The Spirit World and the Resurrection of the Dead
READ Alma 40:1-5
Who holds the keys to the
resurrection of the dead?
Whoever brings it to pass holds the keys.
Christ brought it to pass for us, so Christ alone holds the keys…
to our resurrection from this earth.
He and the Father know the details of who is to be resurrected
when.
READ Alma 40:6-7
Why must there be a space
between death and the resurrection; why can’t it be immediate or almost immediate?
For most individuals, their “probationary experience” isn’t yet
over at death, as they will have the opportunity to accept more truth after
this life is over.
Implied in this is that the “veil of forgetfulness” is still in
place in the spirit world, otherwise accepting the truth would no longer be a
test.
Also implied in this is that the truth is no more obvious in the
spirit world than it is here, although it probably is more widely available –
it’s the idea of the “fair and full chance” to receive the gospel or reject it
– the great majority of humans will not have that chance in mortality but all
will later.
Joseph Smith decried the doctrine of reincarnation or past lives
on this earth in this eternity, but the doctrine of multiple mortal probations
seems to be required if one is to move from a small capacity to a great one,
from grace to grace in a testing environment outside the presence of God – i.e.
in a mortal life;
This could mean that either resurrected beings (i.e. beings
resurrected because of the grace of another, as opposed to those who attain to
the resurrection themselves like Christ did on this earth) have the opportunity
to voluntarily lay down their bodies of glory to live another mortality in a
future eternity, OR that spirits can wait on being resurrected until a future
eternity, to have the chance to experience multiple mortal probations and grow
in light before their eventual single resurrection, OR they can experience
multiple mortal probations here on this earth in this eternity (the traditional
“past lives” theory of reincarnation, i.e. only in a human body) – hence the
“space” between death and the resurrection which “must” be in place.
READ Alma 40:8
With regards to time, how would
you describe the difference between what God experiences and what man
experiences?
The Lord lives in a timeless state and we live inside time.
Eternity will be composed of living well one day, as for God, all
is as one day.
What is the implication on
understanding God – when He reveals things to men?
When the Lord shows things to prophets from His perspective, it
takes a while for mortals to comprehend what they have been shown – it is a
process and our effort is required – see also D&C 130:7).
What is the implication for how
we should live each day on earth?
When we are living well one day at a time – we are ready to
receive eternity.
Until then, worrying about the larger and more chaotic picture of
what is going on keeps us from changing the only environment over which we have
any influence or control – the environment of our hearts, in this life, today.
READ Alma 40:11-14
What happens to the spirits of
all mankind at death?
They enter a world of spirits – either a paradise or hell.
Who is the God who gave our
spirits life?
Christ (see Alma 11:38-41; Mosiah 2:20-21).
It seems we will not be brought before the Father again until we
are resurrected.
Why does Alma tell us that an
angel told him that “as soon as” all people die, their spirits are taken to God
to be sorted into paradise or hell, when this is not the current doctrine of
the Church?
The current doctrine may not be correct…
The current doctrine of the Church is: spirits go to the Spirit
world, not to God, after death.
If “God” refers to Christ, and His ministry still continues to
those in their second estate, then Alma is saying that He is the one who
personally judges and consigns each spirit to their state or dwelling in the
Spirit World.
What does Alma mean by “outer
darkness” here and how does it differ from how the term is used in the Church?
Outer darkness here is used to describe “hell” or “Sheol”, the
place the unredeemed spirits go after death.
In the Church today, “outer darkness” refers to the kingdom of
non-glory that those who experience the “second death” will go – including
Satan’s followers (spirits) and the Sons of Perdition (resurrected to bodies of
no glory) from this world.
