Tuesday, May 8, 2018

The State of the Soul When Dying



As Ammon is trying to convince Lamoni’s father not to kill Lamoni, he says something about what would happen to Lamoni’s father if he were to die at that time, versus Lamoni’s state. I found it both interesting and indicative of an important principle.

But Ammon stood forth and said unto him: Behold, thou shalt not slay thy son; nevertheless, it were better that he should fall than thee, for behold, he has repented of his sins; but if thou shouldst fall at this time, in thine anger, thy soul could not be saved. (Alma 20:17)

So dying in anger would leave a soul in a sin without time to repent, and even though that probably wasn’t the only sin Lamoni’s father was burdened with, the point is that Ammon didn’t want to send Lamoni’s father out of mortality unprepared to meet God.

The deeper principle here is one that is universally applicable. We all have sinned, and we deserve to die, but God prolongs our life so that we have time to repent. We don’t know when our time will run out and our life will be over. Freak accidents happen. People go unexpectedly ballistic and kill people. Disease hits, etcetera, and if it is suddenly our turn to go, can we see we have repented and have a clear conscience?

2 comments:

Rozy Lass said...

I've given lot of thought to this subject too. A relative, by marriage, had no interest in the church, tolerating his wife's involvement in it and her raising the children in it. When he died many were so glad that now his temple work could be done and they could be sealed as a family. Some of us, though, thought, what difference is death going to make? He didn't want to make the effort to do the work and get sealed in this life, death only makes it everlastingly too late. And turned to Alma 34:34 where Amulek testifies ". . .for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world."

I know that some die, unexpectedly to us, but, as a wise friend of mine has said, "God is in control and he knows what he is doing."

It's best not to procrastinate the day of our repentance because we truly never know when we'll be called home to give an accounting.

Michaela Stephens said...

True, in that situation things look bad, however, we ultimately don't know how that's going to turn out, and at least a vicarious ordinance leaves the door open.
And not procrastinating is always the better way to go.

Thanks for stopping by!