In the Book of Mormon, the prophet Mormon
wrote,
“And it came to pass that my sorrow did return unto me again,
and I saw that the Day of Grace was past with them.”
The phrase “day of grace” only appears
once in the scriptures,
so it is hard to know what it might mean.
The 1828 Webster’s Dictionary, a dictionary
from Joseph Smith’s own time and place,
defines the day of grace as a “time of probation,
when an offer is made to sinners.”
It is possible that the “day of grace”
signified extra time
that God gave the Nephites to repent.
It also seems to come from a definition having
to do with commerce.
Today, people usually refer to this as a “grace period.”
In other words, the day of grace is extra
time given for a person to pay a debt,
which in a spiritual sense means that God gives
his children extra time to repent.
Mormon 2 seems to imply that the death penalty
was the punishment that had been delayed for a time.
This very physical destruction that the Nephites
were experiencing at this time
helps to explain Mormon’s comment about the day of grace.
Furthermore, in some ways, mercy is a matter
of time.
If God instantly punished sin,
people would have no time to feel remorse, repent, and become better.
God grants people a “day of grace” to
see if they will “repent and serve God”.
People have the opportunity to repent and
receive God’s grace
through the mercy of Christ,
before the full weight of justice
falls upon them.
God has provided us all with the opportunity
to repent and come to Him.
Instead of immediately punishing us when we
sin,
He gives us the necessary time to change our lives,
be healed through the redemption
of Christ,
and ultimately avoid the same fate that the Nephites brought upon themselves.
And now you know why.
