39:2-4, 11-13
Imagine that you’re a successful missionary. You are influencing many lives and helping scores of souls to come unto Christ. Now, imagine that you get distracted by sin and forsake your ministry. The flow of converts ends. This is what happened to Corianton. Alma chastises him.
First, Alma criticizes his pride. “For thou didst not give so much heed unto my words as did thy brother, among the people of the Zoramites. Now this is what I have against thee; thou didst go on unto boasting in thy strength and thy wisdom.” The beginning of trouble for Corianton was his pride. Isn’t this the case for so many of us? Ironically, the pride built from his righteous efforts was the beginning of the end of his ministry.
The second thing that Alma is concerned about is Corianton’s abandonment of his ministry. “And this is not all, my son. Thou didst do that which was grievous unto me; for thou didst forsake the ministry, and did go over into the land of Siron among the borders of the Lamanites, after the harlot Isabel.” It sounds like Alma is as concerned about the end of Corianton’s ministry as he is about the reason why.
“Yea, she did steal away the hearts of many; but this was no excuse for thee, my son. Thou shouldst have tended to the ministry wherewith thou wast entrusted.” At first glance, the sexual sin is the problem. But, Alma recognizes that the end of his mission was, at least, as big a problem. The worth of souls is great. Corianton was bringing souls to Christ. The distraction of Isabel took Corianton off course - but that detour affected so many other souls. From that perspective, the end of the ministry was more consequential than Corianton’s actual sin.
This can be true for so many of us. We may get off of the path and that is bad. But, what is worse is the poor example and lost opportunities that our bad choices bring. Alma continues later: “Behold, O my son, how great iniquity ye brought upon the Zoramites; for when they saw your conduct they would not believe in my words...That ye turn to the Lord with all your mind, might, and strength; that ye lead away the hearts of no more to do wickedly; but rather return unto them, and acknowledge your faults and that wrong which ye have done.” Alma is very concerned about how Corianton’s poor choices impacted the Zoramites.
God shares Alma’s concern when any of us make bad choices and influence others to do the same. This is especially frustrating and sad for God when we know better.
39:6
“For behold, if ye deny the Holy Ghost when it once has had place in you, and ye know that ye deny it, behold, this is a sin which is unpardonable; yea, and whosoever murdereth against the light and knowledge of God, it is not easy for him to obtain forgiveness; yea, I say unto you, my son, that it is not easy for him to obtain a forgiveness.” I’ve written about this before but I think I understand why sinning against the Holy Ghost is unpardonable.
If we KNOW the truth and KNOW right and wrong and have the strength to make good choices but still refuse to choose the right, this is unpardonable. Essentially, even if we were pardoned, we wouldn’t repent. In other words, there would be no progress on our part regardless of whether we were forgiven or not. So, because there is no effect in forgiveness, this kind of rebellion is unpardonable.
Murdering “against the light and knowledge of God” is very hard to repent of. Not that the punishment is so overwhelming but that knowing the plan of salvation and the nature of God and our identities as children of God - to murder another is a form of rebellion so great that it is very unlikely that the person who murdered would ever repent. It isn’t that the forgiveness is out of reach - it’s just the willingness of that person to repent is very small. This makes the repentance “not easy.”
39:7
“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.” Alma is willing to reprimand Corianton because of his love for him. It wasn’t “pleasant” for Alma or Corianton. It was a consequence. In a way, you could view the reprimand as punishment. It’s what was needed to help Corianton progress.
It’s not a big leap to compare this to the punishment of God. There is punishment. The scriptures are clear. But, how could a loving Heavenly Father punish? The same way a loving earthly parent could. Sometimes, punishment is what is required to help a child progress and learn. The punishment may be exactly what is needed in the best interest of the child.
39:9
“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. Oh, remember, and take it upon you, and cross yourself in these things.” We read in scripture that we must “take up his cross and follow him.”
We all have our specific burdens. Our burdens may be lustful temptation or chronic illness or being quick to anger or poverty or laziness. We have our unique gifts and weaknesses. There aren’t unique expectations for every condition. The expectation is to follow Christ’s teachings - regardless of our individual situation. Whatever our burden, we are expected to carry it and follow Jesus.
