Faith in the Atonement of Jesus Christ

"It is likewise through the grace of the Lord that individuals, through faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ and repentance of their sins, receive strength and assistance to do good works that they otherwise would not be able to maintain if left to their own means. This grace is an enabling power that allows men and women to lay hold on eternal life and exaltation after they have expended their own best efforts."
David L. Bednar
In the Strength of the Lord, David L. Bednar, BYU-I Devotional Address, then President of BYU-I. 

JESUS CHRIST: GRACE AND TRUTH

6 Wherefore, redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah; for he is full of grace and truth.

7 Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered.

--2 Nephi 2:6

Jesus Christ is the Holy Messiah, the one person possess totality of grace and truth, and “grace and truth forsake the evil one.” Jesus sacrificed himself, His own life, for the sins of the world, to fulfill the law, the law of Moses and the Law of God. His Atonement affects everyone such that all will experience a resurrection of body and spirit. The Atonement also impacts those who have a broken heart and contrite spirit, in other words, a repentant heart and an obedient spirit, for these are the ones who humble themselves in godly sorrow for their wrongs, change, and improve; they seek to live more Christlike lives; herein lies the deep impact from the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

JESUS CHRIST: THE MESSIAH

II Nephi 2:6-7 (Book of Mormon)

6 Wherefore, redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah; for he is full of grace and truth.

7 Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered.

Redemption, freedom from sin and guilt, is possible because of Jesus Christ, the Holy Messiah. He is grace and truth. Grace is His divine assistance, His infinite power and ability to forgive sins and to have total knowledge of us and our concerns. He even known our thoughts, intentions, desires, and motives. He desires us to come unto him and find relief and comfort in Him.

Jesus sacrificed himself for our sins, for our human errors and ways. He knew that we couldn’t make it by ourselves; therefore, our Father designed a plan that would send a Savior to the earth to compensate for what we couldn’t do after all we could do for ourselves. We can repent with Godly sorrow, but it takes a Savior, a Redeemer, even the Messiah to make repentance and forgiveness complete. So God the Father sent His Only Begotten Son, Jesus, to be the Great Atoner. We must offer up to God a broken (repentant) heart, and a contrite (obedient) spirit. God and Christ will do for us what it is impossible for us to do alone.

JESUS CHRIST: THE ONLY WAY

And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. (Revelation 5:8-9)

We sing a new song to our Savior, Jesus Christ, expressing our love and devotion, our remembrance of and acknowledgement of Him and His atoning sacrifice for us, that He has redeemed us by the shedding of His blood in Gethsemane and on the cross of Calvary. He suffered, bled, died, and was resurrected for every kindred, tongue, people, and nation. He is the only one with power to perform the perfect atonement. 

If we live righteously, apply the atoning blood of Christ in our lives, and endure faithfully to the end of mortality, we can become kings and priests, queens and priestesses to God our Heavenly Father forever and forever. We can lay our burdens and concerns on Christ, and He will lift us through. We can get through them like the children of Israel went through the Jordan River on dry ground; God the almighty made it possible; otherwise they couldn’t have done by themselves, without His divine assistance. If we have the will, Christ is the way. Look to Him in every thought, deed, motive, and desire, and He will seal us to Him.

JESUS CHRIST: ADVOCATE WITH THE FATHER

My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2)

We are God’s children. We have all sinned and continue to violate the laws and statutes of God daily, whether it be within the realm of sins of commission or sins of omission. Either way, we need some way and someone to champion our cause, the strait and narrow way of Christ-like living. Jesus Christ is this champion, this advocate with the Father that we need to reconcile us to the Father. Jesus is our support during our trials in mortality. He is the propitiation for our sins; in other words, He restores the peace of God back to us after our departure from the perfect ways of God and brings us back to Him. Jesus advocates or fights our battles with satan. Satan, Lucifer, seeks to destroy us and tear us down, to make us miserable as he is.

