The Enabling Power of the Atonement
Yesterday in Relief Society we had a wonderful lesson that really touched me and has been on my mind since. As part of the lesson we were given this quote by Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles ( BYU Address October 2001 ): “I suspect that [we] are much more familiar with the nature of the redeeming power of the Atonement than we are with the enabling power of the Atonement.” 1 He suggested that most of us understand that Christ came to earth to die for us, to pay the price for our sins, to make us clean, to redeem us from our fallen state, and to enable every person to be resurrected from the dead. But, Elder Bednar said, “I frankly do not think many of us ‘get it’ concerning [the] enabling and strengthening aspect of the Atonement, and I wonder if we mistakenly believe we must make the journey from good to better and become a saint all by ourselves through sheer grit, willpower, and discipline, and with our obviously limited capacities. ” Th