Alma 42

Alma 42

Have you ever wondered how God can extend mercy and demand justice at the same time? Often those two qualities can seem contradictory. Alma explains this complicated but beautiful principle to his son, Corianton.

13… Now the work of justice could not be destroyed; if so, God would cease to be God.

15 And now, the plan of mercy could not be brought about except an atonement should be made; therefore [Christ] atoneth for the sins of the world, to bring about the plan of mercy, to appease the demands of justice, that God might be a perfect, just God, and a merciful God also.

The answer is a mediator between us and God—His Son Jesus Christ—who would pay our debts for us if we agree to accept Him as our new “creditor” and follow His terms. The primary term the Savior requires is repentance.

 13 Therefore, according to justice, the plan of redemption could not be brought about, only on conditions of repentance of men in this probationary state, yea, this preparatory state; for except it were for these conditions, mercy could not take effect except it should destroy the work of justice.

Those who will accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and repent of their sins allow God to be both merciful and just at the same time. God extends mercy and forgiveness because Jesus Christ has paid for their sins and pleads on their behalf. Justice is still served because someone—Jesus Christ—paid the price for the sins of those who meet his terms of repentance and faithfulness. What a beautiful, brilliant, and hopeful plan!

Corianton is bothered by the idea of justice. Why does anyone have to receive punishment for their sins, anyway? How could a loving God do that? Well, Alma explains this concept, too. God gave us laws—we all understand the value and purpose of laws. And what good is a law that isn't enforced?

 17 …How could there be a law save there was a punishment?

 20 And also, if there was no law given against sin men would not be afraid to sin.

22 But there is a law given, and a punishment affixed, and a repentance granted; which repentance, mercy claimeth; otherwise, justice claimeth the creature and executeth the law, and the law inflicteth the punishment; if not so, the works of justice would be destroyed, and God would cease to be God.

 23 But God ceaseth not to be God, and mercy claimeth the penitent, and mercy cometh because of the atonement…

 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.

Jesus Christ has already paid the price. He stands waiting and wanting to help me receive mercy from God. It is my choice whether I will follow Him and repent of my sins in order to qualify for this mercy that is so generously extended toward me. It’s my choice.

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.

Alma 40-41

Alma 40

Alma teaches Corianton about what happens to our souls after death. He summarizes everything in these verses:

21…there is a space between death and the resurrection of the body, and a state of the soul in happiness or in misery until the time which is appointed of God that the dead shall come forth, and be reunited, both soul and body, and be brought to stand before God, and be judged according to their works.

 23 The soul shall be restored to the body, and the body to the soul; yea, and every limb and joint shall be restored to its body; yea, even a hair of the head shall not be lost; but all things shall be restored to their proper and perfect frame.

All mankind will be resurrected—meaning the spirit/soul is restored to the body, but this time the body is perfect, complete, and immortal. That is a free gift from Jesus Christ as a result of his atonement and resurrection. And after each person is resurrected, she/he will stand before God to be judged to determine where they will go through eternity, based on how they lived their lives and the person they have become. But in between the time of death and resurrection, there is a waiting period for every soul. Alma describes this waiting period:

 11 Now, concerning the state of the soul between death and the resurrection—Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are taken home to that God who gave them life.

 12 And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow.

 13 And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of the wicked, yea, who are evil—for behold, they chose evil works rather than good; therefore the spirit of the devil did enter into them, and take possession of their house—and these shall be cast out into outer darkness...and this because of their own iniquity, being led captive by the will of the devil.

 14 Now this is the state of the souls of the wicked, yea, in darkness, and a state of awful, fearful looking for the fiery indignation of the wrath of God upon them; thus they remain in this state, as well as the righteous in paradise, until the time of their resurrection.

There is a lot we don’t know about life after death, but I am grateful to know we all will live again after we die. Losing loved ones is the most painful experience in life because we miss them and love them, but I believe with all my heart that we will see them again. I don’t have any doubt that there is life after death, and that helps to take away my fear of death. This life is just one important step in our journey to become more like God, and I think the next step after this life will be beautiful and exciting for those who live well in this life.

Alma 41

Alma teaches Corianton about the Restoration in this chapter —meaning, the resurrection (when every spirit is re-joined with its immortalized body after death), and what happens to souls after they are resurrected.

Alma says that people who desired good and did good in life are restored to good, and people who desired evil and did evil are restored to evil. Makes sense, right? And it’s comforting to know that God doesn’t just judge us by our actions, but also by the desires of our hearts.

 3 And it is requisite with the justice of God that men should be judged according to their works; and if their works were good in this life, and the desires of their hearts were good, that they should also, at the last day, be restored unto that which is good.

 4 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…

 5 The one raised to happiness according to his desires of happiness, or good according to his desires of good; and the other to evil according to his desires of evil; for as he has desired to do evil all the day long even so shall he have his reward of evil when the night cometh.

 7 … they are their own judges, whether to do good or do evil.

This last verse is important to me, because ultimately we will be our own judges. No one will think they are dealt an unfair verdict in the end. We will be restored to the state where we feel most comfortable.

Alma also says we can never find happiness by living wickedly, or doing things that are wrong or contrary to God’s commandments. Period. While worldly thrills and pleasures may bring instant or temporary satisfaction, it never lasts, and it never develops into true happiness.

10 Do not suppose, because it has been spoken concerning restoration, that ye shall be restored from sin to happiness. Behold, I say unto you, wickedness never was happiness.

11 And now, my son, all men that are in a state of nature, or I would say, in a carnal state, are in the gall of bitterness 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.

So if you want to be happy, then basically you should live the golden rule, because the good you send out into the world will return to you. I believe this applies after this life, and DURING this life, too.

