"And now behold, I say unto you then cometh a death, even a second death, which is a spiritual death; then is a time that whosoever dieth in his sins, as to a temporal death, shall also die a spiritual death; yea, he shall die as to things pertaining unto righteousness.
Then is the time when their torments shall be as a lake of fire and brimstone, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever; and then is the time that they shall be chained down to an everlasting destruction, according to the power and captivity of Satan, he having subjected them according to his will.
Then, I say unto you, they shall be as though there had been no redemption made; for they cannot be redeemed according to God’s justice; and they cannot die, seeing there is no more corruption."
Alma 12:16-18
These verses are talking about the judgment day when we will be judged by our words, works, and thoughts (verse 14), and these verses are explaining what happens to those who harden their hearts against the word of God and who, basically, choose not to be saved.
Choosing not to be saved isn't just one big choice, just as choosing to accept Christ's gift and to be saved isn't. They are both a bunch of small choices. The negative ones are explained pretty well in verse 10-11, but basically the idea is that the more we accept God's word and listen to his voice, the easier it is to do and the more we learn of that, and it also works in reverse. The more we reject God and refuse to listen, the less we are able to hear, and we even over time forget what we used to know.
Here it talks about dying a second time, spiritually, but later notes that they cannot die physically. That's an interesting state. It says it will be as though "there had been no redemption made." I am not sure what that entails, but it doesn't really sound good. Perhaps at that point, we would have to suffer for our own sins because we wouldn't accept the atonement, and perhaps we become subject to Satan in some sort of permanent way.
All these things are sort of scary to think about, and I don't write them so that we get into some sort of fear or guilt-motivated gloomy mindset. Instead, I think it is valuable to think about just in terms of where we want to be headed. God's story always has a happy ending. However, when we go totally off the rails and start reading the poorly-written fanfic that Satan puts out there, and even start to believe it, life can seem like a horror themed choose-your-own-adventure book where things just keep getting worse and worse no matter what we do. The way to change that is to put that crappy fake book down and start reading God's book again. God's spirit makes all the difference. Without it, a great life can seem dark, and with it a really hard life can be blindingly bright.
The big thing I get from these verses is the stark lack of hope. Judgment day can be joyous. It should be... God's whole plan is designed to help us graduate into our next life with love and joy and peace and to be reunited with God and with so many other loved ones. Today, let's get back into God's beautiful hand-bound storybook with author's notes and tips. Let's not read or buy into the campy comic book tragedy that Satan self-published. That's not our real story, and it never has to go that way. If we're already there, suffering through the television movie based on that drivel, let's be strong enough to walk away, change the channel, do whatever it takes to get back to God. He offers hope, no matter how far we have strayed, and he wants to help us, if only we will get on our knees and talk to him.
Then is the time when their torments shall be as a lake of fire and brimstone, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever; and then is the time that they shall be chained down to an everlasting destruction, according to the power and captivity of Satan, he having subjected them according to his will.
Then, I say unto you, they shall be as though there had been no redemption made; for they cannot be redeemed according to God’s justice; and they cannot die, seeing there is no more corruption."
Alma 12:16-18
These verses are talking about the judgment day when we will be judged by our words, works, and thoughts (verse 14), and these verses are explaining what happens to those who harden their hearts against the word of God and who, basically, choose not to be saved.
Choosing not to be saved isn't just one big choice, just as choosing to accept Christ's gift and to be saved isn't. They are both a bunch of small choices. The negative ones are explained pretty well in verse 10-11, but basically the idea is that the more we accept God's word and listen to his voice, the easier it is to do and the more we learn of that, and it also works in reverse. The more we reject God and refuse to listen, the less we are able to hear, and we even over time forget what we used to know.
Here it talks about dying a second time, spiritually, but later notes that they cannot die physically. That's an interesting state. It says it will be as though "there had been no redemption made." I am not sure what that entails, but it doesn't really sound good. Perhaps at that point, we would have to suffer for our own sins because we wouldn't accept the atonement, and perhaps we become subject to Satan in some sort of permanent way.
All these things are sort of scary to think about, and I don't write them so that we get into some sort of fear or guilt-motivated gloomy mindset. Instead, I think it is valuable to think about just in terms of where we want to be headed. God's story always has a happy ending. However, when we go totally off the rails and start reading the poorly-written fanfic that Satan puts out there, and even start to believe it, life can seem like a horror themed choose-your-own-adventure book where things just keep getting worse and worse no matter what we do. The way to change that is to put that crappy fake book down and start reading God's book again. God's spirit makes all the difference. Without it, a great life can seem dark, and with it a really hard life can be blindingly bright.
The big thing I get from these verses is the stark lack of hope. Judgment day can be joyous. It should be... God's whole plan is designed to help us graduate into our next life with love and joy and peace and to be reunited with God and with so many other loved ones. Today, let's get back into God's beautiful hand-bound storybook with author's notes and tips. Let's not read or buy into the campy comic book tragedy that Satan self-published. That's not our real story, and it never has to go that way. If we're already there, suffering through the television movie based on that drivel, let's be strong enough to walk away, change the channel, do whatever it takes to get back to God. He offers hope, no matter how far we have strayed, and he wants to help us, if only we will get on our knees and talk to him.
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