The Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ is the heart and core and center of revealed religion.

Elder Bruce R. McConkie Christ and the Creation

The way of the gospel is a simple way

December 18, 2011

General Authorities, General Conference, Hinckley, Humility

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The way of the gospel is a simple way. Some of the requirements may appear to you as elementary and unnecessary. Do not spurn them. Humble yourselves and walk in obedience. I promise that the results that follow will be marvelous to behold and satisfying to experience.

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President Gordon B. Hinckley
Everything to Gain—Nothing to Lose, General Conference, October, 1976

Willing to Submit

November 9, 2011

General Authorities, General Conference, Gethsemane, Humility, Maxwell

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Spiritual submissiveness is so much more than bended knee or bowed head. Alas, insofar as we “mind the things of the flesh” (Rom. 8:5), we simply cannot have the “mind of Christ.” (1 Cor. 2:16.)

Jesus laid down this sobering requirement: “Except ye … become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. 18:3.)

One of Jesus’ prophets delineated—with submissiveness thrice stipulated—how a disciple can become “as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.” (Mosiah 3:19.)

. . . .

Later, in Gethsemane, the suffering Jesus began to be “sore amazed” (Mark 14:33), or, in the Greek, “awestruck” and “astonished.”

Imagine, Jehovah, the Creator of this and other worlds, “astonished”! Jesus knew cognitively what He must do, but not experientially. He had never personally known the exquisite and exacting process of an atonement before. Thus, when the agony came in its fulness, it was so much, much worse than even He with his unique intellect had ever imagined! No wonder an angel appeared to strengthen him! (See Luke 22:43.)

The cumulative weight 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. (See Alma 7:11–12; Isa. 53:3–5; Matt. 8:17.) The anguished Jesus not only pled with the Father that the hour and cup might pass from Him, but with this relevant citation. “And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me.” (Mark 14:35–36.)

. . . .

Even so, Jesus maintained this sublime submissiveness, as He had in Gethsemane: “Nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” (Matt. 26:39.)

While bearing our sins, our infirmities, our sicknesses, and bringing to pass the Atonement (see Alma 7:11–12), Jesus became the perfect Shepherd, making these lines of Paul’s especially relevant and reassuring: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” (Rom. 8:35.)

 

Elder Neal A. Maxwell
Willing to Submit, Ensign, May, 1985

The Very Essence of a Broken Heart and a Contrite Spirit

October 21, 2011

General Authorities, General Conference, Humility, Porter, Repentance

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The Savior’s perfect submission to the Eternal Father is the very essence of a broken heart and a contrite spirit. Christ’s example teaches us that a broken heart is an eternal attribute of godliness. When our hearts are broken, we are completely open to the Spirit of God and recognize our dependence on Him for all that we have and all that we are. The sacrifice so entailed is a sacrifice of pride in all its forms. Like malleable clay in the hands of a skilled potter, the brokenhearted can be molded and shaped in the hands of the Master.

A broken heart and a contrite spirit are also preconditions to repentance. Lehi taught:

“Wherefore, redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah. …

“Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered” (2 Nephi 2:6–7).

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Elder Bruce D. Porter
A Broken Heart and a Contrite Spirit

My Thoughts are not Your Thoughts

September 25, 2011

Faith, Humility, I Need Thee Every Hour, Vandagriff

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Sometimes my world seems to be a billiards table where I am a billiard ball. When I am at rest, I can look around and view my life circumstances clearly. I can see other balls on the table, some close to me and others farther away. Because of my position on the table, there are also billiard balls I cannot see because my vision is blocked by intervening balls.

When the pool cue strikes me, I begin to move in a straight line. I can look ahead and predict where that straight line will take me and my future seems very clear. Then I hit something, a glancing strike against another billiard ball that slightly alters my path. Next, my changed course sends me into a cushion that bounces me off in an entirely different direction than I supposed I was traveling. As I keep striking balls and cushions, my journey becomes more and more confusing, less and less what I thought it would be. When I finally come to rest, I am at a location far removed from where I thought I would end up.

There is, of course, another perspective on the billiards table, one much different from mine—high above the table looking down. The difference in perspective is profound. A bank shot looks and feels much different to the billiard ball than it does to the billiards player.

Speaking to Isaiah, the Lord said, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways” (Isaiah 55:7)

David P. Vandagriff

I Need Thee Every Hour – Applying the Atonement in Everyday Life

Would We Believe and Follow?

August 21, 2011

General Authorities, General Conference, Humility, Joseph Fieldin Smith, Resurrection

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There was only one way of redemption, one way in which reparation could be made and the body restored again to the spirit; that was by an infinite atonement, and it had to be made by an infinite being, someone not subject to death and yet someone who had the power to die and who also had power over death. And so our Father in heaven sent us his Son, Jesus Christ, into the world with life in himself. And because he had a mother who had blood in her veins he had the power to die. He could yield up his body to death and then take it again. Let me read his own words: “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.)

