“Chapter 2: The Atonement of Jesus Christ,” Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Russell M. Nelson (2023)

“Chapter 2,” Teachings: Russell M. Nelson

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Jesus Christ praying in Gethsemane

Chapter 2

The Atonement of Jesus Christ

God so loved the world that He sent His Only Begotten Son

From the Life of Russell M. Nelson

Three weeks before the October 2023 general conference, President Russell M. Nelson fell and injured his back. Because of this, he was not able to attend conference in person. In a prerecorded message, he related what he had learned during his recovery:

“As I have wrestled with the intense pain caused by my recent injury, I have felt even deeper appreciation for Jesus Christ and the incomprehensible gift of His Atonement. Think of it! The Savior suffered ‘pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind’ [Alma 7:11] so that He can comfort us, heal us, rescue us in times of need. Jesus Christ described His experience in Gethsemane and on Calvary: ‘Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore’ [Doctrine and Covenants 19:18]. My injury has caused me to reflect again and again on ‘the greatness of the Holy One of Israel’ [2 Nephi 9:40]. During my healing, the Lord has manifested His divine power in peaceful and unmistakable ways.”

Teachings of Russell M. Nelson

The Savior’s atoning sacrifice is the central act of all human history

Before the foundation of the earth, the plan of salvation was prepared. It included the glorious possibility of a divine inheritance in the kingdom of God.

Central to that plan was the Atonement of Jesus Christ. In premortal councils, He was foreordained by His Father to atone for our sins and break the bands of physical and spiritual death. Jesus declared: “I … was prepared from the foundation of the world to redeem my people. … In me shall all mankind have life, and that eternally, even they who shall believe on my name” [Ether 3:14].

As Latter-day Saints, we refer to [Christ’s] mission as the Atonement of Jesus Christ, which made resurrection a reality for all and made eternal life possible for those who repent of their sins and receive and keep essential ordinances and covenants.

It is doctrinally incomplete to speak of the Lord’s atoning sacrifice by shortcut phrases, such as “the Atonement” or “the enabling power of the Atonement” or “applying the Atonement” or “being strengthened by the Atonement.” These expressions present a real risk of misdirecting faith by treating the event as if it had living existence and capabilities independent of our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.

Under the Father’s great eternal plan, it is the Savior who suffered. It is the Savior who broke the bands of death. It is the Savior who paid the price for our sins and transgressions and blots them out on condition of our repentance. It is the Savior who delivers us from physical and spiritual death.

There is no amorphous entity called “the Atonement” upon which we may call for succor, healing, forgiveness, or power. Jesus Christ is the source. Sacred terms such as Atonement and Resurrection describe what the Savior did, according to the Father’s plan, so that we may live with hope in this life and gain eternal life in the world to come. The Savior’s atoning sacrifice—the central act of all human history—is best understood and appreciated when we expressly and clearly connect it to Him.

Please teach your children and each other about the Lord Jesus Christ. His Atonement is the most important event in the history of the world, and it is the foundation of our religion. Everything else about our religion is secondary to that.

Study Questions

How would you explain the Savior’s Atonement to a 10-year-old? Why is the Savior’s Atonement the central act of all human history?

The Savior was the only one who could accomplish the Atonement

An infinite atonement was required to redeem Adam, Eve, and all of their posterity. That atonement must enable our physical bodies to be resurrected and changed to a bloodless form, no longer liable to disease, deterioration, or death.

According to eternal law, that atonement required a personal sacrifice by an immortal being not subject to death. Yet He must die and take up His own body again. The Savior was the only one who could accomplish this. From His mother He inherited power to die. From His Father He obtained power over death. …

The Lord declared that “this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39). He who had created the earth came into mortality to fulfill the will of His Father and all prophecies of His atonement. And His atonement redeems every soul from penalties of personal transgression, on the condition of repentance.

Study Question

Why could no one but the Savior accomplish the Atonement?

Rich meaning is found in the study of the word atonement

Rich meaning is found in study of the word atonement in the Semitic languages of Old Testament times. In Hebrew, the basic word for atonement is kaphar, a verb that means “to cover” or “to forgive.” Closely related is the Aramaic and Arabic word kafat, meaning “a close embrace.” … References to that embrace are evident in the Book of Mormon. One states that “the Lord hath redeemed my soul … ; I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love” [2 Nephi 1:15]. Another proffers the glorious hope of our being “clasped in the arms of Jesus” [Mormon 5:11].

