The Perfect Paradox - Chapter 6: That God Might be a Perfect, Just God

Christ fully answered for Himself the end of the law that demands perfection. By so doing, He became a perfect, just God. Thus, perfection was an acquired attribute of God even though there was never a time He was not perfect. He is light and in Him there is no darkness. He is the Rock, His work is perfect, a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He (see Deuteronomy 32:4). His way is perfect; His word is tried. He is a buckler to all those that trust in Him (see 2 Samuel 22:31); a being in whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning (see James 1:17). He cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance (see D&C 1:31) for He “doth not walk in crooked paths, neither doth He turn to the right hand nor to the left, neither doth He vary from that which He hath said, therefore His paths are straight, and His course is one eternal round” (D&C 3:2).

These attributes of perfection, justice, and constancy are necessary prerequisites to trusting God, “for without the idea of unchangeableness in the character of the Deity,” taught the prophet Joseph (1891), “doubt would take the place of faith. But with the idea that he changes not,” he continued, “faith lays hold upon the excellencies in his character with unshaken confidence, believing he is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and that his course is one eternal round” (pp. 21, Lecture 3). Without knowledge of God’s constancy, we “would not know how soon the mercy of God might change into cruelty, his long-suffering into rashness, his love into hatred, and in consequence of which doubt man would be incapable of exercising faith in him” (pp. 21, Lecture 3). It is also necessary, the Prophet continued . . .

In order to the exercise of faith in God unto life and salvation, that men should have the idea of the existence of the attribute justice in him; for without the idea of the existence of the attribute justice in the Deity men could not have confidence sufficient to place themselves under his guidance and direction; for they would be filled with fear and doubt lest the judge of all the earth would not do right . . . . 

But when the idea of the existence of the attribute justice in the Deity is fairly planted in the mind, it leaves no room for doubt to get into the heart, and the mind is enabled to cast itself upon the Almighty without fear and without doubt, and with the most unshaken confidence, believing that the Judge of all the earth will do right (pp. 14, Lecture 4).

Considering that Christ is perfect and just, we may ask: “Can we ever answer, for ourselves, the end of the law that requires perfection and, thereby, become perfect and just?” In other words, can we ever become perfect without Christ? The scriptures are clear and absolute on this point: the PERFECTION end of the law can only be answered for men by cloaking them in the perfection of Christ. Christ alone answered this end of the law for Himself and for every creature and men can in no wise answer it for themselves. “Men can stop sinning,” said Elder Joseph F. Smith (1939), “and can do right in the future, and so far their acts are acceptable before the Lord and worthy of consideration. But who shall repair the wrongs they have done to themselves and to others, which it seems impossible for them to repair themselves” (p. 98)?

Only Christ can cover sin and hide it from view. Christ is not only the shortest way to perfection; He is the only Way to Perfection. Thus, the only way for man to be saved in any degree is for someone not subject to the curse to rescue him—it requires God. President John Taylor (1882) remarked:

For the simple reason that a stream can never rise higher than its fountain; a man having assumed a fleshly body and become of the earth earthy, and through the violation of law having cut himself off from his association with the Father, and become subject to death; in this condition, as the mortal life of a man was short, and in and of himself he could have no hope of benefiting himself, or redeeming himself from his fallen condition, or of bringing himself back to the presence of his Father, some superior agency was needed to elevate him above his low and degraded position. This superior agency was the Son of God, who had not, as man had, violated a law of his Father, but as yet one with His Father, possessing His glory, His power, His dominion . . . . 

A man as a man, could arrive at all the dignity that a man was capable of obtaining or receiving; but it needed a God to raise him to the dignity of a God. (pp. 145-146).

Alluding to one of Israel’s principal oversights, the apostle Paul reminded the Romans that they were to rely on the righteousness of their Redeemer and not the arm of flesh for perfection:

For [Israel] being ignorant of God’s righteousness [perfection], and going about to establish their own righteousness [perfection], have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness [perfection] of God. 

For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness [perfection] to everyone that believeth (Romans 10:3-4).

Ultimately, our rise to perfection must be rooted in the righteousness of our Redeemer (see 2 Nephi 2:3). It is His righteousness that is to be declared as He alone is the justifier of those who believe on His name (see Romans 3:25-26). Only “in the Lord have I righteousness and strength.” [Only in the Lord shall all the] “seed of Israel be justified” (see Isaiah 45:24-25; compare Isaiah 53:11). The only way whereby we may lay hold of every good thing is to have faith in Him from whom all good things come (see Moroni 7:12, 20-28). It is His righteousness for which we are commanded to hunger and thirst (see 3 Nephi 12:6; compare 3 Nephi 20:8-9). Our most recently-deceased prophet has reminded us that ours “is the privilege of standing in the shadow of the Redeemer of the world as we carry forward this work” (Hinckley G. B., 2003, p. 24). Thus, the Lord exhorts us to “seek . . . first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33; compare 3 Nephi 13:33) “for he hath made [Christ] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Our righteousness is to be of the Lord (see Isaiah 54:17), the fountain of all righteousness (see Ether 12:28). True righteousness, therefore, comes by faith in the Righteous (see Moses 7:47).

In this connection, it is frequently heard these days that “we should pray as if everything depended upon God and work as if everything depended upon ourselves.” I think I understand the message conveyed by this statement. Often, it is appropriately used to stress the importance of personal effort in the grand scheme of things. However, the danger in this statement is that it strikes at the foundations of the atonement and, if we permit, it destroys faith. If we ever attempt to separate our actions from their divine source, then we risk our attentions being focused on our mortal abilities rather than on God’s strength and perfection. In such condition, we will find ourselves relying in the arm of flesh—neglecting to give God credit for our successes and forgetting to look to Him for strength to rise above our failures. We must both pray and work as if everything depended upon the Lord for Moroni reminded us that “if there be one among you that doeth good, he shall work by the power and gifts of God” (Moroni 10:25).

