Mormon 2:15

And it came to pass that my sorrow did return unto me again, and I saw that the day of grace was passed with them, both temporally and spiritually; for I saw thousands of them hewn down in open rebellion against their God, and heaped up as dung upon the face of the land. And thus three hundred and forty and four years had passed away.

The day of grace is never passed for those who sincerely wish to repent. No sin is so severe, so deep, and so frequently repeated that it is beyond the reach of Christ's Atonement. Nevertheless, if we do not avail ourselves of Christ's merciful gift through repentance, he will not force his mercy upon us. If the day of grace is passed, it is because we choose to deny grace, and we refuse to ask for forgiveness. If we refuse mercy, the only alternative is justice.

Helaman 11:17

And it came to pass that in the seventy and sixth year the Lord did turn away his anger from the people, and caused that rain should fall upon the earth, insomuch that it did bring forth her fruit in the season of her fruit. And it came to pass that it did bring forth her grain in the season of her grain.

Note that the relief of the drought was not instantaneous. The rain returned in the year following the people's repentance, and they still had to wait for the season of grain and harvest. Our sins may leave us with natural consequences that we have to endure even after we have sincerely repented and been forgiven. We still live in a natural world. We cannot expect instant fixes to all our problems. Guilt can be swept away quickly, but consequences may still have to take their natural course. Christ's atonement will eventually right every wrong and heal every wound, but in our natural, fallen world, some consequences are allowed temporarily to persist.

Helaman 5:42

And it came to pass that they all did begin to cry unto the voice of him who had shaken the earth; yea, they did cry even until the cloud of darkness was dispersed.

It did not take these Lamanties long to receive forgiveness and deliverance. God is quick to forgive when we repent in sincerity. That does not mean, however, that repentance is cheap or easy. These people had many wrongs to repair and bad habits to overcome. They still had to change their lives in order to retain a remission of their sins. They would have to spend the rest of their lives learning the gospel, keeping the commandments, overcoming the natural man, and taking upon them the name of Christ. But initial forgiveness, pardon, and justification can come quickly through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

Helaman 5:10

And remember also the words which Amulek spake unto Zeezrom, in the city of Ammonihah; for he said unto him that the Lord surely should come to redeem his people, but that he should not come to redeem them in their sins, but to redeem them from their sins.

To be redeemed, we have to leave our sins behind. We have to do all we can to put them away. We may not be able to do it perfectly by ourselves, but we have to turn ourselves in the right direction, which is the root of the word repentance. Only then can Christ redeem us. He can buy us back from the demands of justice only when we have made the effort to begin the transformation that he will finish. He is, after all, the Finisher of our faith. He will not save us against our will. We demonstrate our sincere desire for salvation by sincerely repenting. Every repentant sinner will be forgiven and rescued from justice. Those who knowingly turn their backs on God today with expectations that he will swoop in and save them at the last second will be sadly disappointed tomorrow when he doesn't show up. I reiterate, Christ will save every single person who truly and honestly wants to be saved in his kingdom. We cannot save ourselves, and we cannot buy a seat in heaven, but we have to prove our desires by our actions, however imperfect they may be.

Alma 36:18-19

Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death. And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.

Forgiveness can be immediate. Christ does not wait until the final judgment to wipe away our sins. He can do it in an instant. We still need time to work through the full repentance process so that we fully change, but forgiveness can come quickly.

Alma 34:31

Yea, I would that ye would come forth and harden not your hearts any longer; for behold, now is the time and the day of your salvation; and therefore, if ye will repent and harden not your hearts, immediately shall the great plan of redemption be brought about unto you.

Repentance can immediately put the plan of salvation to work in our lives. God does not let us dangle helplessly over the pit of hell, hanging desperately by our fingernails for eons before he finally forgives us. He is a merciful, loving God who welcomes us back instantly when we genuinely humble ourselves and approach him with a broken heart and contrite spirit.

That does not mean, however, that we avoid all temporal consequences of our sins. Addiction still produces withdrawals. Damages still have to be repaid. Restitution is still required. Destroyed relationships may not be easily repaired. Trust may not be easily re-won. But eternal consequences have already been settled, and God's love is quick and sure. He never turns his back when we want to come to him. He never locks the door when we want to come home.

Alma 31:31

O Lord, my heart is exceedingly sorrowful; wilt thou comfort my soul in Christ. O Lord, wilt thou grant unto me that I may have strength, that I may suffer with patience these afflictions which shall come upon me, because of the iniquity of this people.

Our souls are comforted in Christ when we are comforted by the love of Christ, which is given to us through the power of the Holy Ghost, who is the Comforter. We are comforted about the troubles we face by the knowledge that Christ has suffered all things and overcome all things. He will not let us fail if we are trying. He will make up for our weaknesses and pardon our mistakes. We can have hope and comfort in this life and the rest of the Lord in the life to come.

Alma 24:11

And now behold, my brethren, since it has been all that we could do (as we were the most lost of all mankind) to repent of all our sins and the many murders which we have committed, and to get God to take them away from our hearts, for it was all we could do to repent sufficiently before God that he would take away our stain.

Twice in this verse and again in verse 15 the king says that it has been all his people could do to repent and be forgiven. Is this not true for all of us? Can we ever really do anything more than throw ourselves on the mercy of Christ and his atonement? For all our intentions to do good, keep our covenants, and obey the commandments, we fail every day. In the final analysis, we can earn nothing for ourselves. Every effort, every good intention, every right choice only qualifies us for the gift of forgiveness and justification. The fact is, we must be forgiven, we must be pardoned, we must be saved. There is no other way into God's grace.

