The first aspect of the doctrine of restoration was that the body would be restored to the eternal soul. The idea of restoration is that something that was important in this earth life will also be important in the next life, and therefore they are restored to the soul after death. The body is one of those things, but the deeds we have done in this life are also important, and they also affect our next life. Therefore, deeds are also restored.
In Alma’s language, good works are restored to good works, and evil works are restored as evil. That language simply means that what we do in this life determines the type of person we are, what our character is like. The habits and inclinations to do good will rise with us. The habits and inclinations to do evil will rise with us. This earth is important in that it develops our characters, and what we learn is restored to us in the next life.
As with other aspects of the gospel, Alma’s discussion deals in two opposite absolutes; good and evil. We should not see this restoration as counting deeds, but rather as representing what we have become. Thus, in verse 5, “The one raised to happiness according to his desires of happiness, or good according to his desires of good; and the other to evil according to his desires of evil.” What we have done in this life determines our desires, and we will have those same desires in the next life. That is the sense in which they are a restoration.