2 Nephi 9:21

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Reference Search: 2 Nephi 9:21

21 And he cometh into the world that he may save all men if they will hearken unto his voice; for behold, he suffereth the pains of all men, yea, the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children, who belong to the family of Adam.

Quotes for Discussion

Atonement paid for all men’s sins

In a manner to us incomprehensible and inexplicable, he [Christ] bore the weight of the sins of the whole world; not only of Adam, but of his posterity….

…We are told that without shedding of blood is no remission of sins. This is beyond our comprehension. Jesus had to take away sin by the sacrifice of Himself, the just for the unjust, but, previous to this grand sacrifice, these animals had to have their blood shed as types, Until the great antitype should offer up Himself once for all. And as He in His own person bore the sins of all and atoned for them by the sacrifice of Himself, so there came upon Him the weight and agony of ages and generations, the indescribable agony consequent upon this great sacrificial atonement wherein He bore the sins of the world, and suffered in His own person the consequences of an eternal law of God broken by man. Hence His profound grief, His indescribable anguish, His overpowering torture, all experienced in the submission to the eternal fiat of Jehovah and the requirements of an inexorable law.

John Taylor, Mediation and Atonement, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, pp. 148-50

And this provision [the atonement] applies not only to the living, but also to the dead, so that all men who have existed in all ages, who do exist now, or who will exist while the earth shall stand, may be placed upon the same footing, and that all men may have the privilege, living or dead, of accepting the conditions of the great plan of redemption provided by the Father, through the Son, before the world was; and that the justice and mercy of God may be applied to every being, living or dead, that ever has existed, that does now exist, or that ever will exist.

John Taylor, Mediation and Atonement, p. 181

Christ’s agony in the garden (of Gethsemane) is unfathomable by the finite mind, both as to intensity and cause. The thought that he suffered through fear of death is untenable. Death to him was preliminary to resurrection and triumphal return to the Father from whom He had come, and to a state of glory even beyond what he had possessed before; and, moreover, it was within his power to lay down his life voluntarily. He struggled and groaned under a burden such as no other being who has lived on earth might even conceive as possible. It was not physical pain, nor mental anguish alone, that caused him to suffer such torture as to produce an extrusion of blood from every pore; but a spiritual agony of soul such as only God was capable of suffering. No other man, however great his powers of physical or mental endurance, could have suffered so; foe his human organism would have succumbed, and syncope would have produced unconsciousness and welcome oblivion.

James E. Talmage, Jesus the Christ, 1959, 613

Can we, even in the depths of disease, tell Him anything at all about suffering? In ways we cannot comprehend, our sicknesses and infirmities were borne by Him even before they were borne by us. The very weight of our combined sins caused Him to descend below all. We have never been, nor will we be, in depths such as He has known. Thus His atonement made perfect His empathy and His mercy and His capacity to succor us, for which we can be everlastingly grateful as He tutors us in our trials. There was no ram in the thicket at Calvary to spare Him, this Friend of Abraham and Isaac.

Neal A. Maxwell, As I Am, pp. 116-17

Christ’s sacrifice is fully effective only for the repentant. He suffered and died for us, yet if we do not repent, all his anguish and pain on our account are futile.

Spencer W. Kimball, Teachings, 70. See also D&C 19:16-19.

The Atonement Automatically Covers Original Sin

One of the paramount doctrines that has persisted for centuries in much of Christendom is what is popularly called “original sin.” This is the concept that since Adam’s fall brought death and alienation to all of the human family, little children are born in sin, or under the penalty of sin, and are out of favor with God. Therefore, should they die in their infancy without baptism, they would be forever shut out from the presence and face of God. This belief stems from an awareness of the effects of the Fall, but not an awareness of the results of the Atonement. It is indeed the devil’s doctrine, because it recognizes the Fall and death and sin, but fails to recognize the work of the Savior in redeeming little children from the Fall. As we have learned from Jacob, the doctrine of original sin would be partly true if there were no atonement by Jesus Christ, and would apply not only to children, but to the whole human family. But there is an atonement and it does redeem little children. To hold that little children are born in sin is a denial of the atonement of Christ….

It was because of this mistaken view of original sin, holding that little children are born in sin, that the doctrine of the “immaculate conception” was developed in Catholic theology. This doctrine is not, as many have supposed, a reference to Jesus’ own conception, but is the belief that Mary, mother of Jesus, was herself conceived miraculously in her mother’s womb, so that she (Mary) would be born without original sin, and thus could be free to conceive the holy child Jesus. One false concept led to another, and another, and another.

There is nothing in our present Bible that clearly and unequivocally explains just how the fall of Adam applies to children, and whether every person actually sinned in Adam, or only suffers the consequences of Adam’s fall. Nor is there any statement that clearly defines how the Atonement specifically relates to children. There is just such a statement, however, in the book of Moses, which was revealed as part of the Prophet Joseph Smith’s translation of the Bible.

In this circumstance the prophet Enoch is teaching his people about Adam, and how death and sin came into the world. Enoch reminds his hearers that the plan of salvation was taught to Adam. This is Enoch speaking:

And he [God] called upon our father Adam by his own voice, saying: I am God; I made the world, and men before they were in the flesh.

And he also said unto him: If thou wilt turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, and believe, and repent of all thy transgressions, and be baptized, even in water, in the name of mine Only Begotten Son . . . ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

And our father Adam spake unto the Lord, and said: Why is it that men must repent and be baptized in water? And the Lord said unto Adam: Behold I have forgiven thee thy transgression in the Garden of Eden.

Hence came the saying abroad among the people, that the Son of God hath atoned for original guilt, wherein the sins of the parents cannot be answered upon the heads of the children, for they are whole from the foundation of the world (Moses 6:51-54; JST Gen. 6:52-56).

Please note two important details of this passage. First, Adam was told to repent of all his transgressions (plural-more than one). In no other place in the scriptures is there any reference to Adam having more than the original transgression in the Garden of Eden. This is a unique passage. The intent is clear: Adam must repent of any transgressions that he committed after he became mortal, but he was automatically forgiven of his transgression in the Garden-the transgression that caused the fall of mankind. This very clear distinction between the two categories is unequaled by any other passage of scripture. Second, the point is also made that "the Son of God hath atoned for original guilt, wherein the sin of the parents cannot be answered upon the heads of the children, for they are whole from the foundation of the world."

Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate, Jr., eds., Second Nephi: The Doctrinal Structure, p.185-186