The Divine Gift of Repentance (Part 2)

by John Draney

This is the second post I devote to a translation of certain portions of the October 1, 2011 General Conference address, The Divine Gift of Repentance, given by Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Elder Christofferson:

Repentance exists as an option only because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It is His infinite sacrifice that “bringeth about means unto men that they may have faith unto repentance”(Alma 34:15). Repentance is the necessary condition, and the grace of Christ is the power by which “mercy can satisfy the demands of justice” (Alma 34:16).

Translation:

There is no question that repentance, one of the conditions of mercy in the gospel, exists as the direct result of the “atonement of Jesus Christ,” which allows him to provide to the world the attainable standards of salvation by which informed individuals with sufficient capacity are to come to him.

Keep in mind, however, that the atonement of Christ also creates spiritual safety nets that protect, in one way or another, all of God’s children who are born on this earth. In last week’s post, I mention several of the special provisions of mercy that Jesus provides for those who die as little children, those who die without law, the unrepentant who do not take up the sword against Christ, and the unrepentant who do, in fact, take up the sword against Christ.

The issue in this post concerns the notion that “repentance is the necessary condition, and the grace of Christ is the power by which ‘mercy can satisfy the demands of justice.’”

At first glance, we may conclude from this statement that there is no mercy for any of us without repentance, since “repentance is the necessary condition” for mercy to do its wonderful work.

This interpretation, however, is deeply flawed.

Elder Christofferson is speaking of the case of informed individuals with sufficient capacity who choose to come to Christ, and is referring to their receipt of a fullness of the mercy and grace of Jesus, the gift of eternal life.

This case, however, represents a part of the whole of salvation, not its entirety.

Is repentance truly “necessary” in the overall plan of salvation for mercy to heal and bless, to one degree or another, fallen humanity?

No.

Those in the restored church of Christ (and perhaps some in Christianity at large) who find yourselves hyperventilating or convulsing in disbelief and outrage at the audacity of the idea that the grace of Jesus confers mercy on members of the human family without their repentance (or allegedly perfect compliance with all the laws of God), please stop for moment.

Breathe.

Calm down.

Think.

The angrier you are with this proposition, the more likely you are also shackled to the misinterpretations and distortions of the gospel of legalism, which stands in stark contrast to the gospel of Christ.

Let us start by asking a fundamental question: In the plan of salvation, how is the perfect, consuming, holy justice of heaven satisfied, and pacified in its condemnation of fallen humanity?

Do we, through repentance or any other act we perform in our fallen condition, contribute directly in any way to satisfy divine justice, acquire divine mercy, release ourselves from the twin judgments of the Fall, or elevate ourselves to any of the heavens?

The crown jewel of the canon of the Restoration with regard to the competing claims of mercy and justice is Alma 42 in the Book of Mormon, and we find the answer there:

And now, the plan of mercy could not be brought about except an atonement should be made; therefore God himself atoneth for the sins of the world, to bring about the plan of mercy, to appease the demands of justice, that God might be a perfect, just God, and a merciful God also (Alma 42:15).

So how is divine justice satisfied?

Do we satisfy it?

Does what we do satisfy it?

No.

God the Son “atoneth for the sins of the world, to bring about the plan of mercy, to appease the demands of justice …”

Only the atonement of a sinless proxy can satisfy divine justice. Nothing fallen mortals can do will satisfy divine justice, which is why Jesus alone bears the full brunt of divine justice. Only he can.

We do well to remember who does what in the plan of salvation. Jesus makes intercession alone to provide a “plan of mercy” to fallen humanity. We do not.

Why not?

Why can we not directly contribute in some way to our own salvation?

One reason is that we are fallen.

Aaron teaches that “since man had fallen he could not merit anything of himself …” (Alma 22:14). Alma recognizes that, apart from Christ, there is “no means to reclaim men from this fallen state …” (Alma 42:12). Mormon understands that “all things which are good cometh of Christ; otherwise men were fallen, and there could no good thing come unto them” (Moroni 7:24).

Got that?

Nothing good comes to us in eternity or during the time of our fallen condition except through Christ.

And, of course, Paul observes in Romans that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), and, consequently, that we must rely entirely on “his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus …” (Romans 3:24).

If we attempt to participate directly in our own salvation, we not only unavoidably and inescapably taint it, but also utterly ruin it. Salvation based 99% on Jesus and 1% on us is no salvation at all.

If Christ is the one who directly satisfies divine justice, then can he not define the parameters of the blessings of his own intercession, independent of the divine importance and eternal value we mistakenly seek to assign to our own actions?

Yes.

The Lord does just that, because he must not only make complete, perfect intercession, but also dispense the blessings of that intercession based on a meaningful framework of conditions. If he makes atonement without conveying conditions, divine justice will be offended, having been robbed by divine mercy:

Therefore, according to justice, the plan of redemption could not be brought about, only on conditions of repentance of men in this probationary state, yea, this preparatory state; for except it were for these conditions, mercy could not take effect except it should destroy the work of justice. Now the work of justice could not be destroyed; if so, God would cease to be God (Alma 42:13).

(That Jesus through atonement can satisfy the divine, lethal justice of heaven, and refashion it as attainable conditions of mercy friendly to fallen, mortal beings is a testament to the astonishing power and infinite utility of the sacrifice of the Son of God on our behalf.)