 13 O, my son…the meaning of the word restoration is to bring back again evil for evil, or carnal for carnal, or devilish for devilish—good for that which is good; righteous for that which is righteous; just for that which is just; merciful for that which is merciful.

 14 Therefore, my son, see that you are merciful unto your brethren; deal justly, judge righteously, and do good continually; and if ye do all these things then shall ye receive your reward; yea, ye shall have mercy restored unto you again; ye shall have justice restored unto you again; ye shall have a righteous judgment restored unto you again; and ye shall have good rewarded unto you again.

Alma 38-39

Alma 38

“…There is no other way or means whereby man can be saved, only in and through Christ. Behold, he is the life and the light of the world. Behold, he is the word of truth and righteousness.” (vs. 9)

Alma continues his fatherly counsel, but this time to his son Shiblon, who is also faithful like Helaman. Shiblon went with his dad to preach to the Zoramites, and was imprisoned and even stoned in his efforts, so we know he is invested! Alma says, “…my son, I trust that I shall have great joy in you, because of your steadiness and your faithfulness unto God; for as you have commenced in your youth to look to the Lord your God, even so I hope that you will continue in keeping his commandments; for blessed is he that endureth to the end (vs. 2).”

Even good boys need counsel and warning from their fathers. The first point Alma drives home is that Christ is the only way we can be saved (see vs. 9 above). This is the most important thing he could understand. Then Alma has 3 other points to share with Shiblon:

(1) And now my son, Shiblon, I would that ye should remember, that as much as ye shall put your trust in God even so much ye shall be delivered out of your trials, and your troubles, and your afflictions, and ye shall be lifted up at the last day. (vs 5)

I believe this—it is my source of peace and motivation when I’m going through difficult times. Keep in mind that Alma is saying this to someone who has been imprisoned and stoned! I believe the Lord will always help us through our trials, and we will even be better off because of them, if we put our trust in Him. The only thing that isn’t promised is the timing… usually our patience is tested in the process!

(2) See that ye are not lifted up unto pride; yea, see that ye do not boast in your own wisdom, nor of your much strength. (vs 11)

I see pride lead to downfall for so many individuals and families. People start to make dumb decisions that lead to even dumber decisions when they think they know better than God.

(3) …also see that ye bridle all your passions, that ye may be filled with love.

This third point reminded me of a lesson I heard as a teenager at church about Love vs. Lust. It opened my eyes and helped me to understand what love really looks like, and how lust masquerades as love but will actually extinguish true love. It is important to be able to identify the difference between the two.

LOVE	LUST
Puts the other person’s needs first	Is driven by personal desires
Enduring, eternal	Fleeting, temporary
Nurtures friendship and respect	Just wants physical fulfillment
Causes you to be your best and feel your best	Makes you feel anxious and easily upset
Wants to work through problems	Resents effort and personal discomfort
Invites the Spirit of God	Drives away the Spirit of God
Protects	Manipulates
Forgives	Blames
Sacrifices	Takes
Is Confident	Is Jealous
Shows respect through appropriate restraint	Driven by passion
Grows with time and nurturing	Requires increasing excitement to not get bored
Survives sickness, sorrow, poverty, disappointment	Leaves when the going gets tough

Alma 39

Alma now speaks to his third son, Corianton.  The previous two talks were happy and uplifting because the sons were good boys committed to the gospel. Corianton isn’t a “bad boy”—after all, he went to preach the gospel to the Zoramites along with the rest of his brothers—but he made some big mistakes.

The first of Corianton’s sins was pride: “thou didst go on unto boasting in thy strength and thy wisdom.” (vs. 2) But this isn’t the worst of it—his greater sin was sleeping with a prostitute in the land of the Zoramites, which is ungodly at any time, but especially shocking as a missionary. Alma speaks to him about the severity of his actions:

5 Know ye not, my son, that these things are an abomination in the sight of the Lord; yea, most abominable above all sins save it be the shedding of innocent blood or denying the Holy Ghost?

7 And now, my son, I would to God that ye had not been guilty of so great a crime. I would not dwell upon your crimes, to harrow up your soul, if it were not for your good.

8 But behold, ye cannot hide your crimes from God; and except ye repent they will stand as a testimony against you at the last day.

9 Now my son, I would that ye should repent and forsake your sins, and go no more after the lusts of your eyes, but cross yourself in all these things; for except ye do this ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God.

The happy news is that people who make mistakes of any kind—including sexual sins—can repent. The Lord loves to forgive when we are sincere!

I’d never realized this before, but the topics of pride and lust/love are what Alma spoke to Shiblon about in the previous chapter. These topics were clearly on Alma’s mind because of Corianton’s recent transgressions and he wanted to warn his other son to avoid these pitfalls.

Corianton was able to repent because of Jesus Christ. You may have noticed that the Book of Mormon prophesies frequently and gives specific details about the coming of Jesus Christ, even mentioning him by name. The time period is about 74 B.C. How could they know this stuff?? Alma will explain, because Corianton was skeptical on the topic:

15 And now, my son, I would say somewhat unto you concerning the coming of Christ. Behold, I say unto you, that it is he that surely shall come to take away the sins of the world; yea, he cometh to declare glad tidings of salvation unto his people.

17 … Behold, you marvel why these things should be known so long beforehand. Behold, I say unto you, is not a soul at this time as precious unto God as a soul will be at the time of his coming?

18 Is it not as necessary that the plan of redemption should be made known unto this people as well as unto their children?

19 Is it not as easy at this time for the Lord to send his angel to declare these glad tidings unto us as unto our children, or as after the time of his coming?