The Atonement as a Blood Transfusion

In this essay, I will explain the atonement and resolve the issue of faith versus works.

Events leading to this article
For background, during the last few months, I have been pouring over every scripture I could find about the requirements for salvation as I researched for and wrote these three articles (Four Steps to Salvation, The Dark Side of Organized Religion, Aligning our Hearts with God)(and I basically had to entirely rewrite the last two of these articles). After all of this scripture reading, I was pretty sure that purely having a good feeling about Christ was definitely not the only criteria for salvation (as sometimes is taught). Nevertheless, there remained some scriptures which did vaguely imply that we are only saved via faith, leading to confusion on my part on how to resolve the many seemingly contradictory scriptures. And thus, I felt somewhat unsatisfied with my writings on this topic.

Fast-forward to this week: I listened to this video (Dream: At Wedding Rehearsal / Spiritual Warfare Experience / Glory), in which Melissa recounts how upon spending time pondering the blood of Christ, she had an experience where her soul left her body. This piqued my interest because I have had similar out of body experiences.

Thus, I performed the same experiment; the night before I read and noted all the main references to the blood of Christ in the scriptures. Then in the morning I mediated upon the blood of Christ for perhaps an hour. I didn’t have any out of body experiences, but during this time I did receive a word from God (heard in my head, not physically heard), and I felt sensations of energy travel through my body. As I wrote down the word, more came to me, so here is the complete version:

My children are in the pit because they have not accessed my blood. My blood is a gift – use it wisely and carefully. Do not waste it or misuse it. How can you call me a God if you do not accept my blessings? My blood will transform you, bring new vitality, cleanse you. change you. make you new. This is my gospel message – people have not had the bigger picture. No, my blood is not free – it requires your blood to be given up in exchange. But it also is a real force; it is not you who works for salvation – it is you who gives up yourself for salvation. Don’t you understand? I gave you these imperfect bodies so that you would need me. So that I could transform you. Because only that which is first broken can be fixed through my power. I am the fixer. Remember this. Spread my gospel truths and light across the world as a flood; let my blood drench everything everywhere. I am a God, and if my word created the world, then my sacrifice is more than enough for you. You think you have sinned – don’t you understand though? You are nothing. Your works are nothing. Your righteousness is nothing. But your sin is also nothing. I am life. Let go of yourself; of your vanities; of your pleasures; of your lusts; of your heartfelt desires; of your wishes and your will. That void left behind will be filled with my life. Let me transfigure you; let me clothe your mortal frames with blood and gold. You are my children. I love you. This sacrifice was for you. I know you have messed up, but to me you are as lost sheep who just need to find their way back home. Stop looking at the map and come to me. Children, children, this is your father speaking. I am the map; not your phones; not the internet, not technology, not the success of the world, not the beast system, and certainly not your heart. My blood > than your blood or your heart. Let my blood do its work by letting your blood go. You must die in me to live. I am the Lord. Out.

I also discuss this experience in The Atonement and More Betrayal Against America.

So, this word is what has inspired the following discourse on the atonement; I’m very pleased about this – I feel I now finally understand the atonement in an elegant way that justifies all the scriptures that previously had seemed contradictory.

Overview of the Atonement

As you know, the mainstream understanding of the atonement, called the penal substitution theory, is that Jesus suffered the just punishment for our sins so that we could forgo said punishment and therefore be able to enter God’s kingdom (Isaiah 53:5-6, , 2 Corinthians 5:21, Matthew 26:28, Alma 7:11–13, Alma 42:14-15). To go into greater detail, according to the scriptures, no unclean thing can enter the kingdom of God (Revelation 21:27, Psalm 24:3–4, Isaiah 35:8, Alma 11:37, 3 Nephi 27:19). However, all end up sinning (Ecclesiastes 7:20, Isaiah 64:6, Romans 3:10, Romans 3:23, 1 John 1:8). Therefore, the only way we can cleanse ourselves of sin is through the Atonement of Christ (1 John 1:7, Isaiah 1:18), where he suffered for our sins so that we can be free of them (Isaiah 53:5-12, 1 Peter 2:24). Beyond this, the atonement also involves Christ overcoming death so we can be resurrected (1 Corinthians 15:20–22, 2 Timothy 1:10, Mosiah 16:8, Alma 42:23), and the atoning power can help improve our character (Ether 12:27, Mosiah 3:19, Moroni 10:32).

I don’t disagree with the penal substitution theory, rather I feel it is slightly incomplete and thus I hope here to provide a fuller understanding which also explains the faith vs works matter.

