To help others understand an intangible, spiritual concept like the Atonement, it is helpful to compare it to something tangible and familiar. The Lord and His prophets often refer to familiar objects or experiences to help those they teach understand spiritual principles. As we study these comparisons, we can come to understand the Atonement better ourselves, and we can become more effective in teaching it to others.
In Teaching, No Greater Call, pp. 163-4, Elder Boyd K. Packer suggests a formula for creating comparisons that teach spiritual principles:
__________________ is like _________________________
Using this formula, and thinking about various aspects of Christ's Atonement, I have devised the following similes. These are certain not an all-compassing list nor are they the only valid and useful comparisons that can be made. I offer them simply as one way of thinking about the Atonement in familiar and tangible ways.
Faith is like a compass(1 Ne. 16:28). It always points us in the right direction, but it does not force down a particular path. The more consistently and meticulously we follow its guidance, the more sure our course and the more directly we will reach our destination. We must be careful, however, to not pollute it with influences that interfere with its operation. Sin is like a magnet that can cause the needle on our compass to spin erratically and cause us to lose our way. The purer we remain, and the more diligently we heed the compass heading to true north, the more valuable and reliable our compass becomes.
Repentance is like turning on a light in a dark room. It is a choice to see ourselves and our circumstances clearly. It begins with recognition that we do not have to remain in darkness. If we have been deep in sin, the initial light of repentance may be only a dim flicker. But even that faint glow can help us see more clearly where we can make more changes and improvements. And with each turning from darkness to light, our eyes are illuminated, and the light of the Spirit reveals ever more opportunities to change. Without the light we may grope about in the blackness that engulfs us for the exit, but we will only bump into things and never find the door. The light of repentance makes it so much easier to find God and peace.
Forgiveness is like having a great weight removed from our backs. Imagine hiking up a steep trail with a hundred-pound pack on your back. Each step on the trail is a laborious effort to raise not only your natural weight but the extra weight of your pack. Each step becomes harder and harder to take until eventually your legs buckle and your shoulders cannot support the pack any longer. All you can think about is unloading that extra weight. At that moment, the Savior appears and lifts the burden from your shoulders. Freed of the useless load in your pack, your legs have new springs. Your lungs are no longer winded. Your heart no longer pounds. Though the trail is still steep, you climb with greater ease. Your hope of reaching the top is renewed. The hike becomes an enjoyable adventure instead of a crushing drudgery. That is the effect of forgiveness through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
Resurrection is like getting out of prison (D&C 138:50). Prisoners are highly restricted in their ability to exercise their agency. There are many things they would like to do but cannot because of the limitations of their incarceration. Without our bodies, our spirits are likewise limited in the things we can do. In pre-mortal life we had progressed as far as we could as mere spirits. The gift of mortality and a physical body greatly enhanced our ability to progress and to become agents. When we lose our bodies temporarily in physical death, we are plunged back into our pre-mortal condition. We are once again limited. In the Resurrection, we are not just paroled, we are permanently pardoned from our limiting imprisonment. With immortal bodies, we are free to complete our progression toward eternal life.
Redemption is like being freed from debt (Isa. 44:22. For anyone who has made a large purchase on credit, he knows the burden of having debt forever looming over his head. He may think he can easily meet the payments. But over time, as other debts and bills pile up, it can become increasingly difficult to meet the payment demands. Interest mounts, and he feels like he will never be able to pay the principle. The debt weighs on his mind night and day. He cannot escape it. His happiness in the thing he purchased is lost in the misery of trying to pay the debt he incurred. When it appears that he will lose everything to his creditor, the Redeemer appears on the scene. The Redeemer pays the debt in full and releases the debtor from his debt. He no longer has to worry about how to make the next payment or that the creditor will foreclose on him and take everything. The terms of the debt and the demands for payment no longer hound his thoughts every waking hours. He is free. He can enjoy life again. He has been redeemed.
Salvation is like being rescued after being lost. Have you ever been truly lost in the wilderness, unable to determine which way to go to return to your camp or to find help? Were you ever separated from your parents as a small child in a big department, unable to find Mom and Dad among the tall racks of merchandise and among all the strangers? I once went off-roading in the mountains east of Cache Valley, Utah. I ended up on the wrong trail. After climbing through some very rugged terrain, I ended up in a high mountain valley that was crisscrossed by several trails that were unmarked. There was no clear path out of the valley. I was afraid to try to go down the treacherous path I had come up. I was out of range of reception for my cell phone. And the gas tank was running low. What had started out as a fun adventure had become a frightening dilemma with potentially unpleasant prospects for an outcome. Then I saw coming towards me on my path a couple of men on ATVs. They were traveling in the opposite direction from which I had come. Hope sprang into my heart that they had come up from the north on a passable trail. I flagged them down and asked for directions. They told me that I was not too far from the end of the trail, and that a main road was just ahead. My panic instantly turned to relief as I learned that I was nearly out of the woods, literally. I stopped worrying about my gas tank and my cell phone. I knew I would be safe. That welcomed relief was the feeling of salvation.
