A Study of the Book of Mormon

Alma 12:25-37 In the corruption of Christianity through the means of the great Apostasy, one of the greatest cover-ups that Satan has tried to execute is the reality of a plan: a plan of redemption. No where in scripture is the reality of the plan of redemption (also called the plan of happiness, the plan of salvation, etc. -- it's all the same plan) more clearly explained. Repeatedly, Alma asserts that this plan was prepared from the foundation of the world, and that everything that has transpired since then has been according to plan. (There are 7 specific references to the "plan of redemption" in the end of this chapter.) As discussed previously, there was a plan laid so that when Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit that they would still be allowed a period of probation, in order that they may prepare to return to God's presence. The verses then that follow explain how without the plan, there would have been no resurrection, no probationary state, and the w...

Alma 6 After Alma's pivotal discourse at Zarahemla, the record states that "he ordained priests and elders, by laying on his hands according to the order of God, to preside and watch over the church."( vs.1 ) Those who would repent became a part of the Church of God; those who would not repent and already belonged to the Church of God, had their names "blotted out, that their names were not numbered among those of the righteous." ( vs.3 ) Thus is the work of the kingdom, to organize according to covenants, the righteous from the wicked, that the righteous might have a support structure in which to strengthen their faith and to perform greater works than they would otherwise be able to do for themselves. In the fifth verse of this chapter, after explaining this sorting of church members between the wicked and the righteous on conditions of their repentance, the author explains that everyone was permitted to come to church, regardless of their willingness to repen...

Mosiah 25:14-24 Churches are form of organization. They exist for a government of spiritual matters. Being that God is a God of order, it naturally follows that as man draws nearer to God that there would be a tendency to organize oneself into a church or an organized body of the followers of Christ. This selection details how it was that Alma organized a church (or seven churches) in the land of Zarahemla after their return. As a part of this organization, the people of Limhi, who had also returned to Zarahemla, are instructed and received into the kingdom of God by baptism. As Alma is instructing the people of Limhi, the scriptures here point out that Alma did teach them that "they should remember that it was the Lord that did deliver them." ( vs. 16 ) Upon being taught, Limhi and his people are desirous to be baptized. Baptism was both a matter of organizational procedure as a gateway into the kingdom of God, but also a matter of personal covenant and a witness of the indi...

Mosiah 4:24-30 In these verse, King Benjamin has a few more words to say in regards to caring for the poor. These words however are curious in that he is addressing those who are poor (in material goods) and how they ought to approach charitable giving. He concludes that group of verses by say that "all things should be done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man run faster than he has strength." He goes on to say that diligence is required, concluding that "all things must be done in order." ( verse 27 ) At the end of the chapter, King Benjamin makes an impassioned plea to avoid sin in all its forms. The responsibility is ultimately individual. "Watch yourselves." The footnote leads to Deuteronomy 4:9(6-9) , wherein Moses is reminding the children of Israel the distinct advantage that they have over all other nations. He asks them, "For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all thin...