In my view, the atonement is more than just a sin eraser, but rather a transformative life force (John 15:4–5). The atonement offers to us 1) the physical transfiguration of our bodies during the resurrection; 2) a spiritual transfiguration of our souls. Thus, the overcoming of death and the suffering for our sins, to the renewal of our minds, are just two sides of the same coin – with the spiritual transfiguration coming before the physical transfiguration (as things are created spiritually before physically – Moses 3:5). Only as completely transfigured and born again creatures will we be able to inherit the kingdom of God (Mosiah 27:24–26).
John 3:3-5
3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

I represent the power behind this transfiguration as a blood transfusion from Christ to us – so we lose our blood to gain Christ’s blood.

Thus, on Christ’s part, he had to suffer for the consequences of our sins and then literally grant us his life force to allow this spiritual transfiguration and physical transfiguration.

But on our part, we have to let go of our own life force (our blood so to speak) in order to be able to accept Christ’s blood life force. In other words, we are vessels, and to make room for the holy spirit to enter us and change us, we must first empty ourselves of everything else (2 Timothy 2:20–21); this is because the spirit of God only dwells in holy vessels (Isaiah 57:15, Mosiah 2:37, Alma 34:36).

This letting go of our past self is mostly an internal change and therefore we are not saved by our outward works. But letting go of our past self does require conscious effort to change – and just proclaiming that you “love Jesus” while retaining all of your old ways will not be enough (which I will discuss later) – when we let go of our past self and embrace the new self-offered by Christ, that should result in a change in our actions – bringing fruit (Ephesians 2:10, Matthew 7:17-20, Titus 2:14, John 15:5, Galatians 5:22–23) – and without said fruit it is unlikely we truly gained this spiritual transfiguration (Matthew 7:17-21, Mark 4:20, Luke 6:45-46).

The Sacrament Symbolism

The nature of the sacrament covenant illustrates my point:

John 6:53–56
53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.

Need I explain? Christ offers himself for us to eat, and when we eat him, it changes us so that he can dwell in us.

And just to accentuate my point – just as we must cleanse and empty ourselves to accept the atonement, we likewise must do the same to be worthy of the sacrament. Otherwise the sacrament is pointless and detrimental  (1 Corinthians 11:27-29).

Symbolism in Jewish Sacrifices

We also see symbolism for the atonement in Jewish sacrificial practices. Specifically, they teach how blood represents life force, and it is given to us to atone and consecrate us. Thus, said blood is Christ’s life force which he offers to us.

Leviticus 17:11
11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.

Exodus 24:8
8 And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words.

Further scriptures on blood applied to specific objects and people:

• Leviticus 8:15 — At Aaron’s consecration, Moses “put the blood upon the horns of the altar round about with his finger, and purified the altar.”
• Leviticus 16:14–15 — On the Day of Atonement, the high priest “shall sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward… and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times.”
• Leviticus 9:9 — Aaron’s sons presented the blood to him, “and he dipped his finger in the blood, and put it upon the horns of the altar, and poured out the blood at the bottom of the altar.”
• Leviticus 8:23–24 — Blood from the ram of consecration was put on Aaron and his sons’ right ear, thumb, and toe.

Further Symbolism throughout the Scriptures

• Baptism – being submerged in water represents the spiritual death of our old selves, and being born again represents the birth of our new selves in Christ – just as we have to kill ourselves and lose our own life blood to gain the blood of Christ; likewise baptism represents the death and resurrection of Christ which is of course part of the atonement making this all possible (Romans 6:3–7).
• The many scriptures about our old selves dying so that we can be “born again” in Christ are similarly discussing this spiritual transfiguration through the atonement (Ephesians 4:22–24, Colossians 3:8-11, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 2:20, 2 Corinthians 4:10–12, Romans 6:3-8).
• When God gives us a new name, this is representative of such spiritual transfiguration (Isaiah 62:2, Isaiah 65:15, Revelation 2:17, Revelation 3:12).

Deny and Crucify Yourself

The scriptures teach that we must deny ourselves to the point of killing ourselves in order for Christ to enter us and save us.

Galatians 2:20
20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Matthew 16:24–25
24 ¶ Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

Mosiah 3:19
19 For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.

The Atonement Saves us, not our Works

We must not confuse the source of our salvation however. Though our denying ourselves is a requirement for the atonement, it isn’t actually our righteous acts which save us, but rather the atoning power of God that saves us. Moreover, we don’t “earn” access to the atonement through outer good works – rather said access requires an internal change to our heart. Here some noteworthy scriptures on the source of our salvation:

Isaiah 64:6
But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
Ephesians 2:8–9
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

And here are more scriptures about how we are saved by grace, not our works (Ephesians 2:8–9, 2 Timothy 1:9, Romans 11:6, Titus 3:5, Galatians 2:16)

Just believing in Christ is not enough

Though Christ is the source of our salvation, that doesn’t mean no action is required on our part. According to the scriptures, if we do not follow the commandments, then we cannot A) love Christ (John 14:15), B) know Christ (1 John 2:3-4), C) follow Christ (2 Nephi 31:10), D) or be friends with Christ (John 15:14). Similarly, if we truly are saved through faith, said faith should motivate us to act and transform our character, personality, and lifestyle (2 Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 4:22-24, Matthew 7:17-21, John 3:3-5).