39:14
“Seek not after riches nor the vain things of this world; for behold, you cannot carry them with you.” If we could just keep this perspective day to day, we would be more likely to be focused on the spiritual rather than the temporal. It’s easy to focus on the temporal. Temporal benefits are the ones that are most visible. It’s easy to see the house I live in and the clothes I wear and the car I drive. It’s harder to physically see righteousness. It’s easy to see how much money I have in my bank account but much harder to see the character that I’ve built up in my spiritual ledger. If we regularly remind ourselves that we cannot carry one single possession with us, our priorities will be well-calibrated.
39:16
Teachers of gospel doctrine, including missionaries, are simply attempting to prepare the minds of their listeners to feel the promptings of the Spirit. “And now, my son, this was the ministry unto which ye were called, to declare these glad tidings unto this people, to prepare their minds; or rather that salvation might come unto them, that they may prepare the minds of their children to hear the word at the time of his coming.” Teachers cannot convert, compel, or permanently change a heart. The Spirit is what does that. We can simply prepare the minds of people to truly hear.
40:11-17
Alma gives some important instruction about the spirit world. I’ve heard in many gospel lessons that people will be sent to paradise or purgatory. Alma seems to contradict this somewhat. It appears that they are brought back to the same place. “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.” Both good and evil spirits are taken back home.
So, what’s the difference between paradise and purgatory if it’s the same location? I think it has to do with the “state of the soul.” It is obvious to me that two people can be sitting in the same room and have drastically different states. I’m sure that every Sunday that there are people in completely different states sitting on the same pew at church. I imagine that some are sitting in sacrament meeting feeling peace and joy. Other’s are tormented with the bad decisions that they’ve recently made. So, joy and torment can be felt at the same time in the same place.
“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.” Will it be that we are simply resting? No. Alma clarifies that it is a rest from our worldly troubles, care and sorrow. We won’t be caring about making our house payment or our job or our back pain. We won’t feel sorrow anymore when someone dies. In fact, death will be a time of joy for us there.
Alma turns his attention to the wicked. “And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of the wicked, yea, who are evil—for behold, they have no part nor portion of the Spirit of the Lord; 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; there shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth, and this because of their own iniquity, being led captive by the will of the devil.” I honestly think he’s talking about sons of perdition here. Those are only souls who will be cast into outer darkness because they truly know the difference between evil and good and choose the evil. I may be wrong about what Alma is talking about - there’s a greater chance of that than I am a clearer writer than Alma.
He appears to bring it back to those who chose evil in this life. “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.” Their state is fear. Those who have chosen wickedness in life but understand and accept that they chose wrong are living in fear for the promised wrath of God. Notice how they aren’t currently suffering wrath but it’s the anticipation of wrath that is causing them such suffering. Isn’t it that way for us? The anticipation of getting a shot is often much worse than the shot itself…
There isn’t an official report card and separate lines into each state. God doesn’t place an administrative official to assign our state. It happens naturally. We assign our own state when we clearly see that there is a life after death and the soul continues. This assignment isn’t permanent. The official “consignment to happiness or misery” happens at the resurrection as Alma explains in verse 17.
Back to the spirit world. There has to be intermingling between the wicked and the righteous. Christ said to the robber on the cross that he would see him, that day, in paradise. Those who know the gospel of Jesus Christ will be busily teaching those who don’t know. I imagine that, for followers of Christ, that it will be a furiously busy time. We will receive our assignment shortly after our arrival in the spirit world. That time will not be a rest from labor and work - it’s just a rest from worldly labor and work.
40:23
Alma calls the resurrection a “restoration.” “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.” This restoration isn’t simply we return to the prime of our lives and every hair is replaced. It’s that we are restored to our “proper and perfect frame.” This proper and perfect frame isn’t affected by the physical weakness or disfigurement or chemical imbalance. I believe that our physical bodies will finally match our pre-mortal spirits. Whatever physical weakness or imperfection that exists as a result of our being born into mortality will not exist. It may be as drastic as viewing this mortal body as a “costume” that we are wearing for 70-100 years.
