Alma 41

Chapter Overview

What happens in Alma 41

Alma corrects Corianton's misunderstanding of the doctrine of restoration, teaching that restoration means receiving back the same quality of life one has cultivated. Good is restored to good, evil to evil. The chapter contains the famous declaration: 'Wickedness never was happiness.'

Scripture

The Plan of Restoration Defined

Study note

Alma perceives that Corianton has twisted the doctrine of restoration to justify sin -- perhaps reasoning that if all things are restored, sinners will eventually be restored to happiness regardless of their choices. Alma corrects this firmly: the plan of restoration is 'requisite with the justice of God' -- all things are restored to their proper order. Good works produce happiness; evil works produce evil. Those who desire righteousness are restored to righteousness; those who desire evil receive evil. This is not arbitrary punishment but the natural consequence of moral choices operating under divine justice.

1 And now, my son, I have somewhat to say concerning the restoration of which has been spoken; for behold, some have wrested the scriptures, and have gone far astray because of this thing. And I perceive that thy mind has been worried also concerning this thing. But behold, I will explain it unto thee.

2 I say unto thee, my son, that the plan of restoration is requisite with the justice of God; for it is requisite that all things should be restored to their proper order. Behold, it is requisite and just, according to the power and resurrection of Christ, that the soul of man should be restored to its body, and that every part of the body should be restored to itself.

3 And it is requisite with the justice of God that men should be judged according to their works; and if their works were good in this life, and the desires of their hearts were good, that they should also, at the last day, be restored unto that which is good.

4 And if their works are evil they shall be restored unto them for evil. Therefore, all things shall be restored to their proper order, every thing to its natural frame—mortality raised to immortality, corruption to incorruption—raised to endless happiness to inherit the kingdom of God, or to endless misery to inherit the kingdom of the devil, the one on one hand, the other on the other—

5 The one raised to happiness according to his desires of happiness, or good according to his desires of good; and the other to evil according to his desires of evil; for as he has desired to do evil all the day long even so shall he have his reward of evil when the night cometh.

6 And so it is on the other hand. If he hath repented of his sins, and desired righteousness until the end of his days, even so he shall be rewarded unto righteousness.

7 These are they that are redeemed of the Lord; yea, these are they that are taken out, that are delivered from that endless night of darkness; and thus they stand or fall; for behold, they are their own judges, whether to do good or do evil.

8 Now, the decrees of God are unalterable; therefore, the way is prepared that whosoever will may walk therein and be saved.

Wickedness Never Was Happiness

Study note

Alma delivers one of the most quoted verses in the Book of Mormon: 'Do not suppose, because it has been spoken concerning restoration, that ye shall be restored from sin to happiness. Behold, I say unto you, wickedness never was happiness.' He explains that those in a carnal state are in the gall of bitterness and the bonds of iniquity, opposite to the nature of God and therefore in a state contrary to happiness. Restoration cannot take something in an unnatural, sinful state and place it in a state of happiness -- that is not what the word means. He closes by urging Corianton to be merciful, deal justly, judge righteously, and do good continually, for whatever he sends out will return to him again.

9 And now behold, my son, do not risk one more offense against your God upon those points of doctrine, which ye have hitherto risked to commit sin.

10 Do not suppose, because it has been spoken concerning restoration, that ye shall be restored from sin to happiness. Behold, I say unto you, wickedness never was happiness.

11 And now, my son, all men that are in a state of nature, or I would say, in a carnal state, are in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity; they are without God in the world, and they have gone contrary to the nature of God; therefore, they are in a state contrary to the nature of happiness.

12 And now behold, is the meaning of the word restoration to take a thing of a natural state and place it in an unnatural state, or to place it in a state opposite to its nature?

13 O, my son, this is not the case; but the meaning of the word restoration is to bring back again evil for evil, or carnal for carnal, or devilish for devilish—good for that which is good; righteous for that which is righteous; just for that which is just; merciful for that which is merciful.

14 Therefore, my son, see that you are merciful unto your brethren; deal justly, judge righteously, and do good continually; and if ye do all these things then shall ye receive your reward; yea, ye shall have mercy restored unto you again; ye shall have justice restored unto you again; ye shall have a righteous judgment restored unto you again; and ye shall have good rewarded unto you again.

15 For that which ye do send out shall return unto you again, and be restored; therefore, the word restoration more fully condemneth the sinner, and justifieth him not at all.

Key Themes

Themes in Alma 41

Restoration returns to each person what they have cultivatedWickedness never was happinessMoral choices have inescapable consequencesTwisting doctrine to justify sin is self-deceptionMercy, justice, and goodness are returned to those who practice themCharacter shapes eternal destiny

Prophetic Connections

How this chapter points to Christ

Alma 41:2-6 Galatians 6:7-8

Alma's law of restoration -- good restored to good, evil to evil -- directly parallels Paul's teaching: 'Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.'

Alma 41:10 Romans 6:23

Alma's warning that wickedness cannot produce lasting happiness aligns with Paul's contrast between sin's end and God's gift of life in Christ.

Alma 41:14 Matthew 7:12

Alma's counsel to 'deal justly, judge righteously, and do good continually; and if ye do all these things then shall ye receive your reward' echoes the Golden Rule and Jesus' principle that one's treatment of others determines what one receives.

Apply This Today

Living Alma 41

Alma's teaching is blunt: you cannot live contrary to God's nature and expect to be happy. 'Wickedness never was happiness' is not a threat -- it is a description of reality. Sin promises pleasure but delivers emptiness. Righteousness may require sacrifice, but it cultivates the kind of person who can receive and sustain joy. The question is not 'What can I get away with?' but 'What kind of person am I becoming?' What you become is what you receive back eternally.

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