The Articles of Faith Part 10

=19.= Paul refers to the doctrine of a universal resurrection as being so well proved that even his accusers had to admit the truth, "that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust."[245] On another occasion he said "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."[246] Furthermore, John the Revelator testifies of his vision concerning futurity, "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before G.o.d.... And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and h.e.l.l delivered up the dead which were in them."[247] Thus it is plain that the effect of the atonement, as far as it applies to the victory over temporal or bodily death, involves the entire race. It is equally clear that the release from Adam's legacy of spiritual death, or banishment from the presence of G.o.d, will be similarly universal; so that if any man lose salvation, such loss will be due to himself, and in no way be dependent upon the Fall. The doctrine that the gift of redemption through Christ is free to all men, was specifically taught by the apostles of old. Thus Paul says:--"Therefore, as by the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men to the justification of life."[248] And further:--there is "one mediator between G.o.d and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all."[249] John spoke of the Redeemer's sacrifice, saying:--"And he is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world."[250]

[245] Acts xxiv, 15.

[246] I Cor. xv, 22.

[247] Rev. xx, 12-13.

[248] Rom. v, 18.

[249] I Tim. ii, 5-6.

[250] I John ii, 2.

=20.= The same great truths were taught among the Nephites. Benjamin, the righteous king, preached of "the atonement which was prepared from the foundation of the world for all mankind, which ever were ever since the fall of Adam, or who are, or who ever shall be, even unto the end of the world."[251] In revelation of the present day we read of Christ's having come into the world, to suffer and to die, "That through him all might be saved whom the Father had put into his power and made by him."[252]

[251] Mos. iv, 7.

[252] Doc. and Cov. lxxvi, 42.

=21.= But besides this universal application of the atonement, whereby all men are redeemed from the effects of Adam's transgression, both with respect to the death of the body and the taint of inherited sin, there is a special application of the same great sacrifice, as a means of propitiation for individual sins, through the faith and good works of the sinner. This two-fold effect of the atonement is implied in the article of our faith now under consideration. The first effect is to secure to all mankind alike, exemption from the otherwise terrible effects of the Fall, thus providing a plan of _General Salvation_. The second effect is to open a way for _Individual Salvation_ whereby mankind may secure forgiveness of personal sins. As these sins are the result of individual acts, it is just that forgiveness for them should be conditioned on individual compliance with prescribed requirements,--"obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel."

=22. The General Effect of the Atonement=, so far as it applies to all who have arrived at years of accountability and judgment, has been made sufficiently clear perhaps from the scriptures already quoted.

Its application to children may properly receive our further attention. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches as a doctrine founded on reason, justice, and scripture, that all children are innocent in the sight of G.o.d, and that, until they reach an age of personal responsibility, baptism is not requisite or proper in their behalf; that, in short, they are saved through the atonement of Christ. To a degree, children are born heirs to the good or evil natures of their parents; the effects of heredity in determining character are readily recognized. Good and evil tendencies, blessings and curses, are transmitted from generation to generation. Through this divinely appointed order, the justice of which is plain in the revealed light of knowledge concerning the pre-existent state of the spirits of mankind, the children of Adam are natural heirs to the calamities of mortality; but through Christ's atonement they are all redeemed from the curses of this fallen state; the debt, which comes to them as a legacy, is paid for them, and thus are they left free.

Children who die free of sin are entirely innocent in the eyes of G.o.d, even though they be the offspring of transgressors. We read in the Book of Mormon:--"Little children cannot repent; wherefore it is awful wickedness to deny the pure mercies of G.o.d unto them, for they are all alive in him because of his mercy.... For behold that all little children are alive in Christ, and also all they that are without the law. For the power of redemption cometh on all that have no law."[253]

[253] Moroni viii, 19-22.

=23.= The prophet Mormon writing to his son Moroni expressed in the following manner his conviction of children's innocence:--"Listen to the words of Christ, your Redeemer, your Lord and your G.o.d. Behold, I came into the world not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance: the whole need no physician, but they that are sick; wherefore little children are whole, for they are not capable of committing sin; wherefore, the curse of Adam is taken from them in me, that it hath no power over them.... Behold I say unto you, That this thing shall ye teach, repentance and baptism unto those who are accountable and capable of committing sin; yea, teach parents that they must repent and be baptized, and humble themselves as their little children, and they shall all be saved with their little children. And their little children need no repentance, neither baptism. Behold, baptism is unto repentance to the fulfilling the commandments unto the remission of sins. But little children are alive in Christ even from the foundation of the world."[254]

[254] Moroni viii, 8-12.

