Mosiah 26

The new generation of young people didn’t understand the words of the late King Benjamin and didn’t relate to the tradition that their fathers had adopted. They didn’t believe in the coming of Jesus Chris and his resurrection from the dead, so they disrespectfully turned away from the words of God. They refused to be baptized or join the church and pursued a lustful, sinful life.

At first, the young dissenters were not too numerous, but as they undermined the faith of the believers, their numbers became greater than those who followed God’s laws. As church members became influenced by the deceptions and fell into sinful ways, the church struggled with how to respond. Because Alma had been given authority over the church, the priests brought their unfaithful members before him. Nothing like this had happened before, so Alma didn’t know what to do, either. When he had them brought before King Mosiah, the King didn’t want to judge these people any more than Alma did; so, he handed them back over to Alma for judgment and discipline.

Alma was deeply troubled by the predicament, and didn’t want to do the wrong thing, so he asked God what to do. “You are blessed, Alma,” God told him, “because you have established a church among your people. The people who maintain faith in the words of Abinadi and honor my name are also blessed. I bless you for asking me what to do with the unfaithful members of your church. You may serve me by gathering my sheep to your flock and receiving them. I am happy to receive and to forgive all of those who hear my voice, because I have taken on the sins of the world that I created. Those who believe in me will live eternally and have a place at my right hand. Those who don’t hear my voice are not my sheep, and will not be redeemed on the day of judgment. Those who turn away will be consigned to eternal fire and the company of the devil.

“So go back to your people,” continued God, “and judge your people according to the sins they’ve committed. If they confess their sins and sincerely repent, they will be forgiven. They must also forgive those that have abused them, because those who refuse to forgive may not be forgiven. Those who will not repent their sins must be excommunicated from your church and cast out. From this time forward, this is what you must do.”

After Alma heard these instructions, he wrote them down and prepared to judge his people according to God’s commands. Those who repented were taken back into the church and those who did not were cast out and their names were erased.

Under Alma’s management of church affairs, things went well again. There were many new baptisms and there was better compliance with God’s laws. There was peace in the church and prosperity for its members. Alma and his priests worked hard to keep their brothers on the path of God, in spite of persecutions from those who didn’t believe as they did. They taught, guided, and helped their brothers by prescribing thankfulness and unceasing prayer to God. [100 BC]