Alma 34

This is another great doctrinal chapter. Amulek states that the great question for all of us is whether there is a Son of God, "or whether there shall be no Christ." Amulek is looking forward. For us, it's whether there was a Christ. That is the most important question we can ponder on. Amulek testifies of the coming of Christ and then teaches the people that there had to be a Savior. Because of the fall, we are all naturally prone to everything mortal. We have bodies that cannot live beyond a certain age. We have dispositions that make it impossible to avoid any sin. Some sin less and others sin more, but we all sin to one degree or another. As Elder McConkie stated, "We know the effects of [Adam's] fall passed upon all his posterity; all inherited a fallen state, a state of mortality, a state in which spiritual and temporal death prevail. In this state all men sin. All are lost. All are fallen. All are cut off from the presence of God." As a result of our sins, justice requires that there be a punishment for our sins. We all want to see the very wicked receive what they deserve, but justice requires a price must be paid for each of our own sins. So without a resurrection and without an atonement, every person that has ever lived, continues in this fallen state and dies without hope for any redemption.

Amulek teaches that since it is impossible for a mortal to overcome his own fallen state, an infinite and eternal sacrifice is necessary and only a God could provide this. Christ inherited mortality, or the capacity to die from his mother Mary. He also inherited from his Father, immortality and the power of God to live forever. His God-given powers also enabled him to suffer the demands of justice for sins and the power to rise as a resurrected being. Having overcome death, he makes it possible for every person to be resurrected or receive an immortal body. Nothing is required on our part for that to happen. But to avoid the demands that justice requires for our sins and receive the benefits of the atonement, repentance is required. If we are willing to accept the Savior and his sacrifice in our behalf, we will not have to pay a price for our transgressions. And it makes sense that anyone who denies him and his sacrifice has to pay their own price that justice demands. Those who do accept him then avoid the suffering of divine justice and receive celestial life, which is an eternal life lived in the presence of God and with our families. The atonement links family members together and this is why when a man and woman kneel across the alter from each other in the temple to be sealed for all mortal time and for all eternity, the symbol for the atonement is shared between the two.