3.092 The One Thing About the Atonment of Christ
Show Notes
On Savory Salt, Allen Roberds explores why the Atonement of Jesus Christ, as discussed in Mosiah 4, cannot be simplified to "one thing." He reveals how Christ's Atonement encompasses all aspects of His divine path, including obedience, covenants, repentance, and forgiveness, urging listeners to embrace its full, multifaceted power.
Key Points
- The Atonement of Jesus Christ is not a singular, simplified concept but a multifaceted act encompassing all aspects of Christ's life and teachings.
- Allen Roberds draws parallels between Victor Hugo's evolving views on forgiveness and the expansive nature of Christ's redemptive power.
- The Atonement includes love, joy, obedience, covenant-keeping, setting an example, performing miracles, repentance, and forgiveness.
- Mosiah 4 emphasizes salvation through belief in the Atonement and sincere repentance, encouraging followers to humble themselves and seek God's forgiveness.
- Followers of Christ are called to understand and actively live by the complete example of Christ's Atonement, embracing its many principles in their lives.
The beauty, the majesty of the Atonement of Jesus Christ is that the one thing about the Atonement is that it was never about one thing. It's about all things that lead us to Him.
Episode Resources
Full Transcript
In Matthew 5, Jesus calls us the salt of the earth and the light of the world, reminding us that our lives are meant to preserve, illuminate, and point others to Him. This season on Savory Salt, we'll walk through the Old Testament, one verse and one thought each day. Perhaps these moments will add greater savor and brighter light to our lives as we seek to truly live as savory salt.
Hello, my friends. It's a new day with new opportunities. Choose ye this day whom you will serve.
Two stories, 30 years apart, same author, two completely different experiences. This has me reflecting as recently I went with my wife to see the play "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", written by Victor Hugo, written early on in his life. A story of loss, of hatred, of religious bigotry, a story of misunderstanding each other and not finding forgiveness in any way, shape or form.
Fast forward 30 years and we have the story of a prisoner who right out of prison attempts to steal, receives forgiveness. How could an author write two stories 30 years apart? One seemingly with no chance or hope of redemption, and then another one focused entirely on the redemptive act of forgiving another?
This has me thinking about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I see regularly an attempt to try to whittle things down to the one thing. The one thing about this here, the one thing about that there.
And as I sat pondering on the idea of the one thing about the Atonement of Jesus Christ, I decided on this. It came from an experience I had at a conference. I won't share that experience right now, but here's the one thing I've decided about the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
The one thing about the Atonement of Jesus Christ is that it's not simplified in one thing. You see, the Atonement of Jesus Christ doesn't just show us love, for example. It doesn't just show us joy.
The Atonement of Jesus Christ includes all of the path of Jesus Christ. It was about Him choosing to believe in and follow His Heavenly Father. It was about His obedience to the commandments of a living God.
It was about Christ making and keeping covenants with that God, being an example to others of the believers. It was about performing miracles, helping others. It was about repentance and forgiveness.
All of these are aspects of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. And so, as we tend to oversimplify in our lives, and even non tend to oversimplify and say, "How can you act like this or do this? If you are a follower of Christ, you must just simply love." My friends, I landed for our reading for the day inside of Mosiah chapter 4.
I would encourage you to read all of Mosiah chapter 4 today if you get a chance as King Benjamin talks about salvation through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It's not a list per se, it's more of a result that comes through your belief in repentance and the power of the Atonement in your life. So I'll choose one verse here, one that I think hopefully shares just a little bit of all of these other verses.
In verse 10, it says, "And again, believe that ye must repent of your sins and forsake them, and humble yourselves before God, and ask in sincerity of heart that he would forgive you. And now, if ye believe all these things, see that ye do them." My friends, perhaps the experiences that Victor Hugo had in writing one story of utter failure of humanity to forgive each other, and then 30 years later to write a story that is often quoted in General Conference. Perhaps as we focus on this Easter season and as we focus on being followers of Jesus Christ, we don't focus on one thing, but perhaps take into account that as followers of Jesus Christ, there are many things.
Perhaps we could believe those things and then see that ye do them. I hope that as a follower of Christ, I live that example. I hope that it's seen in the way that I treat others, but I hope that it's also seen in the way that I practice my own life one-to-one with me.
I hope that it's seen in my desires inside, the way my heart goes, and I hope that you can see those as well. My friends, the beauty, the majesty of the Atonement of Jesus Christ is that the one thing about the Atonement is that it was never about one thing. It's about all things that lead us to Him.
May we follow those things. May we follow His example, is my hope and prayer for today. That's all for today, my friends.
You and I have come here for such a time as this. Step forward in faith and let's be savory salt. We will be here tomorrow and we hope you are too.
This transcript was generated using AI and may contain errors. I do my best to review and edit them when I can.