It is interesting that “outer darkness” is not referred to in any
of the scriptures to refer to an eventual kingdom for resurrected beings (see Matthew
8:12; Matthew 22:13; Matthew 25:30; D&C 101:91; D&C 133:73) except
D&C 88:15-24, as D&C 76 seems to imply that it is a kingdom for
non-resurrected or disembodied spirits like the devil (see D&C 76:36-39,
43-48); it is also interesting that the “second death” refers to a much broader
group of people than the Sons of Perdition who had exaltation sealed upon them
but then betrayed their Lord (see Jacob 3:11; Alma 12:12-18, 31-36; Alma 13:30;
Helaman 14:18-19; D&C 63:17; the only exception to this is D&C
76:31-38, which is about the sons of perdition).
If the righteous are received into paradise, what
defines "righteous"?
Those who can
"rest" from all their troubles, care and sorrow.
Who then is righteous?
Those who can rest
from all their troubles, cares and sorrows are those whose garments have been
made white in the blood of the Lamb, who have been declared by Christ clean
from the sins of their generation (see D&C 88:75).
In other words, those
who have previously (during mortal life) entered into the Rest of the Lord and
received the promise that they would be able to return there upon their deaths
- their probationary state having been concluded successfully as they had
accomplished the primary objective they were on earth to do, i.e. reenter the
presence of the Lord and be sealed up to eternal life as Christ's son or
daughter (see also D&C 76:51-57).
This does not seem to
apply generally to "active" Church members who, although baptized -
and even having possibly entered the Gate by being baptized by fire and the
Holy Ghost, have not progressed to the end of the journey to enter into the
Rest of the Lord and be sealed up to eternal life while in the flesh (see
D&C 132:21-25). So most active
Church members may not find themselves in Spirit Paradise upon their deaths –
their probation continues in “spirit prison”, “hell”, “Sheol” or “outer
darkness” after their deaths.
Who then are the "wicked" and what happens to
them?
The wicked are all
those that are not righteous by the definition articulated above - having not
entered into the rest of the Lord, thus having not completed their assignment
in the second estate; for them the testing ground of the second estate
continues after mortal death.
Learning - not
resting from cares or sorrow but learning what they must know to be able to
enter into the rest of the Lord.
Repenting (D&C
84:49-53) to the degree they can without a mortal tabernacle.
Suffering for sin
(Alma 40:13) as justice takes hold of them, since they had previously spurned
mercy through Christ's atonement; this is evident by the fact that their
repentance and accepting of Christ’s atonement was not to the degree that He
invited them to enter into His rest because they were done learning.
Can people move from hell to paradise prior to the
resurrection and if so, how?
According to Alma and
the angel who taught him, the wicked stay in hell until the time of their
resurrection.
Now this was taught
to Alma before Christ's resurrection and the missionary work He commissioned -
was the angel being very specific to the current state of those in the spirit
world or does this doctrine still apply after Christ's death (see D&C
138:27-37, 57-59); if he was being very specific, why did Mormon include this
doctrine in an account going to readers who live after Christ’s ministry and
resurrection?
What effect does
proxy baptism on earth by a mortal have on the state of the person in spirit
prison - does it release them and allow them to go to paradise? With the definition of "righteous"
laid out previously, it doesn't seem like baptism alone would be enough;
although it is not clear, as one's second estate continues into the spirit
world for the vast majority of people, that they cannot do what is required to
enter into the rest of the Lord while in the spirit world with a veil still
over their minds; regardless of not having a mortal body, they are still
outside the presence of God with the use of their agency.
READ Alma 40:15
Why would Alma say that the initial judgement and
consignment to paradise or hell can be termed a "resurrection"?
It is not a bodily
resurrection.
But to the extent
that a resurrection can be defined as a judgment and consignment to a degree of
glory for at least some measure of time, then the assignment by Christ to rest
and happiness in Paradise or misery and probation in Prison could be an apt
description.
READ Alma 40:16-21
What is the implication of Alma's admitting there are
things about the resurrection that he does not know?
That prophets of God
do not know everything.
This makes sense as
for a person to know everything they would have to fully comprehend the mind of
God and all His works, which they cannot do and remain in the flesh upon the
earth (see Moses 1:5).
