The justice of God cannot allow the wicked and righteous to receive the same reward. This seems simple enough, however Alma's son Corianton had trouble with this concept, 'I perceive there is somewhat more which doth worry your mind, which ye cannot understand—which is concerning the justice of God in the punishment of the sinner; for ye do try to suppose that it is injustice that the sinner should be consigned to a state of misery' (Alma 42:1). Alma goes on to show his son that it is injustice if the sinner is not punished, 'What, do ye suppose that mercy can rob justice?…whosoever will come [unto God] may come and partake of the waters of life freely; and whosoever will not come the same is not compelled to come; but in the last day it shall be restored unto him according to his deeds. If he has desired to do evil, and has not repented in his days, behold, evil shall be done unto him, according to the restoration of God' (Alma 42:25-28).
The DC teaches that the individual must be able to abide the law of the kingdom he/she enters, 'For he who is not able to abide the law of a celestial kingdom cannot abide a celestial glory' (DC 88:22). A corollary to this principle is taught by Moroni, 'Do ye suppose that ye could be happy to dwell with that holy Being, when your souls are racked with a consciousness of guilt that ye have ever abused his laws? Behold, I say unto you that ye would be more miserable to dwell with a holy and just God, under a consciousness of your filthiness before him, than ye would to dwell with the damned souls in hell' (Mormon 9:3-4).
Therefore, the justice of God is actually merciful in requiring that the righteous and wicked be separated. In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, this same gulf is described separating those in Spirit Prison from those in Spirit Paradise, 'between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence' (Lu 16:26).
Hugh Nibley
"…'a great and terrible gulf divideth them.' There it is again. It is a figure of speech, an image. Nothing could better describe it; there is a great and terrible gulf between two different ways of living. There is nothing in common between them at all. You can't breach it…." (Teachings of the Book of Mormon--Semester 1: Transcripts of Lectures Presented to an Honors Book of Mormon Class at Brigham Young University, 1988—1990, p. 195)
1 Nephi 13 Nephi switches continents.
Now Nephi will see many nations and kingdoms of Europe and Asia. The time period covered in chapter 13 extends approximately from the destruction of the Nephites, in 385 AD, to the 20th century. This chapter chronicles the church of Europe in the Middle Ages, Columbus, other explorers and their conquests, changes made to the Bible when it was compiled, the founding fathers, the Revolutionary War, the effect of the Bible on the Europeans and early Americans, the re-establishment o the gospel of Jesus Christ, the early church leaders, the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, and the preaching of the gospel to the descendants of the Lamanites. It is amazing that this chapter could contain that much history in only 42 verses.