=24.= And in a revelation through the prophet Joseph Smith in this dispensation, the Lord has said:--"But behold I say unto you, that little children are redeemed from the foundation of the world through mine Only Begotten; wherefore they cannot sin, for power is not given unto Satan to tempt little children until they begin to become accountable before me."[255] President John Taylor, after citing instances of Christ's affection for little children, and proofs of the innocent condition in which they are regarded in heaven, says:--"Without Adam's transgression, those children could not have existed; through the atonement they are placed in a state of salvation without any act of their own. These would embrace, according to the opinion of statisticians, more than one half of the human family, who can attribute their salvation only to the mediation and atonement of the Savior."[256]

[255] Doc. and Cov. xxix, 46-47.

[256] Mediation and Atonement, page 148. See Note 3.

=25. The Special or Individual Effect of the Atonement= makes it possible for any and every soul to obtain absolution from the dread effect of personal sins, through the mediation of Christ; but such saving intercession is to be invoked by individual effort as manifested through faith, repentance, and continued works of righteousness. The laws under which individual salvation is obtainable have been prescribed by Christ, whose right it is to say how the blessings of His own sacrifice shall be administered. All men are in need of the Savior's mediation, for all are transgressors. So taught the apostles of old:--"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of G.o.d."[257] And again:--"If we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."[258] Now, that the blessing of redemption from individual sins, while free for all to attain, is nevertheless conditioned on individual effort, is as plainly declared as is the truth of unconditional redemption from the effects of the Fall. There is a judgment ordained for all, and all will be judged "according to their works." The free agency of man enables him to choose or reject, to follow the path of life, or the road that leads to destruction; it is but just that he be held to answer for the exercise of his freedom, and that he meet the results of his acts.

[257] Rom. iii, 23.

[258] I John i, 8.

=26.= Hence the justice of the scriptural doctrine that salvation comes to the individual only through obedience. "He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him"[259] said Paul of the Christ. And further:--G.o.d "will render to every man according to his deeds: To them who, by patient continuance in well doing, seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life: But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; But glory, honor, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: For there is no respect of persons with G.o.d."[260] To these may be added the words of the risen Lord, "He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved; and he that believeth not, shall be d.a.m.ned."[261]

[259] Heb. v, 9.

[260] Rom. ii, 6-11.

[261] Mark xvi, 16.

=27.= Consider further the prophecy of King Benjamin proclaimed to the Nephite mult.i.tude:--Christ's blood "atoneth for the sins of those who have fallen by the transgression of Adam, who have died, not knowing the will of G.o.d concerning them, or who have ignorantly sinned. But wo, wo unto him who knoweth that he rebelleth against G.o.d; for salvation cometh to none such, except it be through repentance and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ."[262] But why multiply scriptural citations when the whole tenor of sacred writ supports the doctrine?

Without Christ no man can be saved, and the salvation provided at the cost of Christ's sufferings and bodily death is offered upon certain clearly defined conditions only; and these are summarized under "obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel."

[262] Mosiah iii, 11-12.

=28. Salvation and Exaltation.=--Some degree of salvation will come to all who have not forfeited their right to it; exaltation is given to those only who by active labors have won a claim to G.o.d's merciful liberality by which it is bestowed. Of the saved, not all will be exalted to the higher glories; rewards will not be bestowed in violation of justice; punishments will not be meted out to the ignoring of mercy's claims. No one can be admitted to any order of glory, in short, no soul can be saved until justice has been satisfied for violated law. Our belief in the universal application of the atonement implies no supposition that all mankind will be saved with like endowments of glory and power. In the kingdom of G.o.d there are numerous degrees or gradations provided for those who are worthy of them; in the house of our Father there are many mansions, into which only those who are prepared are admitted. The old sectarian idea, that in the hereafter there will be but two places for the souls of mankind,--heaven and h.e.l.l, with the same glory in all parts of the one, and the same terrors throughout the other,--is wholly untenable in the light of divine revelation. Through the direct word of the Lord we learn of varied degrees of glory.

