28 And I said unto them that it was an awful gulf, which separated the wicked from the tree of life, and also from the saints of God.
This “awful gulf” that is the filthy river is almost un-crossable. It is an almost impenetrable barrier separating the wicked from the Love of God, as represented by the Tree. The gulf may be fixed, but our position relative to it is of our own choosing. If we choose the right, and hold to the rod of iron, we arrive at the Tree of Life. If we choose the other side of this great gulf the outcome is much different. We end up outside the love of God. We are “carried away captive down to the eternal gulf of misery and woe” (2 Nephi 1:13).
I said it is almost impossible to cross that gulf once we have made the choice to not hold the iron rod to the Tree of Life. And it is impossible to do by ourselves. Only through the mercy and grace of Jesus Christ is it possible at all. Ammon, in rejoicing over his mission to the Lamanites, and glorying in the Lord said, “Behold, he [the Lord] did not exercise his justice upon us, but in his great mercy hath brought us over that everlasting gulf of death and misery, even to the salvation of our souls” (Alma 26:20). It’s only through that grace that we are able to overcome this gulf. Who can say enough about the Atonement of Christ? Where would we be without it? I think we get a hint from these verses.
- Luke 16:26
- 1 Nephi 12:18
- 2 Nephi 1:13
- Alma 26:20
- Helaman 3:29–30
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