I weep for joy when I contemplate the significance of it all. To be redeemed is to be atoned—received in the close embrace of God with an expression not only of His forgiveness, but of our oneness of heart and mind. What a privilege! And what a comfort to those of us with loved ones who have already passed from our family circle through the gateway we call death! …

While the words atone or atonement, in any of their forms, appear only once in the King James translation of the New Testament, they appear 35 times in the Book of Mormon. As another testament of Jesus Christ, it sheds precious light on His Atonement, as do the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price. Latter-day revelation has added much to our biblical base of understanding.

Study Questions

How can understanding the meaning of the word atonement bring you comfort? What does it mean to you to be encircled in the arms of the Savior?

The Savior’s Atonement is infinite

In preparatory times of the Old Testament, the practice of atonement was finite—meaning it had an end. It was a symbolic forecast of the definitive Atonement of Jesus the Christ. His Atonement is infinite—without an end. It was also 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.

Study Question

In what ways is the Savior’s Atonement infinite?

The grip of physical death is temporary because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ

Some facetiously state that nothing is as permanent as death. Not so! The grip of physical death is temporary. It began with the fall of Adam; it ended with the atonement of Jesus the Christ. The waiting period in paradise is temporary, too. It ends with the resurrection. From the Book of Mormon we learn that the “paradise of God must deliver up the spirits of the righteous, and the grave deliver up the body of the righteous; and the spirit and the body is restored to itself again, and all men become incorruptible, and immortal, and they are living souls.” (2 Nephi 9:13.) …

The Lord who created us in the first place surely has power to do it again. The same necessary elements now in our bodies will still be available—at His command. The same unique genetic code now embedded in each of our living cells will still be available to format new ones then. The miracle of the resurrection, wondrous as it will be, is marvelously matched by the miracle of our creation in the first place.

Resurrection is requisite for eternal perfection. Thanks to the atonement of Jesus Christ, our bodies, corruptible in mortality, will become incorruptible. Our physical frames, now subject to disease, death, and decay, will acquire immortal glory. Presently sustained by the blood of life and ever aging, our bodies will be sustained by spirit and become changeless and beyond the bounds of death.

Study Question

What comfort have you received from knowing of the reality of Christ’s Resurrection?

Through His Atonement, Jesus Christ can heal us and help us cope with our trials

Early in His mortal ministry, Jesus announced that He had been sent “to heal the brokenhearted” [Luke 4:18]. Wherever He taught them, His pattern was consistent. As I quote His words spoken at four different times and locations, note the pattern.

To people of the Holy Land, the Lord said that His people “should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them” [Matthew 13:15].
To people of ancient America, the resurrected Lord extended this invitation: “Return unto me, … repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you” [3 Nephi 9:13].
To leaders of His Church, He taught, “Continue to minister; for ye know not but what they will return and repent, and come unto me with full purpose of heart, and I shall heal them” [3 Nephi 18:32].
Later, during the “restitution of all things” [Acts 3:21], the Lord taught the Prophet Joseph Smith regarding the pioneers, “After their temptations, and much tribulation, behold, I, the Lord, will feel after them, and if they harden not their hearts, and stiffen not their necks against me, they shall be converted, and I will heal them” [Doctrine and Covenants 112:13].

Because of the Savior’s sacrifice, we have access to His healing power. He will heal our hearts, give us strength when we are weak, enable us to do things we never could do on our own, and heal us from sin when we repent. The Atonement of Jesus Christ can help us cope with grief, sadness, weakness, fear, anxiety, all of those things that are part of mortality’s trials.

Life can be overwhelming at times. I remember when my wife Dantzel died suddenly when her heart stopped beating. All my knowledge as a heart surgeon could not save her. Cancer has claimed the lives of two of our daughters. I understand the heartbreak of separation from loved ones.

But Jesus is the Light that shines in the dark. He is “the way, the truth, and the life” [John 14:6]. He is our anchor when we are desperately in need.

Study Question

How has the Savior’s Atonement helped heal you and those you love?

