Mosiah 15

“You need to understand,” Abinadi continued, “that God himself will come down among men and redeem his people. The one who will come among us in the flesh will be called the Son of God, but because he will be conceived by God, the Son will be one with the creator of heaven and earth. In his earthly life he will be subject to temptation, to which he will not succumb. He will suffer and will be mocked, tormented, and disowned by his people. He will work miracles, and be led to die on the cross without complaint. Afterwards, he will rise from death and make this release from death open to all who believe in him. This is his compassion toward men: to defeat death, take their sins upon himself, redeem them, and satisfy the demands of justice.

“So, I say to you, who will help me tell the people what will come? Who will save himself? Who will help his descendants be redeemed? All those who receive this message and believe in the power of God to save will be heirs to God’s kingdom. After having been saved, are we not God’s children? Who will listen to what the prophets have said? Throughout time, they have declared that God reigns. This redemption has been planned since the beginning of the world, because without it we would all perish. When God comes amongst us, the first resurrection will be at hand and those who have believed in him before he comes will be a part of it. They will be raised up to live with God who has saved them, and have eternal life.

“At the time of this first resurrection, those people who died before Jesus Christ comes and who were ignorant of his salvation will have a choice to join him. Little children will be given eternal life. But God will not save those who rebel against him during their life and die with their sins intact. Those who willfully disobey God’s laws will have no part in the first resurrection. Don’t you think you should be frightened? God will not save you, because justice must be done. A time will come when the salvation of God will be declared to all people in all nations who will sing his praise when they see his hand in their redemption.”