Jeffrey R. Holland

"...for me there is no greater amazement and no more difficult personal challenge than when, after the anguish in Gethsemane, after being mocked, beaten, and scourged, Jesus staggers under his load to the crest of Calvary and says, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34.)

If ever there is a moment when I indeed stand all amazed, it is here, for this is an amazement of a different kind. So much of the mystery of his power and ministry tear at my mind: the circumstances of his birth, the breadth and variety of his ministry and miracles, the self-summoned power of his resurrection—before all of these I stand amazed and say, “How did he do it?”

But here with disciples who abandoned him in his hour of greatest need, here fainting under the weight of his cross and the sins of all mankind which were attached to it, here rent by piercing spikes in his palms and in his wrists and in his feet—here now the amazement tears not at my mind but at my heart, and I ask not “How did he do it?” but “Why did he do it?”

It is here that I examine my life, not against the miraculousness of his, but against the mercifulness of it, and it is here I find how truly short I fall in emulation of the Master."

Jeffrey R. Holland, I Stand All Amazed, Ensign Aug. 1986

Jeffrey R. Holland

Whoever you are and whatever you have done, you can be forgiven. Every one of you young men can leave behind any transgression with which you may struggle. It is the miracle of forgiveness; it is the miracle of the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. But you cannot do it without an active commitment to the gospel, and you cannot do it without repentance where it is needed.

Jeffrey R. Holland, General Conference, October 2011, Priesthood Session

Jeffrey R. Holland

Number one, Satan, or Lucifer, or the father of lies—call him what you will—is real, the very personification of evil. His motives are in every case malicious, and he convulses at the appearance of redeeming light, at the very thought of truth. Number two, he is eternally opposed to the love of God, the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and the work of peace and salvation. He will fight against these whenever and wherever he can. He knows he will be defeated and cast out in the end, but he is determined to take down with him as many others as he possibly can.

Jeffrey R. Holland, We Are All Enlisted, Ensign Oct. 2011

Henry B. Eyring

Reception of the Holy Ghost is the cleansing agent as the atonement purifies you... That is a fact you can act on with confidence.  You can invite the Holy Ghost's companionship into your life.  And you can know when he is there, and when he withdraws.  And when he is your companion, you can have confidence that the Atonement is working in your life.

Henry B. Eyring, Come Unto Christ, BYU Fireside, 29 October 1989

Joseph B. Wirthlin

I think of how dark that Friday was when Christ was lifted up on the cross.  On that terrible Friday the earth shook and grew dark. Frightful storms lashed at the earth.  Those evil men who sought His life rejoiced. Now that Jesus was no more, surely those who followed Him would disperse. On that day they stood triumphant.

On that day the veil of the temple was rent in twain.  

Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Jesus, were both overcome with grief and despair. The superb man they had loved and honored hung lifeless upon the cross.  On that Friday the Apostles were devastated. Jesus, their Savior—the man who had walked on water and raised the dead—was Himself at the mercy of wicked men. They watched helplessly as He was overcome by His enemies.  On that Friday the Savior of mankind was humiliated and bruised, abused and reviled.  It was a Friday filled with devastating, consuming sorrow that gnawed at the souls of those who loved and honored the Son of God.

I think that of all the days since the beginning of this world’s history, that Friday was the darkest.

But the doom of that day did not endure.  The despair did not linger because on Sunday, the resurrected Lord burst the bonds of death. He ascended from the grave and appeared gloriously triumphant as the Savior of all mankind.  And in an instant the eyes that had been filled with ever-flowing tears dried. The lips that had whispered prayers of distress and grief now filled the air with wondrous praise, for Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God, stood before them as the firstfruits of the Resurrection, the proof that death is merely the beginning of a new and wondrous existence.  Each of us will have our own Fridays—those days when the universe itself seems shattered and the shards of our world lie littered about us in pieces. We all will experience those broken times when it seems we can never be put together again. We will all have our Fridays.

But I testify to you in the name of the One who conquered death—Sunday will come. In the darkness of our sorrow, Sunday will come.  No matter our desperation, no matter our grief, Sunday will come. In this life or the next, Sunday will come.

Because of our beloved Redeemer, we can lift up our voices, even in the midst of our darkest Fridays, and proclaim, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” ⁹

President Hinckley ... promised that in the quiet of the night a still, unheard voice whispers peace to our soul: “All is well.”

Joseph B. Wirthlin, October 2006 General Conference

Tad R. Callister

For those few moments in the eternal spectrum called mortality the Savior yielded to the mortal plight; he submitted to the inhumanity of man; his body longed for sleep; he hungered; he felt the pains of sickness.  He was in all respects subject to every mortal failing experienced by the human family.  Not once did he raise the shield of godhood in order to soften the blows.  Not once did he don the bulletproof vest of divinity.  That he also had godly powers did not make his suffering any less excruciating, any less poignant, or any less real.  To the contrary, it is for this very reason that his suffering was more, not less, than his mortal counterparts could experience.  He took upon him infinite suffering, but chose to defend with only mortal faculties, with but one exception - his godhood was summoned to hold off unconsciousness and death that would otherwise overpower a mere mortal when he reached his threshold of pain.  For the Savior, however, there would be no such relief.  His divinity would be called upon, not to immunize him from pain, but to enlarge the receptacle that would hold it.  He simply brought a larger cup to hold the bitter drink.

