You can read the entire chapter at the following link: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/mosiah/26?lang=eng.
One of the important things about this life is that none of us can make choices for someone else. Everyone’s agency to make their own decisions is sacred and truly a gift from our Heavenly Father. It is a hopeful thing to know that just because someone came from a difficult family environment, they are not responsible for those difficulties and therefore doomed to an unhappy existence or any specific condemnation. They are only responsible for their own life choices within the context of those difficulties. And in the Lord’s mercy, he takes everything into account as he seeks to give the downtrodden opportunities to experience His light and truth.
The opposite is true as well. Just because a person is raised in a loving, nurturing environment where they are exposed to truth, righteousness and other virtues, doesn’t automatically mean they will choose to live by those good things. Temptation affects us all.
The Nephites have established a society based on accountable leadership and making and keeping covenants with God. Having these foundations is important, but as we will see, each generation will need to struggle anew to maintain them as they strive to teach and model truth within their families and circles of influence.
We learn that a considerable number of the new generation of Nephites do not believe their parents’ traditions, particularly about the coming of Christ and His Resurrection. Perhaps even worse, they are not in a frame of mind or heart that allows them to be teachable by the Spirit of God through God’s word (verses 1-3). How they came to this point is unclear, and perhaps different for different people. In our day, we take for granted having access to scriptures that we can read anytime. The availability of the written word for most Nephites may have been different. They may have relied more on oral tradition and the teachings of prophets and historians who kept the records.
It might be in some cases here that the parents aren’t as vigilant as they could be in teaching what they know of truth, but it seems that some of the new generation may harden their hearts regardless of what they have been taught. They are unwilling to enter into a covenant to obey and serve God, and do not call upon Him in their lives, distancing themselves from His softening and enlightening influence, and instead choosing an existence where their physical senses are what they define as the only reality (verse 4).
When some of the unbelievers make a purposeful effort to steer others away from the teachings of Christ, leading many astray, the church faces a real challenge (verse 6). Alma has been given authority to lead the church by King Mosiah, but hasn’t faced this situation before. He knows that it is important to do two things. First, make sure that those who have made covenants have access to teaching that is genuinely in line with the gospel and are not deceived by people acting outside their authority. Second, hold those within the Church who are leading others astray accountable for their actions, but do so in a manner that signals love and the opportunity for full forgiveness.
Alma is hesitant to take upon himself the role of judge in these matters, probably from a wise inclination to err on the side of humility instead of presumptuousness, but maybe also from a natural inclination to shrink from sensitive and potentially contentious situations like these. He makes sure to go to Mosiah first. When Mosiah says, “Alma, I have turned judgment in matters of the Church to you,” Alma feels the weight of the responsibility squarely on his shoulders (verses 10-12).
But Alma is not alone or comfortless. He knows that his calling as high priest comes from the Lord, and that the work he is doing is ultimately the Lord’s. So he is entitled to ask for the Lord’s help, and in doing so, we learn he “poured out his whole soul” (verses 13-14). What comes next is important for us to remember whenever we are beset by a trial that seems overwhelming, or when we have an opportunity to instruct someone else who feels overwhelmed in our home, church service or other setting.
The Lord does not start by giving Alma directions. He eventually gets there, but he starts with a blessing. The blessing provides eternal perspective that gives greater understanding to the directions that follow. The Lord says that Alma and all those who have exercised faith in what he teaches are (present tense, not future) greatly blessed, and they very intimately belong to Him. He also praises Alma for his diligence in bringing souls to Him, and assures him of his eternal life (verses 15-20). To emphasize this is very important in the midst of trials or difficulties, because Alma (and we) can take comfort. Even if we feel unequal to the task, God hasn’t forgotten us and if do the best we can, we’re still on track.
Then the Lord takes a little time to review the basics of repentance and forgiveness with Alma. Surely Alma already knows these points. But it always helps to have a reminder periodically, and especially in Alma’s case when he is going to need to try to convince the wayward either to come back or at least to refrain from actively working against the Lord’s cause. Those who hear the Lord’s voice and act in repentance will be forgiven and have a place with Him, because the Lord has taken their sins upon Him (verses 21-24). The Lord shares that it is important to know Him. Those who don’t know Him—his relationship to us, his character, his depth of love, his power, and his desire to have us become like Him—will tragically be unwilling to be redeemed (verses 25-28). For our choices to mean something, there has to be opposition (as discussed in 2 Nephi 2). The Lord desperately wants us to choose Him, but the other choice needs to remain available.
Finally, the Lord confirms that Alma has the authority to be a judge on His behalf to work with people who have committed sins with significant consequences (verse 29). This is not a trifling matter. A judge represents the Lord, but needs to recognize that his authority comes by doing everything in his power to understand the Lord’s perspective in any case. As I understand it, it is the Lord who forgives, and the judge’s role is to discern where the person is on that pathway from sin to forgiveness under the power of Jesus Christ. Repentance in the sincerity of one’s heart is the key, and can take time even if the desire to repent manifests itself quickly.
In cases where a person will not repent from an active course of flouting God’s commandments, they are reminded of the covenant they made and that the Lord loves them and wants them to come back to Him. But if they have been given a chance to do that and reject it, they are choosing to depart from their covenant (verse 32). A judge also has the authority to discern when that has happened, and record it. It’s not meant to end a person’s association with their family or friends, but it ensures that they will not be supported by the Church in acting against the Church. It’s the adage Jesus originated (Mark 3:25) and Abraham Lincoln repeated: “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
This answer to prayer is clearly a revelation to the whole Church through Alma, because he writes it down and uses it as doctrine for regulating the affairs of the Church (verses 33-36). This is exactly the type of thing Joseph Smith and other latter-day prophets do some two thousand years later when they seek guidance about leading Christ’s Church, such as is recorded in 1831 as Doctrine and Covenants Section 64. The final verses seem to describe the state of things today as much as in Alma’s time (100 B.C.). When the Church is led according to the Lord’s order for it, peace and prosperity reign in the hearts of the followers of Christ (verse 37). But, make no mistake, this happens amid plenty of challenges and difficulties that Church members face within the world. Everyone faces afflictions, and when you diligently teach and attend to the word of God, you also face persecution from some quarters (verse 38).
In these circumstances, all we or anyone can do is share the truth as we strive earnestly to know and receive it, and encourage everyone (including and especially ourselves) to repent and come to Jesus Christ. And a key in helping us do this, as Mormon writes in the final verse of the chapter, is to follow God’s commandment for His children (for their own benefit) “to pray without ceasing, and to give thanks in all things” (verse 39).
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