The Atonement

It's May - I haven't written since the end of March - I skipped Easter, two trips to Szeged, Labor day... so here I am writing again. I was going through some of my things today, and I found an essay I wrote on my mission about the atonement. It was an assignment President Lundberg gave us. I read it today, and I want to share it with you. I hope you will enjoy it.

 THE ATONEMENT

        

       The atonement is the most important event in the history of humankind. It is Christ's selfless sacrifice, which comprises his sinless life, his sufferings in the Garden of Gethsemane, the beating and mocking that followed, his crucification, and his glorious resurrection. Questions are asked regarding it: why is it necessary? how was it accomplished? who needs the atonement? how can one use it in their life? what are the blessings we can enjoy because of it? Thanks to the scriptures we have received, we can answer each of these questions. 

       To answer why the atonement is necessary, we have to go back to the garden of Eden. There, Adam and Eve chose to partake of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. That choice brought consequences that affect each of us today: every person is subject to injury, we age and die, and we sin, thus living in a fallen state (see "Preach My Gospel",pg.51)

We learn from the scriptures that we have the knowledge necessary to choose good or evil, each of us being accountable for our actions. Unfortunately, we don't always make the right choice. (see Moroni 7:15-16) We are told that our nature is carnal, sensual, and devilish (Alma 42) 

Why should we care to change our nature? We should think of God's justice, which has claim upon the sinner. His justice is what keeps us from returning to Him. Prophets have repeatedly taught us that no unclean thing can enter the kingdom of God. On our own, we are hopeless, shut out from God's presence. But through the atonement, through Jesus Christ, we can change our fallen state, we can experience healing, forgiveness (on conditions of repentance), resurrection and most of all, exaltation.

       How was the atonement accomplished? What did Christ do for us? 

Christ came to earth to take upon himself our transgressions, all our bad choices (Alma 34:8)

He suffered pain, afflictions, and temptations, to know what we go through, what our challenges are, and all these he did so he would know how to help us in times of need. (Alma 7:11-13)

He took upon him every sin of every person that has ever lived, preparing a way for us to overcome our natural self, and stand spotless before God at the judgement day.

He also took upon him the adamic curse (see Moroni 8:8), death having no more claim upon men. He was crucified, died, but resurrected. Because of his victory over death, each of us will live again.

       One would ask the question "Who needs the atonement?". Considering our fallen nature, and our dependence on God's mercy, we come to ask "Who doesn't need it?"

There are some who don't need to apply the atonement, it having a natural claim upon them without a requirement on their part. These fall into two categories: little children, and those who don't have (or don't have the capacity to understand) the law.

Little children are not capable of sin, they don't yet have the knowledge to sin (Moroni 8:22). 

Those who died without the law are innocent because of lack of knowledge. Where there is no knowledge, there is no sin (Romans 5:13)

Also, those who are not capable to understand the law, or distinguish the good from evil, are made clean (well... they can't get "dirty") through the atonement.

       The atonement has no influence upon us unless we do our part. There are many scriptures teaching us about it. We need to work for our salvation. God cannot help us unless we work (Alma 42:30) Prayer alone, asking for forgiveness, will not help us.

first, we need to stop making up excuses for sin. We need to be humble, which will lead us to repent (Alma 42:30)

We need to have faith in Jesus Christ, and be patient. 

This is a lifelong process, applying the atonement is not just a one time moment in our existence. We need to keep our hearts open to the word of God, to his Spirit (Alma 34:30-31)

Amulek taught the people of Christ and his gospel. He gave them advice on what they needed to do to have the atonement active in their lives. He taught them that they had to do everything with fear before God. That sounds scary, and hard, but the Bible Dictionary shows us that the "fear before God" actually means awe, reverence, praise, and worship. Amulek told people that they had to be humble, grateful, and patient. They had to bear all their afflictions, having a firm hope that one day they will rest from all their sufferings. they were to take Christ's name upon themselves through baptism, after which to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and follow his promptings (see Alma 34:37-41)

Alma taught that we had to repent, to lay aside every sin, to fear not, and to keep all the commandments. (Alma 7:14-16) We need to develop qualities like humility, submissiveness, being gentle, full of patience and longsuffering, temperance in all things, and diligence in keeping all the commandments of God.

We don't have to do all these on our own. We can ask for help through prayer, and express gratitude for things in our lives, which will lead us to being humble (Alma 7:23)

We need to come unto Christ. We do that by knocking (prayer), casting bad things away(repentance),  being humble, and going in by the gate (baptism). (See 2 Nephi 9:41-42)

Applying the atonement is a personal matter, a choice we need to make, each of us. No one else can  do it for us (2 Nephi 9:45-46)

       There are many things expected of us, but there are also many blessings promised for those who apply the atonement. every commandment comes with a blessing attached to it.

Some of these blessings are that we can be forgiven as we repent.

•  We can be cleansed from sin as we are baptized in Christ's church with his authority, as long as we keep our covenants. 
• We are freed from feelings of guilt and shame as we forgive ourselves.
• We receive help to endure trials, sickness, and pain as we rely and trust in Christ.
• We are filled with joy, peace, and comfort, while all that is unfair in life can be made right through Christ's love and mercy ("Preach My Gospel", pg.51-52)
• We can enjoy the Lord's presence through his Spirit as we keep ourselves clean (Alma 34:36)
• We can become worthy to return in God's presence, to enjoy all that he has to share, which is everything.
• The state we attain in this life will continue throughout eternity. If we become holy through the atonement, we will remain holy (Alma 34:33)
• As we follow Christ, we obtain a sufficient hope to enter in God's rest, and also to have a peaceable walk with the children of men (Moroni 7:3-4)
• We will be filled with charity, which will change us into chirstlike people (Moroni 7:48).
• We will enjoy eternal life, the greatest gift of all. (Alma 7:16, 2 Nephi 9:18)

       As we seek to do what is right, we will receive answers to our prayers. We can all come to understand the atonement better as we study, but mostly as we live the way the Lord wants us to live.