Charity, the pure love of Christ, is like cement. It is the force the joins us securely to Christ. It is the adhesive, firmly set and stronger than all opposing forces, that keeps the Savior by our side, ever pulling us toward him. Christ will not break the bond of charity. Only we can break it, and only through determined stubbornness and unremitting rebellion over a lifetime and beyond. Christ's charity never fails, it never runs out (1 Cor. 13:8). It was his motivation for the Atonement, which is the ultimate, binding act of pure love.
Exaltation is like winning the Super Bowl. There are very distinct differences between the worldly pride and happiness that comes from winning a competition and the eternal and supernal joy that will come with exaltation in the highest degree of Heavenly Father's kingdom. I do not mean to trivialize the greatest of all the gifts of God. But there are some similarities. Competing at the highest level of a professional sport takes tremendous training and discipline. The athletes have to be obedient to their coaches. They have to study the playbooks. They have to play their roles on the field with precision. They have to work together as a team and cooperate. When they win, there is elation and a marvelous feeling of accomplishment, even while they acknowledge that no one player could have made it all alone. To reach exaltation, we must join a winning team. In fact, we need to be on several winning teams. Our family is the most important team. The true Church of Christ is the other critical team of which we must be members. Once on the right teams, we must give our all in keeping the commandments and disciplining the natural man within us. We must listening carefully to the priesthood leaders who preside over us and instruct in proper actions to repent and come unto Christ and accept the Atonement. We must regularly and diligently study the scriptures, which contain the blueprint for becoming a disciple of Christ. We need to do the very best we can to magnify our callings in the Church and in our families, and to honor the priesthood. We must work together as a family, supporting each other and teaching each other. We need to partner with the Lord, put on his yoke, and bind ourselves to him. When we have humbled ourselves, repented, made the necessary sacrifices of a broken heart and a contrite spirit, learn charity, and rely wholly on the Atonement, we will hear the Father say, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Enter into the rest of thy Lord." Our joy will be full in the presence of the Father and the Son. This will be the beginning of our exaltation.
Sin is like an infection. There are all sorts of infections, and we may acquire an infection in a number of different ways. Any injury that breaks the protective covering of our skin can introduction infection. We may get a scratch. It hurts a little, but we ignore it and do not take the time to properly clean and dress it. We get a deeper cut or a puncture. It hurts a lot more, and we may take steps to stop the bleeding, but we still may not wash and disinfect the wound. We may take infections into our bodies by eating contaminated foods or breathing contaminated air. We may get very sick as our body tries to kill or expel the infection. It is almost impossible in this world to avoid infections. If we recognize them and treat them quickly, they will have little effect on our health and well-being. But if left untreated, an infection can ravage our body. It may take a long time to heal and recover. A serious infection can cause us to lose limbs, destroy organs, and eventually bring about death. Sin, like an infection, is almost impossible to avoid in this mortal world. We brush up against the thorns of life. We step on rusty nails from our past. We breath in the corruption of the society that surrounds us. If we repent constantly and continuously, the infections of sin cannot take root. But if ignored, or merely bandaged over, and left un-repented of, sins can become iniquity, which is a systemic infection that runs through our soul and can threaten to destroy us. An important difference between physical infection and sin is that, while some infections can become so invasive and so resistant to treatment that they cannot be stopped, there is a treatment for sin that is strong enough to remove even the worst infection. The Atonement, activated by sincere repentance, can remove every sin from our lives, save two only - the shedding of innocent blood and denial of the Holy Ghost. Sin can produce some pretty deep infections in our souls. The Atonement is the ultimate spiritual antibiotic.
Keeping the commandments is like lifting weights. We begin with small, light weights when our muscles are weak. As we grow stronger, we can lift heavier weights. The more we lift, the more we are able to lift. As long as we continue lifting regularly, we maintain our strength. If, however, we skip an exercise session, we lose a small amount of strength. We may not feel it if we get immediately back into the routine. But if we skip two, three, four sessions, we can tell the difference. We lose strength and muscle tone more quickly than we can build it. Nevertheless, we can rebuild it. As children or new converts, we begin with simple commandments. As we learn to keep the first commandments and ordinances, we become more capable, and the Lord gives us more challenging commandments. Joseph Smith taught that the Lord gives us commandments to inspire us (D&C 20:7). We progress from level to level, even as we are taught in the temple. No one is perfect, and so we may falter from time to time. We lose a little strength each time we stumble in sin. If we repent, however, and put our faith in Christ and seek his forgiveness and return to righteousness, the effects are not permanent. We can regain our strength. If we keep on sinning, however, and do not repent, we lose more of our spiritual muscle, and the effects become noticeable. What had taken us a long time to build up through diligent obedience can be lost in a very short period of time. Nevertheless, there is a way back. We can always repent, and get ourselves right with the Lord, and get ourselves back into the routine of righteousness. It may take a long time and be painful, but we can start again, and we can rebuild spiritual strength.
