24 For behold, justice exerciseth all his demands, and also
mercy claimeth all which is her own; and thus, none but the truly penitent are
saved.
25 What, do ye suppose that mercy can rob justice? I say
unto you, Nay; not one whit. If so, God would cease to be God.
26 And thus God bringeth about his great and eternal
purposes, which were prepared from the foundation of the world. And thus cometh
about the salvation and the redemption of men, and also their destruction and
misery.
27 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.
28 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.
29 And now, my son, I desire that ye should let these things
trouble you no more, and only let your sins trouble you, with that trouble
which shall bring you down unto repentance.
30 O my son, I desire that ye should deny the justice of God
no more. Do not endeavor to excuse yourself in the least point because of your
sins, by denying the justice of God; but do you let the justice of God, and his
mercy, and his long-suffering have full sway in your heart; and let it bring
you down to the dust in humility.
31 And now, O my son, ye are called of God to preach the
word unto this people. And now, my son, go thy way, declare the word with truth
and soberness, that thou mayest bring souls unto repentance, that the great
plan of mercy may have claim upon them. And may God grant unto you even
according to my words. Amen.
Alma 42:24-31
Alma continues explaining justice and mercy to Corianton.
Justice exercises its demand; however, mercy claims her own.
None but those who truly repent are saved. “Not by works of righteousness which
we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of
regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost” (Titus 3:5).
“Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of
the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very
pitiful, and of tender mercy” (James 5:11).
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3).
“O the wisdom of God, his mercy and grace! For behold, if
the flesh should rise no more our spirits must become subject to that angel who
fell from before the presence of the Eternal God, and became the devil, to rise
no more” (2 Nephi 9:8).
Alma asked can mercy rob justice? He answers no. If it did,
God would cease to be God.
“How, then, are [justice and mercy] reconciled? The answer
is that those who do not harden their hearts but instead in penitence with a
broken heart and a contrite spirit surrender in response to mercy are the only
ones unto whom the ends of the law, which are love and mercy, can be answered.
To put it differently: When men after transgression, or setback, or willful
failure, are contrite, it is just that they should receive mercy, which leads
to repentance and healing. Otherwise, justice would require that they receive none. To
bring love and mercy into the world in harmony with all the attributes of God
required the Atonement. Jesus became the voluntary Messiah.”[1]
“[A]s a consequence
of being perfectly just, there are some things God cannot do. He cannot be
arbitrary in saving some and banishing others. He ‘cannot look upon sin with
the least degree of allowance.’ He cannot allow mercy to rob justice.
“It is compelling evidence of
His justice that God has forged the companion principle of mercy. It is because
He is just that He devised the means for mercy to play its indispensable role
in our eternal destiny. So now, ‘justice exerciseth all his demands, and also
mercy claimeth all which is her own.’
“We know that it is ‘the
sufferings and death of him who did no sin, in whom [the Father] was well
pleased; … the blood of [His] Son which was shed’ that satisfies the demands of
justice, extends mercy, and redeems us. Even so, ‘according to justice, the plan of redemption could not be
brought about, only on conditions of
repentance’ (emphasis
added). It is the requirement of and the opportunity for repentance that
permits mercy to perform its labor without trampling justice.”[2]
God bring about his great and eternal purposes. “Be ye
therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew
5:48).[3]
“And to bring about his eternal purposes in the end of man,
after he had created our first parents, and the beasts of the field and the
fowls of the air, and in fine, all things which are created, it must needs be
that there was an opposition; even the forbidden fruit in opposition to the
tree of life; the one being sweet and the other bitter.
“Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act
for himself. Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he
was enticed by the one or the other” (2 Nephi 2:15-16).
“But, behold, I say unto you that I, the Lord God, gave unto
Adam and unto his seed, that they should not die as to the temporal death,
until I, the Lord God, should send forth angels to declare unto them repentance
and redemption, through faith on the name of mine Only Begotten Son.
“And thus did I, the Lord God, appoint unto man the days of
his probation—that by his natural death he might be raised in immortality unto
eternal life, even as many as would believe;
“And they that believe not unto eternal damnation; for they
cannot be redeemed from their spiritual fall, because they repent not” (D&C
29:42-44).
There were prepared from the foundation of the world.
“And this is the manner after which they were ordained—being
called and prepared from the foundation of the world according to the
foreknowledge of God, on account of their exceeding faith and good works; in
the first place being left to choose good or evil; therefore they having chosen
good, and exercising exceedingly great faith, are called with a holy calling,
yea, with that holy calling which was prepared with, and according to, a
preparatory redemption for such…
“Or in fine, in the first place they were on the same
standing with their brethren; thus this holy calling being prepared from the
foundation of the world for such as would not harden their hearts, being in and
through the atonement of the Only Begotten Son, who was prepared…
“This high priesthood being after the order of his Son,
which order was from the foundation of the world; or in other words, being
without beginning of days or end of years, being prepared from eternity to all
eternity, according to his foreknowledge of all things—
“Now they were ordained after this manner—being called with
a holy calling, and ordained with a holy ordinance, and taking upon them the
high priesthood of the holy order, which calling, and ordinance, and high
priesthood, is without beginning or end” (Alma 13:3, 5, 7-8).
Through this, the salvation and redemption of men comes
about. Their destruction and misery also comes about.
There will be those who will partake of the waters of life
freely. “Yea, he saith: Come unto me and ye shall partake of the fruit of the
tree of life; yea, ye shall eat and drink of the bread and the waters of life
freely” (Alma 5:34).
“These are they that are redeemed of the Lord; yea, these are they that are taken out, that are delivered from that endless night of darkness; and thus they stand or fall; for behold, they are their own judges, whether to do good or do evil.
“Now, the decrees of God are unalterable; therefore, the way
is prepared that whosoever will may walk therein and be saved” (Alma 41:7-8).
“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).
Those who will not come will not be forced to come. In the
last days, each will be restored according to their deeds. “According to their
deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompence to his
enemies; to the islands he will repay recompence” (Isaiah 59:18).
“Yea, verily, to seal them up unto the day when the wrath of
God shall be poured out upon the wicked without measure—
“Unto the day when the Lord shall come to recompense unto
every man according to his work, and measure to every man according to the
measure which he has measured to his fellow man” (D&C 1:9-10).
If a person has done evil during his life, and did not
repent, evil will be done to him.
Alma tells Corianton that these things should no longer
trouble him.
“For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent,
though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry,
though it were but for a season.
“Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye
sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye
might receive damage by us in nothing.
“For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be
repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
“For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a
godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of
yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire,
yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to
be clear in this matter” (2 Corinthians 7:8-11).
He is to only let his sins trouble him, which will lead him
to repent.
Alma tells him to stop denying God’s justice. Don’t excuse
himself because of his sins by denying God’s justice. Let justice and mercy, as
well as his long suffering bring him “down to the dust in humility.
Corianton has been called to preach the gospel to this
people. He is to declare it with truth and soberness. This will bring many to
repent and allow mercy to claim them.
[1] B.
H. Roberts: the Book of Mormon and the Atonement, Truman G. Madsen, Maxwell
Institute website.
[2] Free
Forever, to Act for Themselves, Elder D. Todd Christofferson, October 2014
General Conference.
[3] Ye are therefore commanded
to be perfect even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (JST Matthew
5:48).
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