He had power to lay down his life, and on the cross he paid the price for our sins and at the same time for Adam’s transgression. His infinite atonement resulted in two things: (l) restoration of the body to the spirit, and (2) the redemption of those who accept the gospel of Jesus Christ and who will be loyal in the keeping of his commandments-freedom from their sins.

Now, in conclusion, what are we going to do? Are we going to love him? Are we going to realize the great work he did for us and are we going to be grateful, or are we going to violate his commandments? I would like to read something by Sydney Harris, taken from the Deseret News in 1964, entitled “Would We Believe and Follow?”

“If there should be a second coming, would there not be soon a second crucifixion? And this time, not by the Romans or the Jews, but by those who proudly call themselves Christians? I wonder! I wonder how we today would regard and treat this man with his strange and frightening and ‘impractical’ doctrines of human behavior and relationships. Would we believe and follow, any more than the masses of people in his day believed and followed?

“Would not the militarists among us assail him as a cowardly pacifist because he urges us not to resist evil?

“Would not the nationalists among us attack him as a dangerous internationalist because he tells us we are all of one flesh?

“Would not the wealthy among us castigate him as a trouble-making radical because he bars the rich from entering the kingdom of heaven?

“Would not the liberals among us dismiss him as a dreamy vagabond because he advises us to take no thought for the morrow, to lay up no treasures on earth?

“Would not the ecclesiastics among us denounce him as a ranting heretic because he cuts through the core of ritual and commands us only to love God and our neighbors?

“Would not the sentimentalist among us deride him as a cynic because he warns us that the way to salvation is narrow and difficult?

“Would not the puritans among us despise and reject him because he eats and drinks with the publicans and sinners, preferring the company of winebibbers and harlots to that of ‘respectable’ church members?

“Would not the sensual among us scorn him because he fasts for forty days in the desert, neglecting the needs of the body?

“Would not the proud and important among us laugh at him when he instructs the twelve disciples that he who would be ‘first’ should be the one to take the role of the least and serve all?

“Would not the worldly wise and educated among us be aghast to hear that we cannot be saved except we become as children, and that a little child shall lead us?

“Would not each of us-in his own way-find some part of this man’s saying and doing to be so threatening to our ways of life, so much at odds with our rooted beliefs, that we could not tolerate him for long?

“I wonder, I wonder if we are any more prepared for the second coming than we would have been for the first.”

President Joseph Fielding Smith
Conference Report,April 1967,Afternoon Meeting

Work Becomes Spiritual When It Is Offered to God

June 21, 2011

C.S. Lewis, Humility

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I reject at once an idea which lingers in the mind of some modern people that cultural activities are in their own right spiritual and meritorious – as though scholars and poets were intrinsically more pleasing to God than scavengers and bootblacks. . . .

The work of a Beethoven and the work of a charwoman become spiritual on precisely the same condition, that of being offered to God, of being done humbly ‘as to the Lord.’ This does not, of course, mean that it is for anyone a mere toss-up whether he should sweep rooms or compose symphonies. A mole must dig to the glory of God and a cock must crow. We are members of one body, but differentiated members, each with his own vocation.

C.S. Lewis
Weight of Glory, page 55

God is the other party with us in the gospel covenant. He is the controlling partner.

May 24, 2011

Hope, Humility, Millett

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We need not be possessed of an unholy or intemperate zeal in order to be saved; we need only be constant and dependable.

God is the other party with us in the gospel covenant. He is the controlling partner. He lets us know, through the influence of the Spirit, that the gospel covenant is still intact and the supernal promises are sure. The Savior invites us to learn the timeless and comforting lesson that “he who doeth the works of righteousness shall receive his reward, even peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come” (D&C 59:23).

Peace. Hope. Assurance. These things come to us by virtue of the atoning blood of Jesus Christ and as a natural result of our new creation. They serve as an anchor to the soul, a solid and steady reminder of who we are and Whose we are.

Robert Millett
The Harbinger of Salvation
(Paragraph breaks added to enhance online readability)

Our Heavenly Father is a God of High Expectations

April 25, 2011

Christofferson, General Authorities, General Conference, Humility, Repentance

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Our Heavenly Father is a God of high expectations. His expectations for us are expressed by His Son, Jesus Christ, in these words: “I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect” (3 Nephi 12:48). He proposes to make us holy so that we may “abide a celestial glory” (D&C 88:22) and “dwell in his presence” (Moses 6:57). He knows what is required, and so, to make our transformation possible, He provides His commandments and covenants, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and most important, the Atonement and Resurrection of His Beloved Son.

In all of this, God’s purpose is that we, His children, may be able to experience ultimate joy, to be with Him eternally, and to become even as He is. Some years ago Elder Dallin H. Oaks explained: “The Final Judgment is not just an evaluation of a sum total of good and evil acts—what we have done. It is an acknowledgment of the final effect of our acts and thoughts—what we have become. It is not enough for anyone just to go through the motions. The commandments, ordinances, and covenants of the gospel are not a list of deposits required to be made in some heavenly account. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a plan that shows us how to become what our Heavenly Father desires us to become.”