It is instrumental to note that relying in the arm of flesh is listed as a primary cause for straying from God’s ordinances and breaking His everlasting covenant (D&C 1:15). Describing the manner in which such have strayed and broken His covenant, the Lord confirmed: “They seek not the Lord to establish his righteousness [perfection], but every man walketh in his own way [i.e., to establish his own righteousness or perfection], and after the image of his own god, whose image is in the likeness of the world, and whose substance is that of an idol” (D&C 1:16). Describing these individuals in more detail, Nephi wrote:

They wear stiff necks and high heads; yea, and because of pride, and wickedness, and abominations, and whoredoms, they have all gone astray save it be a few, who are the humble followers of Christ; nevertheless, they are led, that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men (2 Nephi 28:14).

The prophet Moroni, who also viewed these latter-day people “as if they were present,” noted that, save a few only, they all walk in the “pride of their hearts” (see Mormon 8:35-40).

In D&C 33:4, the Lord teaches that the “precepts of men” is “priestcrafts” which is elsewhere considered synonymous with “making flesh our arm” by ignoring the workings of the Holy Spirit (see 2 Nephi 28:31). Priestcrafts, according to Nephi, “are that men preach and set themselves up for a light unto the world, that they may get gain and praise of the world; but they seek not the welfare of Zion” (2 Nephi 26:29). Referring to devious wolves in sheep’s clothing who practice this craft, Mormon warned: “Yea, and wo unto him that shall say at that day, to get gain, that there can be no miracle wrought by Jesus Christ, for he that doeth this shall become like unto the son of perdition, for whom there was no mercy, according to the word of Christ” (3 Nephi 29:7). Finally, in connection with certain individuals and their transgression of the Law of Consecration in process of building Zion, the Lord declared that the covenant was broken “through covetousness and with feigned words” (D&C 104:4, 52). Like the cause underlying priestcrafts, feigned words are also those spoken falsely for the intent of obtaining personal gain.

All of these scriptures concerning the attitudes and conduct of those of the latter days suggest that we, as a collective society, are little different from the Israelites of Paul’s day that went about to establish their own righteousness. Like them, we walk after the manner of the flesh and follow after the precepts of men. Like them, we seek to establish our own righteousness and to find salvation in a god which moth and rust doth corrupt (see Matthew 6:19), and this we do because of the pride of our hearts. Like them, we seek the substance of the world to make it our idol—and we do so with feigned words. Like them addressed by the apostle Peter, we deny the Lord who bought us with a price and allow those who follow after pernicious ways through covetousness and with feigned words make merchandise of us (see 2 Peter 2:1-3). Indeed, priestcrafts are all about us and possibly, if not certainly, among us!

In a moving demonstration of His invitation to us to be perfect in Him, the veil of the temple was rent as the Son of God cried with a loud voice and yielded up the Ghost (see Matthew 27:50-51), thereby, demonstrating not only His fulfillment of the Mosaic law but also signifying that entrance into the most holy place is no longer restricted to the high priest of Israel. “But now,” said the apostle Paul, “our Great High Priest, our Hope and Anchor of the Soul, has, for us, first entered through the veil into the most holy place” (Hebrews 6:19-20) and invites us to follow Him. Paul continued:

Having therefore . . . boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way . . . through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;

And having an high priest over the house of God; 

Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith,[1] having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water” (Hebrews 10:19-22).

Wonderfully, we must boldly—with a divine confidence, engendered by virtue and bonds of perfectness, that waxes strong in the presence of God (see D&C 121:45)—enter the celestial kingdom through the veil, that is to say, through the flesh of Christ, our Forerunner (see Hebrews 6:20), for no “man cometh unto the Father, but by [Him]” (John 14:6).

Because He lived a perfect life, Christ is able to perfect us. Because He remained in that sphere in which God placed Him, He is able to renew us to that sphere from which we fell. Moroni aptly concluded: “Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfect in him . . . . And . . . if ye . . . are perfect in Christ . . . then are ye sanctified in Christ . . . through the shedding of the blood of Christ . . . unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot” (Moroni 10:32-34). The PERFECTION end of the law can be fully answered for men only when the Lord’s righteousness or perfection is imputed unto them and they become perfect in Him. And although men are counseled to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling, it is God who worketh in them that brings this salvation about (see Philippians 2:12-13) for “all things which are good cometh of Christ; otherwise men were fallen, and there could no good thing come unto them” (Moroni 7:24).

In these verses quoted from Moroni 10, the Prophet taught that becoming perfect in Christ is a two-fold development; first, he taught that we must become perfect, or justified, in Christ and, second, he taught that when we are justified in Christ then are we sanctified in Christ. In this sense, the word “then” as used by Moroni suggests that all who are justified in Christ are then sanctified in Christ. In other words, although separate and distinct, justification and sanctification appear to be coupled (compare D&C 88:34-39).

Considering justification at this juncture may prove useful as it is a doctrine that fundamentally relates to perfection. In D&C 88, the Lord says: “unto every kingdom is given a law and unto every law there are certain bounds also and conditions” (verse 38). Likewise, we are told that all who will have a blessing at God’s hands “shall abide the law which was appointed for that blessing, and the conditions thereof” (D&C 132:5) and that “all beings who abide not in those conditions are not justified” (D&C 88:39).

Connecting the dots between these verses suggests that justification, or being made perfect in Christ, comes as a result of obedience to the conditions of gospel law. However, we should be mindful that “by the law no flesh is justified; or, by the law men are cut off” (2 Nephi 2:5; compare Galatians 3:11). The law is only a schoolmaster that points souls to Christ (see Jacob 4:5) that they might be justified by faith in Him (see Galatians 3:24). In other words, one cannot be justified by obedience to law without having faith in the Lawgiver. Thus, the apostle Paul declared: “not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith” (Philippians 3:9).

As with all gospel principles, justification must be centered in Christ—it must touch Him and grow out of Him. Justification must be predicated upon faith in the Holy Messiah (see 2 Nephi 2:6), for if there is no faith, awful is the state of man for, other than loosing the bands of death, they are as though there had been no redemption made (see Moroni 7:38). Christ is the end of the law and the purpose for which law is given (see 2 Nephi 25:24-27). Further, the faith that brings justification must be of the sort that leads unto repentance—for all true faith must be unto repentance if it is to be rooted in Christ. Faith without repentance is only an intellectual exercise that produces no fruit. Thus, Abinadi taught that he that persists in his own carnal nature and goes on in the ways of sin and rebellion against God, it is as though there was no redemption made for him (Mosiah 16:5; compare Alma 11:41).

