This week I've been thinking about something that brings joy and hope to my life. It heals the wounded soul and offers peace to those who struggle. It has the ability to make us complete and clean. It strengthens the strong and weak alike. Everyone needs this in their lives - whether they were, are, or will be, whether they be male or female, saint or sinner, etc. You name it, they need it. It is readily accessible to us because of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
It is Christ's atonement. As used in the sciptures, to atone is to suffer the penalty for sins, thereby removing the effects of sin from the repentant sinner and alowing him or her to be reconciled to God. Jesus Christ was the only one capable of carrying out the Atonement for all mankind. Because of His Atonement, all people will be resurrected, and those who obey His gospel will receive the gift of eternal life with God. However, I want to talk about two particular points of the atonement, which I will do in two seperate posts.
First, I want to talk about grace.
We hear that word often in Christian conversation and lingo, but do you know what it really means, and how that effects you?
I had to do some digging myself to find out. On lds.org, I found this wonderful definition:
Grace is the help or strength given through the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. Through the grace of God, everyone who has lived will be resurrected - our spirits will be reunited with our bodies, never again to be separated. Through His grace, the Lord also enables those who live His gospel to repent and be forgiven.
The grace of God helps us every day. It strengthens us to do good works we could not do on our own. The Lord promised that if we humble ourselves before Him and have faith in Him, His grace will help us overcome all our personal weaknesses (see Ether 12:27).
Indescribably wonderful, right? I know that that is true! But how does that apply to us?
I want to reference a concept shared in a phenomenal speech given by Brad Wilcox called "His Grace is Sufficient." (That speech has changed my life. You should give it a read, because I'm going to have to keep it to the bare minimum here.)
"Christ’s arrangement with us is similar to a mom providing music lessons for her child. Mom pays the piano teacher. Because Mom pays the debt in full, she can turn to her child and ask for something. What is it? Practice! Does the child’s practice pay the piano teacher? No. Does the child’s practice repay Mom for paying the piano teacher? No. Practicing is how the child shows appreciation for Mom’s incredible gift. It is how he takes advantage of the amazing opportunity Mom is giving him to live his life at a higher level. Mom’s joy is found not in getting repaid but in seeing her gift used—seeing her child improve. And so she continues to call for practice, practice, practice...
In the same way, because Jesus has paid justice, He can now turn to us and say, “Follow me” (Matthew 4:19), “Keep my commandments” (John 14:15)..."
I absolutely LOVE that analogy. It made it so much easier to understand the atonement, and how it works in my life. Our choosing to follow Christ isn't trying to "pay Him back" for what He's done for us. It's already paid.
Brad Wilcox goes on to expound on the next part after the payment: the practice.
"I have born-again Christian friends who say to me, “You Mormons are trying to earn your way to heaven.”
I say, “No, we are not earning heaven. We are learning heaven. We are preparing for it (see D&C 78:7). We are practicing for it.”
They ask me, “Have you been saved by grace?”
I answer, “Yes. Absolutely, totally, completely, thankfully—yes!”
Then I ask them a question that perhaps they have not fully considered: “Have you been changed by grace?” They are so excited about being saved that maybe they are not thinking enough about what comes next. They are so happy the debt is paid that they may not have considered why the debt existed in the first place. Latter-day Saints know not only what Jesus has saved us from but also what He has saved us for. As my friend Brett Sanders puts it, “A life impacted by grace eventually begins to look like Christ’s life.” As my friend Omar Canals puts it, “While many Christians view Christ’s suffering as only a huge favor He did for us, Latter-day Saints also recognize it as a huge investment He made in us.” As Moroni puts it, grace isn’t just about being saved. It is also about becoming like the Savior (see Moroni 7:48).
The miracle of the Atonement is not just that we can live after we die but that we can live more abundantly (see John 10:10). The miracle of the Atonement is not just that we can be cleansed and consoled but that we can be transformed (see Romans 8). Scriptures make it clear that no unclean thing can dwell with God (see Alma 40:26), but, brothers and sisters, no unchanged thing will even want to."
I just want to express my gratitude for the atonement, and for the grace that I experience because of it. Every time that I have turned to Christ with my weakness, my inadequacies, my pain, my mistakes, and even my strengths, He is able to take them and make them shine with His light. He is able to make me more than I can even imagine through His grace as I choose to follow Him.
And He can do the same for you.
He's already paid the price. Now, with His help, we can do our best so we can be transformed and be able to dwell with God when our time comes.
And with that incredible truth, I end this post.
Trust in God and His ability to change you. And have a blessed day! :)
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