3 Nephi 11:14
Whenever people do wrong, we think they need to be punished, that we cannot and should not be punished for them. We actually don't want to be punished in their behalf because they did wrong and therefore they deserve to pay the penalty. It is true that "We believe that men will be punished for their own sins and not for Adam's transgression." However, in the case of Christ and His atonement, He did suffer for the wrongs and sins of others, not for just a few people, but for the sins of ALL people--those who have lived in the past, those who do live in the present, and those will yet be born and live in the future. Jesus was slain for every individual and specific sin.
When we commit one sin, it hurts. Christ, being sinless, hurt and felt the pain of ALL sins, and this thought staggers the imagination. Our finite minds cannot think deeply enough or stretch widely enough to even begin to comprehend the suffering of Jesus.
Jesus said, (D&C 19:16-19)
16 For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent;
17 But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I;
18 Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink—
19 Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men.
“Coming to understand this great gift (the
Atonement) is an individual pursuit for each child of God.”M. Russell Ballard
“The Atonement and the Value of One Soul” Ensign,
May 2004, 84
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