1 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.
2 Now
behold, my son,
I will explain this thing unto thee. For behold, after
the Lord God sent our first parents forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground, from whence they were taken—yea, he drew out the man, and he placed at the east end of the garden of Eden, cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the tree of life—
3 Now,
we see that the man had become as God, knowing good and evil; and lest
he should put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat
and live forever, the Lord God placed cherubim and the flaming sword, that he should not partake of the fruit—
4 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.
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. Alma 42:1-5
I have been reading in Alma 42 lately. I suggest you just read the whole chapter. It's pretty deep, but if you study it out with a prayer to understand it, you will understand it.
(Alma chapter 42) I'm learning how
God's plan is perfect. It links
mercy and
justice together perfectly. Justice is not removed or slackened when mercy happens in His Plan. He loves us and wants us to be in His kingdom after this life...
but God is just. "No unclean thing can enter into the kingdom of God"
(Alma 40:26)
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 42:6)
We all sin. God knew this.
John 3:16-17 says:
16 For
God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
Here's where it gets deep.
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. Now the work of
justice could not be
destroyed; if so,
God would cease to be God.
14 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.
15 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.
16 Now,
repentance could not come unto men except there were a
punishment, which also was eternal as the life of the soul should be, affixed opposite to the plan of happiness, which was as eternal also as the life of the soul.
17 Now, how could a man
repent except he should
sin?
How could he sin if there was no law? How could there be a law save there was a punishment?
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; and the atonement bringeth to pass the resurrection of the dead; and the resurrection of the dead bringeth back men into the presence of God; and thus they are restored into his presence, to be judged according to their works, according to the law and justice.
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.
"so... what do I do?"
well, if you want happiness and eternal life...
REPENT!
oh and check out this scripture.
God has a plan for us in this time we have to prepare to meet Him. He has given us a way to make covenants with Him. Baptism is our first covenant. When we are baptized, we are washed clean from our sins and we promise to remember Him, to keep His commandments, and to always remember Him. In return, we are promised to always have His spirit to be with us. After we are baptized, we can receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. These ordinances must be done under the proper authority.
God has given us opportunities to make more covenants with him than just baptism. We can make covenants in places called temples. A temple is literally the House of the Lord, and we can feel Him near when we prepare ourselves and enter in.
Here is the temple in Washington DC
I am so glad I am serving a mission here. The visitors' center is awesome here and it has become my home away from home. The feelings I have in the temple are those of peace, comfort, understanding, love, virtue and divine nature.
Here is one of my
favorite songs from primary. I sang this as a young boy and I sing it to this day. I have a testimony of it. The song testifies of our beloved Savior, Jesus Christ.
