The Savior Cleanses Us From Sin

The presence of God is a pure, sanctified kingdom devoid of any contaminants or sin, and it must remain that way. Therefore, “no unclean thing can dwell with God.” 1 Because we have all sinned, we no longer qualify to live with him. That we can repent is true, but on our own we cannot rectify the sin or erase the fact that it happened. Not without divine intervention. Not without a Savior.

The Savior overcame sin through the atonement

The Savior, Jesus Christ, accomplished the infinite atonement--suffering for our sins, dying and resurrecting for us--to do for us what we could not do for ourselves--overcome death and the consequences of sin. This is the good news of the gospel, which carries his name: The Gospel of Jesus Christ. After we do all that we can do to repent, we can ask the Savior to wash us completely clean.

And he will!

Through the Savior's matchless atonement he cleanses us and makes us whole, as though we had never committed the sin. Then neither the Savoir nor Heavenly Father will ever again recall the sin. 2 Having been thus forgiven, neither should we or anyone else recall the sin. Through the Savior's infinite suffering, he paid the full price of all our sins, which completely rectifies our offences to ourselves, to others, and to God.

The Savior's greatest miracle--the cleansing of sin

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.” 3

Only Jesus can do this for us, and this is good news, indeed.

The Savior was sent from God to save us from sin

God sent the Savior--his beloved son, Jesus Christ--into the world to save us from death, sin, discouragement, despair, and every affliction and disease that man might suffer. 4 Only the Savior qualified to do this. He offered to endure all our sorrows and our physical and mental pains, whether or not they were the result of our bad choices or imposed upon us.

Elder Gerald N. Lund said,

“[Jesus] stood before the justice of God and paid as though he were guilty of every sin and every transgression ever committed. We cannot begin to quantify or comprehend the vastness of the requirements of that suffering.” 5

How the Savior delivers us from sin

Only through the Savior's grace and mercy can we become clean from sin. Jesus said,

“For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent….” 6

We are responsible to accept the Savior, Jesus Christ, repent, and obey his commandments, otherwise, if we do not repent we “must suffer even as [the Savior did]….” 7

Because of the Savior's atonement and resurrection:

• We can become cleansed from sin and made perfect. The demands of justice can be satisfied by the Savior’s mercy. 8
• Be healed, both body and spirit, of every affliction. 9
• Will live again with a glorified, resurrected body. 10
• Will be judged according to our works and desires. 11
• Can qualify to return to live in Heavenly Father’s presence with our families. 12

Questions about 'The Savior Cleanses Us From Sin'

• Can sin exist in the presence of God?
• Because we all sin, do we qualify to live in Gog's presence?
• Can we make ourselves clean from sin or do we need a Savior?
• What did the Savior accomplish to overcome death and the consequences of sin?
• How complete is the Savior's cleansing us from sin?
• If, through the Savior, our sins are washed away, does he remember them? Need we or anyone remember our sins?
• In addition to cleansing us from sin, can the Savior help us with other life problems?
• What must we do to merit the Savior's delivering us from the consequences of our sins?
• Beyond being forgiven of our sins, what other blessings come from the Savior's atonement and resurrection?

References for 'The Savior Cleanses Us From Sin'

1. 1 Nephi 10:21
2. D&C 58:42 – Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more.
3. Isaiah 1:18
4. Alma 7:11-13 – And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities. Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in me.
5. Gerald N. Lund, Selected Writings of Gerald N. Lund: Gospel Scholars Series, p.164
6. D&C 19:16
7. D&C 19:17
8. Alma 34:15-16 – And thus he shall bring salvation to all those who shall believe on his name; this being the intent of this last sacrifice, to bring about the bowels of mercy, which overpowereth justice, and bringeth about means unto men that they may have faith unto repentance. And thus mercy can satisfy the demands of justice, and encircles them in the arms of safety, while he that exercises no faith unto repentance is exposed to the whole law of the demands of justice; therefore only unto him that has faith unto repentance is brought about the great and eternal plan of redemption.
9. Alma 7:11-13 – And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities. Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in me.
10. 1 Corinthians 15:22 – For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
11. 2 Nephi 9:10-16 – O how great the goodness of our God, who prepareth a way for our escape from the grasp of this awful monster; yea, that monster, death and hell, which I call the death of the body, and also the death of the spirit. And because of the way of deliverance of our God, the Holy One of Israel, this death, of which I have spoken, which is the temporal, shall deliver up its dead; which death is the grave. And this death of which I have spoken, which is the spiritual death, shall deliver up its dead; which spiritual death is hell; wherefore, death and hell must deliver up their dead, and hell must deliver up its captive spirits, and the grave must deliver up its captive bodies, and the bodies and the spirits of men will be restored one to the other; and it is by the power of the resurrection of the Holy One of Israel. O how great the plan of our God! For on the other hand, the paradise of God must deliver up the spirits of the righteous, and the grave deliver up the body of the righteous; and the spirit and the body is restored to itself again, and all men become incorruptible, and immortal, and they are living souls, having a perfect knowledge like unto us in the flesh, save it be that our knowledge shall be perfect. Wherefore, we shall have a perfect knowledge of all our guilt, and our uncleanness, and our nakedness; and the righteous shall have a perfect knowledge of their enjoyment, and their righteousness, being clothed with purity, yea, even with the robe of righteousness. And it shall come to pass that when all men shall have passed from this first death unto life, insomuch as they have become immortal, they must appear before the judgment-seat of the Holy One of Israel; and then cometh the judgment, and then must they be judged according to the holy judgment of God. And assuredly, as the Lord liveth, for the Lord God hath spoken it, and it is his eternal word, which cannot pass away, that they who are righteous shall be righteous still, and they who are filthy shall be filthy still; wherefore, they who are filthy are the devil and his angels; and they shall go away into everlasting fire, prepared for them; and their torment is as a lake of fire and brimstone, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever and has no end.
12. D&C 130:2 – And that same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there, only it will be coupled with eternal glory, which glory we do not now enjoy.