"Only through repentance do we gain access to the atoning
grace of Jesus Christ and salvation. Repentance is a divine gift, and there
should be a smile on our faces when we speak of it. It points us to freedom,
confidence, and peace.”
“Repentance exists as an option only because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It is His infinite sacrifice that 'bringeth about means unto men that they may have faith unto repentance' (Alma 34:15). Repentance is the necessary condition, and the grace of Christ is the power by which 'mercy can satisfy the demands of justice' (Alma 34:16)."
ELDER D TODD CHRISTOFFERSON,
of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Saturday afternoon, April 2011
“Being a More Christian Christian”
182nd Semi-annual General Conference,
182nd Semi-annual General Conference,
Sunday afternoon, October 2012
3. "We do not preach and teach in order to “bring people into
the Church” or to increase the membership of the Church . . . [or] just to
persuade people to live better lives. . . . we offer something more. One can
qualify for the terrestrial kingdom instead of the telestial kingdom without
the aid of this Church. We are concerned with a higher destination."The purpose of our missionary work is to help the children of God . . . so that they can be saved in the celestial kingdom instead of being limited to a lesser kingdom. We do missionary work in order to baptize and confirm. That is the doctrinal basis of missionary work. . . . the uniqueness of our message is not just added knowledge. The requirement of baptism reminds us that the truths we teach are not academic.
"The restored gospel consists of doctrines and ordinances. . . . [A] missionaries’ purpose . . . is to save souls, to baptize converts, which is to open the doors of the celestial kingdom to the sons and daughters of God. . . . Man cannot be saved in the celestial kingdom without the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ and that the only way to lay claim to the merits of that Atonement is to follow the command of its author: “Repent, and be baptized every one of you” (Acts 2:38). We are called to assist in this great effort. (My emphasis.)
ELDER DALLIN H.
OAKS
of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles,
"Why We Do Missionary Work",
September 2009, New Era
of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles,
"Why We Do Missionary Work",
September 2009, New Era
4. "... Because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ,
all spirits blessed by birth will ultimately be resurrected, spirit
and body reunited, and inherit kingdoms of glory that are superior to
our existence here on earth."
ELDER QUENTIN L COOK,
of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles,
"Our Father's Plan - Big Enough For All His Children,"
April 2009, 179th Annual General Conference,
Blog Post: Gifts
of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles,
"Our Father's Plan - Big Enough For All His Children,"
April 2009, 179th Annual General Conference,
Blog Post: Gifts
"As we trust in the Savior, promised miracles will occur. Whether in this life or the next, all will be made right. The Savior declares: 'Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid'(John 14:27). 'In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.' (John 16:33)"
I testify that as you love Him, trust Him, believe Him, and follow Him, you will feel His love and approval. As you ask, 'What thinks Christ of me?' you will know that you are His disciple; you are His friend. By His grace He will do for you what you cannot do for yourself.
“Discipleship is believing Him in seasons of peace and
believing Him in seasons of difficulty, when our pain and fear are calmed only
by the conviction that He loves us and keeps His promises (Mark 5:36).”
“In a future day, every knee will bow and every tongue
confess . . . Christ. (See Romans 14:11)
On that day, our concern will not be, ‘Do others consider me Christian?’
At that time, our eyes will be fixed on Him, and our souls will be riveted on
the question, ‘What thinks Christ of me?’ He lives.”
ELDER NEIL L. ANDERSON,
of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles,
"What Thinks Christ of Me?"
1 April 2012, or Ensign, May page 114
6."It is one thing to know that Jesus Christ came to earth to die for us. That is fundamental and foundational ... But we also need to appreciate that the Lord desires, through His Atonement and by the power of the Holy Ghost, to live in us—not only to direct us but also to empower us. (My emphasis.)
"We may mistakenly believe we must make the journey
from good to better and become a saint all by ourselves through sheer grit,
willpower, and discipline, and with our obviously limited capacities.
The gospel of the Savior is not simply about avoiding bad in our lives; it also is essentially about doing and becoming good. And the Atonement provides help for us to overcome and avoid bad and to do and become good. Help from the Savior is available for the entire journey of life—from bad to good to better and to change our very nature.(My emphasis.)
