Both traditional Christians and Mormons speak of Christ’s atonement, but the word brings different things to mind for each groups. To sort this out, let’s consider three questions.
What is atonement?
Both groups do agree on a basic definition. Atonement is about reconciling two parties who have been estranged so that they become “at one” with each other. Human beings are estranged from God because of sin, and atonement provides for a harmonious relationship between God and human beings by dealing with the consequences of sin.
But the two faith systems differ substantially on how atonement is achieved and experienced.
How did Jesus accomplish atonement?
Mormonism teaches that Jesus’s atoning sacrifice took place in the Garden of Gethsemane and was only completed on the cross at Calvary. But traditional Christians have looked to the cross alone as the focus of our reconciliation to God, because over and over again, the Bible points to the death of Jesus as the means God used to pay for sin and bring about reconciliation.
1 Peter 2:24 He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right.
The point is that Jesus accomplished our atonement on the cross. That’s where he bore our sins.
(For a small sampling of other Bible verses on this topic, see Mark 10:45; Colossians 1:19-22; 1 Corinthians 1:18, 22-23; Ephesians 2:12-16; Romans 5:6-8)
How do we receive the benefits of atonement?
Mormonism presents both a conditional and an unconditional atonement. When it comes to physical death, atonement is unconditional. Mormonism teaches that all human beings (with only a few exceptions) will one day be resurrected in glorified, immortal bodies to some level of heaven. But when it comes to spiritual death, which is alienation from God due to sin, the atonement is conditional. To Mormons, a person must exercise faith in Jesus Christ, repent of his or her sins, be baptized, receive the Holy Ghost, and obey God’s commandments in order to be forgiven of sins and live forever in the highest level of heaven with God.
By contrast, the Bible presents atonement entirely as an unconditional act of God, to be received by needy sinners as a free gift by faith. The apostle Paul expressed this in his teaching, in Acts 10.
Acts 10:42-43 And he ordered us to preach everywhere and to testify that Jesus is the one appointed by God to be the judge of all—the living and the dead. He is the one all the prophets testified about, saying that everyone who believes in him will have their sins forgiven through his name.
What you will notice is that the result of atonement for those who receive God’s gift is forgiveness of sins and complete reconciliation with God, starting immediately and lasting forever.
(For a sampling of other Bible verses on this topic, see Ephesians 1:12-13; Ephesians 2:1-10; Romans 3:25-28; Romans 4:1-5; Hebrews 10:19-23).