Thus, faith in Christ unto repentance is essential for one to be justified. In short, we are justified by the blood of Christ by what we do through faith in His name unto repentance for, as the apostle Paul taught, “the doers of the law shall be justified” (see Romans 2:13).[2] Restated, I suggest justification is being declared just, not guilty (see 3 Nephi 27:16), or perfect through the blood of Christ by faith on the Lord unto repentance and obedience to the conditions of His law.

Extending this principle to individual blessings, justification is obtaining a blessing by faith in Christ unto repentance and by obedience to the conditions of His law upon which that blessing is predicated (see D&C 130:21). If satisfactorily met, the requisite standards of faith, repentance, and obedience[3] with respect to the law to which blessings are attached, will assure us that the Holy Spirit of Promise will recognize and ratify our actions and seal upon us the promised blessings (see D&C 132:7). Extending this concept to God’s kingdoms of glory (i.e., the celestial, terrestrial, and telestial), justification would then be the means whereby, through the blood of Christ and by faith in His name unto repentance, we become legal citizens of a kingdom—the law and conditions of which we are willing to abide. Thus, justification comes to all of God’s children who, in the broadest sense, are saved in one of His three kingdoms of glory and who, thereby, become “heirs of salvation” (see D&C 76:44, 88).[4]

Sadly, after those who are fit for a kingdom of glory have been judged, those who remain will return again to their own place (see D&C 88:32) to enjoy a kingdom of no glory (see D&C 88:32, 24) and this because they were unwilling to abide the law and conditions of a kingdom of glory. For them, our Advocate neither prays nor pleads to the Father (see 3 Nephi 19:29).[5] Of such, the Lord has said: “it had been better for them never to have been born” (D&C 76:32). Those who thus qualify as sons of perdition will be neither justified (see Alma 41:13-15, compare D&C 88:39) nor sanctified (see D&C 88:35), for the Lord saves all except them (see D&C 76:44) “for they cannot be redeemed from their spiritual fall, because they repent not; for they love darkness rather than light” (D&C 29:44-45). Describing these destitute souls as “wells without water and clouds that are carried with a tempest to whom the midst of darkness is reserved forever,” the apostle Peter declared:

But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption; 

And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you; 

Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children: 

Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; 

But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man's voice forbad the madness of the prophet. 

These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever. 

For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. 

While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. 

For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. 

For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. 

But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire (2 Peter 2:12-22).

One aspect of justification that is sometimes overlooked is the fact that all those who are justified are cleansed from sin and made perfect according to that sphere and station in which they shall dwell. This is true even of telestial citizens, “they who are liars, and sorcerers, and adulterers, and whoremongers, and whosoever loves and makes a lie” (D&C 76:103), who suffer the wrath of God on earth and are cast to hell until the fulness of times when Christ shall have subdued all enemies under His feet (see D&C 103:104-106). Even the sins of these telestial candidates will be “blotted out” (see Acts 3:19; compare Alma 7:13-14) through the blood of the Lamb.

Even these telestial citizens will be declared “not guilty” through the blood of Christ by eventually availing themselves of His mercy through faith, repentance, and personal suffering. Having done so, they will come forth clean and will stand blameless because they will have repented and become obedient to certain conditions of gospel law. However, those who are thus justified will have neither yielded their hearts to God (see Helaman 3:5) nor consecrated their whole souls (see Omni 1:26) to celestial work. I prefer to think of these in the sense that they will undergo a form of forced contrition—they will be compelled to be humble (contrast Alma 32:16). They will regret having sinned but their contrition will not stem from a genuine love of God, nor will it lead them to alter their behavior to celestial conduct.

Being justified in Christ does not happen all at once in mortality, nor does it immediately happen when we die. Joseph Smith (1976) said that it would be a great while after we have passed through the veil before we will have learned all the principles of exaltation (p. 230). However, simply because this process may extend beyond the grave does not mean that seeking for it can, in wisdom, be delayed. Seeking for any celestial attribute or condition should never be delayed as mortality is short. Elder Neal A. Maxwell (2004) said in the April 2004 Priesthood Session of General Conference:

Brethren, as you submit your wills to God, you are giving Him the only thing you can actually give Him that is really yours to give. Don't wait too long to find the altar or to begin to place the gift of your wills upon it! (p. 45).

Worlds without end, we could never experience celestial life without being justified in Christ. Because He answered the PERFECTION end of the law, He is now the PERFECTION end of the law to all those who have faith in His name.

WORKS CITED

Hinckley, G. B. (2003, June 21). Rejoicing in the Privilege to Serve. Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting, 24.

Maxwell, N. A. (2004, May). Remember How Merciful the Lord Hath Been. Ensign, pp. 44-45.

Smith, J. (1891). The Doctrine and Covenants. Salt Lake City: George Q. Cannon & Sons, Co., Printers and Publishers.

Smith, J. (1976). Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith. (J. F. Smith, Ed.) Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company.

Smith, J. F. (1939). Gospel Doctrine. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company.

Taylor, J. (1882). Mediation and Atonement. Salt Lake City: Deseret New Company.

ENDNOTES

[1] Drawing near to God in full assurance of faith, is more than a leisurely approach. 

[2] Compare D&C 132:59. Elder Bruce R. McConkie (1981) confirmed: “Men are justified in what they do when their deeds conform to divine standards” (p. 344). 

[3] Obedience presupposes the performance of ordinances under proper priesthood keys. 