“It is likewise through the grace of the Lord that individuals, through faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ and repentance of their sins, receive strength and assistance to do good works that they otherwise would not be able to maintain if left to their own means. This grace is an enabling power … Grace is the divine assistance or heavenly help each of us desperately needs, … the enabling power of the Atonement strengthens us to do and be good and serve beyond our own individual desire and natural capacity. (My emphasis.)
The gospel of the Savior is not simply about avoiding bad in our lives; it also is essentially about doing and becoming good. And the Atonement provides help for us to overcome and avoid bad and to do and become good. Help from the Savior is available for the entire journey of life—from bad to good to better and to change our very nature.(My emphasis.)
“It is likewise through the grace of the Lord that individuals, through faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ and repentance of their sins, receive strength and assistance to do good works that they otherwise would not be able to maintain if left to their own means. This grace is an enabling power … Grace is the divine assistance or heavenly help each of us desperately needs, … the enabling power of the Atonement strengthens us to do and be good and serve beyond our own individual desire and natural capacity. (My emphasis.)
"You and I in a moment of weakness may cry out, 'No one
understands. No one knows.' No human being, perhaps, knows. But the Son of God
perfectly knows and understands, for He felt and bore our burdens before we
ever did. And because He paid the ultimate price and bore that burden, He has
perfect empathy and can extend to us His arm of mercy in so many phases of our
life. He can reach out, touch, succor—literally run to us—and strengthen us to
be more than we could ever be and help us to do that which we could never do
through relying upon only our own power. (My emphasis.)
“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I
will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and
lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy,
and my burden is light” (Matthew
11:28–30).
ELDER DAVID A.
BEDNAR,
of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles,
"The Atonement and the Journey of Mortality."
Ensign, April 2012
From a devotional address given
at Brigham Young University
on October 23, 2001.
For the full text in English, visit speeches.byu.edu.
7. [When you have] “felt the effects of sin in [your] own life and the marvelous healing of the Atonement , ... Out of love and gratitude for the Savior’s gift ... [you will want] to help everyone ... escape the sadness of sin, feel the joy of forgiveness, and gather with them to safety in the kingdom of God.”
ELDER HENRY B EYRING,
First Counselor in the First Presidency,
“We Are One,”
183rd Annual General Conference,
Saturday Morning, 6 April 2013
of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles,
"The Atonement and the Journey of Mortality."
Ensign, April 2012
From a devotional address given
at Brigham Young University
on October 23, 2001.
For the full text in English, visit speeches.byu.edu.
7. [When you have] “felt the effects of sin in [your] own life and the marvelous healing of the Atonement , ... Out of love and gratitude for the Savior’s gift ... [you will want] to help everyone ... escape the sadness of sin, feel the joy of forgiveness, and gather with them to safety in the kingdom of God.”
ELDER HENRY B EYRING,
First Counselor in the First Presidency,
“We Are One,”
183rd Annual General Conference,
Saturday Morning, 6 April 2013
8. “The power by which the
heavens and earth were and are created is the priesthood . . . [and] the source of this priesthood power is
God Almighty and His Son, Jesus
Christ . . . It is also the
power the Savior used in His mortal ministry to perform miracles . . . and, as our Father’s Only
Begotten Son, to endure the unbearable pain of Gethsemane and Calvary, . .
. providing an infinite Atonement and
overcoming physical death through the Resurrection.”
“This Is My Work and Glory,”
183rd Annual General Conference,
Saturday Morning, 7 April 2013
9. “The victory of Jesus Christ over death [and] his Resurrection broke what to that point had been the unyielding chains of death. He opened the path whereby each of Heavenly Father’s children born to earth would have the opportunity to rise from death to live again.”
183rd Annual General Conference,
Saturday Morning, 7 April 2013
9. “The victory of Jesus Christ over death [and] his Resurrection broke what to that point had been the unyielding chains of death. He opened the path whereby each of Heavenly Father’s children born to earth would have the opportunity to rise from death to live again.”
“We all need that healing the Redeemer can provide. . . . Hope [is]
based on principles embodied in the teachings of the Master Teacher, Jesus
Christ.”
