Book of Mormon Commentary CofC - Odessa, Missouri Community ...

Book of Mormon Commentary
Alma Chapter 19
Alma 19:69 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 shall he be rewarded unto righteousness.
Men can be redeemed from darkness and sin; but this is not to be done by a frightened cry on one's
deathbed. Man has his agency to choose evil; but if he lives out his life serving the flesh and the
devil, a few words in dying gasps, which might be termed as expressing faith in Christ as Savior,
will not change his eternal abode. The manner he chooses to live will determine his resurrection
state. "The decrees of God are unalterable." It would be naive to think that a momentary change
the last day on earth would so change one's nature that he would enjoy living with the righteous
forever in the eternal world. If "accepting Christ" verbally would achieve a transformation of
character, God could scare people into heaven by miracles every day, and have what Satan
proposed in the beginning-universal salvation (Genesis 3:2). One's repentance needs to be
voluntary and sincere, continuing "until the end of his days" to be effective.
Alma 19:72 And now behold, my son, do not risk one more offense against your God upon those points
of doctrine, which ye have hitherto risked to commit sin.
Alma's discussion of restoration had a definite purpose in helping Corianton make an adjustment
in his own life. "Wickedness never was happiness." "All men that are in a state of nature
(unregenerated) ...are in the gall of bitterness. ..and they have gone contrary to the nature of God.
..and the nature of happiness” (75).
MERCY AND JUSTICE ARE DISCUSSED, VER. 78-117
Alma 19:78 Therefore, my son, see that ye 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;
Another worry of Corianton's, which his father perceived, was God's justice "in the punishment of
the sinner" (81). To help him in thinking through this problem, Alma starts with the rebellion in
the Garden of Eden. "There was a time granted unto man, to repent" (84). "If Adam had put forth
his hand immediately, and partook of the tree of life, he would have lived for ever, according to
the word of God, having no space for repentance" (85) .Thus "the great plan of salvation would
have been frustrated" (86). Therefore "our first parents were cut off, both temporally and
spiritually, from the presence of the Lord. ..to follow after their own will" (88). Agency was
preserved.
Alma 19:89 Now behold, it was not expedient that man should be reclaimed from this temporal death,
for that would destroy the great plan of happiness;
Since he was cut off spiritually, to live forever would be intolerable. But a plan was in effect for
his spiritual redemption so that a limited physical life would be only a probationary state, which
could serve to restore man to God's presence, both physically and spiritually, through the
atonement and resurrection (97). "Except it were for these conditions, mercy could not take effect
except it should destroy the work of justice" (94). No clearer picture of the divine plan and
purpose can be found in any literature.