The Atoning Blood of Christ

President Nelson made what was to me a surprising comment in this last general conference: “It is doctrinally incomplete to speak of the Lord’s atoning sacrifice by shortcut phrases such as ‘the atonement’ or ‘the enabling power of the atonement’ or ‘applying the atonement’ or ‘being strengthened by the atonement’.  These expressions present a real risk of misdirecting faith by treating the event as if it had living existence and capabilities independent of our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ.  Under our Father’s great eternal plan, it is the Savior who suffered, it is the Savior who broke the bands of death, it is the Savior who paid the price for our sins and transgressions and blots them out on condition of our repentance.  It is the Savior who delivers us from physical and spiritual death.  There is no amorphous entity called ‘the atonement’ upon which we may call for succor, healing, forgiveness, or power.  Jesus Christ is the source.  Sacred terms such as atonement and resurrection describe what the Savior did according to the Father’s plan so that we may live with hope in this life and gain eternal life in the world to come.  The Savior’s atoning sacrifice the central act of all human history is best understand and appreciated when we expressly and clearly connect it to Him.”  This was surprising to me because these “incomplete” terms that he referred to are so commonly used in the Church as we speak about Christ’s atonement. 

               I don’t think that President Nelson is telling us that we have been wrong to use those phrases about the atonement that he mentions, but rather that we need to be careful to focus on Christ Himself whenever we talk of the atonement.  The atonement was the vehicle by which Christ overcame physical and spiritual death, and because of that He can give us power to overcome our challenges in mortality.  As I look through the scriptures which speak specifically about the atonement, we do see the focus is on the Savior in connection with atonement and not the atonement in isolation.  We read of “the atonement of Christ”, the “atonement of his blood”, “the atonement of Jesus Christ”, and the “atoning blood of Christ” (Jacob 4:12, A of F 1:3, Mosiah 3:15, Alma 21:9, D&C 74:7, Mosiah 3:18, Mosiah 4:2).  In that last reference, the people of King Benjamin accepted the words of their king with this exclamation, “O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be purified; for we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”  They did not say “apply the atonement” but rather “apply the atoning blood of Christ” and expressed their faith not in the atonement alone but in Jesus Christ.  When Jacob taught about the atonement he used this language: “Wherefore, beloved brethren, be reconciled unto him through the atonement of Christ, his Only Begotten Son, and ye may obtain a resurrection” (Jacob 4:11).  He focused on us coming to Christ, recognizing that the atonement is the vehicle by which reconciliation is made possible but concentrating on Christ as the one who performed it.  Alma described his experience reaching out to the Savior in this way: “I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world” (Alma 36:17).  Alma the Elder had taught his son about Jesus Christ as the source to whom He should look, and Alma understood that he could obtain help through Christ because He would atone for the sins of the world.

               Perhaps the scripture that best encapsulates what President Nelson was trying to teach is this description of those who will inherit the celestial kingdom: “These are they who are just men made perfect through Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, who wrought out this perfect atonement through the shedding of his own blood” (D&C 76:69).  It is to Jesus that we can reach out to for help in all of our challenges in life, and He has perfect power to succor us because of His great atoning sacrifice.