Our spiritual bodies borne of perfect beings are more pure and refined and perfect. We will be restored to that.
41:2-5
It’s relatively easy to understand that the resurrection is a restoration of our perfect bodies. It’s harder to understand the spiritual restoration that will happen. Alma attempts to explain this to Corianton. “I say unto thee, my son, that the plan of restoration is requisite with the justice of God; for it is requisite that all things should be restored to their proper order.” Our restoration is not simply about our physical resurrection. It is about the spiritual as well as the physical. The Lord said, “Wherefore, verily I say unto you that all things unto me are spiritual…”
“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.” I think it’s interesting that Alma isn’t simply talking about works. I think this is critical for two reasons:
Our works are meaningless if they aren’t done in the right spirit. If we grudgingly offer help to the needy, that counts for nothing. Our true desires really matter when we do something good. If our desires match our works, then we truly grow as spiritual beings. If they don’t match, then our good works mean nothing. Christ said that not all who say “Lord, Lord” will inherit the kingdom of God. The Lord will say that he never knew us even though we cast out devils in his name.
If we desire to do good but struggle with temptation through weakness, that desire - in the eternities - will eventually self correct. If we desire to be righteous and are given enough time to overcome our weakness, we can be fully righteous. I’ve trained many photographers. Talent doesn’t really matter when compared to the strength of their desire. I’ve seen many untalented photographers become great because they continued to strive because they desired to be a great photographer so much.
Again, our natural (pre-mortal) state is righteous. We all shouted for joy at the opportunity to experience mortality. We ALL supported God’s plan. We all were in the presence of God and taught by our heavenly parents. It’s our nature to be good. Therefore, we will be “restored unto that which is good.”
However, some aren’t acting true to their nature. Some choose wickedness and will continue to do so in the next life. “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.” Our spiritual restoration is unlike our physical restoration. Whatever bad physical choices I made will not exist at the resurrection. My soda drinking consequences will be wiped away.
Alma underscores the importance of our desires. “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.” Our desires will play a big part in our spiritual restoration. Not one of us will be forced to do anything that we don’t desire. We all have our agency and we can choose to desire good or evil. Our past, current and future desires will have great impact in our eternal condition. “And so it is on the other hand. If he hath repented of his sins, and desired righteousness until the end of his days, even so he shall be rewarded unto righteousness.” Alma’s not saying that those who achieved perfection will receive their reward. He’s saying that those who desired righteousness until the end are those who will inherit what God has.
41:7
God alone is our judge. The scriptures are clear. But, in a way, we truly judge ourselves. “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.” You and I are constantly judging ourselves through our choices. If I choose to do good, I am judging myself.
If I am in school and earn a C- in a class, was the teacher the judge or was my performance my judge? What gave me that grade? It wasn’t the teacher but myself. I judged myself with every assignment, quiz, test and project. My choices and my effort are what gave me that grade. In this way, I am my own judge with every choice I make. It is exactly the same way here.
41:10-13
We cannot think that, like the body, we will be restored to perfection - even though we made bad choices and desired wickedness. “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.” Our “teacher” will not give us an A grade even though we didn’t attend or didn’t care to learn. What good would that high grade do us? Have we learned what we needed? Did we overcome challenges or make sacrifices? Did our character grow?
If we all get good grades regardless of our effort - then the entire “school” is worthless. It is the struggle to learn that is the valuable part. The restoration will not make the unnatural natural. “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.” Again, if we choose to be in an unnatural state, the restoration will not take us from that unnatural state and make us something different. Through our desires and choices, our natural state may be a state of wickedness.
“And now behold, is the meaning of the word restoration to take a thing of a natural state and place it in an unnatural state, or to place it in a state opposite to its nature? O, my son, this is not the case; but 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.”
41:14-15
With this knowledge, hopefully we see how important this life is and the choices we make. “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. For that which ye do send out shall return unto you again, and be restored; therefore, the word restoration more fully condemneth the sinner, and justifieth him not at all.”
