(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

CO-OPERATION OF MAN NECESSARY TO INDIVIDUAL REDEMPTION.

SPECIAL TEXT: "Wherefore the rather brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure." (II Peter i:10.)

DISCUSSION.

1. The Atonement as Related to Adam's Transgression, and Man's Individual Sins: As already observed a difference is to be noted between the results flowing out of the Atonement for Adam's first sin—the fall; and the results derived from the satisfaction made by the Christ for man's individual sins.

The difference consists in this: First, from the consequences of Adam's transgression, there comes full and free redemption—salvation unconditional and universal. "By Adam came the fall of man. And because of the fall of man, came Jesus Christ even the Father and the Son;^[A] and because of Jesus Christ came the redemption of man. And because of the redemption of man, which came by Jesus Christ, they are brought back into the presence of the Lord; yea, this is wherein all men are redeemed, because the death of Christ bringeth to pass the resurrection, which bringeth to pass a redemption from an endless sleep, from which sleep all men shall be awakened by the power of God when the trump shall sound; and they shall come forth, both small and great, and all shall stand before his bar, being redeemed and loosed from this eternal band of death, which death is a temporal death."^[B]

[Footnote A: For explanation see Doc. & Cov. Sec. xciii:1-6.]

[Footnote B: Book of Mormon, Ch. ix:12, 13. Also II Nephi Ch. ix. Both chapters are devoted to the idea of the text above, and should be studied carefully; they are too long for quotation here.]

To this may be added Paul's great generalization: "Since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection from the dead; for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."^[A]

[Footnote A: I Cor. xv:21, 22.]

The universal physical death is overcome by the equally universal resurrection.^[A] The universal banishment of men from the presence of God, the spiritual death, is overcome by the universally established possibility of reunion with God; and all will be brought back into the presence of God at the day of judgment; but their right and power to remain in that presence and maintain union with God, will depend upon conditions to be considered later. Second, redemption from the consequences of man's individual sins, the penalties for which the Christ has expiated, are granted to men only upon compliance with certain conditions. "By grace are ye saved through faith"^[B] "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved."^[C] "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."^[D] "He shall take upon himself the transgression of those who believe on his name; and these are they that shall have eternal life, and salvation cometh to none else."^[E] "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."^[F] "And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal life unto all them that obey him."^[G]

[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov. Sec. xix:26-29, 41. Matt. xxv:31-46. Alma xi:40, 41.]

[Footnote B: Eph. ii:8.]

[Footnote C: Mark xvi:16.]

[Footnote D: Mosiah iii:11, 12.]

[Footnote E: Alma xi:40, 41.]

[Footnote F: Doc. & Cov. Sec. xix:16-19.]

[Footnote G: Heb. v:9.]

2. Man's Co-operation With God in Working out Man's Salvation, Grounded in Necessity: These scriptures establish the truth that for redemption from the consequences of man's individual sins the co-operation of man is required, his faith, his repentance; in a word his obedience.

The Gospel so far as the individual man is concerned, is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes and obeys the same. In the difference between the redemption from the transgression of Adam and redemption from man's personal sins, the one being free, unconditional, universal; and the other being free, possible to all, but conditional, and therefore limited to those who comply with the conditions, there is to be observed nice discriminations in the justice of God. Free and universal redemption comes from the consequences of Adam's fall because that fall is absolutely necessary to the accomplishment of the purposes of God with reference to man; without it nothing may be done for his progress, therefore since that fall is necessary to these ends Justice demands that there be provided free and universal and complete and unconditional redemption from its consequences. But in the case of man's personal sins they are not absolutely necessary to the accomplishment of the general purposes of God. Of course the earth-environment of man, including the broken harmonies as we find them, including the self-wilfullness, and even the personal sins of men, with the consequent suffering and sorrow, may be necessary to the experience of man; but all that will abundantly come once men are at the same time free to choose, and good and evil is set before them. But what is here meant is that it is not absolute necessity that individual men should sin, or that they sin without limit. Men can refrain from sin if they will; the power is in them. They are able to stand, "yet free to fall." They have power to choose good and to follow that instead of evil if they so elect. Therefore, while it is eminently proper that the Atonement of the Christ should be made to include satisfaction to Justice for the personal sins of men, and the debt of suffering due to them should be paid vicariously,—especially since man is powerless to offer expiation himself—for it is needful that ample provision be made for the justification of man's pardon; yet it is also in accordance with Justice that man shall co-operate with God in bringing about the blessed result of his deliverance from the consequences of his personal sins; and that conditions shall be required as necessary to participation in the forgiveness provided; such conditions as belief in and acceptance of the terms of Atonement; repentance of sin, and a hearty co-operation with God in overcoming evil and its effects in the human soul.

3. The Work of Salvation a Work of Sanctification as well as of Justification: Moreover, this salvation from the effects of personal sins is not only a matter of forgiveness of past sins; a matter of justification before God; a matter of re-establishing union with God, which is spiritual life; but it is a matter of sanctification of the soul; and of power to maintain the renewed spiritual life with God. It is a matter that involves human desires and human will. Surely it is unthinkable that God would hold man in union with himself against his desire, or against his will. Such a condition would not be "union" but bondage. The co-operation of man then in this work of his personal salvation becomes an absolute necessity, and hence the conditions of individual salvation already noted, and which may be summed up in the doctrine of man's self-surrender unto God, manifested by his obedience to God under the law; and the declared intention of that obedience by receiving the symbols of the Atonement, to be found in the ordinances of the Gospel, especially in baptism and the sacrament of the Lord's supper.

