What young Alma has experienced is the miracle of faith unto repentance. When we exert ourselves mentally and spiritually (think deeply about things and exercise faith), we begin the process of repentance. We plead for forgiveness through the merits of Christ’s atoning sacrifice. Guilt can be swept away as we begin to become like Christ and act with Christlike love. Thus Alma places Jesus Christ, the Son of God, at the center of his focus in teaching Helaman the principles of the Atonement and the process of being liberated from the crushing burden of sin and admitted into the glorious peace of forgiveness.