Consequently, paying lip service to Christ but not letting that motivate action is definitely not what Christ wants (Matthew 21:28-32, Isaiah 29:13, Matthew 15:7-9, Luke 6:45-46, James 1:22, 1 John 3:18, Ezekiel 33:31). Instead it is the adversary who teaches that God will be ok with us committing a little sin (2 Nephi 28:8-11). But the scriptures teach the opposite – once we fully know the truth, the bar of the expectations on us goes higher, and it becomes much harder for us to obtain forgiveness from serious sin (Hebrews 10:26–27, Hebrews 6:4–6, 2 Peter 2:20–22, Luke 12:47–48).

Therefore, those who only listen to Jesus, but don’t actually do what he commands, are deceiving themselves and will not be saved (James 1:22), but instead will be like the foolish man whose house falls in the storm (Matthew 7:21-27). That is why the scriptures tell us repeatedly that we must follow the commandments (D&C 14:7, 2 Nephi 31:10, Revelation 22:14, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Galatians 5:19-21) and overcome sin (Revelation 2:7, Revelation 2:11, Revelation 2:17, Revelation 3:5, Revelation 3:12, Revelation 3:21, Revelation 21:7, 1 John 5:4-5) in order to be saved.

Romans 2:13 – “For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.”

2 Nephi 2:7 – “Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered.”

According to the scriptures, works follow those who have faith (Ephesians 2:10, Matthew 7:17-20, Titus 2:14, John 15:5, Galatians 5:22–23), thus if we do not have good works then we do not have a good heart (Matthew 7:17-21, Mark 4:20, Luke 6:45-46). In fact the scriptures sometimes even say that we must “bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance” (Matthew 3:8, Luke 3:8, Acts 26:20, Alma 13:10, Moroni 6:1); similarly, it is pointless to have faith without righteous actions because faith without works is dead (James 2:15-20, James 2:26). After all, the whole point in our faith in God is to help bring us to work righteousness (James 1:27). Ultimately, to truly become a disciple of Christ, we must be willing to sacrifice everything for him (Matthew 10:37–39; Luke 14:26–27, 33; Matthew 16:24–25).

Matthew 7:21-27 explains all this well:
21 ¶ Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
24 ¶ Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:

Varying Degrees of Glory

At this point arises the question of how righteous must we actually be to be saved. The answer to that question is: it is complex because there are varying degrees of glory that we can receive in God’s kingdom depending on our degree of righteousness (I discuss this more in Cosmology). Thus, I’m sure people who confess they believe in Christ, but still completely break many commandments, will fare better than those who don’t confess in Christ at all. But our goal should be to attain the highest degree of glory, thus we want to far exceed just confessing Christ and truly attempt to live a life in which others can see the countenance of Christ on us (Alma 5:14, Philippians 3:13–14).  That is why Jesus teaches “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48)

The Atonement’s power to change us

Naturally, the reader may feel apprehensive about the call to be perfect. But that is where the atoning power comes in – it allows us to renew our mind so that we no longer desire to do evil, but to do good and serve God (Ezekiel 36:26, Deuteronomy 30:6, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Hebrews 8:10, John 8:36, Romans 12:1–2, Ether 12:27, Mosiah 3:19, Mosiah 5:2, Mosiah 27:24–26, Alma 5:14, Alma 19:33, Moroni 10:32). Thus, my view is that utilizing the atonement is a process: as we start to live righteously, that grants us access to the atonement, which helps us to become even more righteous, which then grants even greater access to the atonement and so on towards perfection.

As we go through this process, we are born again, because our old self dies and our new self is born (Ephesians 4:22–24, Colossians 3:8-11, 2 Corinthians 5:17). Thus, another perspective of this process is a continual killing of our old self (Galatians 2:20, 2 Corinthians 4:10–12, Romans 6:3-8).

Which Spirit Do You Obey

Just because God helps in our journey to improve our character doesn’t take away the responsibility on our part to be righteous. Rather, choosing to obey the spirit of goodness is a conscious decision each of us must make (Joshua 24:15, Revelation 3:20, 2 Nephi 2:27).

It is important for us to consciously choose to live righteously because, according to the scriptures, the spirit we obey in this life is the spirit we will obey in the life to come, and will thus determine our place in the afterlife (Romans 6:16, Alma 3:26–27). If we do not obey that good spirit, then we are obeying the evil spirit – it is one or the other (Matthew 6:24, Matthew 12:30, James 4:4, Revelation 3:15–16). And just to emphasize, we cannot change our spirit’s nature after death, so it is essential that we choose to obey this good spirit while we are still alive (Alma 34:34, Luke 13:24–27).