[4] Compare D&C 138:58-59. The greater blessing of sanctification comes primarily to those who qualify through Christ to dwell in the kingdom wherein God dwells. In other words, although coupled with justification, sanctification, in the supreme sense, is a celestial concept; scripture most often connects it to celestial life. This is not to say that sanctification does not come, in some measure, to those of the telestial or terrestrial glory. For example, Doctrine and Covenants 76:41-43 states that Christ “came into the world . . . to sanctify the world, and to cleanse it from all unrighteousness; That through him all might be saved . . . except the sons of perdition.” Furthermore, after equating the light of Christ to the “law by which all things are governed” (see D&C 88:13), the Lord revealed that “that which is governed by law is also preserved by law and perfected and sanctified by the same” (D&C 88:34). These verses suggest that sanctification, in some measure, applies to all those whom the Son saves (i.e., the world) and who are governed, in one way or another, by the law (or light of Christ). Thus, it seems plausible that everyone, except sons of perdition, will be sanctified in some measure. However, in the ultimate sense, the concept of sanctification most appropriately applies to those of the celestial realm (see D&C 88:2, 17-21), even though those of the lower kingdoms of glory will be cleansed from all sin. If we abide the whole law—the Law of Christ (see D&C 88:21)—the assurance is given that we will be “recorded in the book of the names of the sanctified, even them of the celestial world” (D&C 88:2) because, as Elder McConkie taught, “this law includes the sanctifying power of the Holy Ghost” (McConkie B. R., Mormon Doctrine, 1966, p. 97). And if we are not sanctified through celestial law, then we must “inherit another kingdom, even that of a terrestrial kingdom, or that of a telestial kingdom” (D&C 88:21) for “he who is not able to abide the law of a celestial kingdom cannot abide a celestial glory. And he who cannot abide the law of a terrestrial kingdom . . . [or] the law of a telestial kingdom . . . must abide a kingdom which is not a kingdom of glory” (D&C 88:22-24) because he is unwilling to abide the law of a kingdom of glory and “therefore, [he] cannot be sanctified by law, neither by mercy, justice, nor judgment. Therefore, [he] must remain filthy still” (D&C 88:35). 

[5] Compare D&C 38:4-6; D&C 45:3-5.

Perfect Paradox - Chapter 4: Broken Law and the Punishment Affixed

In the final paragraph of Chapter 3, I note:

Other than Himself, Christ had no savior on whom to rely for salvation. Therefore, He answered the Perfection end of the law for Himself. Having answered this demand, the law could make no further requirements of Him. Notwithstanding, He voluntarily chose to answer the other end of the law—that end which requires uncompromising punishment for broken law. The objective of this chapter is consider the demand that justice exacted of our Savior and the manner in which He satisfied it.

To understand the need for redemption, we must first accept that we are fallen. President Ezra Taft Benson (1988) explained: “Just as man does not really desire food until he is hungry, so he does not desire the salvation of Christ until he knows why he needs Christ. No one adequately and properly knows why he needs Christ until he understands and accepts the doctrine of the fall and its effects upon mankind” (p. 33). Unfortunately, when we look in the mirror, it is almost too easy to conclude that our fallen nature was designed to be an obstacle in our eternal progression. However, although the fall was contrary to God’s character, it was not contrary to His purposes. Rather, it was a divinely orchestrated event[1] that not only paved the highway to hell, but also set before us the pathway to perfection. “The aggregate of scriptures certifies that his transgression in the garden of Eden, although designated as a ‘fall’ was necessary to the advancement and spiritual progress of humanity on this earth, and Adam rightly should be honored, not denigrated” [2] Moroni and Paul therefore taught that God “gave unto men weakness” (see Ether 12:27) that His strength may be “made perfect in weakness” (see 2 Corinthians 12:9). In our “weakness,” salvation is made perfect whereby we experience the rich rewards of God’s grace. 

Paradoxically, it is the fall that brought about the conditions for redemption. It is in the curse of Adam that our eyes are opened and we experience joy in this life. Were it not for his transgression, there would be neither children nor knowledge of good and evil. Importantly, there would be no eternal life which God gives unto all the obedient (see Moses 5:10-11; compare 2 Nephi 2:22-25). Notwithstanding, it remains that, because Adam yielded, man’s nature became evil continually (see Ether 3:2) and subject to the will of the devil (see D&C 29:40). Hence, with one glorious exception, “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). “All are hardened,” Amulek recounted, “yea, all are fallen and lost” (Alma 34:9). As a result, every mortal experiences a two-fold fallen nature—one unconditional and another conditional. First, as a result of Adam’s choice, we unconditionally experience a first spiritual death for, at birth, all mankind are “cut off from the presence of the Lord and are considered as dead, both as to things temporal and to things spiritual” (Helaman 14:16). Second, because of the fall we are conditionally subject to a second spiritual death when we are judged to have knowingly transgressed God’s law and withdrawn from His Spirit that it may have no place in us (see Mosiah 2:36). 

Fundamentally, these first and second spiritual deaths are alike as both result in departure from God to one degree or another. Indeed, the first spiritual death is “that same death which is the last death, which is spiritual” (D&C 29:41). However, the first death is only temporary and incomplete[3] as we receive of the presence of God through the agency that gives life to all things. Further, because we are unconditionally cut off from the presence of God at birth and because this spiritual isolation results from Adam’s choice and not from any choice of our own, justice demands the atonement unconditionally restore us back to our primeval association with God. “Herein is a lawful adjustment between justice and mercy,” noted Elder James E. Talmage (1919). “We are mortal through no personal fault; we shall be made immortal without personal merit” (p. 50). Thus, this restoration back into the presence of God is universal; it comes to all of His children whether or not it is merited. Wrote the prophet Samuel: 

For behold, it . . . becometh expedient that [Christ] dieth, to bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, that thereby men may be brought into the presence of the Lord.

Yea, behold, [Christ’s] death bringeth to pass the resurrection, and redeemeth all mankind from the first [spiritual] death . . . .

. . . yea, even all mankind, and bringeth them back into the presence of the Lord (Helaman 14:15-17). 

Confirming that this universal restoration to God’s presence extends equally to the wicked and the righteous, Moroni wrote:

And because of the redemption of man, which came by Jesus Christ, they are brought back into the presence of the Lord; yea, this is wherein all men are redeemed, because the death of Christ bringeth to pass the resurrection, which bringeth to pass a redemption from an endless sleep, from which sleep all men shall be awakened by the power of God when the trump shall sound; and they shall come forth, both small and great, and all shall stand before his bar, being redeemed and loosed from this eternal band of death, which death is a temporal death (Mormon 9:13).

