http://ldsliving.com/story/78498-8-things-the-atonement-is-not?utm_source=ldsliving&utm_medium=email
As
much as we study Christ’s Atonement, we can never comprehend it entirely. But
as we try to understand what it is—and isn’t—we can come to understand how it
applies more fully in our everyday lives.
All my life I thought Big Ben was a
famous clock tower in London. I was absolutely sure of it and had even taught
that fact to others. Then I went to London and found out that Big Ben is
actually the nickname of the largest bell inside the tower, which is now called
the Elizabeth Tower in honor of the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. And
if we are going to get picky, it’s not even officially in London, but rather in
Westminster. In that moment, the bell and the tower had not changed, but my
understanding certainly did.
In the same way, we sometimes go
through our entire lives thinking we understand the Atonement—the central
doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—and then suddenly
we have an experience that helps us see it in a new light. The doctrine has not
changed, but our understanding has deepened. These moments of insight help us
appreciate and value the Atonement more and more. Here are a few “Big Ben”
realizations about the Atonement that have made a difference to me:
1. The Atonement is not just about immortality and
eternal life but about not having one without the other.
Living forever may not be such a
great gift without the possibility of living with God and loved ones. When my
daughter Whitney was in elementary school, she read Tuck Everlasting—a
wonderful novel that tells the story of a fictional family finding the fountain
of youth, drinking, and then discovering that living forever is not all it’s
cracked up to be.
One night while I was putting
Whitney to bed, she asked, “Dad, you know how you say because of Jesus we will
live forever? Well what if I don’t want to?” What joy I felt as I was able to
testify to my young daughter that immortality is only part of Jesus’ great
gift. It is coupled with the possibility of eternal families and eternal
purpose.
2. The Atonement is not just about sins but also
struggles.
Even though many of our challenges
do not make us unworthy, they can still pull us from God. How often do we raise
angry fists toward heaven and cry, “Why me?” instead of humbly reaching out to
God and Christ?
Christ descended below all
things. This includes our mistakes, loneliness, and afflictions. Christ’s
Atonement qualifies Him to be able to succor us in desperate moments because He
has literally felt our pains.
3. The Atonement is not just about receiving but
also giving.
Great perspective awaits those who
are willing to see that as we choose to accept and use this gift, we also bring
joy and glory to God. Sometimes we mistakenly believe God and Jesus already
have everything, but they don’t have you or me until we consciously give
ourselves to them.
As we freely offer our hearts and
wills, we can bring Them great joy. I find purpose and satisfaction in knowing
that in this small and simple way, I have something to give Them.
Without us, the blessed emblems of
the sacrament would simply sit in trays each Sunday. It is up to us to pick
them up and internalize them. As we do so, we are not just receiving, we are
also giving.
4. The Atonement is not just about earning but also
learning.
Our faith, repentance, covenants,
and efforts to receive the Holy Ghost and endure to the end are not works
performed to earn salvation. Rather, they are how Christ is transforming us. He
asks us to follow Him and keep His commandments, not to earn our way to heaven
but to become more heavenly.
We chose to enter this mortal school
because we knew that through the Atonement, not only could we go home but we
could also be better for having come.
5. The Atonement is not just about immediate
perfection but also eventual perfection.
Justice requires immediate
perfection or a punishment if that perfection is not attained. Because Christ
took that punishment for us, He can now provide a different arrangement. He
calls for eventual perfection and offers to support us throughout the process.
We don’t go to church and partake of the sacrament because we are perfect but
because we are willing to be perfected. We don’t go to the temple because we
have made it, but because within those walls God and Christ are making us more
like Them. They could change us in an instant, but strength so easily attained
is not strength at all. This is why, as Christ and Heavenly Father
change us from human to divine, They typically do it the same way that a child
learns to walk—over time. Time is the medium through which the power of the
Atonement is made manifest in our lives.
Enduring to the end doesn’t just
mean to the end of the week, month, year, or even the end of this life.
Enduring to the end means enduring to our ultimate end— becoming more
like God and Jesus.
6. The Atonement is not just a reward for the
righteous but the source of righteousness.
Grace is the divine help and
enabling power that is available throughout the entire perfecting process.
Christ stands ready to forgive, but also ready to mentor, strengthen, and
empower us.
These gifts are not a reward waiting
for us once we get our acts together, break all our bad habits, and become
worthy of His help. They are an unearned and undeserved gift throughout our
quest. We must be careful not to see Christ’s grace as somehow supplementing
our works or our works as somehow supplementing Christ’s grace, as if we have
to meet some sort of minimum height requirement to get into heaven. It is not
about height. It is about growth.
We do not reach heaven by
supplementing but by covenanting. A covenant represents a warm relationship
between two friends who are working together toward the same end. Instead of
speaking of His part and my part, I try to speak more of His heart and my heart
loving and reflecting one another.
7. The Atonement is not because we are good but
because God and Christ are good.
They love us not because we are
always loveable, but because They are always loving. Understanding this helps
us feel Their love even when we don’t see any reason to love ourselves. “I’ll
never do it again,” we say. Then we do it. “Now I really mean it. I will never
do it again.” And then we do it. At such low moments, it is easy to become
discouraged and lose hope. We have such a hard time forgiving ourselves that we
mistakenly believe God and Christ must be feeling the same way. We think each
setback is devastating, but God and Christ simply recognize them as growing
pains.
Jesus suffered for our sins—plural.
That means multiple sins, but that also means multiple times we commit the same
sin as we learn how to break bad habits once and for all. “Never again” may be
the ultimate goal, but in the meantime we can set more realistic milestones to
reach along the way. Each time we repent and start again, we are one step
closer to our ultimate goal—usually much closer than we think. The love of God
and Jesus is perfect—offered consistently through our moments of great success
or utter failure. Although we often want to give up on ourselves, God and Jesus
will never give up on us. Their hearts simply cannot and will not let go.
8. The Atonement is not just the best way but the
only way.
Christ is not just one of several
possible correct answers on a multiple choice exam. He is the only correct
answer. In today’s world, it is not popular or politically correct to speak of
absolutes. Some claim truth is relative and constructed by each person
individually. They don’t want to abandon sin and get comfortable with God.
Rather, they wish to abandon God and get comfortable with sin. None of this
changes Christ’s reality and their absolute dependence on Him.
As Latter-day Saints, we know Christ
and His Atonement are the source of all spiritual blessings. As King Benjamin
taught, “There shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby
salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of
Christ” (Mosiah 3:17).
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