Lessons on the Plan of Salvation
Lesson No. Forty-Three
Why Only Jesus Could be Our Savior
“There was no other good enough to pay the price of sin. He only could unlock the gate of heav’n and let us in” (LDS Hymn Book, P. 194)
Jesus is the only way by which salvation comes – The angel taught King Benjamin: “And moreover, I say unto you, that there shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent” (Mosiah 3:17). King Benjamin did as the angel commanded and taught this to his people: “There is no other name given whereby salvation cometh” (Mosiah 5:8).
The reasons that Jesus was the only way that salvation comes include the following:
Jesus was perfect in the pre-mortal existence – "And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning" (3 Nephi 11:11, emphasis added).
To be able to take upon himself the sins of the world Jesus always followed the will of his Father (kept all the commandments) “from the beginning” (pre-mortal existence).
Jesus is infinite and eternal and therefore can perform an infinite and eternal atonement – Jesus was a God in the pre-mortal existence. He was a God when he lived in mortality. He continues to be a God in the resurrection. Therefore, He can accomplish an atonement which is also infinite and eternal. (See Alma 34: 14).
That He would successfully accomplish the infinite and eternal atonement was certain, because he was and is God, and God’s promises are certain and sure. Because of this we could exercise faith unto repentance in Him in the pre-mortal existence.
All spirits children of God in the pre-mortal existence who had faith in the atonement of Christ, including those to be born into other worlds, are beneficiaries of the same plan of redemption. Those who would repent were forgiven of their sins committed in the pre-existence. Therefore, they were born into mortality innocent. (See D&C 93:38)
Jesus was chosen by our Father in Heaven to be our Savior – The atonement became a reality when Jehovah the “Beloved and Chosen from the beginning” (Moses 4:2) was appointed by the Father to be “the Lamb…slain from the foundation of the world” (Moses 7:47). This was the plan of redemption that was prepared in the pre-mortal existence. (See Alma 12:33)
Jesus qualified to be our Savior because of the Doctrine of Divine Sonship – Jesus had power given him from the Father to redeem us from our sins on the condition of repentance which brings us unto the power of the Redeemer, unto the salvation of our souls. (See Helaman 5:11; see also, Lessons on the Plan of Salvation, Lesson 38 – The Son of God and the Son of David).
Jesus had no backup – If Jesus had not brought to pass the atonement our bodies would “rot and crumble” in the earth never to be resurrected, and our spirits would become “angels to a devil to be shut out from the presence of our God” (2 Nephi 9:8-9). But He did accomplish his fore-ordained mission, and because of this physical and spiritual death is conquered.
My testimony of Jesus, in the words of Nephi – “Behold I say unto you, that as these things are true, and as the Lord God liveth, there is none other name given under heaven save it be this Jesus Christ, of which I have spoken, whereby man can be saved” (2 Nephi 25:20).