That different
prophets understand different aspects and to different degrees, and as some of
these Godly subjects are very complex, it is possible that prophets may seem to
disagree or may actually disagree, based on their level of knowledge about a
subject - although a high degree of humility should be in place, where they are
curious and teachable, like children.
Why is the doctrine of a literal resurrection difficult
for most Christian sects?
The Hellenistic
doctrine of the Greek philosophers that is so foundational to the apostate
doctrine of the nature of God means that they don't/can't believe that God has
a physical body because the physical body is evil and God is "above"
being constrained by a body - he is without body, parts or passions.
If this is true, they
would ask “why would we want to have a physical body?”
If we don't have a physical resurrection, what would we
be in the eternities?
Disembodied spirits
unable to abide the presence of God because we are filled with darkness and
have no light in us.
Angels to a devil
without family ties or eternal offspring.
Stuck (damned)
without a way to continue to progress to become like God is.
The Doctrine of
Restoration
READ Alma 40:22-26
and Alma 41:2-7, 12-13
What is the doctrine of Restoration?
It is the restoration
of the spirit (called the soul by Alma) to the physical body - restored to
their proper or perfect frame; it is interesting to think about why we would be
restored (or returned, brought back, recovered, retrieved) to a perfect frame
when no one had a perfect frame in a corruptible, mortal body here on
earth...again the idea that some, or perhaps many, people had already received
a physical body or "royal robe" or "temple/tabernacle/house of
God" in some prior eternity which we have laid aside to attempt to
progress and gain more light, becoming more like God by experiencing the test
of yet another mortal probation outside of God's direct presence.
It is a restoration
to either good or evil; it is not the need to pay the price for sin but rather
the continuation in eternity of what we have become here on earth through our
desires and choices - if we chose good, He allows us to continue to be what we
have become through those choices, and the same with evil.
Restoration is about
restoring things to a "proper order" or natural frame or state; we
will end up where we feel most comfortable or we will get what we most desired;
it is a plan of happiness at the end of the day – it is illustrated in Stephen Robinson's
idea of the "eternal buffet table" with bratwurst and beer at one end
and gourmet delicacies at the other, depending upon your preference or taste
(see Mormon 9:3-4), but it’s not poison at one end and top cuisine at the
other, regardless of what you might think of hot dogs; the point is that it’s
all serviceable but some will enable you to continue to progress in light while
the rest will not – by your own choice.
Given that God follows the doctrine of Restoration, why
is an atonement necessary?
Restoration is
"just" or requisite only because of Christ's atonement; if not for
that, we would not deserve to be reunited with our bodies as the wages of sin
are death (see Romans 6:23).
Without the
Atonement, we would all be angels to a devil, regardless of the desires of our
hearts and the choices that we made to do good here on earth (see 2 Nephi
9:6-12).
The atonement is what
enables the principle that if you lived true to the light you received, you
will be blessed (i.e. you will not get what you deserve, but receive mercy),
but if you went against that light of Christ, you will get what you deserve
(justice).
What is required of us to be restored to good?
We must repent of our
sins.
We must desire
righteousness until the end of our days.
We must love Christ
enough to choose to keep the commandments He has revealed to us (which He has
promised us we can do) and trust Him enough to allow Him to test and try us,
which is the refiner’s fire.
It doesn't say we
must BE completely righteous or at He is, as we won't be able to accomplish
that, at our current stage of development.
What does it mean that these who are restored to good
are "taken out" or "delivered from that endless night of
darkness"?
The endless night of
darkness continues for those who are not taken out or delivered or removed from
it.
While endless may not
refer to something being never ending (see D&C 19:10-12), it is possible
that it could mean that in some sense, in that God is endless meaning that He
has always existed in some form or another...
But if a night of
darkness is endless going forward, it is also endless going backward - implied
in this is that we are in an endless night of darkness until we are taken out
of it by God based on our own desires and choices to be good or evil.
