How Does Christ Save? Jameas E. Talmage, The Vitality of Mormonism

His Plan Combines Justice and Mercy

THE results of the Atonement accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ comprise (1) universal deliverance from bodily death, that is to say the assured resurrection of all the dead, and (2) deliverance from the effects of individual sin.

It is but just that since death has been entailed upon the entire race through the act of our first parents, redemption therefrom should be likewise universal, without effort or sacrifice on our part. We shall each be resurrected from death, our disembodied spirits tabernacling again in their bodies of flesh and bones, whether we be relatively clean, or filthy from sin; but the time or order of our respective liberation from the grave will be determined by our state of righteousness or guilt. So the Scriptures aver. (See e. g. John 5:28-29; 1 Cor. 15:23; Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 9:6-13; and D&C 88:96-102.)

Herein is a lawful adjustment between justice and mercy. We are mortal through no personal fault; we shall be made immortal without personal merit. Such is justice. And though many have committed crimes far more heinous than Adam's disobedience, even they shall eventually be absolved from their hereditary mortality. Such is mercy.

The Divine plan of salvation, made effective through the Atonement, is likewise of universal application, so that every man may become a beneficiary thereof; but that plan is not self-operative. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints summarizes the conditions in this wise:

"We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression.

"We believe that, through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel."

However great his moral weakness and sinful tendencies entailed by heredity, every responsible individual knows right from wrong, with some degree of conviction; and in the final judgment of that soul every element, whether of extenuation or crimination, will be taken into due account. Means of making amends for sin, and thereby establishing eligibility as fit subjects for remission or forgiveness, are freely offered to all men; but the prescribed conditions must be complied with or the incubus of sin can not be lifted.

Salvation is not to be had for the mere asking. It is too precious a pearl to be wantonly cast at the feet of the unrepentant and unregenerate who, heedless of its eternal worth, would fain tread it into the mire wherein they wallow. Christ's plan for saving the souls of men contemplates no universal and unconditional remission of sins. That would be justice travestied and mercy corrupted. So far as I am personally responsible for sin, I, and I alone am accountable. This is just. But though I make all material restitution possible to my brother whom I may have wronged, I cannot alone wipe the stain of guilt from my soul. To obtain remission from God whose laws I have violated, to be again reconciled to Him through expiation for my transgression, I am in dire need of help. That help is provided through obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am not left without hope; but on the contrary have the Divine assurance of possible emancipation. This is mercy, indeed.

"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." (Mark 16:16). So spake the Christ. The belief here specified must mean that active, vital, potent belief which we distinctively designate faith. A mere assent of the mind to any proposition, without application and action, remains a mental concept and nothing more. Our Lord's association of belief with baptism is proof that no empty or idle belief can avail to save. Genuine faith in the Lord Jesus Christ naturally leads to obedience to His commands; and the firstfruits of faith are embodied in repentance. None but the truly repentant believer is an acceptable subject for baptism.

Thus no man can consistently hope for salvation in the Kingdom of God except through the Atonement of Jesus Christ; and the Atonement is made operative for the remission of sins through individual compliance with the conditions explicitly set forth by "the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him." (Heb. 5:9). Christ's method of saving souls is that of providing definite means, which any one may accept or reject to his own eternal gain or loss.

Universal amnesty for crime may serve to increase crime. God's system of benevolence, which comprises and exceeds all that we call charity, consists in helping sinners to help themselves. Indiscriminate giving fosters pauperism in both the temporal and the spiritual sense. Man alone cannot save himself; and just as truly, Christ alone cannot save him. Obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel is the price of salvation.

An ancient Hebrew prophet thus set forth in simplicity the plan of salvation dependent upon the Atonement of Christ:

"His blood atoneth for the sins of those who have fallen by the transgression of Adam, who have died, not knowing the will of God concerning them, or who have ignorantly sinned. But, wo, wo unto him who knoweth that he rebelleth against God; for salvation cometh to none such, except it be through repentance and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ." (Book of Mormon, Mosiah 3:11-12).

In these latter days the Lord hath given this commandment unto the Church: "Thou shalt declare repentance and faith on the Savior and remission of sins by baptism and by fire, yea, even the Holy Ghost." (D&C 19:31.)



(James E. Talmage, The Vitality of Mormonism [Boston: Gorham Press, 1919], 62.)