Scripture discussion
Ask for a volunteer to recite the third article of faith. Discuss with
the class what the atonement of Christ is and what it means to us. Your
discussion should include the following points:
1. Christ volunteered to give his life so that all
people could be saved.
2. Christ was foreordained, or chosen, for this mission
before the world was created.
3. The transgression of Adam brought death into the
world. Christ’s sacrifice paid the penalty for that broken law and made it
possible for us to overcome death.
4. Christ paid not only for Adam’s sins but for ours as
well—if we obey the laws and ordinances of the gospel.
5. Because he is the literal son of God, Christ is the
only person who could ever have power over death. He had inherited
from God the power of immortality. Also, he was the only sinless person who
lived on earth, having resisted all of Satan’s temptations. For these
reasons, he is the only person who has ever lived who could accomplish the
Atonement.
6. Because of Christ’s sacrifice, all people will
be resurrected.
7. The prophets, both before and after Christ’s life on
earth, have testified of him.
Write the following scripture references on the chalkboard:
Alma 11:42–43
Alma 11:40
Have the young women silently read the scriptures and identify the two
important results of Jesus Christ’s atonement. (We can be resurrected, and
we can be exalted or gain eternal life.)
• According to Alma, what group of people will gain
eternal life? (Those who believe on the name of Jesus Christ.)
Story
Ask the class if they have ever tried to imagine how it must have been
for the Savior to take upon himself our sins. Read aloud or have a young
woman read aloud the following account by Elder Orson F. Whitney:
“Then came a marvelous manifestation, an admonition from a higher Source,
one impossible to ignore. It was a dream, or a vision in a dream, as I lay
upon my bed in the little town of Columbia, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
I seemed to be in the Garden of Gethsemane, a witness of the Savior’s agony.
I saw Him as plainly as ever I have seen anyone. Standing behind a tree in
the foreground, I beheld Jesus, with Peter, James and John, as they came
through a little wicket gate at my right. Leaving the three Apostles there,
after telling them to kneel and pray, the Son of God passed over to the
other side, where He also knelt and prayed. It was the same prayer with
which all Bible readers are familiar: ‘Oh my Father, if it be possible, let
this cup pass from me; nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.’
“As He prayed the tears streamed down his face, which was toward me. I
was so moved at the sight that I also wept, out of pure sympathy. My whole
heart went out to him; I loved him with all my soul, and longed to be with
him as I longed for nothing else.
“Presently He arose and walked to where those Apostles were kneeling—fast
asleep! He shook them gently, awoke them, and in a tone of tender reproach,
untinctured by the least show of anger or impatience, asked them plaintively
if they could not watch with him one hour. There He was, with the awful
weight of the world’s sin upon his shoulders, with the pangs of every man,
woman and child shooting through his sensitive soul—and they could not watch
with him one poor hour!” (Through Memory’s Halls: The Life Story of Orson
F. Whitney [Independence, Mo.: Zion’s Printing and Publishing Co.,
1930], p. 82).
Thought question
• Are we ever indifferent to the suffering Christ
went through for us? Do we fail to appreciate the two important gifts he
gave us?
Discussion
• What must we do to make the Atonement effective in
our lives?
Scripture discussion
Write on the chalkboard:
Helaman 14:13.
• According to
Helaman 14:13,
if we truly believe in Jesus Christ, what will we feel motivated to do?
Add on the chalkboard: Doctrine and Covenants
D&C 19:16–19.
Have these verses read aloud.
• How does it make you feel to know that Jesus
Christ has suffered for your sins so that, if you repent, you will not have
to suffer for them?
Add on the chalkboard: Doctrine and Covenants
D&C 58:43.
• According to Doctrine and Covenants
D&C 58:43, what
will a truly repentant person do?
True repentance takes time and effort. We must show ourselves and the
Lord that we have forsaken our errors.
Quotation
“Some people believe in instantaneous repentance. While you can stop
doing something instantaneously … , true repentance occurs when you have
demonstrated, through the passage of time, that what you resolved to do has
actually come to pass and [the sin] is truly out of your life” (Loren C.
Dunn, Read, Ponder, Pray, Brigham Young University Speeches of the
Year [Provo, 7 Mar. 1972], p. 4).
Scripture discussion
Explain that confessing and forsaking sin is necessary and vital. Some
sins need to be confessed to priesthood leaders. But more is needed to
obtain forgiveness.
• What more is necessary?
Explain that the people in the following three scriptures were all
repentant and seeking forgiveness of sin, and they all had a similar
experience. Have the young women read silently as the following scriptures
are read aloud:
Enos 1:4–8
Mosiah 4:1–3
Alma 38:8
• In each of these scriptural examples, how did the
people obtain forgiveness?
Teacher presentation
Remind the young women that to be forgiven for our sins, we must turn to
Heavenly Father with faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ has extended to
each of us two tremendous gifts. Resurrection is free to all. Exaltation, or
eternal life, is conditioned upon our having faith in Jesus Christ and
repenting with all our hearts.