Alma continues to explain the principle of foreordination. Many children of God are foreordained (called and set apart) to future assignments prior to coming here to the earth (see also Jeremiah 1:5; D&C 138:53–57; Abraham 3:22–23). Those who are foreordained exhibited exceeding faith and good works. While it is true that we have all been sent to the earth to prove ourselves worthy through correct choices and righteous actions, foreordination does not override the agency of man—we are free to choose whether we will fulfill our mission in life or not.
President Spencer W. Kimball confirmed this truth:
Remember, in the world before we came here, faithful women were given certain assignments while faithful men were foreordained to certain priesthood tasks. While we do not now remember the particulars, this does not alter the glorious reality of what we once agreed to. We are accountable for those things which long ago were expected of us just as are those whom we sustain as prophets and apostles. (My Beloved Sisters [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1979], 37)
Moreover, concerning the principle of foreordination, Elder Bruce R. McConkie has stated:
Since men are foreordained to gain exaltation, and since no man can be exalted without the priesthood, it is almost self-evident that worthy brethren were foreordained to receive the priesthood. And so we find Alma teaching that those who hold the Melchizedek Priesthood in this life were “called and prepared from the foundation of the world according to the foreknowledge of God.” (Alma 13:1–12.) And Joseph Smith said, “Every man who has a calling to minister to the inhabitants of the world,” and this includes all who hold the Melchizedek Priesthood, “was ordained to that very purpose in the Grand Council of heaven before this world was. I suppose that I was ordained to this very office in that Grand Council.” (Teachings, 365.) (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1965–1973], 3:329)