=29. Degrees of Glory.=--The revelations of G.o.d have defined the following princ.i.p.al kingdoms or degrees of glory, as prepared through Christ for the children of men:

I. _The Celestial Glory._[263]--There are some who have striven to obey all the Divine commandments, who have accepted the testimony of Christ, and received the Holy Spirit; these are they who have overcome evil by G.o.dly works, and who are therefore ent.i.tled to the highest glory; these belong to the Church of the First Born, unto whom the Father has given all things; they are made Kings and Priests of the Most High, after the order of Melchisedek; they possess celestial bodies, "whose glory is that of the sun, even the glory of G.o.d, the highest of all, whose glory the sun of the firmament is written of as being typical;" they indeed are admitted to the celestial company, being crowned with the celestial glory, which makes them G.o.ds.

[263] Doc. and Cov. lxxvi, 50-70.

II. _The Terrestrial Glory._[264]--We read of those who receive glory of a secondary order, differing from the highest as "the moon differs from the sun in the firmament;" these are they who, though honorable, were still in darkness, blinded by the craftiness of men, and unable to receive and obey the higher laws of G.o.d, they proved "not valiant in the testimony of Jesus," and therefore are not ent.i.tled to the fulness of glory.

[264] Doc. and Cov. lxxvi, 71-80.

III. _The Telestial Glory._--We learn of a still lower kind of glory, differing from the higher orders as the stars differ from the brighter orbs of the firmament; this is given to those who received not the testimony of Christ, but who still did not deny the Holy Spirit; who have led lives exempting them from the heaviest punishment, yet whose redemption will be delayed till the last resurrection. In the telestial world there are innumerable degrees of glory, comparable to the varying l.u.s.tre of the stars.[265] Yet all who receive of any one of these orders of glory are at last saved, and upon them Satan will finally have no claim. Even the telestial glory, as we are told by those who have been permitted to gaze upon it, "surpa.s.ses all understanding; and no man knows it except him to whom G.o.d has revealed it."[266] Then there are those who have lost all claim upon the immediate mercy of G.o.d; whose deeds have numbered them with Perdition and his angels.[267]

[265] Doc. and Cov. lxxvi, 81-86.

[266] The same, paragraphs 89-90.

[267] See page 62; also pages 416-422.

NOTES.

=1. The Atonement Proved by Evidence.=--"It is often asked: 'How is it that through the sacrifice of one who is innocent salvation may be purchased for those under the dominion of death?' We observe in pa.s.sing that what should most concern man is not so much how it is that such is the case, but is it a fact?... To that question the blood sprinkled upon a thousand Jewish altars, and the smoke that darkened the heavens for ages from burnt offerings, answer yes.... Even the mythology of heathen nations retains the idea of an atonement that either has been, or is to be made for mankind. Fantastic, distorted, confused, buried under the rubbish of savage superst.i.tion it may be, but it nevertheless exists. So easily traced, so distinct is this feature of heathen mythology, that some writers have endeavored to prove that the gospel plan of redemption was derived from heathen mythology.

Whereas the fact is that the gospel was understood and extensively preached in the earliest ages; men retained in their tradition a knowledge of those principles or parts of them, and however much they have been distorted, traces of them may still be found in nearly all the mythologies of the world. The prophets of the Jewish scriptures answer the question in the affirmative.

The writers of the New Testament make Christ's atonement the princ.i.p.al theme of their discourses and epistles. The Book of Mormon, speaking as the voice of an entire continent of people whose prophets and righteous men sought and found G.o.d, testifies to the same great fact. The revelations of G.o.d as given through the Prophet Joseph Smith are replete with pa.s.sages confirming this doctrine."--Roberts' _Outlines of Ecclesiastical History_, Section viii, 6.