As redemption from Adam’s transgression will restore us back to the presence of God and that sphere in which we were originally placed, only complete redemption from our personal sins will allow us to remain. Unlike redemption from Adam’s transgression, “Christ’s plan for saving the souls of men contemplates no universal or unconditional remission of sins” (Talmage, Vitality, 1919, p. 51). This redemption is conditional. “And then,” wrote Moroni, “cometh the judgment of the Holy One upon them; and then cometh the time that he that is filthy shall be filthy still; and he that is righteous shall be righteous still; he that is happy shall be happy still; and he that is unhappy shall be unhappy still” (Mormon 9:14).[4] For those declared “filthy still,” then cometh the second death “which is a spiritual death; then is the time that whosoever died in his sins, as to a temporal death, shall also die a spiritual death” (Alma 12:16) for “they cannot be redeemed from the spiritual fall, because they repent not” (D&C 29:44). Therefore, “whosoever repenteth not is hewn down and cast into the fire . . . for they are cut off again as to things pertaining to righteousness” (Helaman 14:18).

Unlike the first spiritual death, the second death is permanent—worlds without end, those who are made full partakers[5] thereof will be cast out never to be brought back into the presence of God (see D&C 76:31-37, 44-49) “for do ye suppose,” wrote Mormon, “that ye can get rid of the justice of an offended God, who hath been trampled under feet of men, that thereby salvation may come” (3 Nephi 28:35)? Such will be condemned to endure a torment that never ends because they persist in their own carnal nature and go on in the ways of sin and rebellion. Over such, the devil has all power and they are as though there was no redemption made (see Mosiah 16:5).[6] These are they who “abideth not by law, but seeketh to become a law unto itself, and willeth to abide in sin, and altogether abideth in sin, [therefore they] cannot be sanctified by law, neither by mercy, justice, nor judgment. Therefore, they must remain filthy still” (D&C 88:35). Neither conformance to gospel law (see D&C 88:21), nor the mercies of Christ (see Moses 7:39), nor suffering the penalty of justice and judgment (see D&C 82:4)[7] will sanctify to the least degree these filthy souls. Wherefore, Christ saves all except them (see D&C 76:44), for all the remainder will be heirs of salvation (see D&C 76:88)[8] and consigned to that kingdom, the conditions of the law of which they are willing to abide (see D&C 88:20-24, 38-39).

Sin is defined as the transgression[9] or avoidance[10] of law and, in the strictest sense, may be committed inadvertently or in ignorance. President Harold B. Lee (Conference Report, 1973) described sin as “the heaviest burden that one has to bear in this life” (p. 177). Unfortunately, this fact is not always self-evident, especially to those buried in the pleasures of sinful living.[11] More often than not, the price of sin is delayed, thereby, veiling the toll of wickedness for a season (see 3 Nephi 24:13-15). But although the wheels of justice may grind slowly, they grind exceedingly fine and none shall escape.

As reassuring as it is to know that justice will someday avenge the blood of the righteous, infinitely more comforting is the doctrine that justice will not stand as a witness against those ignorant of God’s laws—that “where there is no law given there is no punishment; and where there is no punishment there is no condemnation” (2 Nephi 9:25). Considering the fact that each has come to this earth fully ignorant of God’s laws, this doctrine ought to lend substantial comfort. Elder James E. Talmage (1984) explained:

[I]t is plain from the scriptural doctrine of human responsibility and the unerring justice of God, that in his transgressions . . . man will be judged according to his ability to comprehend and obey law. To him who has never been made acquainted with a higher law the requirements of that law do not apply in their fulness. For sins committed without knowledge—that is, for laws violated in ignorance—a propitiation has been provided in the atonement wrought through the sacrifice of the Savior; and sinners of this class do not stand condemned, but shall be given opportunity yet to learn and to accept or reject the principles of the Gospel (pp. 52-53).

Be this as it may, sins of any sort, whether inadvertently committed or maliciously intended, cannot be ignored in the economy of God’s plan. Every sin exacts a cost and every sin must be counted and paid for. Even little children must rely on the merits of Christ; for by nature, King Benjamin taught, they become carnal (see Alma 42:10): 

And even if it were possible that little children could sin they could not be saved; but I say unto you they are blessed; for behold, as in Adam, or by nature, they fall, even so the blood of Christ atoneth for their sins.

And moreover, I say unto you, that 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, the Lord Omnipotent (Mosiah 3:16-17).

Little children and those who have no law are alive in Christ (see Moroni 8:22) and in Him they are spiritually quickened and sanctified (see D&C 74:7), for as by nature they fall, even so in Christ is the curse of Adam taken from them (see Moroni 8:8). Indeed, the little ones have no need for repentance because Christ will save them (see JST Matthew 18:11). 

On the other hand, when individuals violate their conscience and act contrary to, or fail to act in accord with, the light and knowledge they’ve received, they are under condemnation. Thus, where understanding exists and gospel laws are broken or avoided despite that understanding, no unconditional propitiation exists and other conditional terms must apply. Emphasizing this provisional nature of the atonement, Jesus said to certain Jews: “If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth” (John 9:41). 

Whether salvation comes through a conditional or unconditional propitiation in the atonement, the fact remains that all are guilty until declared innocent through the blood of Christ. That declaration has already been made for certain souls, like little children who die in infancy, whereas, it is pending the outcome of mortality for others who, like us, must place their trust in the Lord, be diligent in keeping His commandments, and continue in faith even until they are, at last, safely dead (see Mosiah 4:6-7). 

Almost from birth, we possess sinful tendencies. As Brigham Young (1854-1886) correctly noted, “there are no persons without evil passions to embitter their life” (pp. 160, Vol. 8). Consequently, we often find ourselves opening the door to temptation (see Moses 5:23), even if only to look upon it. In microscopic, almost imperceptible, ways, each of us at one time or another, and in some degree or another, participates in unholy thoughts or errant behavior, all of which constitute sin. We don’t have to commit the heinous crime of murder to be guilty of the rather transparent sin of anger; we don’t have to overtly commit adultery to be guilty of private immoral thoughts; and we don’t have to curse God to be guilty of prayers that lack real intent (see Moroni 7:9). 

