Friday, May 29, 2015

Alma 7:16 - 7:20

Alma 7:16 And whosoever doeth this, and keepeth the commandments of God from thenceforth, the same will remember that I say unto him, yea, he will remember that I have said unto him, he shall have eternal life, according to the testimony of the Holy Spirit, which testifieth in me.

Anyone that remains faithful and endures to the end of their life will always remember the words which have been testified by Alma; that they will have the opportunity to live with God forever. The Spirit has so told Alma this.

Alma 7:17 And now my beloved brethren, do you believe these things? Behold, I say unto you, yea, I know that ye believe them; and the way that I know that ye believe them is by the manifestation of the Spirit which is in me. And now because your faith is strong concerning that, yea, concerning the things which I have spoken, great is my joy.

However Alma knows that the people do believe these things. The Spirit has told Alma that the people have been faithful. Because of this knowledge that has been revealed to him, he very happy for them.

Alma 7:18 For as I said unto you from the beginning, that I had much desire that ye were not in the state of dilemma like your brethren, even so I have found that my desires have been gratified.

As Alma has said he was concerned that the people of Gideon might have been in the same condition as were the people of Zarahemla. But he now knows that they are in much better spiritual condition and feels the relief knowing that they have been faithful.

Alma 7:19 For I perceive that ye are in the paths of righteousness; I perceive that ye are in the path which leads to the kingdom of God; yea, I perceive that ye are making his paths straight.

Alma knows now that they are doing what is required of all people who want eternal life. They doing those things that elevate people above their fallen condition of being mortals and are actively trying to better.

Alma 7:20 I perceive that it has been made known unto you, by the testimony of his word, that he cannot walk in crooked paths; neither doth he vary from that which he hath said; neither hath he a shadow of turning from the right to the left, or from that which is right to that which is wrong; therefore, his course is one eternal round.

The people of Gideon know that they cannot do evil things and expect to be saved anyway. They know that there is no avoiding a few requirements and still have be considered worthly to enter heaven. Every commandment and requirement of the gospel must be followed. There are no exceptions.

Consider this. These rules and regulations are not because God wants to rule over us, but because they are good for us. The master of a trade is not wanting to made life miserable for his apprentice. He wants his apprentice to know all there is to know about his trade so he can go out and do as good a job as the master. We might do well to consider ourselves apprentices to God with the end being that we will be Gods ourselves someday.

No comments:

Post a Comment