1 AND now, my son, [ Alma is still addressing his son Corianton. ] I have somewhat to say concerning the restoration of which has been spoken; [ From Alma 40. Or the law of the harvest. ] for behold, some have wrested the scriptures, [ Those who choose to have alternative lifestyles, and try to make the scriptures satisfy what they want that the restoration is bringing everyone to the same place no matter what they have done.(Or communism where everyone will eventually have everything the same no matter what they do - Satans plan). However this is not the doctrine, so here is the doctrine that you may fully understand because they do not understand the restoration of character(that they will be resurrected, they will be given a perfect body, but the spirit(Character) which they have will be the one that they have developed), so they will be restored with the character that they developed. ] and have gone far astray because of this thing. [ Among them are the teachings of Nehor. What did he teach? Alma 1:4 that [1]all mankind should be saved at the last day, and that [2] they need not fear nor tremble, [ Implying that they should have fun, that they should live for today. ] but that [3] they might lift up their heads and rejoice; for [4] the Lord had created all men, and had [5]also redeemed all men; [6]and, in the end, all men should have eternal life. [ So what exactly is wrong with his message - what is missing? Repentance and the atonement, there is no accountability for your own actions. sound familiar? The atonement does not apply unless they believe in Christ and submit to his commandments and ordinances. See 2 Ne; Jacob 4:11; 2 Ne 9:1-17 Does this not sound like Satan's plan? Sure, it sounds good that Christ saved us all, and therefore no matter what we do we will be saved, but if we take a moment and think about it…wasn’t that exactly Satan’s plan to begin with? “And not one soul should be lost”? No responsibility, no contract, do whatever you want with no consequences in the end. Hmmm… surely there’s a catch… ] And I perceive that thy mind has been worried also concerning this thing. [ What is this thing that he was worried about? Corianton was most likely to have been of the opinion that if everyone is going to be resurrected then why did it matter whether they lived a righteous life or not. He was enticed by the adversary. ] But behold, I will explain it unto thee. [ So Alma says I will tell you why it is important to live righteously. ]

2 I say unto thee, my son, that the plan of restoration is requisite with the justice of God; [ The justice of God is that no unclean thing can dwell in the presence of God or his kingdom. The law of restoration is this: the spirit(Character) in which you leave this life with will be the character in which will be restored to you at the resurrection. God's plan must be based upon a principle of justice; meaning that there are rules that each must abide and it is through adherence to those rules that one receives their reward so to speak. It in a way only makes sense if someone through their agency chooses to follow one path in life then that is their choice. Why would God then resurrect them to a different path one that was not according to their choosing? ] for it is requisite that all things should be restored to their proper order. Behold, it is requisite and just, according to the power and resurrection of Christ, that the soul [ The character. ] of man should be restored to its body, [ Our spirit(Character) is reunited with our bodies. So if we follow - our character will come with us and be joined with our bodies which are now perfect. ] and that every part of the body should be restored to itself. [ Will be made whole, complete, perfected. ]

3 And it is requisite [ Required by the nature of things or by circumstances; necessary; so needful that it cannot be dispensed with. Repentance and faith are requisite to salvation. ] with the justice of God [ The justice of God is that no unclean thing can dwell in the presence of God or his kingdom. Since God wants use to be like him he provides a pattern for the way that he would act. We will then be judged by God on how well we applied our life to his pattern for us. Otherwise why would he have given the laws for us to follow. ] that men should be judged according to their works; [ Which is their character. ] and if their works were good in this life, and the desires of their hearts [ Their character. ] were good, [ There are two criteria for judgement - works and desires. ] that they should also, at the last day, be restored unto that which is good.

4 And if their works [ Their character. ] are evil they shall be restored [ Brought back to the evil character that they had. There is not a change in character just because of death. ] unto them for evil. Therefore, all things shall be restored to their proper order, [ Or with the application to which one's life is submissive to the pattern or laws of God. ] every thing to its natural frame— mortality raised to immortality, [ Everyone will have immortality - they will live forever. However; this is not a description of the kind of life that they will have. ] corruption to incorruption [ Still speaking of the mortal body here - all will be restored to its proper frame. Or God created the body in the first place, but life takes its toll sometimes(sometimes more on one that another). However that does not matter because in the end God will restore it to how it was to be under Gods direction(perfect). So the question here is God designed our bodies, but who gets to bring about the final design our souls? We do, that is the process, the purpose of this life. We are free to choose what we want to become, and God will honor your decision here. ] — raised to endless happiness to inherit the kingdom of God, [ Only those who have developed their character to be like Gods character will be happy to be with God. ] or to endless misery to inherit the kingdom of the devil, the one on one hand, the other on the other— [ Two ends of the spectrum here. Or you will receive exactly what you have chosen to receive. If it were not so neither would be happy. No righteous person would be happy living in filth, while no evil person would be happy in a world where everyone is submissive to the will of God. I suppose that these few words really sum up life. If we have learned to submit to the will of God then we will find ourselves nearer to him, on the other hand if we do not submit to the will of God then we will not want to nor will we be close to him. ]