Please remember that Jesus by atonement satisfies divine justice, not the tandem of our repentance and his grace.

The mistake of conflating his intercession with our repentance is, in part, related to the wording of the important phrase “conditions of repentance.” This phrase is not, as many in the church believe, restricted to the principle of repentance, but rather is shorthand for the entirety of the attainable standards of salvation of the gospel, including all of the merciful spiritual safety nets the Lord deploys therein.

In other words, the “conditions of repentance” are the conditions of mercy embodied in the gospel.

If we Latter-day Saints believe that the repentance of men and women is indeed a necessary component for mercy—even the slightest manifestation of mercy—to “take effect,” then how do we explain the bulk of D&C 76, which describes an afterlife blessed in nearly all cases by the kind work of mercy, conferred in many instances without the precondition of repentance?

Little children have claim without repentance to the mercy of Jesus because he has made a special provision for them in the overall set of conditions of mercy comprising the “conditions of repentance” of the gospel.

Similarly, those who die without law have claim without repentance to some measure of mercy because the Lord has made a special provision for them.

So do those who die as unrepentant sinners, for the plan of salvation is a “plan of mercy” (Alma 42:15), not a plan of mercy and justice, and certainly not a plan of justice (God forbid).

We must not mistake the conditions of mercy for its singular Cause, and we must not misguidedly attempt to restrict the mercy of Christ where he makes special provision for members of the human family whose circumstances are different from those attending the children of Adam and Eve who know God and have the capacity to choose him in the blessed name of his Holy Son, or where the Lord demonstrates mitigating mercy in the punishments he inflicts on the unrepentant.

Non-Mormon Christians, please at least keep your mind open to the possibilities of the reach and effect of the marvelous grace of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, for it brings more blessings than you think it does, and you ought to be glad.

What does the Book of Mormon Prophet Amulek mean, where he teaches that “mercy can satisfy the demands of justice” (Alma 34:16), which is the phrase Elder Christofferson quotes?

Amulek does not mean that mercy (divine mercy) per se can satisfy the demands of justice (divine justice).

Why not?

If divine mercy could satisfy divine justice, then the intercession of Christ would be unnecessary, for God would simply forgive all of us with prejudice, rescind the awful consequences of the Fall and its aftermath of sin, and do whatever else he wanted to with us contrary to the divine law to which he himself conforms in eternity.

That is the alleged upside.

(Such a confused act by an oblivious God calls to mind Gilda Radner’s famous SNL line, “Never mind.”)

The downside, however, is rather bleak, for by allowing one divine principle to circumvent another, “God would cease to be God” (Alma 42:13).

Mercy cannot satisfy justice, which the essence of the intractable problem facing the Almighty with regard to his fallen children in Alma 42.

Moreover, mercy and justice cannot negotiate an acceptable settlement between themselves, for both constructs must achieve their fullest, divine expression. There can be no watered-down compromise, no alleged balance, no mutually acceptable set of concessions, for heaven is not a legislative chamber, and God is not a politician.

So what does Amulek mean?

He writes that the “Son of God” offers himself as an “infinite and eternal” (Alma 34:14) sacrifice to “bring about the bowels of mercy, which overpowereth justice, and bringeth about means unto men that they may have faith unto repentance” (Alma 34:15).

What, or rather, who “overpowereth justice” (that is, completely satisfies its demands)?

Who is the embodiment of divine mercy?

Who acquires the power by virtue of his sinless intercession to permanently stand between us and the perfect, holy justice of heaven, and bear the infinite, holy wrath of Almighty God?

Who brings mercy, and blesses the world according to the generous and kind framework of his gospel?

Praise God for the blessed atonement of his Son, and the expansive spectrum of salvation he brings to a fallen world, redemption that he makes available to all the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, whether their opportunity to come to Jesus finds them during their mortal lives, or in the pre-resurrection sojourn of the spirit world.

By atonement, and by the giving of attainable conditions, Christ, the embodiment of divine mercy and personification of divine love, completely satisfies the perfect justice of heaven, for only he can.

He provides the blessings of his atonement through grace, to one degree or another, according to his own conditions of mercy, to all members of the human family.

The grace of Christ refers, not to the power of his reconciliation and atonement, but to the free transfer of the blessings of that reconciliation and atonement to us. Grace is not the ultimate source of mercy, but the unmerited delivery of mercy in its many forms to us.

For those who are aware of God and have the capacity to choose for themselves, Jesus requires attainable repentance (one of several conditions) in order to bless them with a fullness of his redeeming grace, the gift of eternal life.

In the plan of mercy, Jesus brings about the redemption of a fallen world, and he does so with zealous enthusiasm, benevolent longsuffering, and transcendent compassion.

In the plan of mercy, we demonstrate to God what we want through the exercise of the agency (free will) that accrues to us by virtue of the Fall.

Jesus saves.

We choose.

We could not hope for a better arrangement.

For a more comprehensive discussion of the instrumentality of the Son in allowing the perfect expressions of divine justice and divine mercy in God’s plan of salvation, see Appendix 2: An Exposition of Alma Chapter 42 in the book Redeeming Grace in the Canon of the Restoration (Amazon CreateSpace and Kindle).