# Alma 42

*Paraphrase*

### Questions About Justice

There’s something else bothering you, son—something you can’t quite understand. It’s about God’s justice in punishing sinners. You think it’s unfair that a sinner ends up in misery.

### The Garden and the Fall

Let me explain. After the Lord God sent our first parents out of the Garden of Eden to work the ground, he placed cherubim at the garden’s east entrance, along with a flaming sword that turned in every direction. They were there to guard the tree of life. By then, Adam had become like God—knowing good and evil. The Lord put those cherubim and that flaming sword there so Adam couldn’t reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, eat it, and live forever.

You see, this gave humanity time to repent—a testing period, a chance to turn back to God and serve him. If Adam had immediately grabbed fruit from the tree of life, he would have lived forever with no opportunity to repent. God’s word would have been broken, and the entire plan of salvation would have fallen apart.

But humanity was appointed to die. Cut off from the tree of life, they were also cut off from the earth. Humanity became lost forever—we became fallen people. Our first parents were cut off from the Lord’s presence, both physically and spiritually. They became free to follow their own desires.

### Why Death Was Necessary

Now, it wouldn’t have been right to rescue humanity from physical death—that would have destroyed the great plan of happiness. The soul lives forever, and the fall brought spiritual death on everyone, not just physical death. We were cut off from the Lord’s presence. So it was necessary for humanity to be rescued from this spiritual death. Having become driven by physical desires and evil by nature, this testing period became a time to prepare. It became a season of getting ready.

Remember, son, without the plan of redemption, people would have been miserable the moment they died—cut off from the Lord’s presence. There was no way to rescue people from this fallen condition they’d brought on themselves through their own disobedience.

### Justice and Mercy Work Together

According to justice, the plan of redemption could only work if people repented during this testing period, this time of preparation. Without that condition, mercy couldn’t operate—it would undermine justice. And justice cannot be undone. If it could be, God would cease to be God. All humanity had fallen. They were in the grip of justice—God’s justice, which would cut them off from his presence forever.

The plan of mercy couldn’t work without an atonement. So God himself atoned for the world’s sins to activate the plan of mercy, to satisfy justice’s demands, so that God could be both perfectly just and perfectly merciful. Repentance couldn’t come to people unless there was a punishment as eternal as the soul’s life—set opposite to the plan of happiness, which was also as eternal as the soul’s life.

### Why Law Is Necessary

How could anyone repent without sinning? How could anyone sin if there was no law? How could there be a law without a punishment? A punishment was set in place, and a just law was given. This brought guilt to the human conscience. If there were no law saying murderers must die, would anyone fear death for committing murder? And if there were no law against sin, people wouldn’t be afraid to sin. If there were no law for when people sinned, what could justice do? What could mercy do? They would have no claim on anyone.

But there is a law, and a punishment attached to it, and repentance is offered. Mercy claims those who repent. Otherwise, justice claims the person, enforces the law, and the law carries out the punishment. If this weren’t so, justice would be destroyed, and God would cease to be God.

But God remains God. Mercy claims the repentant. Mercy comes because of the atonement. The atonement makes resurrection possible. Resurrection brings people back into God’s presence. There they’re judged according to their actions, according to the law and justice. Justice makes all its demands, and mercy claims all that belongs to her. In the end, only the truly repentant are saved.

Do you think mercy can cheat justice? I’m telling you, no—not even a little. If it could, God would cease to be God. This is how God accomplishes his great and eternal purposes, which were prepared from the world’s foundation. This brings about salvation and redemption for some, and destruction and misery for others.

### An Open Invitation

So, my son, whoever wants to come may come and drink from the waters of life freely. Whoever doesn’t want to come isn’t forced to. But in the last day, each person will receive according to their actions. If someone has chosen to do evil and hasn’t repented while alive, then evil will be done to them, according to God’s restoration.

### Final Counsel

My son, I want you to stop worrying about these things. Let only your sins trouble you—the kind of trouble that brings you to repentance.

Son, don’t deny God’s justice anymore. Don’t try to excuse yourself for even the smallest sin by questioning God’s justice. Instead, let God’s justice, his mercy, and his patience fully work in your heart. Let it bring you down to the dust in humility.

You are called by God to preach the word to this people. Go now and declare the word with truth and seriousness, so you can bring people to repentance and the great plan of mercy can claim them. May God grant you success according to my words. Amen.

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*Source: [The Book of Mormon](https://bookofmormon.com/paraphrase/alma/42)*
