Lessons on the Plan of Salvation
Lesson No. Thirty-Six

The Eternal Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ

The atonement of Christ encompasses the pre-existence, mortality, and post-earth life and it is therefore eternal – The scriptures speak of the eternal nature of atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ to the inhabitants of both the heavens and the earth: “Hear, O ye heavens, and give ear O earth, and rejoice ye inhabitants therefor, for the Lord is God, and beside him there is no Savior” (D&C 76:1). 

The atonement of the Lord Jesus is eternal because it is operative in the premortal existence – In the pre-mortal existence there was agency and as a result there was sin.  Through faith in the future atonement of Jesus Christ, to be accomplished on this earth, there was forgiveness of sin conditioned on repentance. Elder Orson Pratt, an early apostle in our dispensation taught:   

“Among the two-thirds who remained, it is highly probable, that there were many who were not valiant in the war, but whose sins were of such a nature that they could be forgiven through faith in the future sufferings of the Only Begotten of the Father, and through their sincere repentance and reformation.  We see no impropriety in Jesus offering Himself as an acceptable offering and sacrifice before the Father to atone for the sins of His brethren, committed, not only in the second, but also in the first estate” (The Seer, vol.1, no. 4, pp. 53-54).

Because of the certainty of the atonement of Christ we were forgiven of the sins committed in the pre-mortal existence.  “Every spirit of man was innocent in the beginning (pre-mortal existence); and God having redeemed man from the fall, men became again, in their infant state, innocent before God” (D&C 93:38).  All people are innocent again when we are born as infants into mortality.

The atonement of our Savior is eternal because it is operative in mortality – The central doctrine of the plan of salvation is that because of the atonement of Jesus Christ and on the conditions of faith in Him and repentance we can be forgiven of the sins we commit in mortality, and progress to become like our Heavenly Parents.

The atonement of our Redeemer is eternal because it is operative in the spirit world – The Third Article of Faith states: “We believe that through the atonement of Christ all mankind may be saved by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel.”  In a revelation to President Joseph F Smith we are given greater detail of the redemptive work going on in the spirit world: 

“I beheld that the faithful elders of this dispensation, when they depart from mortal life, continue their labors in the preaching of the gospel of repentance and redemption, through the sacrifice of the Only Begotten Son of God, among those who are in darkness and under the bondage of sin in the great world of the spirits of the dead” (D&C 138:57). 

The atonement of the Messiah is eternal as it is the way we can have eternal life – This is the fundamental doctrine of the Book of Mormon and is taught by all prophets both ancient and modern.  Amaleki is a representative example of one of those prophets: 

“And now my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption.  Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved” (Omni 1:26).