This proclivity to sin has caused me to wonder: “Does my fallen nature mean that I am irrevocably disposed to sin?” Frankly, this seems like a shallow question as perfection seems so far removed. Although the customary response to this question is “nobody’s perfect,” Joseph Smith (1980) pointed out that “although it was foreordained [that man] should fall, and be redeemed, yet after the redemption it was not foreordained that he should again sin” (p. 33).[12]

In other words, Joseph taught that the first spiritual and temporal deaths stemming from Adam’s transgression were the only divinely-intended and orchestrated results of the fall—personal sin was not a part of God’s plan.[13] Rather, personal sin is contrary to His plan even though patience and longsuffering can be shown to the one entrenched in it. Jesus is our Prototype and, as such, has shown that “it is in the power of man to keep the law and remain also without sin.” (1891, pp. 2, Lecture 5). We are therefore commanded to choose God as our Father (see Moses 7:33) and avoid evil of every kind (see Alma 12:32). Indeed, we are commanded to be perfect and are reminded that God cannot wink at iniquity, much less tolerate it (see D&C 1:31).[14]

Concerning sin and the demands of justice, Hyrum Andrus (2003) writes: “The rule of law requires a strict enforcement of justice when it has claim on transgressors . . . . [W]henever a law is broken a payment must be made—somewhere, somehow, sometime—according to the penalty[15] prescribed by the truth and equity of law” (p. 190). This payment is always exacted in the form of a mandatory and unyielding punishment. “Unlike the changeable laws of man, the laws of God are fixed and permanent,” declares Elder Dallin H. Oaks, “‘irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world’ (D&C 130:20).” Continuing, Elder Oaks (2002) explains: “These laws are likewise concerned with justice . . . . According to eternal law, the consequences that follow from the justice of God are severe and permanent. When a commandment is broken, a commensurate punishment is imposed. This happens automatically. Punishment prescribed by the laws of man only follow the judge’s actions, but under the laws of God the consequences and penalties are inherent in the act” (pp. 114-115). 

Acting alone, justice is uncompromising; if law is broken, a punishment must be suffered by the offender. The ultimate penalty for offending gospel law is to suffer a complete spiritual death wherein we become “like unto [the devil], and we become devils, angels to a devil, to be shut out from the presence of our God” (2 Nephi 9:9) worlds without end. Such is our final destiny so long as our personal sins are upon us. 

Is there any possible escape from this awful penalty and judgment? Is there any provision in the Father’s plan that tempers or averts this ultimate penalty for personal sin? In the total arithmetic of justice, there is no escape from the penalty and punishment inflicted for broken law. No sin, however secret or minute, will bypass Him who knows all things, including the heart and mind of man. As Lehi taught, the punishment is affixed and must be suffered. However, although there is no escape from justice, its penalty can be placed on another not guilty of the offense; on one who is willing and qualified to suffer that penalty in the offender’s place. It is by proxy that justice was satisfied and we escape the full punishment of law. 

Christ, chosen and born of an Eternal Being and possessing grace for grace all of His Father’s attributes, was the only One fully sanctioned, willing, and qualified to answer the full penalty for broken law. It required someone unique to suffer such a burden for it exacted suffering even more than man can suffer, except it be unto death, “for behold,” taught King Benjamin, “blood cometh from every pore, so great shall be his anguish for the wickedness and the abominations of his people” (Mosiah 3:7). “The cumulative weight,” confirmed Elder Neal A. Maxwell (1985), “of all mortal sins—past, present, and future—pressed upon that perfect, sinless, and sensitive Soul! All our infirmities and sicknesses were somehow, too, a part of the awful arithmetic of the Atonement (p. 92)” Thus, Amulek concluded that this great and last sacrifice could not be “a sacrifice of man . . . but it must be an infinite and eternal sacrifice” (Alma 34:10). It must be the sacrifice of God.[16]

Christ’s atonement is infinite—infinite in suffering, scope, and time; infinite because it lasts for all time;[17] infinite because it extends to an infinite number of God’s children of every color, race, creed, and nation; infinite because, with few exceptions, it covers sin of every kind and degree; infinite because it was performed by Christ, an Infinite Being! If it were not for His person and character, there would have been no atonement. Describing the nature of the atonement, Elder Russell M. Nelson remarks:

It was . . . infinite in that all humankind would be saved from never-ending death. It was infinite in terms of His immense suffering. It was infinite in time, putting an end to the preceding prototype of animal sacrifice. It was infinite in scope—it was to be done once for all. And the mercy of the Atonement extends not only to an infinite number of people, but also to an infinite number of worlds created by Him. It was infinite beyond any human scale of measurement or mortal comprehension.

Jesus was the only one who could offer such an infinite atonement, since He was born of a mortal mother and an immortal Father. Because of that unique birthright, Jesus was an infinite Being.[18]

Notwithstanding His sinless and perfect life, Christ set His face like flint (see Isaiah 50:7) and suffered the full, uncompromising penalty for broken law. Justice and Judgment passed over His soul, declared Him clean every whit, and then exacted a punishment that only He could bear, “even the wine-press of the fierceness of the wrath of the Almighty God” (see D&C 88:106).[19] Thus, Christ’s ordeal in the Garden and on the Cross was not the proximate result of a contest between good and evil, even though the terrors and temptations of Satan no doubt added to the price paid to appease justice and to carry sicknesses, pains, sorrows, and afflictions of every kind. Rather, this was a holy sacrifice wherein He willingly descended below all things. He suffered the sentence of justice and not the verdict of an evil foe.[20] He accepted and suffered the penalty as predetermined and enforced by His Father. That is what makes this affair all the more difficult to think on.