Humility is like having the key to a great treasure chest of knowledge and blessings. One who humbles himself as a child is better than a king(Eccl. 4:13. The Lord dwells with one who is humble (Isa. 57:15). The Lord gives grace (spiritual help and gifts) to those who are humble (1 Pet. 5:5–6). When none is humble, the Lord promises to answer his prayers (D&C 112:10). To the humble the Lord promises wisdom (D&C 136:32) and enlightenment. And the Lord offers to those who are humble that they shall see his face and know him (D&C 67:10). These are great treasures indeed, which the Lord holds in reserve for those we are truly humble and teachable.
A broken heart and a contrite spirit are like a radio tuner that is dialed in perfectly to a radio station. Radio stations broadcast their signals on specific and exact frequencies. To hear the programming and music offered by the station, we must set our radio receiver to the station's broadcasting frequency. The closer we tune our radio to the specific frequency, the clearer the signal and the better we can hear the program. To have a broken heart and a contrite spirit means to be humble and repentant and meek. It is the opposite of being prideful and rebellious and stubborn. We say a horse is broken when he is trained to carry a rider and to obey his commands. Even so, our hearts are broken when they are trained to listen to the will of the Lord and obey him. When our hearts are broken, the Holy Spirit promises to be with us (D&C 55:3), the Spirit of the Lord will enlighten us (D&C 136:33), we are accepted of the Lord (D&C 52:15), and the Lord will dwell with us (Isa. 57:15). A broken heart and contrite spirit are precisely dialed into the program of God.
Baptism is like signing a contract. It is an act that binds us to God and God to us (Mosiah 18:8–10, 13). Through the ordinance of baptism, we promise God that we will take upon us the name of Christ, always remember him, keep his commandments, repent continuously, serve and minister to his children, and faithfully endure to the end of our lives. God, on the other hand, promises to wipe away our sins, bestow upon us the gift of the Holy Ghost, and grant us entrance into his kingdom. As long as we honor our terms of the contract, God will honor his terms. Through partaking of the sacrament each week we renew our commitment to the contract. Through a lifetime of testing us, God ascertains that we are fully committed to our contract. When he is fully satisfied that we, through the grace of Christ's Atonement, have kept the contract, he will reward us with the promised result, even eternal life and exaltation.
The gift of the Holy Ghost is like a river of pure water in a dry desert. A river brings life-giving moisture; the Holy Ghost brings knowledge that leads to eternal life. A river is constantly flowing; the gift of the Holy Ghost is a never-ending source of truth and light. The rushing waters of the river scour the channel of the river bed and removes dirt and debris; the Holy Ghost is a sanctifier who brings us a remission of sins. The river's current runs inexorably to the sea, which is the source of life; the Holy Ghost, when we listen to him, leads us ever onward to Christ, who is the source of life and salvation.
Christ's suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane is like olive oil. This analogy is drawn from the very name of Gethsemane: "olive press". Olive oil is a precious and life-giving commodity in many cultures. It is used for nourishment, for lubrication, in medicines, and in lamps to produce light. To produce oil, the olive must be battered and crushed until it is a paste, and then great pressure is applied for a period of time until the oil separates from the solid particles. For efficiency, olive presses are built to process a large number of olives, but in the end, each individual olive must be crushed and pressed to release its oil to contribute to the final product.Similarly, Christ had to be battered, crushed, and pressed under great pressure, even until his sanctifying blood extruded from every pore. As each individual olive has to be ground up, so each individual sin had to be paid for. And as olives have to be crushed and then pressed, so Christ had to be crushed in the garden and then pressed on the cross to extract the final ounce of purifying sacrifice. The oil of the Atonement nourishes us with hope, smooths the grinding trials of life, heals us, and lights up our life.
The sacrament is like essential nourishment to our souls. The literal bread and water are Living Bread and Living Water. Healthy bread and clean water are sufficient to sustain our bodies and promote life. The sacrament offers us all that is sufficient to sustain our spirits and promote eternal life through the Atonement of the Savior.
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