The Continuous Atonement by Brad Wilcox

This session of my Summer semester has been pretty slow...my classes are easy enough, and I decided getting a job for 4 weeks then quitting again just to be a Resident Adviser for the the Fall (I hope) would be fruitless. Especially since most jobs are minimum wage here and I wouldnt earn very much anyway. So, with my time I have been studying a LOT of gospel doctrine books by various authors. I cant express enough how glad I am to have the time to dive into these books! I am learning by leaps and bounds :) Something I read recently in The Continuous Atonement was about how Christ's requirements are not so that we can make the best of the Atonement, but rather that the Atonement can make the best of us. Brother Wilcox shares this insight ( the I LOVE and wanted to share too :) )

"I once spoke with a college student who sought a better understanding of the Atonement. "I know," she said, "I have to do my part and then Christ does the rest, but the problem is that I cant even do my part." She then went on to list the many things she should be doing, but wasn't. She also spoke of the anger and jealousy she shouldn't be feeling, but was. Continuing, she said, "I know Christ can fill the gap between my best efforts and perfection, but who fills the gap between the way I am and my best efforts?"

     I pulled out a paper and drew two dots on it - one at the bottom and the other at the top. "Here is God," I said, labeling the top dot. "And here we are," I said, indicating the bottom dot. "How much of this distance does Jesus fill and how much is our part?" She started to mark a line at the halfway point and then thought better and marked the line much lower. I said, "Wrong."

"Is the line higher?" she asked.

"No," I responded. " The truth is, there is no line. Christ has already filled the whole distance."

"Right! Like I don't have to do anything?"

"Oh no. You have plenty to do, but it is not to fill this gap. Jesus filled the gap that stands between us and God. it is done. We are all going to go back to God's presence. Now the question is how long we hope to stay there. This is what is determined by our obedience to Jesus."

 Christ asks us to show faith in Him, repent, make and keep covenants, receive the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end. By complying we are not paying the demands of justice - not even the smallest part. Instead we are appreciating what Jesus did and using it to live the life of a disciple and follow a pattern set by Christ himself - what Joseph Smith called "The life of the righteous". Justice requires perfection or a punishment when perfection is not achieved. Jesus, who paid justice (2 Nephi 2:7), can now forgive what justice never could. By releasing us from the requirements of justice, He is now able to make a whole new arrangement with us (see 3 Nephi 28:35).

"So what's the difference?" the girl asked. "Whether our efforts are required by justice or by Jesus, they are still required."

"True, but they are required for different purposes, and that makes all the difference. Fulfilling Christ's requirements is like paying a mortgage instead of rent, investing instead of paying off debts, really getting someplace instead of walking on a treadmill, ultimate perfection instead of forever coming up short."

"But I already told you, I cant be perfect..."

"You don't have to be, because justice is no longer in charge. Jesus is, and He only asks that you are willing to be perfected."

                                                                                (The Continuous Atonement; Brad Wilcox 116-118)

I love this excerpt from the book because when I have made mistakes or have sinned, I have often found myself feeling like this girl. Like I would never be good enough, perfect enough. There is so much I have learned in my studying of this book and others. It really is helping me understand the role and character of the Savior, the plan of salvation, how the relate the Atonement into my life, the purpose of weaknesses and why sinning was ever made possible, the difference between Savior and Redeemer, the concept of perfection we are trying to achieve, how Satan uses pure truths and twists them to make us loathe ourselves in our imperfections...the list goes on and on and on. All I have to say is the gospel is TRUE! Every step closer to the Savior, the more effort I make to understand and live His gospel, that light of understanding grows brighter and brighter just like the scriptures promise. Man I am so blessed to have such resources and opportunities that the gospel gives me literally at my fingertips!