The plan of salvation according to 2 Nephi 2 and Alma 42

[onefour1]

brlenox's post is also how I have viewed the atonement. We are eternal beings by nature. We have an intelligence that was not created or made and neither indeed can be. Because of this, God could not simply create us to be perfect beings. You cannot create from nothing that which has eternally existed. Since God could not create us to be perfect, he had to go about perfecting us through experience and free choice. This earth life is an experience calculated to help us to progress to become like God. But knowing that we are imperfect beings, God knew that we would make mistakes along the way. The law of heaven not only states that 'no unclean thing can inherit the kingdom of heaven' but that no unclean being can become a God. For us to become like God, we need to eventually reach that same perfection that God has. This is a state of being that must be maintained for all eternity.

God, knowing that he has imperfect beings who have a capacity to learn to be perfect are sent to this earth to be schooled. God knew they would make mistakes because they are not yet perfect. But the law of heaven requires that the beings be perfect in the keeping a heavenly laws to abide in the heavenly kingdom. God knew that once these beings transgressed the law that they are no longer worthy to be allowed into his kingdom by his law. For God to be a just God and fairly execute the laws of his kingdom, he must not allow the sinner in. So how can he get those who have the capacity to be perfect into his kingdom when he knows that they will fall short of keeping that law? This is where his great plan of salvation comes in. God decides to send a being to earth who lives a perfect life and commits no sin. While in this life, this being not only suffers the same as a fallen man but is also subjected to the greatest amount of evil and suffers to the extent that he bleeds from every pore of his body. He is then taken by evil men and beaten and mocked before being nailed to a cross and displayed before all the people. Finally he even suffers death. The suffering was so great that it was more than all mankind's suffering combined. Is it just that a sinless being be subjected to this kind of suffering, pain, and death? Did Jesus deserve it? The Father could not have come and done this himself because he was already a resurrected and immortal being. It had to be one who had not yet received a body but who was of such high moral character that he would never fall. It was the greatest injustice ever. This to me was the crux of the atonement. God the Father allowed through the free will of evil beings for a great injustice to occur. But why would he allow such an injustice to occur to a totally innocent and pure being? I believe God allowed it because it would necessitate that God grant to his Son a recompense for all the injustice and suffering that his Son would go through. He not only would have to grant him a recompense for all the pain and suffering but to the extent of all the pain and suffering that he bore. This was the great plan from the beginning to bring about recompense for injustice that would allow for the Plan of Mercy to be just.

The great recompense that Jesus won was the right to grant forgiveness to the repentant sinner. If the sinner overcame the sin then Jesus was allowed, as his recompense, to forgive that sin. If a man truly repents then he will have overcome the sin, and the law of Mercy could have claim upon that sin and the sinner could be allowed into heaven. The non-repentant sinner could not receive this forgiveness since he would still be in a state of sin (not repenting of his sin) and would not be able to abide by the law of heaven. Only the truly penitent can receive forgiveness of sin. This is a just law in heaven. By necessity, for God to be just to his Son who did no sin, he needed to provide him with a recompense. God would not be just to turn a blind eye to the injustice that his Son went through. A recompense or repayment for the injustice that his Son went through was necessary. It was found to be just to grant Jesus the right to forgive the repentant sinner if he truly repents of his sins. Since Jesus suffered more than the sins of all mankind combined, he has won the right to forgive all mankind's sins on the conditions of repentance. Since the repentant sinner would no longer sin, he could be allowed into the kingdom of heaven and he would keep the law. Thus the law of mercy can overpower the law of justice on the sinner by the just act of granting the Christ the just recompense that he deserved. Thus all is just with God and He is not simply a God of justice but a God of love and mercy also.

[Elefant]

First and most important thing to observe is that Christ remains a citizen of the Fathers kingdom. He has broken no laws and he has not been banished from his Fathers Kingdom. Thus their relationship remains the same. Christ looks to the Father to advocate in behalf of the laws of His Father’s kingdom. His Father is obligated to protect the citizens of his kingdom. If anything occurs, if any laws are broken Christ expects that his father will see to the demands of Justice and deal with the situation as is the requirement of the lawgiver / king.

