The Atonement of Jesus Christ: Our Reconciliation with God

Another stellar article written by guest-writer Cody Bosch.

I would like to speak of the wonderful gift to mankind that is the Atonement of Jesus Christ. As Elder Boyd K. Packer of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints cleverly phrased it, “Atonement is really three words:At-one-ment, meaning to set at one, one with God; to reconcile, to conciliate, to expiate.”

Elder Packer explains that the component parts of the word each have their own meaning. “At” as in place; “one” person, or God; and “ment” for a dictionary suffix which means to be at a state of condition due to action, or concrete result of action making, “to set” as it were. The atonement reconciles us with God.

“If punishment is the price repentance asks, it comes at bargain price. Consequences, even painful ones, protect us. So simple a thing as a child’s cry of pain when his finger touches fire can teach us that. Except for the pain, the child might be consumed.”

-Boyd K. Packer

Because of the fall of Adam and Eve--the descent of man from God's presence, to a fallen, sinful state--the Atonement was made necessary. The fall resulted in mankind being subject to death, temptation, and sin, conditions that one cannot overcome on their own. In order to reconcile us with God, a higher power needed to intervene.

The atonement was what Jesus Christ achieved in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross at Calvary. He suffered, bled, and died for the sins and pains of the world. When we engage our end of this Atonement by repenting and looking upon Christ, we can be forgiven. Thanks to Christ's triumph over death itself, we are able to live again as resurrected beings in the hereafter.

There are two types of death that humans can experience. These are physical and spiritual death. The atonement allows us to conquer both of these. Spiritual death is separation from God. You can experience this multiple times. This is through sin. When obeying the Lord's commandments and acting righteously, we are entitled to the Lord's presence, the gift of the Holy Ghost, the Light of Christ. When in sin, we forfeit this sacred presence, and must repent to get it back.

“An atonement was made. Ever and always it offers amnesty from transgression and from death if we will but repent. Repentance is the escape clause in it all. Repentance is the key with which we can unlock the prison from inside. We hold that key within our hands, and agency is ours to use it...I readily confess that I would find no peace, neither happiness nor safety, in a world without repentance. I do not know what I should do if there were no way for me to erase my mistakes. The agony would be more than I could bear. It may be otherwise with you, but not with me.”-Boyd K. Packer

Amnesty means an act of authority in forgiving a person or group of people. Every person except Jesus commits sins and transgressions, therefore putting them in need of amnesty and forgiveness. Repentance is the key that unlocks us from our spirit prison.