of the great Creator, there must needs be a power of resurrection,
and the resurrection must needs come unto man by reason of the fall;
and the fall came by reason of transgression; and because man became
fallen, they were cut off from the presence of the Lord; Wherefore it
must needs be an infinite atonement; save it should be an infinite
atonement, this corruption could not put on incorruption. Wherefore,
the first judgment which came upon man must needs have remained to an
endless duration. . .. And it shall come to pass, that when all men
shall have passed from this first death unto life, insomuch as they
have become immortal, they must appear before the judgment-seat of the
Holy One of Israel; and then cometh the judgment, and then must they
be judged according to the holy judgment of God. . .. And he suffereth
this, that the resurrection might pass upon all men, that all might
stand before him at the great and judgment day. And he commandeth all
men that they must repent, and be baptized in his name, having perfect
faith in the Holy One of Israel, or they cannot be saved in the kingdom
of God. And if they will not repent and believe in his name, and be
baptized in his name, and endure to the end, they must be damned; for
the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has spoken it." (Book of Mormon,
2 Nephi 9:6, 7, 15, 22-24).
-- 12 --
THE NEED OF A REDEEMER
Man Cannot Exalt Himself
THE Scriptures inform us that, prior to his transgression in Eden,
Adam held direct and personal communion with God; and that one of the
immediate consequences of his fall, which was brought about through
disobedience, was his forfeiture of that exalted association. He was
shut out from the presence of God, and though he heard the Divine Voice
he no longer was permitted to behold the Presence of the Lord. This
banishment was to the man spiritual death; and its infliction brought
into effect the predicted penalty, that in the day of his sin he would
surely die. See Gen. 2:17; Pearl of Great Price, p. 14.
Through partaking of food unsuited to their condition and against
which they had been specifically forewarned, the man and his wife
became subject to physical degeneracy; and, eventually, as Satan the
arch-tempter had foreseen, both the man and the woman had to suffer
bodily death. Their offspring were directly affected by the hereditary
enthralment, to which Abel fell a victim even during the life-time of
his parents.
Death came into the world through sin; the imperfections and frailties
incident to the mortal state are conducive to sin; and man is prone
in an inexcusable degree to readily yield thereto. So general is sin
operative in the world that the wise comment of the ancient preacher
stands unchallenged: "There is not a just man upon earth, that doeth
good and sinneth not." (Eccles. 7:20). And the admonitory precept given
by John the Apostle has lost none of its inspired forcefulness with
time: "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the
truth is not in us." (1 John 1:8).
This sinful and fallen condition of mankind and the universal
infliction of death are dominant elements of Satan's diabolical scheme
to subdue the embodied spirits, whom he, as the rebellious son of the
morning, had failed to draw to his standard in the conflict of primeval
hosts. See Rev. 12:7-9; Isa. 14:12; also D&C 29:36-38 and 76:25-27.
God provided a way by which His spirit-children would become embodied
as a means of advancement; Satan introduced degeneracy and death in an
attempt to thwart the Divine purpose.
Death may claim its victim in infancy or youth, in the period of
life's prime or when the snows of age have settled heavily upon the
venerable head; it may come through disease or accident, by violence,
or as what we call the result of natural causes; but come it must, as
Satan well knows; and in that knowledge lies his present though but
temporary triumph. But the ways of God, as they ever have been and ever
shall be, are infinitely more potent than the deepest designs of men
or devils; and the Satanic machinations to make death perpetual and
supreme were foreseen and provided against even before the first man
had been clothed in flesh. The Atonement wrought by Jesus Christ was
ordained to overcome death, and to provide a means of ransom from sin
and consequent deliverance from the dominion of Satan.
As the natural and inevitable penalty incident to Adam's fall came
upon the race through individual transgression, it would be manifestly
unjust and therefore impossible as part of the Divine plan to make all
men suffer the results thereof without provision for emancipation.
