The Former Sins

Alma taught his son Corianton, “Wickedness never was happiness” (Alma 39:10; see also Helaman 13:38). Therefore, commandments aren’t arbitrary prohibitions on things that we would otherwise enjoy; they are instructions for a happy life. (See Doctrine and Covenants 82:8-9.) When we are living sinfully, we are already unhappy, even if we try to convince ourselves otherwise. (See Mormon 9:14.)

So remission of sins is less like having a debt canceled and more like being healed of a spiritual malady. This perspective can help us better understand the following warning from the Savior:

I, the Lord, will not lay any sin to your charge; go your ways and sin no more; but unto that soul who sinneth shall the former sins return, saith the Lord your God.

Doctrine and Covenants 82:7

The three components of this statement each reference a different set of scriptures:

• Not laying sins to our charge reminds us of Stephen’s prayer as he was being stoned to death: “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge” (Acts 7:60), as well as Gideon’s plea for King Limhi to trust his people when they were accused of a crime: “I pray thee forbear, and do not search this people, and lay not this thing to their charge” (Mosiah 20:17). The phrase conveys the Savior’s inclination to treat us with trust, mercy, and generosity.
• Go your ways and sin no more echoes the Savior’s gentle admonition to the man He healed of paralysis at Bethesda, as well as the woman taken in adultery. (See John 5:14; John 8:11.) It also parallels the words of the angel to Alma the Younger: “Go thy way, and seek to destroy the church no more” (Mosiah 27:16). This admonition is forward-looking, focused on a brighter and more successful future.
• Unto that soul that sinneth shall the former sins return. This warning brings to mind the Savior’s parable of the unclean spirit, in which an evil spirit is cast out of a home, only to return later with “seven other spirits more wicked than himself” (Matthew 12:43-45; Luke 11:24-26). Eliminating evil temporarily is not sufficient; the goal is to keep it permanently away.

So this passage is not a threat to undo an acquittal and reimpose a penalty. It is a call to vigilance, to avoid slipping back into old habits.

When King Benjamin’s people pleaded for a remission of their sins, their prayers were answered miraculously. “The Spirit of the Lord came upon them” and they felt “peace of conscience, because of the exceeding faith which they had in Jesus Christ” (Mosiah 4:3). They told him that they had “no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually” (Mosiah 5:2). He then gave them specific instructions to help them “always retain a remission of [their] sins” (Mosiah 4:11-12, 26). Receiving a remission of our sins is a priceless miracle; retaining that remission is the ultimate goal.

Today, I will strive not only to eliminate sins but to keep them out of my life. I will remember that sin brings sorrow and that welcoming evil back into my life is self-defeating. I will be grateful that the Savior can heal us permanently—not just temporarily.