Spiritual Strength: The Atonement
What would
Heavenly Father have me do today?
INTRODUCTION
Strengthening
yourself spiritually is the most important thing you can do for yourself each
day. Remember to set a goal, if you haven’t already, to do something daily to
Spiritually Strengthen yourself.
The Atonement is
the supreme expression of our Heavenly Father’s love for us. It is also the
greatest expression of the Savior’s love for the Father and for us. No doctrine
of the gospel is more important than the Atonement of Jesus Christ. As Joseph
Smith declared, “ The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony
of the Apostles and Prophets concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried
and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things
which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it.”
It
is important to have a personal understanding of the Atonement and how it
applies to you as an individual. President James E Faust said, “Our salvation
depends on believing in and accepting the Atonement. Such acceptance requires a
continual effort to understand it more fully.”
POINTS TO PONDER
· The
Atonement of Christ redeems me from spiritual death through repentance and
obedience.
· By
partaking of the sacrament, I can remember Jesus Christ and His Atonement.
· Through
obedience to the commandments of the Lord I can obtain the promise to always
have His Spirit to be with me.
SUPPORTING
SCRIPTURES AND QUOTES
The Atonement of Christ redeems me from
spiritual death through repentance and obedience.
“There
is no other way or means whereby man can be saved, only through the atoning
blood of Jesus Christ” (Helaman 5:9)
“Understanding
what we can of the Atonement and the Resurrection of Christ helps us to obtain
a knowledge of Him and of His mission. Any increase in our understanding of His
atoning sacrifice draw us closer to Him.” (James E Faust, Liahona, Jan 2002,
19-22)
“Remember
that our Savior, Jesus Christ, always builds us up and never tears us down. We
should apply the power of that example in the ways we use our time, including
our recreation and our diversions.” (Dallin H Oaks, The Atonement and Faith,
Liahona, Apr 2008, 8-13)
“The
Savior’s Atonement is portrayed as the healing power not only for sin, but also
for carelessness, inadequacy, and all mortal bitterness. The Atonement is not
just for sinners.” (Bruce C Hafen, Ensign, Apr 1990, 7)
“God
sent His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, into the world so that all of God’s
children would have the possibility of returning to live in His presence after
they die. Only through the Savior’s grace and mercy can we become clean from
sin so that we can live in our Heavenly Father’s presence. Becoming clean from
sin is being healed spiritually. (see 3 Nephi 9:13; 18:32)” (Preach My Gospel,
60)
BLESSINGS OF THE ATONEMENT
An
excerpt from The 12 Purposes of Life written by Jay A Parry
The blessings of
the Atonement might be put into two categories: help with the negative things
in life, and gifts of positive things.
As we partake of the atonement of Jesus
Christ, we receive significant help with the challenges, trials, and negative
aspects of our lives. To use scriptural terms:
1.
The Lord will help us with
our pains, afflictions, sicknesses, and infirmities.
2.
He will help us overcome
weakness and temptations of every kind.
3.
He has power to loose the
bands of death and to blot out our transgressions.
4.
He can five us peace in our
trials.
5.
He can help us carry our
burdens
6.
He can help us with our
grief and sorrow. (Quoted in Gene R Cook, Teaching by the Spirit (2000), 205-8)
In addition,
through the atonement of Jesus Christ, we can receive his gifts and powers, the
positive things of life:
1.
He can help us to come to
greater obedience.
2.
He can give us the strength,
power, and capacity to please him – beyond our own abilities.
3.
He promises to provide
enabling means and power to accomplish his will in all things.
4.
The atonement is a necessary
prerequisite to receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost.
5.
His atonement can help us to
come to the gifts of the Spirit, including faith, hope, charity, discernment, revelation,
energy, capacity, talent – everything needed to become godly and to do his
work.
6.
He will guide us in all
aspects of our lives. He will help us know how to walk through an existence
strewn with challenges, like a minefield strewn with mines.
7.