An endless night of
darkness could refer to eons of mortal probations in fallen, dark worlds that
we have already experienced and will continue to experience unless we awake and
rise up to embrace the Redeemer and become His sons or daughters - it is a
similar to the stars of the Zodiac continually circumnavigating the ecliptic
but never rising up to the "sides of the North" where God dwells in
His Heavens.
Or an endless night
of darkness could refer to the time wherein no work or progression can be
performed, where we are stuck with the reward that we have earned through our
desires, until a future eternity when another redeemer is selected to save
another creation upon which we can participate in another mortal probation, if
we choose to lay down what we have and risk it.
READ Alma 41:14-15
How should the doctrine of Restoration shape our
behavior in mortality?
We have full control
of what the doctrine of restoration will restore to us - if we want mercy at
the judgement, we must extend it to others now; but if we do extend it to
others now, we are guaranteed it then by the doctrine of restoration.
It is the true
principle behind the philosophical idea of the "law of attraction"
(that what you send out into the world comes back to you because it is
attracted to you or your frequency - like attracts like; see D&C 88:36-40).
READ Alma 41:1
What does it mean to wrest the scriptures and how does
this happen?
Wrest = to twist or
extort by violence, to pull or force; to distort; to turn from truth; to
pervert.
Unless the reader has
a fullness of the Holy Spirit or mind of God, they run the risk of
misunderstanding the scriptures (thinking they mean something they do not) or
of only comprehending them to a certain level (not understanding the full
message).
If this limited or
incorrect understanding is accompanied by intellectual pride or a desire to
control the thinking or behavior of others, individuals may be tempted to wrest
or twist the scriptures to seem to align them with their personal understanding
or to support their personal agenda of control.
READ Alma 41:8
Why are the decrees of God unalterable?
Because God's decrees
align perfectly with Eternal Law (see D&C 130:20-21).
If they did not and
if He were anything different from what He was (a perfectly just and holy
being), He would cease to be God (see LoF 7:9, 15-16).
And He swears by His
own life - His eternal life or Godhood - that what He decrees will come to pass
because He has the power to make them happen; so He must honor them or cease to
be God because He would at that point be changeable and no longer a God of
truth that one could have faith in.
What is the Way and where does it lead?
Christ is the Way in
that He is both the prototype of the saved man AND the enabler of our
redemption.
The Way leads both to
the Father AND to become as the Father is.
What does it mean “that whosoever will may walk therein
and be saved”?
God is no respecter
of persons.
Callings, lineage,
wealth, education, worldly success, promises made to fathers - none of it
matters if YOU will not walk in the way yourself.
READ Alma 41:9
What is the relationship between understanding true
points of doctrine and committing sin?
We are saved by
knowledge - the more we know, the less we want to sin, as it loses its appeal
as we see the consequences of where sin leads and what it does to you.
In addition, as we
obey God’s commandments by not committing sin because of this knowledge we have
been given, we gain more light and glory (intelligence); and as light cleaves
to light, the darkness becomes less attractive to us anyway.
The flipside is that
the more we know, the more we are accountable for that knowledge and the bigger
the trouble we are in if we sin, as we are sinning against light, or in other
words, we know better but are choosing to reject what we know.
READ Alma 41:10-11
What does "wickedness never was happiness"
mean in the context of the doctrine of Restoration?
You will have
restored unto you exactly what you desired and did in mortality.
If you desired and
did wickedness, you will have wickedness or darkness restored to you.
Wickedness is
behavior contrary to God's behavior; God's behavior fills anyone who also does
it with the same light it fills Him with.
God is only God
because He progressed from eternity to eternity to become precisely what He is
and behave in precisely the way He does to possess a fullness of light, glory
and intelligence (see D&C 93:12-14; TPJS 390:1-393:1; LoF 7:9, 15-16).