GRACE: Christ seeks to support and sustain us, to lift us up. “It is by grace that we are saved after all we can do” (See 2 Nephi 25:23). Grace is divine assistance, Godly help. After all we can do, Christ comes to us and gives us grace. If we stray away from Him, His grace goes away from us in proportion. If we strive to follow Him and obey Him 100% of the time, then His grace is sufficient for us to live and enjoy the abundant life, the type of life He is pleased with. Qualify for the grace of Christ by living the obedient life.

"WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?"

Titus 2:11-14

11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,

12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

By the grace, divine assistance, of God, we can gain salvation and hopefully exaltation. We earn and qualify for exaltation through righteous living, by denying ourselves all ungodliness and worldly lusts, and by living soberly, righteously and godly during our mortal life time. Our strength and wisdom come from our Savior Jesus Christ, who gave. He gave His time, talent, effort, attention, knowledge, and ultimately His life  to redeem us from sin and iniquity. Jesus is our precious Savior and Mediator. He is the Anointed One.

Christ lived a perfect life. He did the Father’s will 100%, and showed us by example how we should live in order to be saved in the Celestial Kingdom. He overcame the world, and so must we. We must put away worldly lusts, worldliness of all sorts. We should seek honestly to succeed in this world, sure, but not make greed and pride our motives, our top priorities. We need to take care of temporal things because we have a stewardship over our temporal lives, but these temporal things are just that-temporary. We need to seek for things of a better, for the more weightier matters of life. To God, all things are spiritual.

Ask,

1. “What would Jesus do?” or  
2. “What would Jesus have me do?” or “
3. What wouldst thou have me to do?”

Then listen and feel for the answers. Let Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost be our guides.

What Would Jesus Do?: by Marion G. Romney

The most satisfying solutions to problems and the best answers to questions that I have been able to make in my own life, I have arrived at as follows:

1. From my youth I have searched the scriptures.

2. I have tried to honestly face the challenge or question presented with a sincere desire to solve it as Jesus would solve it.

3. I have, through diligent study and prayer, sought to weigh alternatives in light of what I knew about gospel principles.

4. I have made a decision in my own mind.

5. I have then taken the matter to the Lord, told him the problem, told him that I wanted to do what was right in his view, and asked him to give me peace of mind if I have made the right decision.

This, I think, is in harmony with the pattern Jesus set by precept and example during his ministry on the earth.

Read the entire article

JESUS CHRIST: HE ATONED

Ephesians 1:7

We have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.

We are redeemed through the shedded blood of Jesus Christ. His atoning blood gives Christ power to forgive us of our sins and imperfections. Jesus’ blood atoneth for us; we just need to apply the atoning blood of Christ into our lives through obedience to the commandments and ordinances in order for the power of the atonement to take effect in us; otherwise, we remain in our sins and fall short of the glory of God.

Jesus’ grace makes us feel rich. As we are forgiven of our sins, we become reconciled to God, and we feel peace. The peace of Christ makes us feel rich toward God, and growing rich toward God is the only true form of being rich, for herein we have potential to experience the riches of eternity in the Celestial Kingdom with Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost, family and friends. This is exaltation, living forever in the hereafter the life that God lives now. It is all possible because of the infinite blood atonement and sacrifice of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I know this is true.

Jesus Christ: To Whom be Glory Forever

Galations 1:4

3 Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ,

4 Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:

5 To whom be glory for ever and ever.

Jesus worked and lived under the direction of God the Father. Jesus and His Father are two separate and distinct individuals that are united as one in purpose, plans, objectives, motives, and perfection. Jesus obeyed His Father in all that He did.

Jesus gave himself for the sins of the world so that the sinner wouldn’t have to suffer like He suffered. Sin brings bondage; whereas, obedience to God’s commandments brings peace, happiness, and freedom. Peace in this life and eternal life in the hereafter are readily available to those who follow Christ and thus qualify for His grace, His divine assistance and help.