He can help us be filled
with joy, despite our outward circumstances: “The Lord … gave them strength,
that they should suffer no manner of afflictions, save it were swallowed up in
the joy of Christ.”(Alma
8.
He can help us come to a
oneness with God. In fact, one of the primary reasons we have the at-one-ment
is to help us become at one with God. (John 17:11-20; 3 Nephi 19:23, 29)
“When
a person has gone through the process that results in what the scriptures call
‘a broken heart and a contrite spirit,’ the Savior does more than cleanse that
person from sin. He gives him or her new strength. That strengthening is
essential for us to realize the purpose of the cleansing, which is to return to
our Heavenly Father. To be admitted to His presence, we must be more than
clean. We must also be changed from a morally weak person who has sinned into a
strong person with the spiritual stature to dwell in the presence of God.”
(Dallin H Oaks, The Atonement and Faith, Liahona, Apr 2008, 8-13)
“Where
do we acquire the spiritual and emotional strength to forgive those who have
offended us and sinned against us? Mormon provides the prescription: ‘Pray unto
the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love…;
that when [Christ] shall appear we shall be like him…; that we may be purified
even as he is pure’ [Moroni 7:48]” (Elder Spencer J Condie, Ensign, Jan 1996,
22)
“The
spiritual death of the fall is replaced by the spiritual life of the atonement,
in that all who believe and obey the gospel law gain spiritual or eternal life
– life in the presence of God where those who enjoy it are alive to the things
of righteiousness or things of the Spirit.” (Mormon Doctrine, Bruce R McConkie
p. 62)
“While
no other success of ours can compensate for our failures within our outside our
homes, there is a success that can compensate when we cannot, after we
conscientiously do all we can. That success is the Atonement of Jesus Christ,
which can mend what for us is beyond repair.” (Bruce C Hafen, Beauty for Ashes,
Ensign, Apr 1990, 7)
“Through
the Holy Ghost, the Atonement makes possible certain spiritual endowments that
actually purify our nature and enable us to live a more ‘eternal’ or Godlike
life. At that ultimate stage, we will eat the fruit of the tree of life and
partake of God’s divine nature. Then we will exhibit divine character not just
because we think we should, but because that is the way we are.” (Bruce C
Hafen, Ensign, Apr 1990, 7)
By partaking of the sacrament, I can remember
Jesus Christ and His Atonement.
“And he said unto
them: He that eateth this bread eateth of my body to his soul; and he that
drinketh of this wine drinketh of my blood to his soul; and his soul shall
never hunger nor thirst, but shall be filled. Now, when the multitude had all
eaten and drunk, behold, they were filled with the Spirit; and they did cry out
with one voice, and gave glory to Jesus, whom they both saw and heard.” (3
Nephi 20:8-9)
“We
are commanded to remember the singular event of the mediation, Crucifixion, and
the Atonement by partaking of the sacrament weekly. In the spirit of the
sacramental prayers, we partake of the bread and water in remembrance of the
body and the blood sacrificed for us, and we are to remember Him and keep His
commandments so that we may always have His Spirit to be with us.” (James E
Faust, Liahona, Jan 2002, 19-22)
“The
Savior commanded that priesthood holders should administer the sacrament in
remembrance of His body and His blood, which was shed for us. By partaking of
the sacrament worthily we promise always to remember His sacrifice, we renew
our promises, and we receive anew the promise that the Spirit will always be
with us.” (Preach My Gospel, 64)
“We
would never dream of separating the symbols of the Atonement by taking the
bread without the water or vice versa when partaking of the sacrament. Together
they teach us of immortality and eternal life. Neither one without the other is
a whole gift. Both are required to truly make us whole.” (The Continuous
Atonement, Brad Wilcox, 35)
“We
commemorate the atonement of Jesus Christ by partaking of two different
sacramental symbols; the water symbolizes the ‘great drops of blood’ that
Christ shed from every pore, and the broken bread calls to our minds the
Savior’s body broken upon the cross.” (Elder Spencer J Condie, Ensign, Jan
1996, 22)
“Let
us qualify ourselves for our Savior’s promise that by partaking of the
sacrament we will ‘be filled,’ which means that we will be ‘filled with the
Spirit.’ That Spirit – the Holy Ghost - is our comforter, our direction finder,
our communicator, our interpreter, our witness, and our purifier – our
infallible guide and sanctifier for our mortal journey toward eternal life.” (Dallin
H Oaks, Ensign, Nov 1996, 61)
“The
Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper…is a principle of the Gospel, one as necessary
to be observed by all believers, as any other ordinance of the Gospel. What is
the object of it? It is that we may keep in mind continually the Son of God who
has redeemed us, from eternal death, and brought us to life again through the
power of the Gospel. Before the coming of Christ to the earth, this was borne
in mind by the inhabitants of the earth to whom the Gospel was preached, by another
ordinance, which involved the sacrifice of animal life, an ordinance which was
a type of the great sacrifice that should take place in the meridian of time.”
