Apply the Atoning Blood of Christ

Perhaps the most important question for us about the atonement that the Book of Mormon answers is this: How do we apply the atonement of Christ in our lives.  We speak often of this in Church classes but what does this really mean?  I think that we get the clearest answer from King Benjamin and his people.  After quoting the words of the angel about the Savior and His atonement, the people fell to the earth in humility and cried unto the Lord: “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” (Mosiah 4:2).  They “applied” the atoning blood of Christ by praying to the Father with faith in Christ for the forgiveness of their sins.  They were doing exactly what Jacob invited us to do: “Beloved brethren, be reconciled unto him through the atonement of Christ, his Only Begotten Son” (Jacob 4:11).  The people of King Benjamin were reconciled to the Father through their repentance and the atonement of Christ as they “received a remission of their sins, and having peace of conscience, because of the exceeding faith which they had in Jesus Christ who should come” (Mosiah 4:3).  The converted Lamanites similarly “applied” the atonement through their repentance.  They did “repent of all [their] sins” and they were “washed bright through the blood of the Son of [their] great God, which shall be shed for the atonement of our sins” (Alma 24:11, 13).  When we likewise truly repent of our sins we are applying the atoning blood Christ. 

               The words of the angel to King Benjamin teach us another way in which we are to apply the atonement of Christ.  The purpose of the Savior is not just to help us gain forgiveness of our sins but also to sanctify and improve us.  We remain an “enemy to God” until we “yield to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father” (Mosiah 3:19).  We can become “a saint” through the atonement of Christ, which means that we are changed from being a natural man to become like our Father.  And how do we do this?  The key phrase I believe is this one: “yield to the enticings of the Holy Spirit.”  As we follow the promptings of the Spirit to change our sinful ways, becoming more submissive, meek, humble, patient, and full of love, then we can know that the atonement of Christ is enabling us to change and become a saint.  Applying the atonement of Christ in our lives then is all about change: it means that we both repent of sins and develop the attributes of Christ.