4. Spiritual and Moral Growth: The attainment of this condition of Christian righteousness, however, becomes a matter of character building under the favorable conditions provided by the gospel; and character building, even under favorable conditions is a matter of slow, self-conquest, It means to follow the admonition of the chief Judean apostle, and "add to your faith, virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance, patience; and to patience, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, charity. For if these things be in you and abound," said he, "they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."^[A]

[Footnote A: II Peter i.]

To be fruitful in that knowledge means to be growing in grace, in knowledge of the truth, in righteousness. It means development according to the type of the Christian spiritual life, which is Christ Jesus. "If you wish to go where God is," said the Prophet Joseph, "you must be like God, or possess the principles God possesses." All of which, of course, may not be possessed without divine help, as well as human effort. "He that lacketh these things"—the virtues above enumerated by Peter, and the disposition to build them up by his own effort, as well as by divine grace, "is blind and cannot see afar off," continues that apostle, "and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."^[A]

[Footnote A: II Peter i:9-11.]

5. Phase of the Atonement Peculiar to "Mormonism:" It may be remarked in passing that the difference noted in the foregoing paragraphs of this lesson on applying the Christ's Atonement to Adam's sin and man's personal sins—in the first case unconditional, and in the second conditional—is a doctrine, in modern times, peculiar to "Mormonism;" or, to speak more accurately, to the New Dispensation of the Gospel revealed to Joseph Smith; and is derived almost wholly from the teachings of the Book of Mormon.^[A] In that distinction the beauty and glory of the Atonement, the balanced claims of justice and mercy shine forth as no where else, even in holy writ,—much less in the uninspired writings of men. It may be regarded as the "Mormon" contribution to views of the Atonement of Christ, for it is to be found no where else except in Mormon literature.

[Footnote A: See II Nephi ii. Ibid ix. Alma xxxiv and xlii. Mormon ix.]

7. The Free and Complete Redemption of Little Children: From the foregoing difference in the application of the Atonement to the sin of Adam and the individual sins of men there arises another important matter viz.: If redemption from the consequences of Adam's fall is to be absolutely unconditional, and universal, and that entirely through the Atonement of the Christ and without the co-operation of man, then it logically follows that if man himself remains absolutely without sin, he would stand in need of no satisfaction being made for his sin and no forgiveness of sins, since in the case supposed they have no existence; and therefore the Atonement of the Christ for the sin of Adam, would be all sufficient to redeem man from the power of death and restore him to union with God. It follows that if any part of the human race die in this state of personal innocence then they are redeemed by virtue of the Atonement of Christ without any other consideration whatsoever. Hence Mormon said:

"Listen to the words of Christ, your Redeemer, your Lord and your God. Behold, I came into the world not to call the righteous but the sinners to repentance; the whole need no physician, but they that are sick! wherefore little children are whole, for they are not capable of committing sin; wherefore the curse of Adam is taken from them in me, that it hath no power over them. * * * Little children need no repentance, neither baptism. * * * Little children are alive in Christ, even from the foundation of the world."^[A]

[Footnote A: Moroni viii:8-12.]

No less explicit is the word of the Lord through the Prophet Joseph Smith:

"But, behold, I say unto you, that little children are redeemed from the foundation of the world through mine only Begotten, wherefore they cannot sin, for power is not given unto Satan to tempt little children, until they begin to become accountable before me."^[A]

[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov. Sec. xxix:46, 47.]

8. The Redemption of Those Who Die Without Law: Moreover, it appears that Mercy has special claims upon those men and women, and also upon nations and races who know not the Gospel. The first Nephi in speaking of the Atonement of Christ and its effects where proclaimed and rejected, says:

"Wherefore he [God] has given a law; and where there is no law given there is no punishment; and where there is no punishment, there is no condemnation; and where there is no condemnation, the mercies of the Holy One of Israel have claim upon them because of the atonement; for they are delivered by the power of him [Christ]; for the atonement satisfieth the demands of his justice upon all those who have not the law given to them, that they are delivered from that awful monster, death and hell, and the devil, and the lake of fire and brimstone [See Alma xii:17],^[A] which is endless torment; and they are restored to that God who gave them breath, which is the Holy One of Israel."^[B]

[Footnote A: The torments of the ungodly sinners are likened unto a lake of fire and brimstone by this writer, Nephi. Not that the sinners are plunged into a lake of fire and brimstone as so-called orthodox Christians teach. Indeed, in the above passage there is a definition of what the lake of fire is—it is "endless torment," which ever exists for the punishment of impenitent sinners—each one partaking of it to such a degree and for such time as is necessary to satisfy the demand of justice. In this very chapter above quoted Nephi says of the wicked: "And their torment is as a lake of fire and brimstone, whose flames ascend up for ever, and have no end."]

[Footnote B: Nephi ix:25, 26.]

And so Moroni:

"For the power of redemption cometh on all they that have no law; wherefore, he that is not condemned, or he that is under no condemnation, cannot repent; and unto such baptism availeth nothing."^[A]

[Footnote A: Moroni viii:22.]

To this also agrees the teachings of Paul:

"For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law:^[A] and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law."^[B]

[Footnote A: I venture the suggestion, basing it on the sense of the whole passage, that it should read: "Shall also be judged without the law."]

[Footnote B: Rom. ii:12.]