Before Alma the Elder receives the revelation about how to
regulate the church with appropriate discipline measures, there is a period
when the unbelievers gain a lot of influence.
For it came to pass that they [the
unbelievers] did deceive many with their flattering words, who were in the
church, and did cause them to commit many sins; therefore it became expedient
that those who committed sin, that were in the church, should be admonished by
the church. (Mosiah 26:6)
But once Alma the Elder receives his revelation about how to
deal with those who sin and is able to reaffirm the principle that eternal
salvation depends upon continued repentance and faith in Christ, those people
who were willing to repent changed and became steadfast and immovable, willing
to keep the commandments, unwilling to listen to those who previously had
deceived them.
Of course, the unbelievers did not like to lose their
influence, so they ratcheted up the pressure to the level of persecution, which
is why v38 tells us Alma and his fellow laborers were “persecuted by all those
who did not belong to the church of God.”
Unbelievers think church discipline is unfair and unmerited, but the
church lives at a higher level.
The members were also persecuted, since Mosiah 27:1 notes
that “the persecutions which were inflicted on the church by the unbelievers
became so great that the church began to murmur and complain to their leaders
concerning the matter.”
Persecution over church discipline measures is an attempt to
influence with social aggression and shaming and mockery. It is also an attempt to reject and
punish. However, for those who are
willing to accept church discipline, the blessings are becoming steadfast and
immovable in Christ.
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