Progressing in the Atonement

There are so many aspects of the atonement and how it impacts our lives, what it means and how, through the atonement, Christ is enabled to save us. Most people only seem to know about or understand that the atonement saves us from sin and that somehow, because Jesus suffered and died for us, we are able to become free of the punishment we would have suffered as a result of our sins. This is only one small aspect of the atonement. Jesus did so much more to bring about the “at one ment”.

Almost everyone wants to know how Christ’s suffering was able to free us from the demands of justice allowing him to offer us mercy. While this is an interesting topic, it truly is the one of the least important principles of the atonement. We have noticed that many people focus on this aspect of the atonement entirely because they have no understanding of the deeper meaning, goals and intentions of the atonement. That while receiving forgiveness of our sins and thereby avoiding the punishment for breaking God’s law is a wonderful thing, the greater meaning and importance lies far deeper than this. 

The atonement is about so much more than overcoming sin and death. It is about transformation and change. It is about changing our thoughts and our hearts and making the ultimate transformation from carnal and devilish to godly and righteous. It teaches us the key to understanding and becoming perfect. When we truly understand the atonement, then we truly understand what it means to be perfect, how God is perfect and what we must do to be perfect. Not only does it give us the true road map to perfection, but it gives us hope that perfection is attainable for us, here and now in our mortal life. 

Additionally, understanding the atonement gives us the keys to bringing about the Millennium of peace. It teaches us what we need to know and understand to create peace with our neighbor and thereby qualify to live in the millennium with the righteous. The scriptures teach that in the Millennium, Satan will be bound. But they also tell us that he will not be bound by God independent of us. They tell us that it is our righteousness that binds Satan.

“And because of the righteousness of his people, Satan has no power; wherefore, he cannot be loosed for the space of many years; for he hath no power over the hearts of the people, for they dwell in righteousness, and the Holy One of Israel reigneth.” 1 Nephi 22:26

For this reason, the atonement must be taught and understood so that Satan can be bound by our righteousness before the millennium of peace can begin. The revelation on the atonement is a significant part of preparing the Christian world for Christ’s return. With this revelation will come a preparation for the separation between the wheat and the tares.

This will all be explained later, but for now, realize that our conversion to Christ is like a caterpillar entering into a cocoon. We receive the Holy Spirit which begins to teach and change us, tearing down the man or woman of sin and rebuilding that person into a new godly creature. At our conversion, the atonement’s power immediately takes effect and through grace we receive forgiveness of our sins and are made worthy of the presence of God through the Holy Ghost. Without forgiveness and grace, there could be no gift of the Holy Ghost. We haven’t earned this gift by our works, because we received the gift at the moment of our conversion without yet having had time to do the works of our conversion. 

This gift is not by our own merits as we have done nothing except to believe in Christ Jesus and his power to save. At this point, we’ve decided to become righteous, but don’t really know what that means or how to do so.

At our conversion, we enter a new state of being. Like a caterpillar that goes into a cocoon, preparatory to becoming a butterfly, we also begin a spiritual metamorphosis, which over time, if we allow it, will change us into a glorious god. We remain in this spiritual cocoon as we learn, develop and grow into a new creature patterned after Christ.

Eventually, when perfection has come, the cocoon falls away and like the butterfly, we emerge a new beautiful creature, a perfect being patterned after Christ. Like the butterfly, this is not the end of our lives, but another beginning as we can now explore a whole new world that was beyond the reach of both the crawling caterpillar and the pupa in the cocoon.

The transformation to perfection is a mental and emotional rebirth. Many people enter into the cocoon without realizing the ultimate goal. They wander their entire life not believing that perfection is possible or knowing what that means and how to attain it.

In this book, we will discuss each aspect of the atonement from the least to the greatest. We hope that you, the reader will follow along carefully with the spirit.

We encourage you to let go of everything you have learned about the atonement and set it down for a short period so that you can become as a little child and learn new ideas that few have ever considered. When you have finished the book, you can pick up those old ideas and teachings and compare the old and the new and decide which of the two gives you a greater understanding and appreciation for God. Which of the two makes you more holy and which of the two you will accept, believe and teach.

We are sharing the things of God and the things of God can only be comprehended and understood by the spirit of God.
“14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” – 1 Cor. 2:14