Elder Tad R. Callister, The Infinite Atonement, 119

Boyd K. Packer

The atonement is the very root of Christian doctrine. You may know much about the gospel as it branches out from there, but if you only know the branches and those branches do not touch that root, if they have been cut free from that truth, there will be no life nor substance nor redemption in them. 

 

Boyd K. Packer, “The Mediator,” Ensign, May 1977, 54

Dallin H. Oaks

The reality of our total dependence upon Jesus Christ for the attainment of our goals of immortality and eternal life should dominate every teaching and every testimony and every action of every soul touched by the light of the gospel.  If we teach every other subject and principle with perfection and fall short on this one, we have failed in our most important mission.

Dallin H. Oaks, CES-SLC,  Feb 7, 1992

Henry B. Eyring

When the Holy Ghost is your companion you can have confidence that the Atonement is working in your life.

Henry B. Eyring, Come Unto Chirst, BYU Fireside, (found in To Draw Closer To God, 1997, pp 49-50)

Henry B. Eyring

To know His will you must be committed to do it. The words “Thy will be done,” written in the heart, are the window to revelation.  The answer comes by the Holy Spirit. You will need that guidance often. To have the Holy Ghost as your companion you must be worthy, cleansed by the Atonement of Jesus Christ. So, your obedience to the commandments, your desire to do His will, and your asking in faith will determine how clearly the Master can guide you by answers to your prayers.

Henry B. Eyring, “Rise to Your Call,” Ensign, Nov 2002, 75

Bruce R. McConkie

Our revelation says: “Every spirit of man was innocent in the beginning”—meaning that spirits started out in a state of purity and innocence in preexistence—“and God having redeemed man from the fall, men became again, in their infant state, innocent before God” (D&C 93:38)—meaning that all children start out their mortal probation in purity and innocence because of the atonement.

 

 

Bruce R. McConkie, “The Salvation of Little Children,” Ensign, Apr 1977,  3

Ezra Taft Benson

The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature.

Ezra Taft Benson, “Born of God,” Ensign, Jul 1989, 2

Ezra Taft Benson

Becoming Christlike is a lifetime pursuit and very often involves growth and change that is slow, almost imperceptible.  The scriptures record remarkable accounts of men whose lives changed dramatically, in an instant, as it were...  Such astonishing examples of the power to change even those steeped in sin give confidence that the atonement can reach even those deepest in despair.  But we must be cautious as we discuss these remarkable examples.  Though they are real and powerful, they are the exception more than the rule.  For every Paul, for every Enos, for every King Lamoni, there are hundreds of thousands of people who find the process of [changing] much more subtle, much more imperceptible.  Day by day they move closer to the Lord, little realizing they are building a godlike life.  They live quiet lives of goodness, service, and commitment… The Lord is pleased with every effort, even the tiny, daily ones in which we strive to be more like Him. Though we may see that we have far to go on the road to perfection, we must not give up hope.

Ezra Taft Benson, “A Mighty Change of Heart,” Ensign, Oct 1989, 2

Merrill J. Bateman

Few mortals share with Alma the Younger or Paul the Apostle the dramatic experiences that resulted in their spiritual rebirths over short periods of time. In fact, I believe those experiences are recorded in the scriptures not to define the time frame during which one may be reborn but to provide a vivid picture of what the accumulated, subtle changes are that take place in a faithful person over a lifetime.  For most of us, trying to be Christlike is a lifelong process and comes “line upon line, precept upon precept”. Most of us, if faithful, are baptized “with fire and with the Holy Ghost, even as the Lamanites … were baptized … and they knew it not”. In other words, spiritual rebirth is a gradual process for most individuals. At any point in time the changes are almost imperceptible; indeed, many of us worry we are not becoming more Christlike even though we are.

Merrill J. Bateman, “Living a Christ-Centered Life,” Liahona, Dec 1999, 13

Rebecca Gwyn Stradling

In reaching for the promises we have been given we must look beyond weaknesses, sins, and fears, believing that all is possible through the atonement of Jesus Christ, and that our honest efforts will bear fruit. It is necessary to separate the sin from the self. We must hope even as we fail, and repent—and then strive not to fail again. … Hope grows out of our faith that we are the sons and daughters of God and that we can be like him. What great expectations that hope will build in us! What motivation and power it will give us to do the things we know are right. As Paul said, “Now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.’Hope gives us the ability to expect that, when we see as we are seen and know as we are known, what we are will be good. Hope of this eventual perfection gives us strength to repent of small and serious weaknesses alike. … Only by hope founded in faith in Jesus Christ can we develop the capacity to love.” 

Rebecca Gwynn Stradling, “Between Faith and Charity: Some Thoughts on Hope,” Ensign, Jul 1981, 27

C.S. Lewis

 I have heard some people complain that if Jesus was God as well as man, then His sufferings and death lose all value in their eyes, "because it must have been so easy for him." ... The perfect submission, the perfect suffering, the perfect death were not only easier to Jesus because He was God, but were possible only because he was God. But surely that is a very odd reason for not accepting them?  ... If I am drowning in a rapid river, a man who still has one foot on the bank may give me a hand which saves my life.  Ought I to shout back (between my gasps) "No, it's not fair! You have an advantage! You're keeping one foot on the bank?" That advantage - call it "unfair" if you like - is the only reason why he can be of any use to  me.  To what will you look for help if you will not look to that which is stronger than yourself?

C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity p. 61

Harold B. Lee

The greatest demonstration of the power of the Almighty we see today is the redemption of human souls from spiritual darkness into spiritual light.

Elder Harold B. Lee, Conference Report, April 1965