Alma 12:31-37

Alma(2) continues teaching Zeezrom.

31  Wherefore, he gave commandments unto men, they having first transgressed the first commandments as to things which were temporal, and becoming as Gods, knowing good from evil, placing themselves in a state to act, or being placed in a state to act according to their wills and pleasures, whether to do evil or to do good—

32  Therefore God gave unto them commandments, after having made known unto them the plan of redemption, that they should not do evil, the penalty thereof being a second death, which was an everlasting death as to things pertaining unto righteousness; for on such the plan of redemption could have no power, for the works of justice could not be destroyed, according to the supreme goodness of God.

33  But God did call on men, in the name of his Son, (this being the plan of redemption which was laid) saying: If ye will repent and harden not your hearts, then will I have mercy upon you, through mine Only Begotten Son;

Alma 12:31-33 (Emphasis mine)

When man transgressed, they became as the Gods, knowing good from evil.  We were in a position to do what we wanted.  We can choose evil or we can choose good.  The key to all this is that we now had our free agency.

To help us, God made known the plan of redemption.  We also received commandments.  The consequence of choosing evil would be a second death, a spiritual death.  We would be dead to all things righteous.  Justice would claim us; the plan of redemption would have no power.

God called on us, in the name of the Son, to repent and not harden our hearts against His word.  By doing this, we will have mercy. 

Richard Draper and Donald Parry further observe:

“Physical death results in the ‘body without the spirit’ (James 2:26). The ‘second death’ (Jacob 3:11)—called ‘spiritual death’ (Helaman 14:18) or ‘everlasting death’ (Alma 12:32)—pertains to those who die in sin (see Alma 12:16), who ‘die as to things . . . of righteousness’ (Alma 40:26), or who are ‘cut off from the presence of the Lord’ (Alma 42:9). This second death is the penalty for doing evil (see Alma 12:32).” [1]   (Emphasis mine)

Thomas Valetta wrote:

“Alma clarified that men, having chosen mortality, ‘plac[ed] themselves in a state to act’ (Alma 12:31). ‘Therefore God gave unto them commandments, after having made known unto them the plan of redemption, that they should not do evil’ (Alma 12:32). Doing evil, contrary to the commandments, would bring the penalty of ‘a second death, which was an everlasting death as to things pertaining unto righteousness; for on such the plan of redemption could have no power, for the works of justice could not be destroyed, according to the supreme goodness of God’ (Alma 12:32). The eternal plan of God provided opportunity to repent (see Alma 12:33), according to Alma…” [2] (Emphasis mine)

34  Therefore, whosoever repenteth, and hardeneth not his heart, he shall have claim on mercy through mine Only Begotten Son, unto a remission of his sins; and these shall enter into my rest.

35  And whosoever will harden his heart and will do iniquity, behold, I swear in my wrath that he shall not enter into my rest.

36  And now, my brethren, behold I say unto you, that if ye will harden your hearts ye shall not enter into the rest of the Lord; therefore your iniquity provoketh him that he sendeth down his wrath upon you as in the first provocation, yea, according to his word in the last provocation as well as the first, to the everlasting destruction of your souls; therefore, according to his word, unto the last death, as well as the first.

37  And now, my brethren, seeing we know these things, and they are true, let us repent, and harden not our hearts, that we provoke not the Lord our God to pull down his wrath upon us in these his second commandments which he has given unto us; but let us enter into the rest of God, which is prepared according to his word.

Alma 12:34-37 (Emphasis mine)

Alma(2) makes things as clear as he can.  If you repent, you will be forgiven of your sins, obtain mercy, and enter into His rest.  If you don’t, you won’t enter into his rest.  He can’t be more clear than that.

If you don’t repent, you will be eternally cutoff from the Lord.  Your sins will lead to the destruction of your soul.  You will suffer the second death, the spiritual death. 

He ends his words by calling upon them to repent that they all may be enter into the rest of the Lord.