5  The one [ Who has developed a good character. ] raised to happiness according to his desires [ The wants of his character. ] of happiness, or good according to his desires of good; and the other [ The one who choose the opposite of developing a good character. ] to evil according to his desires [ The wants of his character. ] of evil; for as he has desired to do evil all the day long even so shall he have his reward of evil when the night cometh.

6 And so it is on the other hand. If he hath repented of his sins, [ If he has changed his character. What is the measure that denotes repentance? Change 1 "We consider that God has created man with a mind capable of instruction, and a faculty which may be enlarged in proportion to the heed and diligence given to the light communicated from heaven to the intellect; and that the nearer man approaches perfection, the clearer are his views, and the greater his enjoyments, till he has overcome the evils of his life and lost every desire for sin; and like the ancients, arrives at that point of faith where he is wrapped in the power and glory of his Maker and is caught up to dwell with Him." Teachings Of The Prophet Joseph Smith pg 51. ] and desired righteousness [ This is interesting here. It says those who just desired it, it does not say those who achieved righteousness. So this gives us additional glimpse into the amount of MERCY that God extends. ] until the end of his days, even so he shall be rewarded unto righteousness. [ This is the law of restoration: it is the restoration of our character. We will be who we want to be based on our desires. We have a chance in the spirit world to begin or finish that process of change if we have not done that here. ]

7 These are they that are redeemed of the Lord; [ So Alma is saying - here I will show you what it takes to be one of the ones that is redeemed. ] yea, these are they that are taken out, [ Those who are separated from the others - implying again that everyone will not be redeemed. ] that are delivered from that endless [ Eternal - that is a long time to be in misery. ] night of darkness; and thus they stand or fall; for behold, they are their own judges, [ How do they become their own judges? It is based on what they do - simple as that. In a way he is suggesting that depending on which pattern they decided to follow in life, submission to Gods will , or to be free of doing God's will and submission to the laws of God. In the end is the judgement, it is already made with the simple answer of what pattern have you emulated in life. ] whether to do good or do evil.

8 Now, the decrees of God are unalterable; [ They cannot change or he would cease to be God. If they changed then he (God) really did not have everything thought out; he really did not know everything - which he did and does. ] therefore, the way is prepared [ Was done before hand because God had the plan and is in the process of executing it. Corianton you just need to choose what you want to do, accept God and follow him and you will have it made. So don't wait repent now - verse 6. ] that whosoever will may walk therein [ Submits themselves to the plan; are obedient to the requirements of the plan. Those who pattern their life after God by submitting to do his will. ] and be saved.

9 And now behold, my son, do not risk one more offense against your God [ What is the risk that he is pointing to? Well none of us know when it will be our last breathe; so every time we sin we may not have time to repent, we may enjoy it too much so that we are going to do it one more time before we repent; we become slaves to the sin. In doing so we run the risk that we may never return. ] upon those points of doctrine, [ That there will be a time of judgement when you will be held accountable. ] which ye have hitherto risked to commit sin. [ Quit twisting the doctrine to do what you want to do; it will do you no good; as God is God; and you will have to answer to him in the end - there are no exceptions. ]