We live in an evil, cruel, and unfair world where so many call evil good and good evil, where society has gotten to the point that nothing anymore is right or wrong. We are getting closer to the Second Coming of the Savior because the world increases in sins more by the minute, especially in Federal judges who, in most cases, are servants of satan and sin. Beware! Follow Christ in spite of some of the worldly leaders. Leaders of the world will suffer and be accountable for the evil decisions they make that enable so many others to sin. Jesus Christ and His Gospel are still our guide and standard we are to abide by. Endure faithfully to the end in living the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the first principle is to have faith in Jesus Christ, and to whom we give glory to forever and forever.

Jesus Christ: Redemption Through

Romans 3:23-24

23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

Jesus Christ brings about redemption through His grace. “By grace we are saved after all we can do” (See 2 Nephi 25:23). Grace is divine assistance, help from God and Jesus and the Holy Ghost. No one is perfect since we have all sinned, but the gift of eternal life is found in Jesus Christ our Lord. Salvation is obtained in His name and no other. He is the first and the last, even Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He holds all creations in His hands and sees everything and everybody all in the present, eternity past and eternity future. Jesus makes all things possible, for “With God, nothing shall be impossible.”

Jesus Christ: Our Redeemer

Job 19:25-26

For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:

And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:

Job had a testimony that Jesus lives, that He was indeed the Redeemer of mankind. He testified that he knew that Jesus would return to the earth in the latter day for His Second Coming and would reign on the earth during the millennium with righteous saints. The Second Coming will be a great and dreadful: great for those spiritually prepared; dreadful for those who are not prepared. The choice is ours.

Christ is our Redeemer. A redeemer is one who redeems, who compensates for the faults or sins or shortcomings of another; to save, preserve, spare. Jesus enables us to be saved from death and everlasting misery and woe through His infinite Atonement. Salvation is obtained through Him and in Him, for there is no other. By our faith and good works, and by the grace of God we are eventually saved from the sinful world.

"O Lord, My Redeemer" 

Video by Jeff Goodrich

Jesus Christ: The Only Begotten and Savior

Moses 1:6

And I have a work for thee, Moses, my son; and thou art in the similitude of mine Only Begotten; and mine Only Begotten is and shall be the Savior, for he is full of grace and truth; but there is no God beside me, and all things are present with me, for I know them all.

Jesus, the Only Begotten of the Father, is the Savior of the world who is full of divine assistance (grace) and truth (knowledge of things past, present, and future). He sees all things for all things are present before Him. He sees the beginning to the end, for there isn’t anything save He knows it.

We are created in the image of God and can become like Him through our thoughts, desires, works, and His grace. “For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do” (See 2 Nephi 26:23). Grace is divine help from deity, His free gift and favor to us.  

Jesus Christ: The Lamb of God the Eternal Father

1 Nephi 13:40

“The Lamb of God is the Son of the Eternal Father, and the Savior of the world; and that all men must come unto him, or they cannot be saved.”

Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God the Eternal Father. He is God the Father’s Son, His Only Begotten Son in the flesh. He is the one Lamb that followed His shepherd, God the Eternal Father, perfectly. He is the Savior of this world and all worlds created without number. Our finite numbering system isn’t capable of calculating the large number of worlds that have been created. The only mathematical concept that comes close to counting the number of worlds God has created is the idea of infinity: never-ending. Jesus’ atonement was infinite. The Great Atoner’s  influence reaches into infinity, endless.

Jesus is the model, the exemplar for all of us to follow and pattern our lives after. He is supreme. Seeking to improve our lives is to become more like Christ. As we are in the process of becoming more as Christ is, then we are coming unto Christ. We are coming closer to the standard of living that the Christ-like life reflects. Coming unto Christ brings us nearer the goal of eternal life, being saved. “For we know that it is by grace that we are saved after all we can do” (See 2 Nephi 25:23). The grace of Christ finally saves us. Grace is God’s help, His divine assistance. Without Him, the Lamb of God, we could not make it back home to live in His and the Father’s presence.