From the beginning, the shedding of Christ’s blood was in the covenant of the Father (see Moroni 10:33). It was God who gave His Son (see John 3:16)[21] and the Son who gave His life, thereby, concluding the awful accord reached between two Gods in the beginning.[22] And although all created things act and exist by virtue of this pivotal event (see 2 Nephi 2:12-13), it was concluded in solitude and without pomp and circumstance. Even His nearest friends (see John 15:13-16) remained in the outer court (see Matthew 26:38) as the great High Priest “went a little further” (Matthew 26:39) into the holy place[23] to offer Himself without spot to His Father (see Hebrews 9:6-18). It was then that He stood in our place as if we were there and suffered the precise penalty and punishment we would have suffered as if He were guilty. His lips touched the very cup from which the wicked shall drink, even the cup of the wrath of God (see Mosiah 3:26). Truly, He “eateth and drinketh with . . . sinners” (Mark 2:16). Yet, by so doing, the enmity that resulted from the fall was slain and peace with God was made for us (see Ephesians 2:15-17).[24] Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Surely He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities. And surely, the Lord laid on Him the iniquities of us all (see Mosiah 14:4-6).[25]

Keith H. Meservy (Draper, 1990) writes: “Justice is satisfied when the Messiah bears our griefs, carries our sorrows, is wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, bears our chastisement, has our iniquities laid on him, is oppressed and taken from prison and judgment, fathoms our travail of soul, and bears our iniquities. Suffering for us, he satisfies justice, which makes the pleasure of the Lord prosper” (p. 168). Why is justice satisfied by the infinite sacrifice? Because Christ is infinite and because His offering was voluntary! A freewill offering was necessary to preserve justice in the eternal sacrifice. The divine offering could not be an instance wherein the wrath of Almighty God was imposed upon an unwilling soul—for this Soul was pure and sin-free. Thus, although Christ was chosen from the beginning (see Moses 4:2), it was requisite that He also declare, “Here am I, Send me,” (see Abraham 3:27) to show forth His willingness. “He was not coerced or required to make this sacrifice,” declared Elder Hugh B. Brown (1962). “His . . . agency was in no way infringed or trammeled. It was a freewill, love-inspired offer, which could have been withdrawn at any time. It was optional until the very time of his crucifixion” (p. 108).[26] Until he spoke the final words, “It is finished (see John 19:30); Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit,” (see Luke 23:46) the offering remained revocable and incomplete. Appropriately and reverently, we sing the sacred tune: 

His precious blood he freely spilt; His life he freely gave, 
A sinless sacrifice for guilt, a dying world to save (Snow E. R., 1985, p. 195). 

Possessing attributes of mortality, Christ suffered all that a mortal can endure. Possessing attributes of immortality, He suffered all that God can endure “which suffering caused . . . [Him], the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit” (D&C 19:18). Of His pains, we have nothing to compare. “The suffering he undertook to endure, and which he did endure,” noted President Marion G. Romney (1969), “equaled the combined suffering of all men” (p. 57). Commensurate with the truth, light, and power He possessed, Christ suffered the “pains of all men, yea, the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children, who belong to the family of Adam” (2 Nephi 9:21).[27] And more so—He bore the sins of the entire universe that through Him all might be saved whom the Father has put into His power and made by Him (see D&C 76:41-42), even all the worlds that are and were created (see D&C 76:24) “whose inhabitants, too, from the first to the last, are sav’d by the very same Saviour of ours” (Smith J. , Times and Seasons, 1843, p. 83). Of Christ’s agony, Elder James E. Talmage (1982) provides this unique perspective:

It is unfathomable by the finite mind, both as to intensity and cause. The thought that He suffered through fear of death is untenable . . . . He struggled and groaned under a burden such as no other being who has lived on earth might even conceive as possible. It was not physical pain, nor mental anguish alone, that caused Him to suffer such torture as to produce an extrusion of blood from every pore; but a spiritual agony of soul such as only God was capable of experiencing. No other man, however great his powers of physical or mental endurance, could have suffered so; for his human organism would have succumbed, and syncope would have produced unconsciousness and welcome oblivion . . . .

In some manner, actual and terribly real though to man incomprehensible, the Savior took upon Himself the burden of the sins of mankind from Adam to the end of the world . . .. 

From the terrible conflict in Gethsemane, Christ emerged a victor. Though in the dark tribulation of that fearful hour He had pleaded that the bitter cup be removed from His lips, the request, however oft repeated, was always conditional; the accomplishment of the Father's will was never lost sight of as the object of the Son’s supreme desire. The further tragedy of the night, and the cruel inflictions that awaited Him on the morrow, to culminate in the frightful tortures of the cross, could not exceed the bitter anguish through which He had successfully passed (pp. 568-569).

By His suffering, justice was satisfied and the end of the law that required a punishment for sin was answered for those who repent and believe on His name. And when He answered the ends of the law, Lehi taught that He also answered the ends of the atonement (see 2 Nephi 2:10). It is this doctrine which I address in the following chapters. 

WORKS CITED

Andrus, H. L. (2003). Doctrinal Commentary on the Pearl of Great Price (Revised ed.). Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company. 

Benson, E. T. (1988). A Witness and a Warning. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company. 

Brown, H. B. (1962, April 6, 7, and 8). Conference Report, 106-108. 

Draper, R. D. (Ed.). (1990). A Witness of Jesus Christ: The 1989 Sperry Symposium on the Old Testament. Salt Lake City: Deserert Book Company. 

Lee, H. B. (1973, April 8). Conference Report. 

Maxwell, N. A. (1985, April 7). Conference Report. 

Oaks, D. H. (2002). With Full Purpose of Heart. Salt Lake City, UT, United States: Deseret Book Company. 

Romney, M. G. (1969, October 4). Conference Report. 

Smith, J. (1843, February 1). Times and Seasons. 

Smith, J. (1891). The Doctrine and Covenants. Salt Lake City: George Q. Cannon & Sons, Co., Printers and Publishers. 

Smith, J. (1980). The Words of Joseph Smith: The contemporary accounts of the Nauvoo discourses of the Prophet Joseph. (A. F. Ehat, & L. W. Cook, Eds.) Provo: BYU Religious Studies Center. 

Snow, E. R. (1985). How Great the Wisdom and the Love. Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

Talmage, J. E. (1919). The Vitality of Mormonism. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company. 

Talmage, J. E. (1982). Jesus the Christ: A Study of the Messiah and His Mission according to Holy Scriptures both Ancient and Modern. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company. 

Talmage, J. E. (1984). A Study of the Articles of Faith. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company. 

Young, B. (1854-1886). Journal of Discourses (Vol. 21). Liverpool, London, England: Latter-day Saints' Book Depot. 

ENDNOTES

[1] It is instrumental to recall that the tree of knowledge of good and evil was planted by God (see Moses 3:9). 

[2] See LDS Bible Dictionary under the heading “Adam,” 604. 

[3] But for the atonement, this “first judgment [of a spiritual and temporal death] which came upon man must needs have remained to an endless duration” (2 Nephi 9:7). 

