Live with God Again Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ

To live with God again and to become like him should be our loftiest goals. One of the reasons we come to earth is to receive a body of flesh and bone like God's and to learn how to use it. But in receiving a body each of us, to one degree or another, misuses it. We sin, and when we sin we disqualify ourselves to return to live with God in heaven, which is a place where “no unclean thing can dwell.” 1

To live with God again requires repentance made possible by the atonement of Jesus Christ

The atonement of Jesus Christ makes repentance possible--repentance and the atonement of Jesus Christ are inseparable. After we expend all our effort to repent and rectify the sin, the atonement of Jesus Christ cleanses us and erases the fact that the sin ever happened.

To live with God again requires grace through the atonement of Jesus Christ

After we do all that we can do, Jesus Christ's atonement saves us through grace

Grace is the great enabling power of the atonement of Jesus Christ. The grace of Jesus Christ is immediately available to us by asking. After we have done everything we can to repent, we must ask Jesus Christ to wash us clean.

And he will!

He makes us whole, as if we had never committed the sin. Then neither he nor God the Father retains a memory of the sin. Having thus been forgiven, neither we nor anyone else should entertain a memory of the sin. Through the infinite atonement of Jesus Christ and his suffering he paid the full price of all our sins, which completely rectifies our offences to ourselves, to others, and especially to God. Because of Jesus' enabling grace, we are cleansed of sin and qualify to live with God again.

The scriptures explain this miracle of forgiveness:

“Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” 2.

Only the atonement of Jesus Christ can cleanse us to qualify to live with God again

In the premortal world God presented to us his great Plan of Salvation. 3 God knew that we would sin, so he provided that we could repent and draw upon a power greater to cleanse us from every stain of sin. He provided us a Savior.

Jesus Christ volunteered to come into this world and save us that we might return and live with God again. Because of his great love for us, Jesus Christ offered to suffer and give his own life to pay the price of our sins so that we might become clean and pure and become able to live with God again in heaven.

Because of God's love for us he accepted the offer of his son, Jesus Christ, and chose him to become our Savior and accomplish the atonement. Love was and is the motivating factor that caused God to choose Jesus as our Savior that he might accomplish the infinite atonement.

“We can start and end with love. God so loved the world that he gave his Only Begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Christ so loved God and God's other children that he willingly undertook his pivotal part in the great plan of salvation, knowing what it meant, what it was going to cost” 4.

Showing gratitude to Jesus Christ for his atonement and providing a way for us to return to live with God again

What do we owe Jesus and God for their consummate act of love--the Plan of Salvation and the atonement? Everything—our complete devotion, obedience, loyalty and love.

When we repent, what can we expect in return? The Savior has said,

“Will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you? Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me” 5.

Only through the atonement of Jesus Christ can we fully repent and live with God again.

Questions about 'Live with God Again Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ'

• Can anything unclean dwell in the presence of God?



• Upon what principle can the atonement of Jesus Christ make us clean so that we might live with God again?



• How clean does the atonement of Jesus Christ make us?



• What motivated God to provide us a Savior, and why did Jesus Christ volunteer to become our Savior?



• What do we owe Jesus and God for their consummate act of love--the Plan of Salvation and the atonement of Jesus Christ?



• Do you ever wonder who, if anyone, could heal you and reconcile you to God that you might live with God again?



• Do you believe that Jesus Christ has paid the price for your sins and knows how to help you?



• Do you believe that faith in Jesus Christ is the first step fully repenting, achieving peace of conscience, and ultimately returning to live with God?



• Do you believe the scripture: “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow”? Do you know who can do this for you?

References for 'Live with God Again Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ'

1. 1 Nephi 10:21
2. Isaiah 1:18 – Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
3. Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 181 – At the first organization in heaven we were all present, and saw the Savior chosen and appointed and the plan of salvation made, and we sanctioned it. We came to this earth that we might have a body and present it pure before God in the celestial kingdom. The great principle of happiness consists in having a body. The devil has no body, and herein is his punishment.
4. Elder Marion D. Hanks, Conference Report, October 1970, p.57
5. 3 Nephi 9:13-14