27  And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;

28  For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Matthew 26:27-28 (Emphasis mine)

45  Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,

46  And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:

47  And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

48  And ye are witnesses of these things.

Luke 24:45-48 (Emphasis mine)

43  To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.

Acts 10:43 (Emphasis mine)

7  Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,

8  Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:

Hebrews 3:7-8 (Emphasis mine)

15  And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

16  He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

Mark 16:15-16 (Emphasis mine)

28  Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,

29  And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

John 5:28-29 (Emphasis mine)

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[1] Seven Promises to Those Who Overcome: Aspects of Genesis 2—3 in the Seven Letters, Richard D. Draper, and Donald W. Parry, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed October 30, 2011.

[2] Conflicting Orders: Alma and Amulek in Ammonihah, Thomas R. Valletta, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed October 30, 2011.

2 Nephi 9:6-12

6  For as death hath passed upon all men, to fulfil the merciful plan of the great Creator, there must needs be a power of resurrection, and the resurrection must needs come unto man by reason of the fall; and the fall came by reason of transgression; and because man became fallen they were cut off from the presence of the Lord.
7  Wherefore, it must needs be an infinite atonement—save it should be an infinite atonement this corruption could not put on incorruption.  Wherefore, the first judgment which came upon man must needs have remained to an endless duration.  And if so, this flesh must have laid down to rot and to crumble to its mother earth, to rise no more.

2 Nephi 9:6-7 (Emphasis mine)

Through the fall we all must die.  Not only do we die, we are cut off from God's presence.  This was not God's plan for us.  He wants us to return to His presence.  This can only come about through the atonement and resurrection.  

The resurrection is an essential part of this "infinite atonement."  (v7)  Without this, we would have returned to the dust from which we were made and we would rise no more.  That's it.  It's over.  We wold have no hope. 

8  There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: and there is no discharge in that war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.

Ecclesiastes 8:8

22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

1 Corinthians 15:22

8  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.
9  And our spirits must have become alike 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 9:8-9 (Emphasis mine)

What are the consequences of there being no resurrection?  We will not only become subject to the devil, but we will become angels to the devil.  This is the consequence of what happened when the devil beguiled Adam and Eve in the Garden.  (The word beguiled come from the Middle English bigilen [bi-, be- + gilen - to deceive]).  (The Free Dictionary, accessed April 7, 2011.)

To make matters worse, we will remain "in misery"  (v9) like the devil.  (When I was growing up, my mother used to say "Misery doesn't love company.  It insists upon it!  The devil demands we share in his misery for all eternity.)   All in all, it is not a pleasant outcome.

9  And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Revelation 12:9 (Emphasis mine)

10  O how great the goodness of our God, who prepareth a way for our escape from the grasp of this awful monster; yea, that monster, death and hell, which I call the death of the body, and also the death of the spirit.
11  And because of the way of deliverance of our God, the Holy One of Israel, this death, of which I have spoken, which is the temporal, shall deliver up its dead; which death is the grave.
12  And this death of which I have spoken, which is the spiritual death, shall deliver up its dead; which spiritual death is hell; wherefore, death and hell must deliver up their dead, and hell must deliver up its captive spirits, and the grave must deliver up its captive bodies, and the bodies and the spirits of men will be restored one to the other; and it is by the power of the resurrection of the Holy One of Israel.

2 Nephi 9:10-12 (Emphasis mine)

We read very discouraging words is vs. 8-9; Jacob now reveals the truth, and a powerful truth it is.  Through the atonement and resurrection, God has prepared a way for us to escape from the clutches of the devil.  Death is no longer final.  The grave (temporal death) will "deliver up its dead."  (v11)  

More importantly, hell must deliver its dead, those who suffer a spiritual death.  Because of the atonement and resurrection, being cutoff from the presence of God is no longer forever.  The day will come when it will end and we will return to His presence.  The day will come when we will be fully restored through the power of Christ's resurrection.  