“The Resurrection and the price paid, and the gift given
through the Atonement . . . must be more than principles you memorize. They
must be woven into the very fiber of your being as a powerful bulwark against
the rising tide of abomination that infects our world.”
“2 Nephi 2:6–7
indicates that for the proud and haughty, it is as though there never were an
Atonement made.”
“Jesus Christ lives. He is our Savior, our Redeemer. He is a
glorious, resurrected being. He has the capacity to communicate love that is so
powerful, so overwhelming as to surpass the capacity of the human tongue to
express adequately. He gave His life to break the bonds of death. His Atonement
made fully active the plan of happiness of His Father in Heaven.”
“Jesus administers the balance between justice and mercy
conditioned upon our obedience to His gospel. He is the light for all mankind.
He is the fountain of all truth. He fulfills all of His promises. All who obey
His commandments will earn the most glorious blessings imaginable.”
“When we obey a law, we receive a blessing. When we break a
law, there is nothing left over from prior obedience to satisfy the demands of
justice for that broken law.”
“No mortal mind can adequately conceive, nor can human
tongue appropriately express, the full significance of all that Jesus Christ
has done for our Heavenly Father’s children through His Atonement. Yet it is
vital that we each learn what we can about it. The Atonement is that essential
ingredient of our Father in Heaven’s plan of happiness without which that plan
could not have been activated.”
“Understanding of the Atonement and the insight it provides
for your life will greatly enhance your productive use of all of the knowledge,
experience, and skills you acquire in mortal life.”
“None of us can ever adequately appreciate in mortality the
full beneficial consequences of the Atonement.”
“There is an imperative need for each of us to strengthen
our understanding of the significance of the Atonement of Jesus Christ so that
it will become an unshakable foundation upon which to build our lives. As the
world becomes more devoid of foundational standards and as honor, virtue, and
purity are increasingly cast aside in the pursuit of appetite, our
understanding of and faith in the Atonement of Jesus Christ will provide
strength and capacity needed for a successful life. It will also bring
confidence in times of trial and peace in moments of turmoil.”
“Establish a personal study plan to better understand and
appreciate the incomparable, eternal, infinite consequences of Jesus Christ’s
perfect fulfillment of His divinely appointed calling as our Savior and
Redeemer.”
“Profound personal pondering of the scriptures accompanied
by searching, heartfelt prayer will fortify your understanding of and
appreciation for His priceless Atonement. Another powerful way to learn of
Jesus Christ and His Atonement is through consistent temple attendance.”
Sunday Morning, April 2010
10. “The
word redeem means to pay off an obligation or a
debt. Redeem can also mean to rescue or set free as by paying a
ransom.If someone commits a mistake and then corrects it or makes
amends, we say he has redeemed himself. Each of these meanings suggests
different facets of the great Redemption accomplished by Jesus Christ through
His Atonement, which includes, in the words of the dictionary, 'to deliver from
sin and its penalties, as by a sacrifice made for the sinner.' (Webster’s New
World College Dictionary, 3rd ed. (1988), “redeem.”) The Savior’s Redemption has two parts. First . . . Physical death is well understood; spiritual death is
the separation of man from God. This redemption . . . is both universal and
without condition.
(. . . “All overcome the grave and are resurrected to immortality. In addition,
all overcome spiritual death by being brought back into the presence of God to
be judged. . . . Those who are cleansed from sin will remain with God in the
heavenly kingdom (3 Nephi
27:14), but those who have not repented and are unclean cannot dwell with a
holy God, and after the Judgment they must depart and thereby suffer spiritual
death again. This is sometimes referred to as a second death or suffering
spiritual death a second time. (See Helaman 14:15–18.))
. . . Second . . . is redemption from what might be termed
the indirect consequences of the Fall—our own sins as opposed to Adam’s
transgression. By virtue of the Fall, we are born into a mortal world where
sin—that is, disobedience to divinely instituted law—is pervasive. . . . Because
we are accountable and we make the choices, the redemption from our own sins is
conditional—conditioned on confessing and abandoning sin and turning to a godly
life, or in other words, conditioned on repentance (see D&C
58:43)."
