The Apostle Paul also taught of a “sorer punishment” that is reserved for those “who hath trodden under foot the Son of God” and “hath done despite [that is, insult, contempt, hatred] unto the Spirit of grace” (see Hebrews 10:26-29). This is a type of spiritual death that can be experienced by a person in mortality who has sinned to the point at which he has no desire or power to avail himself of the grace of Christ. This appears to be the case with the Nephites.
As a further warning to us in our day, Mormon has graphically described the wickedness and the physical and spiritual consequences that resulted. They had fallen beyond the grace of Christ temporally because they had no claim upon the blessings of the Lord—blessings of guidance, protection, peace, and so forth—due to their own disobedience (see D&C 130:20-21). Spiritually speaking, the day of grace had passed because they had cut themselves off from the Spirit of the Lord, and because of their wilful rebelliousness they could not and would not repent.