=2. Redemption from the Fall Universal and Unconditional.=--"We believe that through the sufferings, death, and atonement of Jesus Christ all mankind, without one exception, are to be completely and fully redeemed, both body and spirit, from the endless banishment and curse to which they were consigned by Adam's transgression; and that this universal salvation and redemption of the whole human family from the endless penalty of the original sin, is effected without any conditions whatever on their part; that is, they are not required to believe or repent, or be baptized, or do anything else, in order to be redeemed from that penalty; for whether they believe or disbelieve; whether they repent or remain impenitent, whether they are baptized or unbaptized, whether they keep the commandments or break them, whether they are righteous or unrighteous, it will make no difference in relation to their redemption, both soul and body, from the penalty of Adam's transgression. The most righteous man that ever lived on the earth, and the most wicked wretch of the whole human family, were both placed under the same curse without any transgression or agency of their own, and they both alike will be redeemed from that curse, without any agency or conditions on their part."--Apostle Orson Pratt in _Remarkable Visions_.

=3. Christ the Author of our Salvation.=--President John Taylor speaks of the death of Christ as an expiatory sacrifice, and adds:--"The Savior thus becomes master of the situation,--the debt is paid, the redemption made, the covenant fulfilled, justice satisfied, the will of G.o.d done, and all power is now given into the hands of the Son of G.o.d,--the power of the resurrection, the power of the redemption, the power of salvation, the power to enact laws for the carrying out and accomplishment of this design.... The plan, the arrangement, the agreement, the covenant was made, entered into and accepted, before the foundation of the world; it was prefigured by sacrifices, and was carried out and consummated on the Cross.

Hence, being the Mediator between G.o.d and man, He becomes by right the Dictator and Director on earth and in heaven for the living and for the dead, for the past, the present, and the future, pertaining to man as a.s.sociated with this earth or the heavens, in time or eternity, the Captain of our salvation, the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, the Lord and Giver of life."--_Mediation and Atonement_, Pres. John Taylor, p. 171.

=4. The Atonement Inaugurated by Christ.=--"The Apostle Paul quite comprehensively sums up the results of Christ's death and resurrection: 'But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive' (I Cor. xv, 21-22). That is, death having come on all men through the disobedience of Adam, so must all be raised to immortality and eternal life through the death and resurrection of Christ. Paul also a.s.serted that 'the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death' (verse 26). John the Revelator declares that he saw death and h.e.l.l cast into the lake of fire (Rev. xx, 14). The atonement, as wrought out by Jesus Christ, further signifies that He has opened up the way for man's redemption from his own sins, through faith in Christ's sufferings, death, and resurrection. The Apostle Paul well expresses this: 'For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of G.o.d; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom G.o.d hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of G.o.d' (Romans iii, 23-26). These pa.s.sages evidence that redemption from death, through the sufferings of Christ, is for all men, both the righteous and the wicked; for this earth, and for all things created upon it. The whole tenor of the scriptures a.s.sures us that, while they may be sure of resurrection from death, regardless of their personal acts, yet they will be rewarded for their works, whether they be good or evil, and that redemption from personal sins can only be obtained through obedience to the requirements of the Gospel, and a life of good works. The transgression of Adam being infinite in its consequences, those consequences cannot be averted, except through an infinite atonement."--_Compendium_, F. D. Richards & J. A. Little, pp. 8-9.

=5. The Atonement Necessary.=--"In the economy of G.o.d and the plan proposed by the Almighty, it was provided that man was to be placed under a law apparently simple in itself, yet the test of that law was fraught with the gravest consequences. The observance of that law would secure eternal life, and the penalty for the violation of that law was death.... If the law had not been broken, man would have lived; but would man thus living have been capable of perpetuating his species, and of thus fulfilling the designs of G.o.d in preparing tabernacles for the spirits which had been created in the spirit world? And further, could they have had the need of a mediator, who was to act as a propitiation for the violation of this law, which it would appear from the circ.u.mstances was destined to be broken; or could the eternal increase and perpetuity of man have been continued, and his high exaltation to the G.o.dhead been accomplished, without the propitiatory atonement and sacrifice of the Son of G.o.d?"--_Mediation and Atonement_, Pres. John Taylor, pp. 128-129.

=6. The Need of a Redeemer.=--For special treatment of this topic see "Jesus the Christ," pp. 17-31.

LECTURE V.