The whole text of verse 22 is referred to as the seed, the word that we must plant. We do not just plant belief in the Son of God. One must also believe that he will come to redeem his people. The people in Antionum had rejected that doctrine. Another part of the seed is also that he will “rise again from the dead, which shall bring to pass the resurrection, that all men shall stand before him, to be judged at the last and judgment day, according to their works.” The whole expression is the seed.
If we plant that whole seed and believe all of those elements—how the atonement will work, why it will work, what we need to do, and what will happen, and how we will be held accountable—all of those principles together will grow up in you to produce the tree of eternal life. All of that is necessary. The gospel is not a cafeteria plan where we can pick and choose the parts that appeal to us.
As Alma and Amulek discovered, most of the things that the people in the City of Antionum had come to believe were contrary to those elements of basic Nephite beliefs. They had turned away from those observances, practices, and beliefs. Thus, Alma’s final plea was for them to plant this seed so that they could have eternal life as well as the earthly reward that follows, “Then may God grant unto you that your burdens may be light, through the joy of his Son” (33:23).