"Inasmuch as we follow Christ, we seek to participate in and further His redemptive work. The greatest service we can provide to others in this life, beginning with those of our own family, is to bring them to Christ through faith and repentance . . . We can also assist in the Lord’s redemption of those beyond the grave (D&C 138:57). . . . With the benefit of vicarious rites we offer them in the temples of God, even those who died in bondage to sin can be freed . . .for the prisoners shall go free” (Doctrine and Covenants 128:22).”
"Inasmuch as we follow Christ, we seek to participate in and further His redemptive work. The greatest service we can provide to others in this life, beginning with those of our own family, is to bring them to Christ through faith and repentance . . . We can also assist in the Lord’s redemption of those beyond the grave (D&C 138:57). . . . With the benefit of vicarious rites we offer them in the temples of God, even those who died in bondage to sin can be freed . . .for the prisoners shall go free” (Doctrine and Covenants 128:22).”
“If [we] reject the Savior’s Atonement, [we] must redeem [our]
debt to justice [our]self. . . . (Doctine
and Covenants 19:16–17). An unredeemed individual’s suffering for sin is
known as hell. It means being subject to the devil . . . (2 Nephi
2:29). Even so, because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, hell has an end,
and those who are obliged to pass through it are 'redeemed from the devil [in]
the last resurrection' (Doctrine
and Covenants 76:85).”
“We, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, go about doing
good in the redemptive pattern of the Master. This kind of redemptive work
means helping people . . . Much of our redemptive work on earth is to help
others grow and achieve their just hopes and aspirations.”
“Some forms of temporal redemption come by collaborative
effort. It is one of the reasons the Savior created a church. Being organized .
. .we can not only teach and encourage each other in the gospel, but we can
also bring to bear people and resources to deal with the exigencies of life . .
. on a scale needed to address larger challenges . . . to help redeem the needs
of our fellow Saints and as many others as we can reach across the globe. . . .
All of this does not begin to count the individual acts of kindness . . .by
which we may participate in the Christlike work of redemption.”
“As disciples of Jesus Christ, we ought to do all we can to
redeem others from suffering and burdens. Even so, our greatest redemptive
service will be to lead them to Christ. Without His Redemption from death and
from sin, we have only a gospel of social justice. That may provide some help
and reconciliation in the present, but it has no power to draw down from heaven
perfect justice and infinite mercy. Ultimate redemption is in Jesus Christ and
in Him alone.”
ELDER
D
TODD CHRISTOFFERSON,
of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
"Redemption" 183rd Annual General Conference
Sunday afternoon, 6 April 2013
11. "Heavenly Father has given a simple pattern for us to receive
the Holy Ghost not once but continually in the tumult of our daily lives. The
pattern is repeated in the sacramental prayer: We promise that we will always
remember the Savior. We promise to take His name upon us. We promise to keep
His commandments. And we are promised that if we do that, we will have His Spirit
to be with us (See D&C
20:77, 79). Those promises work together in a wonderful way to strengthen
our testimonies and in time, through the Atonement, to change our natures as we
keep our part of the promise."
12. “Remembrance is the seed of gratitude which is the seed of generosity. Gratitude for the remission of sins is the seed of charity, the pure love of Christ. And so God has made possible for you and me this blessing, a change in our very natures: 'And the remission of sins bringeth meekness, and lowliness of heart; and because of meekness and lowliness of heart cometh the visitation of the Holy Ghost, which Comforter filleth with hope and perfect love . . .’ (Moro. 8:26).” [ Emphasis mine.]
ELDER HENRY B EYRING,
First Counselor in the First Presidency,
177th Semi-Annual General Conference,
Sunday Morning October 1, 2007
12. “Remembrance is the seed of gratitude which is the seed of generosity. Gratitude for the remission of sins is the seed of charity, the pure love of Christ. And so God has made possible for you and me this blessing, a change in our very natures: 'And the remission of sins bringeth meekness, and lowliness of heart; and because of meekness and lowliness of heart cometh the visitation of the Holy Ghost, which Comforter filleth with hope and perfect love . . .’ (Moro. 8:26).” [ Emphasis mine.]
ELDER HENRY
B EYRING,
First
Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric,
159th Annual General Conference,
Saturday afternoon, October 1989
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