We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.
An atonement is a way of reconciling people to God. The Jews used to sacrifice unblemished animals to redeem their people from a variety of sins. These sacrifices are seen by Christians as a precursor to the ultimate sacrifice made by Jesus Christ. From his prayer in Gethsemane until his death on the cross Christ bore the weight of the sins of the world. When he laid down his life a final atonement (The Atonement) was made. Through the Atonement Christ became our: mediator (“he is the mediator of a better covenant” (Heb 8:6)); advocate (“if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1John 2:1)); and savior (“we… know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world” (John 4:42)).
Jesus Christ’s greatest role is as our savior. Salvation is a gift that we receive, not the wage we have earned. All we need to do to be saved is except the love of Jesus Christ. Even the most heinous sinners can repent and come unto Christ. The only way to lose salvation is to knowingly and willfully reject the Spirit of God, “but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men” (Matt 12:31). This is a very rare case since a person must really know God to commit this sin. When, for instance, we reject our misconceptions of God we are actually coming closer to Him rather than committing blasphemy. Not all those who are saved however are “joint-heirs with Christ” (Rom 8:17). Jesus said, “Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” From this comes the idea that most are saved but few are exalted.
We need to do the will of the Father by learning and acting on it. This obedience is part of the new covenant. The first and greatest commandment to which Christians are bound is to love God. The second is to love our neighbors and even our enemies. Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). A good summary of his secondary commands is found in 2 Nephi 26: 29 “he commandeth that there shall be no priestcrafts,” and 32 “again, the Lord God hath commanded that men should not murder; that they should not lie; that they should not steal; that they should not take the name of the Lord their God in vain; that they should not envy; that they should not have malice; that they should not contend one with another; {and} that they should not commit whoredoms.” This list is of course not exhaustive but merely a demonstration of some of the laws we should follow when we love God and others. The ordinances of the Gospel will be described more fully in the further commentary.
Latter Day Sinner 