The Law of Restoration is an appendage to the Law of Justice, which will be discussed a few chapters later.

The Law of Restoration states that what you do will be returned or restored to you again, according to the justice of God.

It is requisite with the justice of God that all things must be restored to their proper order, and to their proper place, and to their proper sphere, according to the law which they have or have not observed.

“And it is requisite with the justice of God that men should be judged according to their works; and if their works were good in this life, and the desires of their hearts were good, that they should also, at the last day, be restored unto that which is good. And if their works are evil they shall be restored unto them for evil.  Therefore, all things shall be restored to their proper order, everything to its natural frame—mortality raised to immortality, corruption to incorruption—raised to endless happiness to inherit the kingdom of God, or to endless misery to inherit the kingdom of the devil, the one on one hand, the other on the other—

“The one raised to happiness according to his desires of happiness, or good according to his desires of good; and the other to evil according to his desires of evil; for as he has desired to do evil all the day long even so shall he have his reward of evil when the night cometh.

“And so it is on the other hand. If he hath repented of his sins, and desired righteousness until the end of his days, even so he shall be rewarded unto righteousness. These are they that are redeemed of the Lord; yea, these are they that are taken out, that are delivered from that endless night of darkness; and thus they stand or fall; for behold, they are their own judges, whether to do good or do evil.

“Now, the decrees of God are unalterable; therefore, the way is prepared that whosoever will may walk therein and be saved.

“And now behold, my son, do not risk one more offense against your God upon those points of doctrine, which ye have hitherto risked to commit sin. Do not suppose, because it has been spoken concerning restoration, that ye shall be restored from sin to happiness.  Behold, I say unto you, wickedness never was happiness.

“And now, my son, all men that are in a state of nature, or I would say, in a carnal state, are in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity; they are without God in the world, and they have gone contrary to the nature of God; therefore, they are in a state contrary to the nature of happiness.

“And now behold, is the meaning of the word restoration to take a thing of a natural state and place it in an unnatural state, or to place it in a state opposite to its nature? O, my son, this is not the case; but the meaning of the word restoration is to bring back again evil for evil, or carnal for carnal, or devilish for devilish—good for that which is good; righteous for that which is righteous; just for that which is just; merciful for that which is merciful.

“Therefore, my son, see that you are merciful unto your brethren; deal justly, judge righteously, and do good continually; and if ye do all these things then shall ye receive your reward; yea, ye shall have mercy restored unto you again; ye shall have justice restored unto you again; ye shall have a righteous judgement restored unto you again; and ye shall have good rewarded unto you again. For that which ye do send out shall return unto you again, and be restored; therefore, the word restoration more fully condemneth the sinner, and justifieth him not at all.”[1]

The Law of Restoration is similar to the Law of the Harvest, in that what you put into life is what you will get back out of it. What you plant is what you will reap. If you plant wheat, you will harvest wheat. If you plant righteousness, you will harvest or be rewarded for righteousness. If you plant sin, you will be rewarded for sin. But if you cease sinning, repent, and deal justly and mercifully to others, doing good, then the laws of justice and mercy will not condemn you, but will justify and exalt you.

Those who have repented of their sins and have lived righteously all the remainder of their days are those who are redeemed by the Lord. Those who have not repented of their sins and have not lived righteously, whose hearts are not pure, but have continued to sin, these are not redeemed by the Lord.

The Law of Restoration deals a fatal blow to those who think that they can continue to sin throughout their lives and still be redeemed of the Lord and inherit paradise in the world to come. As we shall discuss in greater detail later on, we really are expected to believe in Jesus Christ, have faith in Jesus Christ, repent of our sins, cease sinning, and receive the Holy Ghost. Those who do not complete this process are not redeemed. The Law of Restoration forbids it.

By this, we should see that much needs to be clarified in relation to the laws of obedience, accountability, justice, judgement, mercy, and many other subjects. After all, how does one cease sinning? Well, we are going to talk about that.

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[1] Book of Mormon | Alma 41:3 – 15

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