[4] In this verse, I believe all the revealed kingdoms are illustrated. I suggest that they who are righteous are those of a celestial nature, whereas, those who are happy appear to be those of a terrestrial nature. I further suggest that they who are unhappy are those of a telestial nature, whereas, they who are filthy still are clearly those sons of perdition who inherit a kingdom of no glory (compare D&C 88:96-102). 

[5] There are those who will have “their part” in the second death. These are they of the telestial glory. For them, this second death will not be permanent (see D&C 63:17-18). 

[6] In the final sense, this second death will be pronounced only upon the wicked following their resurrection and judgment. 

[7] Compare D&C 63:17 and D&C 138:59. 

[8] Compare D&C 138:59. 

[9] Such as sins of commission (see 1 John 3:4). 

[10] Such as sins of omission (see James 4:17). 

[11] Even to the righteous, the pleasures of sinful living may seem a little unfair. Malachi wrote: “And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered” (Malachi 3:15). 

[12] Compare Moses 6:53-54.

[13] Nevertheless, according to the foreknowledge of God, provision was made to redeem us from personal sin on conditions of repentance (see D&C 138:19). 

[14] Compare Alma 45:16. 

[15] The imposition of a penalty is necessary to encourage compliance to law. In an article entitled, Morality and Marriage in the Book of Mormon, Rodney Turner states: “An unenforced law has no practical existence; it is only a façade of justice. Worse, not enforcing a law tends to cloud the legitimacy of all laws” (Nyman & Tate, The Book of Mormon: Jacob Through Words of Mormon, To Learn With Joy, 1990, p. 273). In connection, Elder Orson Pratt (1854-1886) posed the following question: “could He not give a commandment, without affixing a penalty?” In response, Elder Pratt continued: “He could not: it would be folly, even worse than folly, for God to give a law to an intelligent being, without affixing a penalty . . . . Why? Because all intelligent beings would discard the very idea of a law being given, which might be broken at pleasure, without the individuals breaking it being punished for their transgression” (pp. 283, Vol. 1). 

[16] “Now there is not any man that can sacrifice his own blood which will atone for the sins of another,” stated Amulek. “Therefore, there can be nothing short of an infinite atonement which will suffice for the sins of the world” (Alma 34:11-12). 

[17] Just because the atonement is infinite does not mean Christ’s must suffer forever. Contrary, such suffering seems to have been reserved for the sons of perdition, not the Son of God. I don’t know where or how these rumors get started, but lately I have heard it taught that Christ suffers every time someone sins as if the vicarious work of Christ’s atonement will never end. No doubt the Lord may “groan within himself” and be “troubled because of the wickedness of the people of the house of Israel” (see 3 Nephi 17:14). Notwithstanding, the pains that Christ faced in Gethsemane and on Golgotha were “once suffered” (see 1 Peter 3:18). It was there and then that He “partook and finished” His preparations unto the children of men (see D&C 19:19). The apostle Paul wrote: “Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world; but now once in the meridian of time hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die . . . ; So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many . . .” (Hebrews 9:25-28). 

[18] Nelson, “The Atonement,” Ensign, November 1996, 35.
[19] Compare 3 Nephi 11:11.

[20] Apparently, Satan interjected himself into the events of that night to exact all his awful terrors whilst Christ undertook to gain the victory. Concerning this ‘supreme contest with the powers of evil,’ Elder James E. Talmage wrote: “In that hour of anguish Christ met and overcame all the horrors that Satan, the ‘prince of this world’ could inflict. The frightful struggle incident to the temptations immediately following the Lord’s baptism was surpassed and overshadowed by this supreme contest with the powers of evil” (see Talmage, Jesus the Christ, 613). Elder Boyd K. Packer likewise notes: “He, by choice accepted the penalty for all mankind for the sum total of all wickedness and depravity . . . . In choosing, He faced the awesome power of the evil one who was not confined to flesh nor subject to mortal pain. That was Gethsemane” (see Packer, Ensign, May 1988, 69). 

[21] Compare D&C 45:4 and D&C 20:21.

[22] If, as expressed by Jacob, the offering of Isaac by his father Abraham was a “similitude of God and his Only Begotten Son,” (see Jacob 4:5) then we may suppose that the atonement wrought out by Jesus Christ was as much a trial for the Father as it was for His Son. Recalling the words of the Apostle Paul, “By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac,” gives us a glimpse that more than one God was tried by the awfulness of the atonement. How difficult it must have been for the Father to allow His Most-Beloved’s triple pleading, “If it be possible, let this cup pass from me,” (see Matthew 26:39, 42, 44) to go unanswered. Such apparent forsaking for our sakes makes us love Him all the more and Jesus no less. Elder Melvin J. Ballard provided this interesting sentiment concerning the Father’s response to His Son’s sacrifice: “In that hour I think I can see our dear Father behind the veil looking upon these dying struggles until even he could not endure it any longer; and, like the mother who bids farewell to her dying child, has to be taken out of the room, so as not to look upon the last struggles, so he bowed his head, and hid in some part of his universe, his great heart almost breaking for the love that he had for his Son. Oh, in that moment when he might have saved his Son. I thank him and praise him that he did not fail us, for he had not only the love of his Son in mind, but he also had love for us. I rejoice that he did not interfere, and that his love for us made it possible for him to endure to look upon the sufferings of his Son and give him finally to us, our Savior and our Redeemer. Without him, without his sacrifice, we would have remained, and we would never have come glorified into his presence. And so this is what it cost, in part, for our Father in Heaven to give the gift of his Son unto men” (Hinckley B. S., p. 155). 

[23] “This sacred spot,” said Elder McConkie (1985), “like Eden where Adam dwelt, like Sinai from where Jehovah gave his laws, like Calvary where the Son of God gave his life a ransom for many, this holy ground is where the sinless Son of the Everlasting Father took upon himself the sins of all men on condition of repentance” (p. 9). 

[24] Compare Colossians 1:20.
[25] Compare Isaiah 53:4-6 and D&C 18:11.

[26] Notwithstanding the voluntary nature of His offering, the Savior declared that He was commanded of His Father to lay His life down that He might take it again: “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. This commandment have I received of my Father” (John 10:17-18). 

[27] Compare D&C 18:11 and 1 John 2:2.