Alma 41

Corianton evidently has felt that even though he has sinned, when he dies, he'll still be accepted into a state of righteousness and happiness. Alma points out a basic law which just makes good sense and that's the law of restoration. Basically, there are two parts to the law of restoration. One is the resurrection where the body will restored to the spirit. The other is the restoration of our works or we are basically restored to the type of person we were on earth. Alma asks a logical question, "Is the meaning of the word restoration to take thing of a natural state and place it in an unnatural state, or to place it in a state opposite to its nature?" We are who we are and after this life we will continue to be who we are. There will be no sudden changes to our nature, personality, or states of righteousness. When we are judged according to our works, it will be a thorough self-examination with the results being an absolute and clear understanding of who we are and what kind of life we have led. Alma states that we will be our own judges which means there will be no place for excuses. However, it's important to remember that if in this life we strive to be repentant, that is, always trying to change for the better, then after this life, the Lord will not hold us responsible and exact the demands of justice for those things we have done wrong. In fact, the scriptures say that the Lord will not even mention them to us. We won't suddenly forget all the things we could have done better. But I do believe that healing of the atonement will take away the pain that would have been associated with the recognition remembrance of our works that needed to be repented of.

There are some great principles that Alma teaches in this chapter such as "wickedness never was happiness." This not only applies to this life, but if someone is wicked in this life, they will not be restored to happiness in the next. Another is, "For that which ye do send out shall return to unto you again, and be restored." If we send out good works, kindness, generosity, etc., those will return to us. I believe much will return to us in this life (cast your bread upon the waters), but it is in the next life that we receive the fulness of this restoration. I think the recompense for good works is going to be far greater than what we ever imagined because we will not only learn how we blessed the lives of those we touched and see the results, but we will see how each work played itself forward and blessed the lives of countless others. We should never discount the power of a kind word or a good deed.