. . . .

I would like to speak of one particular attitude and practice we need to adopt if we are to meet our Heavenly Father’s high expectations. It is this: willingly to accept and even seek correction. Correction is vital if we would conform our lives “unto a perfect man, [that is,] unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). Paul said of divine correction or chastening, “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth” (Hebrews 12:6). Though it is often difficult to endure, truly we ought to rejoice that God considers us worth the time and trouble to correct.

Divine chastening has at least three purposes: (1) to persuade us to repent, (2) to refine and sanctify us, and (3) at times to redirect our course in life to what God knows is a better path.

Elder D. Todd Christofferson
As Many as I Love, I Rebuke and Chasten, General Conference, April, 2011

Blessed Are the Meek

March 2, 2011

General Authorities, Humility, Meekness, Wells

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In the greatest sermon ever preached the Savior declared, “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth,” to which a modern skeptic has quipped, “That would be the only way the meek would get anything!”

I use that little bit of humor to illustrate that in today’s fast-paced, success-oriented world, the quality of meekness is not universally admired. We don’t usually think of successful executives as being meek, nor can we mentally accept the idea of a successful quarterback on a winning football team being meek. In fact, success in anything seems to involve quite the opposite of meekness.

Webster’s dictionary gives two commonly accepted definitions of the word “meek”:

(1) deficient in spirit and courage, and

(2) not . . . strong.

No way do I want to be looked upon as, nor can I imagine myself as being “deficient in spirit and courage.” Those are negative attributes that I want no part of–likewise, “not . . . strong.” All my life I have tried to “be strong.” One of my favorite slogans for success is, “Plan, Simplify, and Be Strong.”

In the minds of many, the term “meek” means to be submissive, passive, mild, retiring, bashful, soft, lowly, placid, etc. The mental image of a “meek” person is that of a compliant doormat, Casper Milquetoast, who is so timid and unassertive that he accomplishes nothing, does nothing, seeks nothing, and contributes nothing to the world he lives in. Is this weak interpretation of meekness really what the Savior had in mind? I do not think so. I believe there is another better interpretation of the word “meek” in Spanish. Please allow me to share it with you.

I was visiting a huge estancia (ranch) in Argentina with over 100,000 acres of lush pampa. They had 20,000 head of cattle on the ranch and over a thousand head of beautiful horses–some for the gauchos to ride, but most were thoroughbred polo ponies that they trained and sold all over the world.

In the course of the afternoon’s conversation I asked the distinguished estanciero (owner) if we would see a rodeo where the gauchos would be breaking wild horses like our western cowboys. The owner was aghast. “Not on this ranch you won’t,” was his emphatic answer. “We would never break a horse. We don’t want to break his spirit. We love them and work patiently with them and train them until they are meek or ‘manso.’” He said, “Our meek (or ‘manso’) horses are still full of fire and spirit, but they are obedient and well trained. They lose nothing of their speed or maneuverability. A polo pony has to be the finest horseflesh on the face of the earth. They are lightning fast and superbly maneuverable to follow the run-and-gun type of game that world-class polo is. The horse cannot be timid or afraid of anything, but must be obedient and superbly well trained.”

I can see a great spiritual application now to the meaning “manso” or “meek.” I don’t feel the Savior wanted us to be doormats to be walked on. I prefer to think he meant that we should be obedient and well trained. You can be strong, enthusiastic, talented, spirited, zealous, and still be “meek” by being obedient and well trained. I can seek to be that kind of a meek person and be proud to have that as my goal–obedient and well trained–and still coexist in the success-oriented world in which we live.

Elder Robert E. Wells
The Christ-Focused Beatitudes, a devotional address given at Brigham Young University on 20 May 1986.

The usual gifts we give to God could be stamped “Return to Sender”

March 1, 2011

Covenants, General Authorities, Humility, Maxwell, Sacrifice

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In striving for ultimate submission, our wills constitute all we really have to give God anyway. The usual gifts and their derivatives we give to Him could be stamped justifiably “Return to Sender,” with a capital S. Even when God receives this one gift in return, the fully faithful will receive “all that [He] hath” (D&C 84:38). What an exchange rate!

Meanwhile, certain realities remain: God has given us our lives, our agency, our talents, and our opportunities; He has given us our possessions; He has given us our appointed mortal spans complete with the needed breaths (see D&C 64:32). Guided by such perspective, we will avoid serious errors of proportion. Some of these are far less amusing than would be hearing a double quartet and mistaking it for the Tabernacle Choir!

No wonder President [Gordon B.] Hinckley … stressed our being a covenant people, emphasizing the covenants of the sacrament, tithing, and the temple, citing sacrifice as the “very essence of the Atonement.” (Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley (1997), 147)

Elder Neal A. Maxwell
“Consecrate Thy Performance”, Ensign, Dec. 2008, 26–30

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