I really like the title, "the Holy One of Israel."  (v12)  It emphasizes that a mere man cannot achieve this.  It requires a unique,  special, and powerful individual.  And that individual must be holy (that is, divine). Only Christ could have offered himself a willing sacrifice for our sins.  We can, someday, return to the presence of the Lord.  

Alma 42:5-11

(Note - Alma(2)'s son Corianton is concerned about his eternal welfare because he consorted with a Lamanite harlot.  Alma(2) responds to his son's concerns in Alma 39-42.)

5  For behold, if Adam had put forth his hand immediately, and partaken of the tree of life, he would have lived forever, according to the word of God, having no space for repentance; yea, and also the word of God would have been void, and the great plan of salvation would have been frustrated.
6  But behold, it was appointed unto man to die—therefore, as they were cut off from the tree of life they should be cut off from the face of the earth—and man became lost forever, yea, they became fallen man.

Alma 42:5-6

Alma(2) reminds Corianton about the devil's plans for man.  It wasn't enough that Adam and Eve broke God's commandment and partook of the fruit of the Tree of Life, he wanted to undermine and destroy the entire Plan of Salvation by having them live forever in a sinful state.  

In the previous post, the principal of repentance was discussed.  Had the devil succeeded, repentance would have been invalid.  There would be no way for them to be forgiven as there would not have been a Savior.  if there is not death, fallen man becomes forever and always cut off from God. 

However, the devil not only was prevented from destroying man's opportunity for salvation, he made it so that man could someday come back and our time on Earth became a "a probationary time, a time to repent and serve God."  (Alma 42:4)

7  And now, ye see by this that our first parents were cut off both temporally and spiritually from the presence of the Lord; and thus we see they became subjects to follow after their own will.
8  Now behold, it was not expedient that man should be reclaimed from this temporal death, for that would destroy the great plan of happiness.
9  Therefore, as the soul could never die, and the fall had brought upon all mankind a spiritual death as well as a temporal, that is, they were cut off from the presence of the Lord, it was expedient that mankind should be reclaimed from this spiritual death.

Alma 42:7-9

Man was cut off from the Lord.  He would no longer be constantly guided by the Lord.  He was free to choose right or wrong.  He could choose to follow God, but he could also choose to ignore Him as well.  Man "became subjects to follow after their own will."

This led to two deaths...

• Temporal Death.  We all will die.  This is the physical (or temporal) death.
• Spiritual Death.  The consequence of the Fall is that we are cut off from the presence of God.  

It is the spiritual death from which we are to be reclaimed.  But it was desirable for man to be "reclaimed from this spiritual death."

10  Therefore, as they had become carnal, sensual, and devilish, by nature, this probationary state became a state for them to prepare; it became a preparatory state.
11  And now remember, my son, if it were not for the plan of redemption, (laying it aside) as soon as they were dead their souls were miserable, being cut off from the presence of the Lord.

42:10 - 11

Our nature changed because of the Fall.  We began to affected by the things of the flesh. Because of this change, our life became a time for us to prepare to return to the Lord.

Paul commented on the nature of man.

12  Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

Romans 5:12

6  For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
7  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God... 

Romans 8:6 - 71

14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned (see note below). 

1 Corinthians 2:14 

(Note - the word used for discerned,anakrinō, means examined or judged; entry 350, Greek Dictionary, Strongest Strongs Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 2001)

Paul makes it clear about the consequences of man becoming  "carnal, sensual, and devilish."  It is most certainly not the life the Lord wishes us to live.

This became a time to prove to the Lord (and, I believe, to ourselves as well) that our greatest desires and wishes are to return to be with the Lord.

The apostle Peter emphasized that our probationary time here on Earth would not be easy. 

6  Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
7  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: 

1 Peter 1:6 - 7 

This is a time for use to be tried "with fire," which means that we will face many challenges in to our faith, some being extremely hard for us.  As always, there is a promise that follows when we overcome that carnal and natural man.  Peter said that if we do, we could "be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:"

Our probationary time won't be easy; but, oh, but the promised rewards that await for overcoming our trials and staying faithful will be great beyond anything we can imagine