So if you are not
precisely like God, you cannot be saved and will not be happy; you are in a
state that is contrary to the nature of happiness, as set forth in Eternal Law,
because you are not as God is and only He or one like Him possess the
attributes that allow them to experience a fullness of joy and happiness.
What does it mean to be in a state of nature?
To be fallen, lost,
carnal and devilish; to be a natural man.
To follow one's own
will instead of God's.
Why is the natural man without God in the world?
They have lost their
connection to God.
The mind of God or
Holy Spirit does not animate them; it tries to affect them from outside but
they have not received it within them.
They are out of God's
presence or spiritually dead and unredeemed; in fact, they cannot be in God's
presence because they are filled with darkness and sin, having gone contrary to
God's commandments, and can no longer endure His glory.
Having said all that,
He is still supporting them from moment to moment, allowing them to use the
body He created from His matter and which He continues to sustain, to do with
as they choose as if He did not exist; there is quite a bit of irony to the
current mortal situation.
The Great Plan of Happiness
READ Alma 42:1
Why would Corianton feel it was
unjust to consign a sinner to a state of misery?
God is supposed to be a God of love and we are supposed to be His
children, so why wouldn’t He extend mercy universally to all, especially if
Christ has already paid the price for all?
We did not choose to sin in the Garden but inherited the effects
of the fall from Adam, making it almost impossible for us to avoid sin, as
fallen beings separated from God in a mortal world and without a full measure
of the Spirit as Christ had on earth, so how is that just or fair?
As an adulterer and sign seeker, Corianton is faithless by
definition, so his mindset could be effected by doubt that there is a God in
the first place and his mind would be darkened, making it harder for him to
understand the things of God
READ Alma 42:2-5
What would have happened if Adam
had eaten the fruit of the Tree of Life after he had partaken of the fruit of
the Tree of Knowledge, but before he had repented?
He would have lived forever in his sins.
He would have frustrated the plan of God.
He would have turned God into a liar (“the word of God would have
been void” – see Genesis 2:17), causing Him to no longer be God because He
would have lost His honor as a God of Truth, being filled with Truth, which is
also light, intelligence and glory (see D&C 93:29-30, 36).
Satan is always trying to dethrone God and take His place.
What is the role of the Cherubim?
To guard the Tree of Life from all who are not ready to partake of
it, for their own good and to protect God’s integrity.
A Cherubim is an “Angel” or “Power of Heaven” who acts as a
sentinel by which one must pass to receive certain blessings from God.
READ Alma 42:6-10
What happens if one does not
partake of the fruit of the Tree of Life?
Physical death.
To be lost forever – unable to receive their body back, unable to
renter the presence of God, unable to become like God is – a saved being.
So, why would it have been
injustice to allow man to partake of the Tree of Life after falling, as enabling
this would consign a man to be lost forever – which we deserve?
Partaking of the fruit of the Tree of Life after falling would
have caused the man to live forever BUT in his sins.
Meaning he never would be able to become as God is, worlds without
end, as he would be unredeemed and would not be God’s child.
And it would have overthrown God, as discussed earlier.
It is unjust to God, who is trying to enable us to become as He
is, through His own work and sacrifice.
So why is the probationary nature
of this mortal life so important?
It gives us a chance to repent, serve God, gain light, and be
redeemed – it is a merciful gift.
What is the "great plan of happiness" that
Alma explains to Corianton?
Man is cut off from
God and is no longer in His presence because of the fall of Adam (spiritual
death) and becomes fallen themselves.
Mankind becomes
subject to follow after their own will (agency), because s/he is no longer in
God’s presence.
Mortal life then
becomes a probationary state - how will they use that agency?
S/He can choose to
use their agency to repent and serve God.
Which if s/he does,
can enable them to become a Son or Daughter of God, redeemed by Christ and
sealed up to eternal life to one day be as the Gods, which is happiness!
Because of Christ’s
atonement, which reclaims mankind.