Some call this karma. Alma calls it restoration.
42:1, 4, 7, 10
It sounds like Corianton is concerned about justice and punishment. “And now, my son, I perceive there is somewhat more which doth worry your mind, which ye cannot understand—which is concerning the justice of God in the punishment of the sinner; for ye do try to suppose that it is injustice that the sinner should be consigned to a state of misery.” Corianton believes that it is injustice that the sinner be consigned to a state of misery. We are actually hearing this a lot these days that there shouldn’t be consequences for bad choices. There should be equity among all regardless of performance.
Alma correct Corianton by explaining what happened to Adam and Eve. In their case, there were immediate consequences to their choice. They became mortal, were cast out of the garden and no longer enjoyed the consistent presence of God. This was pure justice.
However, there was a plan. “And thus we see, that there was a time granted unto man to repent, yea, a probationary time, a time to repent and serve God.” Adam and Eve were given time to repent and serve and grow and progress. This was the beginning of God’s mercy.
It was the beginning of the mortal stage of the plan of salvation. We had all enjoyed millennia in the presence of God. But, we couldn’t experience complete free will. Imagine if you lived with your parents your entire life, in their home. Would you truly be able to experience free will? Could you make any big choices and then suffer from or enjoy the consequences? Not really. “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.” Being separated from God and having free will were big aspects of the plan.
As fallen creatures, our natures became part of the test. “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.” Because the natural man has natural desires, the spiritual being inside of us has an opportunity to overcome the natural man. This builds strength of character. This mortal life becomes a time to prepare.
42:13-15, 22, 24
This plan of redemption is beautiful. It is justice that we are separated permanently from God. But, the plan relies on justice AND mercy. Repentance is the key. “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. Now the work of justice could not be destroyed; if so, God would cease to be God.” Our ability to repent and receive mercy is the way for us to learn and grow from our mistakes without facing the ever-increasing load of future punishment that would be required if the plan of salvation was simply a matter of sin and consequences. If it were just that, the future is bleak. “And thus we see that all mankind were fallen, and they were in the grasp of justice; yea, the justice of God, which consigned them forever to be cut off from his presence.”
However, because of Jesus Christ and his atonement, the plan of salvation is truly the plan of happiness. “And now, the plan of mercy could not be brought about except an atonement should be made; therefore God himself 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.” Christ’s atonement appeased the demands of justice.
What pressure did Jesus bear! This entire plan of salvation depended on him living a perfect life and enduring unimaginable pain. I can’t imagine what that pressure felt like. I can say that I am very grateful that there was one child of God who was willing to do whatever it took to save us. There was real peril. It wasn’t just theory.
“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.” Without Christ, the plan of salvation may have resulted in eternal progression - but only after long and intense and real punishment for every. single. sin.
Thankfully, the plan of salvation does include a Savior. Through Christ’s atonement, all things are in balance. “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.”
42:27
The key to the plan of salvation is free will. No one is forced to choose the right. Our growth and progression depends on our ability to choose. “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.”
42:29
Should we be fearful of some impending doom? No. We shouldn’t be troubled that this plan isn’t perfect. The only thing that should trouble us is our wickedness. “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.” How much guilt should we feel for our sins, enough that we repent and not a bit more.
Some of us feel so much guilt when we repent that we can’t feel the joy and peace that comes from repentance. This isn’t right. We should only feel enough that it causes us to repent and then that guilt should leave us. Some of us let the guilt pile up so much that we actually feel true shame. We feel like we aren’t worthy to pray or ask for help. We feel less than others. We may see ourselves as uniquely evil such that Christ’s atonement can’t reach us. This, of course, is wrong.
None of us are outside the reach of Christ’s light and sacrifice. It is not too late for any of us. If you’re reading this, you’re still in that probationary time - that space that was designed for us to exercise our free will, learn and progress. Mistakes and sin are part of the process for all of us. Embrace this life and your imperfect selves and endure to the end. If you’re desire to do good is intact, you’re on the right path.
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