The Vitality of Mormonism: Brief Essays on Distinctive Doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — John Shaqi
The Vitality of Mormonism: Brief Essays on Distinctive Doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsTalmage, James E. (James Edward)
Religion
The Vitality of Mormonism: Brief Essays on Distinctive Doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Talmage, James E. (James Edward)
Latter Day Saint churches; Latter Day Saints
Sin, followed by death, came into the world through the transgression
of one man. The entailment of mortality upon that man's posterity, with
all its elements of a fallen state, is natural, we say, because we
think we know something about heredity. Is it any more truly natural
that one man's transgression should be of universal effect than that
the redeeming and saving achievement of One, fully empowered and
qualified for the work of atonement, should be of universal blessing?
The ancient Apostles were explicit in answer. Thus spake Paul:
"Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to
condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came
upon all men unto justification of life." (Rom. 5:18). And further:
"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man
Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all." (1 Tim. 2:5-6).
Christ, victor over sin and death, established His right to prescribe
the conditions under which man may attain salvation, and these are
summarized as obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel. That
the physical, mental, and spiritual agony preceding and accompanying
the crucifixion was real and necessary to the accomplishment of His
fore-appointed mission has been affirmed by the Christ in the current
dispensation: "For behold I, God, have suffered these things for all,
that they might not suffer if they would repent; but if they would not
repent, they must suffer even as I. Which suffering caused myself, even
God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at
every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit: and would that I might
not drink the bitter cup and shrink--Nevertheless, glory be to the
Father, and I partook and finished my preparation unto the children of
men. Wherefore, I command you again to repent." (D&C 19:16-20).
-- 15 --
HOW DOES CHRIST SAVE?
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.)
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