Through the Savior’s Atonement, we can be perfected in Him

Please teach and reteach that through the Atonement of our Savior, an individual can be perfected in Him. But that state of perfection does not occur here and now. In this life, we are all imperfect beings. Yes, we all make mistakes. But the Atonement of Christ makes it possible for us to rise above them and put our sins and mistakes behind us. We can be forgiven if we will but repent. With real repentance, we will have a complete change of mind, knowledge, spirit, and even the desires of our hearts. Only through continuous and conscientious repentance can we become devout disciples of the Lord.

Study Question

How has the Atonement of Jesus Christ helped you have a change of heart, mind, and spirit?

Essential ordinances of the gospel symbolize the Savior’s Atonement

Essential ordinances of the gospel symbolize the Atonement. Baptism by immersion is symbolic of the death, burial, and Resurrection of the Redeemer. Partaking of the sacrament renews baptismal covenants and also renews our memory of the Savior’s broken flesh and of the blood He shed for us. Ordinances of the temple symbolize our reconciliation with the Lord and seal families together forever. Obedience to the sacred covenants made in temples qualifies us for eternal life—the greatest gift of God to man—the “object and end of our existence.”

Study Question

How have the ordinances of the gospel helped you better understand the Savior’s Atonement?

The Atonement of Jesus Christ is the greatest act of love of all history

The ordeal of the Atonement centered about the city of Jerusalem. There the greatest single act of love of all recorded history took place. Leaving the upper room, Jesus and His friends crossed the deep ravine east of the city and came to a garden of olive trees on the lower slopes of the Mount of Olives. There in the garden bearing the Hebrew name of Gethsemane—meaning “oil-press”—olives had been beaten and pressed to provide oil and food. There at Gethsemane, the Lord “suffered the pain of all men, that all … might repent and come unto him” [Doctrine and Covenants 18:11]. He took upon Himself the weight of the sins of all mankind, bearing its massive load that caused Him to bleed from every pore.

Later He was beaten and scourged. A crown of sharp thorns was thrust upon His head as an additional form of torture. He was mocked and jeered. He suffered every indignity at the hands of His own people. “I came unto my own,” He said, “and my own received me not” [3 Nephi 9:16]. Instead of their warm embrace, He received their cruel rejection. Then He was required to carry His own cross to the hill of Calvary, where He was nailed to that cross and made to suffer excruciating pain.

Later He said, “I thirst” [John 19:28]. To a doctor of medicine, this is a very meaningful expression. Doctors know that when a patient goes into shock because of blood loss, invariably that patient—if still conscious—with parched and shriveled lips cries for water.

Even though the Father and the Son knew well in advance what was to be experienced, the actuality of it brought indescribable agony. “And [Jesus] said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt” [Mark 14:36]. Jesus then complied with the will of His Father. Three days later, precisely as prophesied, He rose from the grave. He became the firstfruits of the Resurrection. He had accomplished the Atonement, which could give immortality and eternal life to all obedient human beings. All that the Fall allowed to go awry, the Atonement allowed to go aright.

[Christ’s] Atonement blesses each of us in a very personal way. Listen carefully to this explanation from Jesus:

“For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent;

“But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I;

“Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink—

“Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men” (Doctrine and Covenants 19:16–19).

Jesus fulfilled His glorious promise made in pre-earthly councils by atoning for the Fall of Adam and Eve unconditionally and for our sins upon the condition of our repentance.

Study Questions

What does Christ’s suffering teach you about His love for us? How does it make you feel toward Him?

We can be of good cheer because the Savior has overcome the world

Before the Savior submitted Himself to the agony of Gethsemane and Calvary, He declared to His Apostles, “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” [John 16:33; emphasis added]. Subsequently, Jesus entreated each of us to do the same when He said, “I will that ye should overcome the world” [Doctrine and Covenants 64:2; emphasis added].

Dear brothers and sisters, my message to you today is that because Jesus Christ overcame this fallen world, and because He atoned for each of us, you too can overcome this sin-saturated, self-centered, and often exhausting world.

Because the Savior, through His infinite Atonement, redeemed each of us from weakness, mistakes, and sin, and because He experienced every pain, worry, and burden you have ever had, then as you truly repent and seek His help, you can rise above this present precarious world.

You can overcome the spiritually and emotionally exhausting plagues of the world, including arrogance, pride, anger, immorality, hatred, greed, jealousy, and fear. Despite the distractions and distortions that swirl around us, you can find true rest—meaning relief and peace—even amid your most vexing problems.

Study Question

How does knowing that the Savior has overcome the world help us to be of good cheer even in difficult times?