Alma 12:14

For our words will condemn us, yea, all our works will condemn us; we shall not be found spotless; and our thoughts will also condemn us; and in this awful state we shall not dare to look up to our God; and we would fain be glad if we could command the rocks and the mountains to fall upon us to hide us from his presence.

Without Christ, we are condemned by the works, words, and the very thoughts of the natural man. We cannot do everything right to save our lives--literally. Without Christ's Atonement we are fallen and lost. If it were not for him, the judgment would be the terror of terrors. God would have no alternative but to execute justice, for he lives by law, and law demands justice, otherwise it is not law. Thankfully, we have a Redeemer and an Advocate who can save us from ourselves.

Mosiah 27:29

My soul hath been redeemed from the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity. I was in the darkest abyss; but now I behold the marvelous light of God. My soul was racked with eternal torment; but I am snatched, and my soul is pained no more.

"Snatch" is an interesting verb. Alma uses it twice in this chapter and once in the next chapter to describe the process by which his guilt was removed. It means to quickly seize something in an eager way. God is eager to forgive us. He is quick to forgive at the first sign of repentance. If we feel like it takes an eternity to repent of our sins and gain God's acceptance, it is not God who is slow, it is us. He will forgive us far faster than we will forgive ourselves.

Mosiah 24:29-30

Therefore I say unto you, Go; and whosoever transgresseth against me, him shall ye judge according to the sins which he has committed; and if he confess his sins before thee and me, and repenteth in the sincerity of his heart, him shall ye forgive, and I will forgive him also. Yea, and as often as my people repent will I forgive them their trespasses against me.

We are not condemned for sin but only for refusing to repent. The atonement has made it possible for us to learn from our mistakes without being condemned by them. The plan of salvation is genius, but it works only because Christ became our Savior.

Mosiah 23:9

But remember the iniquity of king Noah and his priests; and I myself was caught in a snare, and did many things which were abominable in the sight of the Lord, which caused me sore repentance;

We think of Alma's conversion as instantaneous, and that is the case--for his conversion. But not for his repentance. He had to struggle through the repentance process like everyone else. God can forgive sins instantly, but we are perhaps not so quick to forgive ourselves. Though Alma got himself turned around and facing in the right direction, he still had to walk the path, learn to heed the Spirit, and demonstrate his desire to come unto Christ and be saved. He still had wrongs to right and restitution to make. Even a miraculous conversion does not exempt us from the mortal process of healing and growing and becoming.

Mosiah 4:20

And behold, even at this time, ye have been calling on his name, and begging for a remission of your sins. And has he suffered that ye have begged in vain? Nay; he has poured out his Spirit upon you, and has caused that your hearts should be filled with joy, and has caused that your mouths should be stopped that ye could not find utterance, so exceedingly great was your joy.

God answers our sincere prayers for forgiveness readily and instantly. He does not leave us dangling endlessly on the hook, wondering if he hears, wondering if he cares, wondering if he even knows who we are. When we are humble, and approach him in lowliness of heart, he answers surely and quickly with peace. That does not mean that all mortal consequences are extinguished in that moment, but mortal guilt and anguish can be swept away, and our hearts can be filled with hope and peace.

Mosiah 4:3

And it came to pass that after they had spoken these words the Spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they were filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins, and having peace of conscience, because of the exceeding faith which they had in Jesus Christ who should come, according to the words which king Benjamin had spoken unto them.

Forgiveness can come in an instant to a sincere heart. God does not make us beg and plead forever for his forgiveness. He is ready at any moment to apply the atonement to us if we turn to him, not just as our last hope, but as our only hope.

Enos 1:4

And my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens.

Enos was not a wicked man. He was not like Alma the Younger. He hungered and thirsted after righteousness. Nevertheless, he was aware of his imperfections. The Savior did not make Enos pray all day and night because he didn't want to forgive him. But Enos had some things to work out in his own soul before he was ready for the redemption he sought. We don't know the details of his prayers, but I suspect they were of a different quality when Christ finally answered him. We don't pray to change God's mind, we pray to change our own hearts.

Enos 1:2

And I will tell you of the wrestle which I had before God, before I received a remission of my sins.

Note that Enos did not say he wrestled with the Lord but before the Lord. His wrestle was with himself, his sins and the natural man. We do not have to wrestle with Christ to get him to forgive our sins. He is ready and willing at any moment to forgive us, redeem us, and reconcile us with God. The work is already done. We just have to wrestle ourselves away from sin.

Second Nephi 26:11

For the Spirit of the Lord will not always strive with man. And when the Spirit ceaseth to strive with man then cometh speedy destruction, and this grieveth my soul.

God is very, very patient, but not infinitely so. He will give us every chance to repent and come to him. But when we harden ourselves to the point that we would crucify Christ afresh if we had the chance, further patience will avail us nothing except deeper condemnation. God, who is the perfectly righteous judge, knows when patience is no longer beneficial. When he withdraws his patience, sorrow and destruction are sure to follow. As long as we are willing to keep trying, however, the Lord will keep giving us chances.

Second Nephi 9:46

Prepare your souls for that glorious day when justice shall be administered unto the righteous, even the day of judgment, that ye may not shrink with awful fear; that ye may not remember your awful guilt in perfectness, and be constrained to exclaim: Holy, holy are thy judgments, O Lord God Almighty—but I know my guilt; I transgressed thy law, and my transgressions are mine; and the devil hath obtained me, that I am a prey to his awful misery.

Though we may be constrained to remember our sins in mortality, Christ, by the atonement, can remove the memory of them from our minds in the day of judgment if we have fully repented. Just as the Lord promises to remember our sins no more, we will not have to be haunted by them either. We need the memories in mortality so we learn lessons and can teach others. But when those memories have served their purpose, the savior will remove them from us. It is one of the tender mercies of the atonement.