Can man follow his own will while in God's presence?
Yes, Satan is an
example.
But if he chooses to
go contrary to God's will while in His presence, he receives
"perdition" as he is clearly rebelling against God while in full
knowledge of what he is doing.
So for most people,
the answer is no; they need to be out of God's presence to truly have the
opportunity to exercise their agency.
Why was it not expedient that man be reclaimed from
temporal death but it was expedient that s/he be reclaimed from spiritual
death?
Like those for whom
the second estate continues after death, mankind needs to learn to live as men/women
in the flesh but live according to God in the Spirit (see 1 Peter 4:6)
The test of mortality
is to reconnect with God and be redeemed from spiritual death by reentering His
presence (see Ether 3:13) while in the fallen flesh (see D&C 132:21-25).
However, after the
chance of a mortal probation, it is still expedient or critical for mankind to
also be reclaimed from temporal death.
The Law of Justice
READ Alma 42:11-14
Why would God cease to be God if He violated the Law of
Justice?
God’s honor is His
power (see D&C 29:36).
In other words, from
the dust of the earth to all light or intelligence in the universe (that are in
and through all things), everything honors God and obeys him, which gives Him
power through His word, because of His integrity in the way He keeps the Law of
Justice; this is why He is called a just and holy being.
But if He ever went
contrary to the Law of Justice and became a changeable being and a respecter of
persons, if He did not play fair and did not speak the truth and execute
justice with impunity, He would not be honored by the intelligence in the
universe which demand fairness and justice, and would not be obeyed and would
cease to be God.
Given that mankind chose to fall and continue to sin,
what justice do we deserve?
No unclean thing can
enter the presence of God, so we deserve to become angels to the devil in outer
darkness.
Outer darkness is
just for us because we had agency and chose to follow our own will and not
God’s way, which is the way of a fullness of light.
Why could mercy not be brought about except through
repentance; can't mercy be decreed by God upon whomever He chooses?
Repentance means a
change of mind, heart and behavior; a change from being unaligned to God to
being perfectly aligned with God or "one" with God.
Not only is mortality
a probationary state, it is also a preparatory state; we are here to gain more
light and knowledge, which will be to our advantage in the life to come.
A failure to repent,
and thus being saved in one's sins not from one's sins, is really
a failure to gain more light or in other words, one's probationary or
preparatory state was wasted.
So to make the
redemption worthwhile (where the law of restoration returns light to the
individual), it really must be given to those who repent and seek to align
themselves with God's mind, heart, and behaviors – in other words, those who
are seeking light will have the Law of Restoration return light to them,
enabled by Christ’s atonement.
READ Alma 42:15-16
What does justice require?
Punishment for sin,
including death without recourse (see Romans 6:23; Alma 5:42) and suffering if
one is ever brought into the presence of a just and holy being unprepared (see
D&C 19:10-20; Mormon 9:3-5; Alma 36:12-16).
The Law of
Restoration - light is attracted to light and dark to darkness; we receive
eternally what we have chosen to become - it is only fair or just, as we are
the decision makers.
No unjust thing can
abide the full glory of a just and holy being because of the imperfections and
darkness that they have chosen to have within themselves which can't abide the
light, as light casts out darkness and the darkness must flee – but it is just
because they have chosen it.
How are mercy and justice both served?
God (Christ) himself
atones for the sins and corruption of the world.
Justice's requirement
of punishment is met.
And mercy can also be
extended by the one who fulfilled the requirements of justice.
READ the Parable of
the Mediator: a man wanted something very much and went into debt to get
it. While he made token payments over
time, he was vastly short of paying back the money when the loan fell due. The creditor required justice, which meant
losing all the man had to begin to pay off the debt. The debtor begged for mercy. The creditor told the debtor that mercy would
serve only the debtor; didn't the debtor believe in justice? The debtor looked around for someone, anyone,
to save him. The debtor had a
friend. The friend, who was debt-free,
came to the creditor and offered to pay the whole amount. He reminded the creditor that it wouldn't be
just to refuse the offer. He went to the
debtor and asked if he would take himself as the debtor's new creditor. The friend told the debtor that they would
restructure the loan so that it would be possible for the debtor to meet the
new terms of the contract. The debtor
wholeheartedly agreed. The friend went
to the creditor and paid off the debt, freeing the debtor from bondage and
beginning a new relationship with the debtor.
