou lovest that lucre more than him.

25 And now thou hast lied before God unto me. Thou saidst unto me—Behold these six onties, which are of great worth, I will give unto thee—when thou hadst it in thy heart to retain them from me; and it was only thy desire that I should deny the true and living God, that thou mightest have cause to destroy me. And now behold, for this great evil thou shalt have thy reward.

26 And Zeezrom said unto him: Thou sayest there is a true and living God?

27 And Amulek said: Yea, there is a true and living God.

28 Now Zeezrom said: Is there more than one God?

29 And he answered, No.

30 Now Zeezrom said unto him again: How knowest thou these things?

31 And he said: An angel hath made them known unto me.

32 And Zeezrom said again: Who is he that shall come? Is it the Son of God?

33 And he said unto him, Yea.

34 And Zeezrom said again: Shall he save his people in their sins? And Amulek answered and said unto him: I say unto you he shall not, for it is impossible for him to deny his word.

35 Now Zeezrom said unto the people: See that ye remember these things; for he said there is but one God; yet he saith that the Son of God shall come, but he shall not save his people—as though he had authority to command God.

36 Now Amulek saith again unto him: Behold thou hast lied, for thou sayest that I spake as though I had authority to command God because I said he shall not save his people in their sins.

37 And I say unto you again that he cannot save them in their sins; for I cannot deny his word, and he hath said that no unclean thing can inherit the kingdom of heaven; therefore, how can ye be saved, except ye inherit the kingdom of heaven? Therefore, ye cannot be saved in your sins. (Alma 11:22-37)

Amulek has agreed to answer Zeezrom’s questions – “ if it be according to the Spirit of the Lord, which is in me; for I shall say nothing which is contrary to the Spirit of the Lord” (Alma 11:22).

Zeezrom offers to give Amulek six onties of silver (an onti having the greatest value) if he will deny the existence of God. Amulek answered, “O thou child of hell, why tempt ye me? Knowest thou that the righteous yieldeth to no such temptations” (Alma 11:23).

“Amulek, who himself was a wealthy man, had no trouble turning down the offer. He saw it for what it was-an appeal to the greed that Zeezrom apparently assumed influenced all individuals. It was one version of the age-old question, ‘What price your integrity?’ The legal officials in Ammonihah, however, lacked integrity.”[1]

Amulek confronts Zeezrom directly. He asks, do you believe there is no God? He answers his question telling him he knows there is a God but money means more to him than does God.

He also told him he lied when he said he would give him the onties. He never intended to give them to him. He only wanted him to deny the existence of God as a way to destroy him.  

Zeezrom asked Amulek if he said there is a true and living God. Amulek responded there is a true and living God.

He next asked if there is more than one God? Amulek answered no. Zeezrom wanted to know how he knew this. An angel made it known unto him. “And again, I know that the things whereof he hath testified are true; for behold I say unto you, that as the Lord liveth, even so has he sent his angel to make these things manifest unto me; and this he has done while this Alma hath dwelt at my house” (Alma 10:10).

Zeezrom next asked if He would save people in their sins. Amulek made it clear He would not. It is impossible for Him to deny His word.

“While God is empathetic, we should not mistakenly believe that He is accepting and open-minded about sin. He is not. The Savior came to earth to save us from our sins and, importantly, will not save us in our sins.”[2] (emphasis in original)

Zeezrom twisted Amulek’s words. Amulek claimed there is one God, and the Son of God will come, but He will not save His people. Amulek acted as though he had authority to command God. This twisted claim will be brought up again.

“And the people went forth and witnessed against [Alma and Amulek], testifying that they had reviled against the law, and their lawyers and judges of the land, and also of all the people that were in the land; and also testified that there was but one God, and that he should send his Son among the people, but he should not save them; and many such things did the people testify against Alma and Amulek. Now this was done before the chief judge of the land” (Alma 14:5).

Amulek told him he had lied. “Now Alma, seeing that the words of Amulek had silenced Zeezrom, for he beheld that Amulek had caught him in his lying and deceiving to destroy him, and seeing that he began to tremble under a consciousness of his guilt, he opened his mouth and began to speak unto him, and to establish the words of Amulek, and to explain things beyond, or to unfold the scriptures beyond that which Amulek had done” (Alma 12:1).

Amulek again tells them God cannot save them in their sins.

“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,

“Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners [GR robbers], shall inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).

Amulek cannot deny His word. He said no unclean thing can inherit the kingdom of heaven.

“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 behold, an awful death cometh upon the wicked; for they die as to things pertaining to things of righteousness; for they are unclean, and no unclean thing can inherit the kingdom of God; but they are cast out, and consigned to partake of the fruits of their labors or their works, which have been evil; and they drink the dregs of a bitter cup” (Alma 40:26).

“And no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom; therefore nothing entereth into his rest save it be those who have washed their garments in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end” (3 Nephi 27:19).

How, Amulek asks, can you be saved unless you inherit the kingdom of heaven? No! We cannot be saved in our sins.

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[1] Weighing and Measuring in the Worlds of the Book of Mormon, John W. Welch, Maxwell Institute website.

[2] Our Good Shepherd, Elder Dale G. Renlund, April 2017 General Conference.