The second thing is to recognize that this defines the juncture where Alma 12 defines that we are under the second set of laws or the Law of Christ. Christ, now as the King of this kingdom is the law giver.

brlenox

Why Christ remained to be a citizen of Fathers Kingdom? Adam and Eve were cast out because of transgressing the first set of laws which are the laws of the Father not of Christ. So if Christ remained a citizen, why we did not? Because we are not accauntable for our forefathers transgressions. And if we are not anymore citizens of Fathers Kingdom for having transgressed the second commandments, that would not make sense to me, since these come from Christ and not from the Father. So did Christ not inherit the fall the same way as we do? It is true that he did not transgress the first commandment, becausr it was Adam who did that, but neither did we.

[brlenox]

First and most important thing to observe is that Christ remains a citizen of the Fathers kingdom. He has broken no laws and he has not been banished from his Fathers Kingdom. Thus their relationship remains the same. Christ looks to the Father to advocate in behalf of the laws of His Father’s kingdom. His Father is obligated to protect the citizens of his kingdom. If anything occurs, if any laws are broken Christ expects that his father will see to the demands of Justice and deal with the situation as is the requirement of the lawgiver / king.

The second thing is to recognize that this defines the juncture where Alma 12 defines that we are under the second set of laws or the Law of Christ. Christ, now as the King of this kingdom is the law giver.

brlenox

Why Christ remained to be a citizen of Fathers Kingdom? Adam and Eve were cast out because of transgressing the first set of laws which are the laws of the Father not of Christ. So if Christ remained a citizen, why we did not? Because we are not accauntable for our forefathers transgressions. And if we are not anymore citizens of Fathers Kingdom for having transgressed the second commandments, that would not make sense to me, since these come from Christ and not from the Father. So did Christ not inherit the fall the same way as we do? It is true that he did not transgress the first commandment, becausr it was Adam who did that, but neither did we.

All of the patterns are illustrated in what you already know concerning the gospel. Note first that little children are not accountable until they have sufficient knowledge to intentionally do wrong. We place that at the age of eight. Note that little children who die before the age of eight are not subject to the laws of the fall in a permanent sense. This is because they never fall. They remain subjects of God the Fathers kingdom in spirit because they never break the law. Thus they remain innocent of violating the law of the Garden and so they require no redemption in terms of payment for their sins. The do require redemption from the physical effects of the fall but it is freely given them with no requirement of ordinances etc. The Father is obligated to provide a free pass back to his kingdom because they do not wrong bringing them under the law of the garden. They are covered in the atonement having never sinned never requiring the ordinances. Now there is more exacting detail here but we can bypass for now.

When you become of the age of accountability everything is as it was before the age of accountability. You remain innocent and not guilty of the law of the Garden, UNTIL the moment of your first sinful act. Now you have become subject to the law of the Garden. In essence all who sin, as Romans 3:23 states; "fall short of the glory of God". The piece we are missing here is the nature of what it is to violate the law of he Garden and why it demands a death penalty in the first place but I am going to withhold that at the moment. We have talked around this for quite a bit and so if pondered long enough, it may become obvious to you.

Christ is no different in how the law applies. He is born and becomes accountable at the age of eight like all others. However, Christ never separates himself from his father's kingdom because he never sins. Thus he never comes under the demands of the law of the Garden. This is what allows him to become an infinite sacrifice, as since he never becomes subject to the law he can exercise the application of his potential eternal life as a means of addressing the demands of the law. Because he never becomes subject to the demands of the law, he also never ceases to be a citizen of his father in heavens kingdom. He never breaks the law he is never disallowed to return. He retains the rights to his father's kingdom so that even upon death he can return to his Fathers presence.

So, we technically do violate the law of the Garden when we become subject to the law when we first sin. Christ removes that condemnation with the atonement in the resurrection which he mercifully grants to every person who comes to this earth. No one remains subject to the law of physical death as a result of their personal fall. Ponder on that and see if it gets you where you are trying to go.