"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin;
and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: Therefore
as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation;
even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men
unto justification of life." (Rom. 5:12, 18). And further: "For since
by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For
as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." (1 Cor.
15:21, 22; see further Book of Mormon, Mosiah 3:11, 12).
Without assistance from some power superior to his own, fallen man
would remain eternally in his state of spiritual banishment from the
presence of God. He is tainted and defiled through sin; and though
he must pass the gates of death, that change from the embodied to
the disembodied state cannot consistently be regarded as a means of
ransom from the effect of transgression. We find in Nature an analogy
applicable to our present demonstration; though in its use the present
writer claims no credit for originality.
The lifeless mineral, belonging to the lowest of the "three kingdoms,"
may grow big through accretion of substance, and may attain relative
perfection of structure and form as in the crystal. But, though placed
in the most favorable environment, no mineral particle unassisted by
the power incident to life can become part of a living organism such
as the plant. The living plant, however, may reach down to the mineral
plane, and by absorption and assimilation make the mineral part of its
own organic tissue. So the plant, though of itself utterly powerless to
attain the yet higher plane of animal tissue, may be assimilated by the
animal and become part thereof. And so with respect to either plant or
animal substance becoming a constituent of human tissue.
So for the advancement of man from his present fallen state to the
higher condition of spiritual life, a power greater than his own is
requisite. Through the operation of laws obtaining in the spiritual
world man may be reached and lifted; himself he cannot exalt. A
Redeemer and Savior is essential to the accomplishment of the Father's
plan, which is "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of
man" (Pearl of Great Price, p. 7); and that Redeemer and Savior is
Jesus the Christ, beside whom there is and can be no other.
-- 13 --
CHRIST'S UNIQUE STATUS
As Redeemer and Savior of the World
TO hosts of earnest and thoughtful people, comprising many who devoutly
believe in the efficacy of our Lord's atoning death as a means of
redemption from death and salvation from sin, it is a matter of
surpassing wonder that the sacrifice of a single life could be made an
effective means of emancipation for mankind.
Scriptures ante-dating the Savior's earthly life plainly aver that the
Atonement to be made by Him was to be a vicarious sacrifice, voluntary
and love-inspired on His part, and universal in its application so
far as human-kind would avail themselves of its beneficent means.
These conditions were confirmed by the personal affirmations of the
embodied Christ, and are attested by Scriptures post-dating the tragic
consummation on Calvary.
The concept of vicarious service, in which one may act or officiate
for and in behalf of another, is as old as the race. It is, however,
fundamentally opposed to the unscriptural assumption that the merits
of one man may be accounted to the cancellation of another's sins.
Scriptures both ancient and modern, the traditions of the human family,
the rites of altar sacrifice, and even the sacrileges of heathen
idolatry involve the basal conception of vicarious atonement. This
principle, of Divine establishment in its original and uncorrupted
form, was revealed to Adam (Pearl of Great Price, pp. 19-20), who
offered sacrifices in the similitude of the then future death of the
Lamb of God, and was taught and practised by later prophets down to the
time of Christ.
The Scriptures relieve us from the assumption that any ordinary mortal,
by voluntarily giving up his life even as a martyr to the best of
causes, could become a ransom for the sins of his fellows and a victor
over death. Jesus Christ, though He lived and died as one of the human
family, was of unique nature. Never has another such as He walked the
earth. Christ was the only Being among all the embodied spirit-children
of God suited to and acceptable as the great sacrifice of atonement, in
these definite and distinct respects:
1. He was the One chosen and foreordained in the heavens to this
specific service.
2. He was and is the Only Begotten of the Father in the body, and
therefore the only Being ever born to earth who possessed in their
fulness the inherent attributes of both Godhood and manhood.
3. He was and is the one and only sinless Man who has lived in
mortality.