How is the Mediator able to extend mercy?
He is not in debt
himself to the Creditor (justice), as he lived a perfect life; not only did He
refrain from sin by “keeping the commandments”, He aligned His life perfectly
with eternal law – meaning He didn’t just keep all of the commandments He knew
of, but He kept all of the commandments that are required to be a God on earth.
Through His Father,
Christ had the funds to pay, or in other words, He had the power to suspend His
life in the face of the required suffering, which no full mortal would have
been able to do.
He paid the price of
justice and suffered an infinite sacrifice, all that a God could suffer.
And because He did it
unjustly (i.e. He paid the penalty, including death which are the wages of sin,
and yet warranted life because of His own perfect performance), He had the
power to overturn death and open the doors to hell to release the inmates who
were imprisoned there justly.
In other words, God
has given a law with necessary consequences, and then He takes those
consequences upon Himself for each of us, if we allow Him to do so.
READ Alma 42:17-21
So why isn’t this the answer to
all our problems: God, don’t give us a Law that must be obeyed, because if you
don’t there is nothing for justice to condemn and no need for Christ to suffer
or us to repent or anyone to be lost?
Because God did not make the Eternal Law; He abides by it, which
is how He became a God and why He continues to reign as one (see LoF 7:9,
15-16).
Because His work and glory is to bring about our immortality and
eternal life, which consists in His helping us to become precisely as He is or
we cannot be saved as salvation consists in being a God, so there must be a
standard against which to measure or Eternal Law that must be complied with
because if He was different in any degree from what He is, He would cease to be
God; so God’s commandments are to live in alignment with the Eternal Law that
He Himself is perfectly compliant with.
READ Alma 42:22-28
What is the default condition for
man, coming out of mortality?
A law was given and a punishment affixed and repentance was
granted – a probationary state.
But you did not repent; you are not penitent.
Justice requires that the punishment, per the Law, be carried out.
Since mercy cannot rob justice of
this default condition, what must mankind do to receive mercy?
Freely choose to be penitent; see your awful state for what it truly
is and humble yourself to the dust; then cry unto the Lord for mercy and extend
mercy to all others.
Repent or change your mind, heart and behavior to be in line with
God’s; to change course and turn to “face” or fully submit to God.
Come unto Christ and partake of the waters of life freely (see
D&C 132:21-25).
Mercy cannot rob justice; mercy must satisfy the demands of
justice; so mankind must repent and come unto Christ to receive mercy and
enable the atonement to fulfill the requirements of justice for each of them.
How does God bring about His
great and eternal purposes (His work and glory) which is our immortality and
eternal life?
Salvation is freely available to all… who come unto Christ and
partake of His life saving atonement;
It is purely voluntary or non-compulsive.
Anyone is free to accept it and anyone is free to reject it…
But in the last day, it shall be restored unto man according to
his deeds; you are accountable for your choice.
If you decline what is offered, then you receive at the last day
the recompense you merit because of your ingratitude; you will receive whatever
comes as a consequence of your refusal.
What is implied about God’s
willingness to make available His “waters of life”?
The waters of life or God’s truth/light/knowledge which enables
exaltation is always freely available; it continues to shine down on all
creation without diminishing (see Alma 13:4-5; 2 Nephi 26:33) – it is in and
through all things.
We restrict ourselves or the amount of light we are willing to
receive by failing to search it out or recognize it for what it is (because we
are blind to it, even though it is all around us) and by failing to apply it
(or align our behavior with it or eternal law); implied in the second reason is
that we recognize it but actively recoil from it out of pride or selfishness or
fear and lack of trust in, or love for, God (see John 1:5).