(Joseph F Smith, Deseret News, 19 Feb 1878; Teachings of Presidents of the
Church p. 102)
“For
Latter-day Saints, to offer up ‘sacraments’ in the house of prayer as the Lord
commands means for you to present your devotions before the Lord in the form of
songs of praise, prayers and thanksgiving, testimonies, and the partaking of
the sacrament and the study of the word of God. In its most widely accepted
usage it means for you to stand for any sacred right or ceremony whereby you
affirm your allegiance to your Heavenly Father and His Son.”(Harold B Lee, Ye
Are the Light of the World, 72)
“Each week when we
partake of the Sacrament we commit ourselves to the goals of taking upon
ourselves the name of Christ, of always remembering him and keeping his commandments.”
(Ezra Taft Benson, Ensign, Oct 1986, 5; The Gospel and the Productive Life p.
17)
“If
you approach the sacrament with the reverence and solemnity it deserves, it
becomes a weekly opportunity for introspection, repentance, and rededications –
a source of strength and a constant reminder of the Savior’s Atonement.” (True
to the Faith, 148)
“Few
ordinances … in the Church act as a greater incentive to personal righteousness
than worthy partaking of the sacrament. Those who partake of the sacramental
emblems – having a comprehension of the covenant involved – are marking for
themselves a course which will result in obedience, holiness, and
sanctification.” (Bruce R McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 681)
Through obedience to the commandments of the
Lord I can obtain the promise to always have his Spirit to be with me.
“There
is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world,
upon which all blessings are predicated – And when we obtain any blessing from
God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.” (Doctrine
& Covenants 130:20-21)
“The
greater blessing of obedience to the … commandments is spiritual. Listen to the
spiritual promise: ‘All saints who remember to keep and do these sayings,
walking in obedience to the commandments, … shall find wisdom and great
treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures.’ (Doctrine & Covenants
89:18-19) Some have thought this promise was contingent on just keeping the
provisions of the Word of Wisdom. But you will notice we must walk in obedience
to all the commandments. Then we shall receive specific spiritual
promises. This means we must obey the law of tithing, keep the Sabbath day
holy, keep morally clean and chaste, and obey all other commandments.” (Ezra
Taft Benson, A Principle with a Promise, Ensign, May 1983, 53)
“Our
benevolent Father came from His vast creations to this earth to clarify truth,
to disperse the intense clouds of spiritual darkness, to establish His true
identity, to restore a fullness of truth, and to provide the only way to obtain
secure, spiritual guidance. This momentous Restoration began with the Father’s
simple phrase ‘This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!’ There followed a Restoration
of truth, priesthood, sacred ordinances, and the true Church, with the Father’s
plan of salvation and happiness. When that plan is lived, it will help you
overcome every challenge in life. It will help you qualify, through faith and
obedience, to have the divine spiritual guidance you need. That support will
give you the strength to live as you know you ought to live, no matter how
world conditions degrade.” (Richard G Scott, Truth Restored, Ensign, Nov 2005,
78)
“Now
the Lord would give us gifts. He will quicken our minds. He will give us… a
knowledge that will be so deeply rooted in our soul that [it] can never be
rooted out, if we will just seek for the light… and the understanding which is
promised to us, and which we can receive if we will only be true and faithful
to every covenant and obligation pertaining to the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