10 Do not suppose, because it has been spoken concerning restoration, that ye shall be restored from sin to happiness. [ It does not work that way; you cannot be one thing in this life and be restored to something else - the very nature of the word restore is to put back; to give back to put something back to the way that it was. We are talking about restoration - not replacement; re-creation or something along those lines. See verse 12. ] Behold, I say unto you, wickedness never was happiness. [ Why not? So Alma is suggesting that from an eternal perspective choosing to be wicked will not be fulfilling in the eternities. Because the Laws of God are for one purpose only - to help us get back to him. And the law of the harvest suggests that we will reap what we sow. To teach us how to learn to think and live as he lives so that we become like him. Satan on the other hand has the opposite motive. When we break the laws of God we are the one's who suffer. If you do not believe it listen to the words of those who have wandered off. Look at how happy they really are. They are for the most part lost. Without the spirit they do not find real peace - So who is really happy. What is the real definition of happiness? What did Alma mean by that? I know plenty of people who seem to be both happy and live a pretty unrighteous life - what gives? Alma is making the point that if everything on this life points back to God and his plan then there will need to be a reconciliation at the end of life. All accounts will need to be brought into balance in the final tabulation. God will be the final judge. Satan would like everyone to become like himself (2 Ne 2:27) - miserable that is his goal and he try's to entice and pervert the truth to seem like sin is a good thing it is desirable. When things are done out of order or outside of the Lord's bounds they will not bring long term (eternal) happiness they cannot as they go against God's plan for happiness. See Hel 13:38. ]

11 And now, my son, all men that are in a state of nature, [ We are mortal(natural) and of this earth. ] or I would say, in a carnal state, [ As opposed to a spiritual state - Or we are Spiritual beings having an earthly experience. ] are in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity; they are without God in the world, [ We have a veil placed between God and us - this is done for a very wise purpose. When we were in his presence we felt the power of his love and it was so great; we wanted to be like him so much we could not grow the same way that we could if we had to have faith. We had to do it outside of his powerful presence. ] and they have gone contrary to the nature of God; [ Or have gone contrary to the nature of happiness, which God is the ultimate state of happiness as all of the eternal blessings and rewards rest with him. Sin then is anything that will get in the way of our eternal happiness. ] therefore, they are in a state contrary to the nature of happiness.

12 And now behold, is the meaning of the word restoration to take a thing of a natural state and place it in an unnatural state, or to place it in a state opposite to its nature? [ Does one take a nice 79 Camero and in the process of its restoration it comes out looking like a 2014 Mustang? No; that is not restoration. ]

13 O, my son, this is not the case; [ Restoration means you will not be changed from bad to good or vice versa. ] but the meaning of the word restoration is to bring back again evil for evil, or carnal for carnal, [ Relating to or given to crude bodily pleasures and appetites, marked by sexuality - carnal love, bodily, corporeal - seen with carnal eyes, temporal, worldly. ] or devilish for devilish—good for that which is good; righteous for that which is righteous; just for that which is just; merciful for that which is merciful. [ We need to remember that God does not want to change us to make us something that he wants - no he wants us to us our agency to change our character to be like his. ]

14 Therefore, my son, see that you are merciful unto your brethren; [ Alma will explain the pattern of restoration from God's perspective. ] deal justly, judge righteously, [ Denoting that how we judge we will be judged at least in part. ] and do good continually; and if ye do all these things then shall ye receive your reward; [ Our reward is that mercy will be extended to us, as we have shown mercy to others. ] yea, ye shall have mercy [ Mercy is the time required for the individual to develop the kind of character God has, it is what makes God -God. So mercy will act over time in order for you to satisfy the demands of justice, or a time when you have developed the character that makes God God, if you have exercised faith unto repentance, which is the change of your character.] restored unto you again; [ If you showed mercy to those around you you can be restored by having that mercy extended to you. ] ye shall have justice restored unto you again; [ If you have been honorable and just then you can expect that you will have that knowledge of justice restored to you. How is it important that you will know that you have been dealt with justly? Those who do not accept God will not accept his judgement no matter what it is. So to be restored to a position where you accept what you are given as justice will imply that you are on the Lord's side. If you are not it does not matter because you will still be dealt with justly you will just not accept it. So you will be left to complain to no body for eternity. I find it interesting that a close look at the cancel culture and you see just the opposite. No matter how much is given to them it is not enough they simple ask for more. There is no satisfaction for them as they have no law or accountability to apply against. ] ye shall have a righteous judgment restored unto you again; [ The law of the harvest. ] and ye shall have good rewarded unto you again. [ ]

15 For that which ye do send out shall return unto you again, and be restored; therefore, the word restoration more fully condemneth the sinner, [ Or Corianton you and your friends have been wresting the scriptures such that you are convinced that God since he is good will bring you forth in a manner which is good, to a place of happiness. But son that ist not the case. As the restoration will restore you to a place of misery, a condemnation for eternity. Mercy will not be allowed to rob justice. Mercy relies on justice for its existence - see Alma 42. ] and justifieth him not at all. [ The sinner will have nothing in his spiritual bank account from which to draw upon. No spiritual credit so to speak. ]