Receiving truth is like a lens aperture; God starts with a
fullness of truth and light but we cut down the aperture size until we can
abide the level of light that coincides with what level of truth we are willing
to live; some people close it all the way.
Apostasy or closing the aperture is not binary – it is not either
fully open or fully closed but is adjusted by degrees; it is not a group event
but is always completely individual; it is also not static but continually
opening for more truth or closing to block it; God does not turn away from a
person or people who close themselves to light – He continues to give them
opportunities until their chance is done and they die or are destroyed.
God enables us to open the aperture (which closes due to sin)
through the atonement of Christ and our own repentance.
One of the ways God shares truth with us, particularly if we
cannot abide much light directly from Him because of our sins (and associated
“closed aperture”), is to send others to us with more truth and light than we
currently have ourselves (see Moroni 7:29-32);
Individuals that come to earth with more light do so because they
have less inclination to sin and more diligence in seeking God – this is a
result of pre-existing character they built by choosing to live more
righteously in a prior life (see Alma 13:3-12; D&C 130:18-21); that being
said, none but Christ have had a fullness of light in this life (see D&C
93:6, 11-14) and any who come down to earth and do not continue in
righteousness will lose what they have previously gained (see Alma 12:10-11; 1 Corinthians
15:30).
However, if we rely alone upon other men and women to give us
light, the maximum amount of light we will be open to, let alone actually
receive, will only be what our mentors obtained, and the chances of even that
happening are low – as we would have to be precisely like them to gain what
they have gained;
Although He is unchanging and all light is still universally
available, the Lord in His mercy may give people a lower law to act as a
“schoolmaster” to teach them (see Galatians 3:24-29); the Law of Moses is an
example of this – it was a remedial “law” administered by men - it was a lower
“aperture setting” because the children of Israel couldn’t take the amount of
light they were offered from God directly (on Mount Sinai); having said that,
God did not restrict the amount of light that was available to all, as
evidenced by the fact that Moses continued to commune with God and a few others
rose up and saw God, including Joshua.
As we must become precisely like Christ is now, we should be very
diligent in trying to receive our light directly from Him; the light you
receive from others is only truly helpful to the degree that it helps you
connect with the source of all light or “living waters”; a lower “aperture
setting” is designed to enable the person to become acclimatized to that level
of light and then motivate them to seek for further light and knowledge
directly from God (see D&C 84:19-27; 2
Nephi 22:3).
If we are restored unto
righteousness, whose righteousness are we restored unto?
Christ’s perfect righteousness; anything less does not merit
salvation (see LoF 7:9, 15-16).
All our righteousness is as rags anyway; and we are unprofitable
servants (see Isaiah 64:6; Mosiah 2:20-25).
This is done through covenant; we become one with Christ or
perfect in Christ (see Moroni 10:32-33).
READ Alma 42:29-30
What does true doctrine do to the
one who will open their ears to hear it?
It seems to bring one down into the dust in humility.
But in reality, it only awakens you to the fact that you are
already groveling down in the dust.
Why does Alma tell Corianton not
to let the true doctrine trouble him any longer but to only let his sins
trouble him?
The doctrine or “knowledge” is critical to give Corianton a true
picture of his “awful state” but now that Alma has shared the truth with him,
what truly matters now is what Corianton does with this knowledge.
A knowledge of the doctrine will help Corianton “awake” but now he
must “arise” by repenting and coming unto Christ to partake himself – his salvation
rests in the balance.
Understanding the truth but not doing it or going against it
(which amounts to the same thing) is perdition if you have a perfect knowledge.
But this doesn’t mean knowledge isn’t important – it’s absolutely
necessary (as we can’t be saved without it see TPJS 246:1; 400:2), but it is
just not sufficient – we must act in line with it.