Concerning our Lord's foreordination as the Redeemer and Savior, He
has given us personal testimony with which the utterances of prophets
who lived before His birth and apostles who taught after His death are
in harmony. Twenty-two centuries before the meridian of time, the then
unembodied Christ revealed Himself to a Book of Mormon prophet, saying:
"Behold I am he who was prepared from the foundation of the world to
redeem my people. Behold I am Jesus Christ." (Book of Mormon, Ether
3:14). Unto Moses the Father spake, saying: "Thou art in the similitude
of mine Only Begotten, and mine Only Begotten is and shall be the
Savior." (Pearl of Great Price, p. 2). These Scriptures are in accord
with Peter's testimony of Christ as "a Lamb without blemish and without
spot, who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world."
(1 Peter 1:19-20).
As the Eternal Father's Only Begotten Son in the flesh, Christ
possessed the inborn power to withstand death indefinitely, and this
just as naturally as that He, being the offspring of a mortal mother,
should derive the ability to die. Jesus Christ inherited through
the operation of the natural law of heredity the physical, mental,
and spiritual attributes of His parents--the Father immortal and
glorified, the mother human. He could not be slain until His hour had
come, the hour in which He would voluntarily give up His life, and
permit His own decease as an act of will. How else are His definite
asseverations concerning Himself to be construed? Consider for example
this: "Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life,
that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down
of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it
again." (John 10:17-18). And further: "For as the Father hath life in
himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself." (John
5:26).
Christ died, not as other men have died or shall die, because of
inability to escape death, but for a special purpose by voluntary
surrender. Thus, the atoning sacrifice was no usual death of an
ordinary man, but the decease of One who had the power to live. It was
a sacrifice, indeed! [1]
As a sinless Man Christ was exempt from the dominion of Satan; and
was sublimely conscious of His own perfect probity. He challenged
assailants with the pertinent demand "Which of you convinceth me of
sin?" (John 8:46); and in the hour of His entrance into Gethsemane
solemnly averred: "The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in
me." (John 14:30).
Had our Lord died as the result of Satan's power over Him through
transgression, His death would have been but an individual experience,
expiatory in no degree of any offenses but His own. His absolute
freedom from spot or blemish of sin made Him eligible, His humility
and willingness rendered Him acceptable as the propitiatory sacrifice
for the sins of the world. In these respects, as in that of His having
life in Himself and therefore power over death, He was of a status
absolutely unique among men. With this knowledge spake the ancient
Hebrew prophet, saying: "As the Lord God liveth, there is none other
name given under heaven, save it be this Jesus Christ of which I have
spoken, whereby man can be saved." (Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 25:20).
Footnotes
1. For comprehensive treatment see the author's work "Jesus the
Christ," 800 pp., _The Deseret News_, Salt Lake City, Utah.
-- 14 --
PHILOSOPHY OF THE ATONEMENT
Its Two-fold Effect
BELIEF in the efficacy of the death of Jesus Christ as a means of
atonement, whereby redemption and salvation are made possible, is an
essential feature of distinctively Christian religion. That belief if
sustained by works constitutes faith in or acceptance of the Christ as
the Only Begotten Son of God, and is supported by the Holy Scriptures
of all ages. Nevertheless, to most of us, the fact of the Atonement is
a great mystery.
Be it remembered that the effect of the Atonement is two-fold: (1)
Redemption of the human race from physical death, which entered the
world as a result of Adam's transgression; and (2) Salvation, whereby
means of relief from the results of individual sin are provided.
Victory over death and the tomb became manifest in the resurrection
of the crucified Christ. Of all who have lived in the flesh He was
the first to come from the grave with spirit and body reunited, a
resurrected, immortalized Soul. Justly, therefore, is He called "the
firstfruits of them that slept" (1 Cor. 15:20); "the firstborn from the
dead" (Col. 1:18); and "the first begotten of the dead." (Rev. 1:5).
Immediately following our Lord's resurrection, "many bodies of the
saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his
resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many."
(Matt. 27:52-53).
