Finally, the people are to remember those two mighty weapons of spiritual triumph: patience and hope. If we develop patience and live with hope, then we can bear our afflictions with nobility and lift our hearts towards heaven and the blessings of eternal life.
Concluding Thoughts
What a magnificent blessing it is for us in the latter days that the Lord has seen fit to preserve the resplendent words of Alma and Amulek concerning faith and the Atonement. We learn that faith is a seed “springing up in you unto everlasting life” (Alma 32:41). We learn how to plant the seed: by believing in Christ and repenting sincerely. We learn further that the Atonement is the majestic gateway of grace leading to immortality and eternal life for all who are prayerful, humble, obedient, and valiant. We learn how to overcome procrastination so that the blessings of the plan of redemption can be activated on our behalf “immediately” (Alma 34:31). The doctrines taught in these chapters are transcending truths that can, if obeyed, lead us back to the presence of our Heavenly Father. The Word, whether Christ Himself (see John 1; Revelation 19:13), or His spoken or printed word, becomes an inexorable power in our lives if planted in our hearts with authentic desire and pure intent. It will yield the fruit of eternal life through our Savior Jesus Christ as we nurture it with faith, diligence, and patience. The word of our prophets will inspire us to pray and exercise faith unto repentance.
A Summary of Amulek’s Message
Amulek concludes his testimony, which he conjoins with that of his missionary companion, Alma. Amulek testifies of Christ, defining the infinite Atonement of the Redeemer as the essential empowering act that ignites and sustains faith, infuses hope with eternal meaning and substance, and generates the reality that the great plan of redemption can be brought about “immediately” for the penitent, humble, and obedient (see Alma 34:31). Elder Jeffrey R. Holland characterizes Amulek’s message as follows:
Amulek, even though a new missionary, had a stunning grasp of theology, for he had been tutored by an angel, (see Alma 8:20, 27; 10:6–10.) had the influence of the Holy Spirit, and had labored at the side of Alma. Taking his lead from Alma’s marvelous sermon on “the word” being likened to a seed—a metaphor Alma continued through the staff (tree) Moses raised in the wilderness on to the “tree” springing up to everlasting life—Amulek asked the people of Zoram to have enough faith to “plant the word in [their] hearts, that [they might] try the experiment of its goodness.” (Alma 34:4; see also 32:28–43; 33:19, 23.)
After hearing the testimony of Alma, Zenos, Zenock, and Moses, Amulek said, “And now, behold, I will testify unto you of myself that these things are true.” (Alma 34:8.) From such a forthright testimony of a new convert we are taught that:
• Christ shall come among the children of men, taking upon himself the transgressions of his people and atoning for the sins of the world. (see Alma 34:8)
• Because all are hardened, fallen, and lost, all mankind “must unavoidably perish” except for the Atonement of Christ. (Alma 34:9)
• The Atonement must be a “great” sacrifice as well as a “last” sacrifice. It cannot be a sacrifice of fowl or beast. It must be “infinite and eternal.” (Alma 34:10)
• No mortal can sacrifice his or her own blood and have it redemptively atone for the sins of another. Thus the Atonement must be infinite not only in its scope but also in the godly being of the one making it. (see Alma 34:11)
• This great and last sacrifice would be divine. It would be the Son of God who, like his sacrifice, would himself be “infinite and eternal.” (Alma 34:14)
• With this sacrifice the law of Moses would be fulfilled, and symbolic blood sacrifice would end. (see Alma 34:13)
• The whole meaning of the law of Moses was to point toward Christ, “that great and last sacrifice.” (Alma 34:14)
• The intent of this last sacrifice would be to “bring about the bowels of mercy, which overpowereth justice,” providing a way for mortals to have “faith unto repentance.” (see Alma 34:15–16)
• Prayer is the way we begin to exercise faith unto repentance. We begin by calling upon God to have mercy upon us. (see Alma 34:17)
• That prayer for mercy from God will be in vain if we “do not remember to be charitable” to those who need mercy from us—the needy, the naked, the sick, and the afflicted. (Alma 34:28–29)
• Those who do not procrastinate the day of their repentance will have “their garments … made white through the blood of the Lamb.” (Alma 34:36)
• The holy scriptures testify of these things, providing “so many witnesses.” (Alma 34:30)
Amulek concluded his testimony, declaring to non-believers that they should work out their salvation with fear before God, no more denying the coming of the Savior. They should, he said, “contend no more against the Holy Ghost, but … receive it, and take upon you the name of Christ.” (Alma 34:37–38.) (Christ and the New Covenant: The Messianic Message of the Book of Mormon [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1997], 124–125)