Antionah asks a good question. He is familiar enough with the scriptures to know that as soon as Adam confessed his sin in partaking of the fruit, God immediately placed angels in the way of the tree of life so that Adam would not live forever “in his sins.” Antionah interprets this to mean that it is impossible for Adam or any of his children to live forever. Because of his interpretation, he is confused by Alma’s open discussion of a resurrection in which the soul can never die.
The point of preventing Adam and Eve from partaking of the tree of life after they had become as the gods, knowing good and evil, is that they would be immortal in a sinful state. Nothing could be worse than to live forever having been severed from God by the first spiritual death. Alma says they would have been forever miserable (v. 26). Had they partaken of that fruit, they would never have been granted that probationary state where inevitable sin, repentance, and redemption become the great road back to the paradise of God. Alma teaches the doctrine more clearly to his son, Corianton:
’For behold, if Adam had put forth his hand immediately, and partaken of the tree of life, he would have lived forever, according to the word of God, having no space for repentance; yea, and also the word of God would have been void, and the great plan of salvation would have been frustrated.
But behold, it was appointed unto man to die--therefore, as they were cut off from the tree of life they should be cut off from the face of the earth--and man became lost forever, yea, they became fallen man.
And now, ye see by this that our first parents were cut off both temporally and spiritually from the presence of the Lord; and thus we see they became subjects to follow after their own will.
Now behold, it was not expedient that man should be reclaimed from this temporal death, for that would destroy the great plan of happiness.
Therefore, as the soul could never die, and the fall had brought upon all mankind a spiritual death as well as a temporal, that is, they were cut off from the presence of the Lord, it was expedient that mankind should be reclaimed from this spiritual death.
Therefore, as they had become carnal, sensual, and devilish, by nature, this probationary state became a state for them to prepare; it became a preparatory state…
Therefore, according to justice, the plan of redemption could not be brought about, only on conditions of repentance of men in this probationary state, yea, this preparatory state; for except it were for these conditions, mercy could not take effect except it should destroy the work of justice. Now the work of justice could not be destroyed; if so, God would cease to be God.’ (Alma 42:5-13)
John Taylor
“When Adam was driven from the garden, an angel was placed with a flaming sword to guard the way of the tree of life lest man should eat of it and become immortal in his degenerate state, and thus be incapable of obtaining that exaltation which he would be capable of enjoying through the redemption of Jesus Christ, and the power of the resurrection, with his renewed and glorified body.” (Gospel Kingdom, ed. by G. Homer Durham, p. 218)