We learn that in due time everyone who has lived and died on earth
shall be resurrected, "they that have done good, unto the resurrection
of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of
damnation." (John 5:29). However, the order in which we shall be
resurrected is determined by individual conditions of righteousness
or guilt. (See 1 Cor. 15:23; Rev. 20:5-6.) A latter-day Scripture,
describing the general resurrection of the just, incident to the
approaching advent of Christ, embodies the Lord's declaration in these
words: "The trump of God shall sound both long and loud, and shall say
to the sleeping nations, Ye saints arise and live; ye sinners stay and
sleep until I shall call again." (D&C 43:18).
The second effect of the Atonement makes salvation possible to all
men through obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel; and
of these the following are fundamental: (1) Faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ; (2) Repentance; (3) Baptism by immersion for the remission of
sins; (4) Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.
It is evident that but for the Atonement accomplished by the Savior,
there could be no resurrection from the dead (see Book of Mormon, 2
Nephi 9:7-12); and advancement from the disembodied state would be
impossible. And just as plainly the Scriptures declare that without the
Atonement of Christ mankind would be left in their sins, without means
of making amends therefor and receiving remission thereof.
We have learned but little of the eternal laws operative in the
heavens; but that God's purposes are accomplished through and by law
is beyond question. There can be no irregularity, inconsistency,
arbitrariness or caprice in His doings, for such would mean injustice.
Therefore, the Atonement must have been effected in accordance with
law. The self-sacrificing life, the indescribable agony, and the
voluntary death of One who had life in Himself with power to halt His
torturers at any stage, and whom none could slay until He permitted,
must have constituted compliance with the eternal law of justice,
propitiation and expiation by which victory over sin and death could be
and has been achieved. Through the mortal life and sacrificial death of
our Lord Jesus Christ the demands of justice have been fully met, and
the way is opened for the lawful ministration of mercy so far as the
effects of the Fall are concerned.
Sin, followed by death, came into the world through the transgression
of one man. The entailment of mortality upon that man's posterity, with
all its elements of a fallen state, is natural, we say, because we
think we know something about heredity. Is it any more truly natural
that one man's transgression should be of universal effect than that
the redeeming and saving achievement of One, fully empowered and
qualified for the work of atonement, should be of universal blessing?
The ancient Apostles were explicit in answer. Thus spake Paul:
"Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to
condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came
upon all men unto justification of life." (Rom. 5:18). And further:
"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man
Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all." (1 Tim. 2:5-6).
Christ, victor over sin and death, established His right to prescribe
the conditions under which man may attain salvation, and these are
summarized as obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel. That
the physical, mental, and spiritual agony preceding and accompanying
the crucifixion was real and necessary to the accomplishment of His
fore-appointed mission has been affirmed by the Christ in the current
dispensation: "For behold I, God, have suffered these things for all,
that they might not suffer if they would repent; but if they would not
repent, they must suffer even as I. 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--Nevertheless, glory be to the
Father, and I partook and finished my preparation unto the children of
men. Wherefore, I command you again to repent." (D&C 19:16-20).
-- 15 --
HOW DOES CHRIST SAVE?
His Plan Combines Justice and Mercy
THE results of the Atonement accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ
comprise (1) universal deliverance from bodily death, that is to say
the assured resurrection of all the dead, and (2) deliverance from the
effects of individual sin.
It is but just that since death has been entailed upon the entire race
through the act of our first parents, redemption therefrom should
be likewise universal, without effort or sacrifice on our part.
We shall each be resurrected from death, our disembodied spirits
tabernacling again in their bodies of flesh and bones, whether we
be relatively clean, or filthy from sin; but the time or order of
our respective liberation from the grave will be determined by our
state of righteousness or guilt. So the Scriptures aver. (See e. g.
John 5:28-29; 1 Cor. 15:23; Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 9:6-13; and D&C
88:96-102.)
Herein is a lawful adjustment between justice and mercy. We are mortal
through no personal fault; we shall be made immortal without personal
merit. Such is justice. And though many have committed crimes far
more heinous than Adam's disobedience, even they shall eventually be
absolved from their hereditary mortality. Such is mercy.
