Spiritually Born of God, Part II

Many years after King Benjamin, the prophet Alma the younger, was trying to stir up the hearts of the members of the Church in Zarahemla, and he appealed to this same covenant and declaration of new birth that all were to have experienced.  To those who were slacking, he recalled that they had been "encircled about by the bands of death, and the chains of hell" with "an everlasting destruction" awaiting them.  But those bands of death were broken and the chains of hell were loosed through "the light of the everlasting word" of Christ.

Noting the "mighty change" that had come to his father, Alma, who in turn brought a "mighty change" to earlier generations in Zarahemla, Alma asked the question that must be asked of all: "Have ye spiritually been born of God?  Have ye received his image in your countenances?  Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?  Could ye say, if ye were called to die at this time . . . that your garments have been cleansed and made white through the blood of Christ, who will come to redeem his people from their sins?  Behold, I say unto you, that the good shepherd doth call you: yea, and in his own name doth he call you, which is the name of Christ; and if ye will not hearken unto the voice of the good shepherd, to the name by which ye are called, behold, ye are not the sheep of the good shepherd."

Alama went on to say, "I know that Jesus Christ shall come, yea, the Son, the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace, and mercy, and truth.  And behold, it is he that cometh to take away the sins of the world, yea, the sins of every man who steadfastly believeth on his name."

Alma's father was a prophet, and lead the church in Zarahemla, yet as a youth, Alma the younger rebelled and devoted his life to destroying the Church.  His father prayed mightily for his son and one day Alma the younger was confronted by an angel sent by God who asked "why persecutest thou the church of God?"  Alma fell to the earth and his astonishment was so great that he became weak and dumb, that he could not open his mouth, nor could he move under his own power.  After two days of fasting and praying by his father and other believers gathered around him, Alma the younger suddenly stood and declared:

"I have repented of my sins, and have been redeemed of the Lord; behold I am born of the spirit.  And the Lord said unto me: Marvel not that all mankind, yea, men and women, all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, must be born again; yea, born of God, changed from their carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters; And thus they become new creatures; and unless they do this, they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God. . . .  After wading through much tribulation, repenting nigh unto death, the Lord in mercy hath seen fit to snatch me out of an everlasting burning, and I am born of God."

Alma would later tell his son Helaman about this experience: "I was racked with eternal torment, for my soul was harrowed up to the greatest degree and racked with all my sins.  Yea, I did remember all my sins and iniquities, for which I was tormented with the pains of hell. . . .  as I was thus racked with torment, while I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins, behold, I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world.  Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death.  And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memories of my sins no more"

Alma then contrasted the joy he now felt with the pain he had been suffering: "And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light did I behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!  Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains.  Yea, and again, I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy."

We taste the bitter in this mortal life that we may know to prize the sweet.

"If I had not been born of God I should not have known these things: but God has, by the mouth of his holy angel, made these things known unto me, not of any worthiness of myself."  And then, as so appropriately happens, the converted became the converter: "Yea, and from that time even until now, I have labored without ceasing, that I might bring souls unto repentance; that I might bring them to taste of the exceeding joy of which I did taste; that they might also be born of God, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. . . .  For because of the word which he has imparted unto me, behold, many have been born of God, and have tasted as I have tasted, and have seen eye to eye as I have seen."

As a result of such personal experience, Alma the younger would be able to stress that, "The Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance. . . .  Ye must repent, and be born again; for the Spirit saith if ye are not born again ye cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven; therefore, come and be baptized unto repentance, that ye may be washed from your sins, that ye may have faith on the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world, who is mighty to save and to cleanse from all unrighteousness."


[Source: Holland, J. R. (2006). Christ and the New Covenant:  The Messianic Message of the Book of Mormon.  Salt Lake City: Deseret Book.]