(Joseph Fielding Smith, Conference Report, Oct 1958, 22)
“The
Lord has told us that through our obedience and diligence we may gain knowledge
and intelligence. We may also grow spiritually.” (Gospel Principles, Obedience
p. 204)
“To keep the
commandments, you must know them. The best single source for learning them is
the scriptures. “Today we are troubled by evil-designing persons who [endeavor]
to destroy the testimonies of members of the Church, and many… are in danger
because of lack of understanding and because they have not sought the guidance
of the Spirit… It is a commandment from the Lord that members… be diligent… and
study… the fundamental truths of the gospel… Every baptized person [can] have
an abiding testimony…, but [it] will grow dim and eventually disappear
[without] study, obedience, and diligent seeking to know and understand the
truth” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Era, Dec 1963)
“Spirituality,
while consummately strong, reacts to very delicate changes in its environment…
We should take care to completely avoid anything that would cause us to lose
the Spirit’s companionship. This includes shunning conversations and
entertainment that are inappropriate or light-minded. Our clothes should never
be immodest. We should never injure others, even with idle talk. We should not
take the name of the Lord in vain or use any other vulgar or coarse language.
We should not rebel against or criticize the Lord’s chosen servants.” (Teaching
No Greater Call p. 13)
“To
acquire spiritual knowledge and to obey it with wisdom, on must-
· In
humility, seek divine light.
· Exercise
faith in Jesus Christ.
· Hearken
to His counsel.
· Keep
His commandments.
As spiritual
knowledge unfolds, it must be understood, valued, obeyed, remembered and
expanded.” (Richard G Scott, Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge, Ensign, Nov 1993,
86-88)
“In
the Church, increased participation in church activity indicates a desire to be
a partaker of spirituality, the highest acquisition of the soul…” (David O
McKay, The Gospel and the Productive Life p. 53)
“Your
commitment… is the commitment to a life every hour of which is purposefully
lived in compliance with the teachings and example of the Savior and of his
servants. It is a commitment to constant striving to be evermore spiritual,
evermore devoted, evermore deserving to be the conduit through which the Spirit
of the Lord may touch the hearts of those you are trusted to bring a greater
understanding of his teachings.” (Teaching no Greater Call p. 19)
APPLICATION
· How
can I deepen my understanding and appreciation for the Atonement?
· Am
I diligently seeking to receive the blessings of the atonement to help me with
the negative elements of life? How can I do better?
· What
can I do to make partaking of the Sacrament more meaningful and Spiritual each
Sunday?
· In
what areas of my life do I need to be more obedient? What can I do to improve?
GOALS AND IMPRESSIONS
Use
this space to set goals that will help you gain a greater understanding of the
Atonement. Record any notes or impressions you may have had as you pondered the
quotes and references.
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SOURCES
· The
Standard Works
· The
Gospel and the Productive Life Student Manual Religion 150, 2004
· Preach
My Gospel 2004
· Book
of Mormon Student Manual 2009
· Gospel
Principles 2009
· Teachings
of Presidents of the Church: Joseph F Smith; Heber J Grant; Spencer W Kimball;
Harold B Lee; David O McKay; Wilford Woodruff; John Taylor; Brigham Young;
Joseph Smith
· Mormon
Doctrine, Bruce R McConkie 1979
· The
Miracle of Forgiveness, Spencer W Kimball
· Conference
Ensigns and Church Magazines
· Teaching
No Greater Call 1999
ADDITIONAL
SOURCES
· The
Continuous Atonement by Brad Wilcox 2009
· The
12 Purposes of Life by Jay A Parry 2005
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