The Divine plan of salvation, made effective through the Atonement,
is likewise of universal application, so that every man may become a
beneficiary thereof; but that plan is not self-operative. The Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints summarizes the conditions in this
wise:
"We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for
Adam's transgression.
"We believe that, through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be
saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel."
However great his moral weakness and sinful tendencies entailed by
heredity, every responsible individual knows right from wrong, with
some degree of conviction; and in the final judgment of that soul every
element, whether of extenuation or crimination, will be taken into
due account. Means of making amends for sin, and thereby establishing
eligibility as fit subjects for remission or forgiveness, are freely
offered to all men; but the prescribed conditions must be complied with
or the incubus of sin can not be lifted.
Salvation is not to be had for the mere asking. It is too precious
a pearl to be wantonly cast at the feet of the unrepentant and
unregenerate who, heedless of its eternal worth, would fain tread it
into the mire wherein they wallow. Christ's plan for saving the souls
of men contemplates no universal and unconditional remission of sins.
That would be justice travestied and mercy corrupted. So far as I am
personally responsible for sin, I, and I alone am accountable. This is
just. But though I make all material restitution possible to my brother
whom I may have wronged, I cannot alone wipe the stain of guilt from
my soul. To obtain remission from God whose laws I have violated, to
be again reconciled to Him through expiation for my transgression, I
am in dire need of help. That help is provided through obedience to
the laws and ordinances of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am not left
without hope; but on the contrary have the Divine assurance of possible
emancipation. This is mercy, indeed.
"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that
believeth not shall be damned." (Mark 16:16). So spake the Christ. The
belief here specified must mean that active, vital, potent belief which
we distinctively designate faith. A mere assent of the mind to any
proposition, without application and action, remains a mental concept
and nothing more. Our Lord's association of belief with baptism is
proof that no empty or idle belief can avail to save. Genuine faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ naturally leads to obedience to His commands; and
the firstfruits of faith are embodied in repentance. None but the truly
repentant believer is an acceptable subject for baptism.
Thus no man can consistently hope for salvation in the Kingdom of God
except through the Atonement of Jesus Christ; and the Atonement is made
operative for the remission of sins through individual compliance with
the conditions explicitly set forth by "the author of eternal salvation
unto all them that obey him." (Heb. 5:9). Christ's method of saving
souls is that of providing definite means, which any one may accept or
reject to his own eternal gain or loss.
Universal amnesty for crime may serve to increase crime. God's system
of benevolence, which comprises and exceeds all that we call charity,
consists in helping sinners to help themselves. Indiscriminate giving
fosters pauperism in both the temporal and the spiritual sense. Man
alone cannot save himself; and just as truly, Christ alone cannot save
him. Obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel is the price of
salvation.
An ancient Hebrew prophet thus set forth in simplicity the plan of
salvation dependent upon the Atonement of Christ:
"His blood atoneth for the sins of those who have fallen by the
transgression of Adam, who have died, not knowing the will of God
concerning them, or who have ignorantly sinned. But, wo, wo unto him
who knoweth that he rebelleth against God; for salvation cometh to
none such, except it be through repentance and faith on the Lord Jesus
Christ." (Book of Mormon, Mosiah 3:11-12).
In these latter days the Lord hath given this commandment unto the
Church: "Thou shalt declare repentance and faith on the Savior and
remission of sins by baptism and by fire, yea, even the Holy Ghost."
(D&C 19:31.)
-- 16 --
HEAVEN AND HELL
Graded Conditions in the Hereafter
THE destiny of souls in the hereafter is a subject of persistent
interest and concern in human belief and speculation. Even pagan
literature and the languages of heathendom testify to a general though
ofttimes vague conception of two widely separated places or strongly
contrasted states of future existence, which are in the main equivalent
to the heaven and the hell of dogmatic theology.