I have tried to explain how to obey this good spirit in The Commandments and Aligning our Hearts with God, but since this is an individual journey, I encourage my reader to simply pray and ask God what he needs to change in his life.

Baptism

This conversation would be incomplete without noting baptism. When we are baptized, we promise to be Christlike, follow the commandments, and be a witness for Christ (Mosiah 18:8–10, D&C 20:37); in return, we receive the spirit of Christ, forgiveness and eternal life (Galatians 3:27, Acts 2:38, 2 Nephi 31:17, Mosiah 18:13, Mosiah 26:22-23, Moroni 7:33–34, 3 Nephi 27:19–21). Thus, this is just a reiteration of the ideas in this whole essay – we must start acting Christlike in order to gain access to Christ’s power. Baptism just formalizes this exchange we make with Christ.

According to the scriptures, baptism actually is essential for salvation (2 Nephi 9:23-24, Moroni 7:33–34, 2 Nephi 31, 3 Nephi 27:19–21). Thus, since many have never had the opportunity to be baptized, or were baptized without proper authority, our ancestors can be baptized by proxy through baptism of the dead, which Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians 15:29. Baptism for the dead operates like normal baptism except it is performed in temples and require us to use our ancestor’s name rather than our own (described further in D&C 128:1–18 and D&C 124:29–33).

According to the scriptures,  Baptisms should be done through immersion (3 Nephi 11:23–26, Mosiah 18:14–16, D&C 20:72–74), and it is not necessary to baptize children under the age of eight (D&C 68:25–27, Moroni 8:4–24) [these scriptures provide greater detail on how to perform baptism- D&C 20:72–74, 3 Nephi 11:23–26].

Baptism also must be performed by someone who has proper authority – that means someone who received the Aaronic priesthood through the laying on of hands of someone who themselves also has authority (3 Nephi 11:21–22, Mosiah 21:33, Mosiah 18:17–18, D&C 20:72–74). The New Testament clearly outlines that this authority was necessary and passed down through anointing and laying on of hands (transfer of God’s authority during early Church: Matthew 10:1, John 15:16, Luke 9:1–2, Mark 3:14–15, Acts 6:5–6, Acts 13:2–3, 1 Timothy 4:14, 2 Timothy 1:6, Hebrews 5:4–6; laying on of Hands to transfer authority in early Church: Acts 6:5–6, Acts 8:14–17, Acts 13:2–3, Acts 19:5–6, 1 Timothy 4:14, 2 Timothy 1:6). However, in fulfillment of biblical prophecy, this authority was eventually lost (2 Thessalonians 2:3, Amos 8:11–12, 2 Timothy 4:3–4, Acts 20:29–30, Isaiah 24:5, 1 Nephi 13:24–29, 2 Nephi 26:20–22, 2 Nephi 28:3–6, D&C 1:15–16, D&C 112:23–26, Joseph Smith—History 1:19). God’s authority was restored in 1829 when John the Baptist conferred the Aaronic Priesthood to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery (D&C 13:1). The transferring authority in the modern church is the same as in the old – via ordination and laying on of hands (D&C 42:11, D&C 20:38–39, D&C 20:60, D&C 84:6–42).

To go into depth on the nature of the priesthood, the Aaronic priesthood is used to provide ordinances such as baptism, the gift of the holy ghost, and sacrament. There is also a higher priesthood known as the Melchizedek priesthood, which grants the power to perform blessings and receive via revelation the mysteries of God. I discuss blessings in Spiritual Warfare. Peter, James, and John conferred the Melchizedek Priesthood to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in 1829 (D&C 27:12–13); to understand better the difference between these two priesthoods see these references (D&C 107:1–20, D&C 84:18–27, Hebrews 7:11–12).

And to go on a tangent, we similarly receive greater access to God’s spirt through the conferral of the holy ghost – in which someone who possesses priesthood power lays his hands upon you and gifts you the holy ghost (D&C 20:41, D&C 33:15, Moroni 2). This process of granting the holy ghost through the laying on of hands is outlined in the new testament (Acts 8:14–17, Acts 19:5–6).

But to return to the main point, it should be painfully obvious to the reader that baptism alone doesn’t save us. Rather, baptism is just the way we form the covenant with God where we promise to be Christlike, and our fulfilling this covenant is actually what saves us. That is why the scriptures tell us that after we are baptized, we must endure to the end (2 Nephi 9:23-24, 2 Nephi 31, 3 Nephi 27:16–21) – enduring to the end means continuing to follow the faith until death. Our goal is to die in a state where our soul is aligned with God, and this comes through choosing the right which leads to gaining the spirit of Christ.

More Scriptures

Ezekiel 36:25–29
25 ¶ Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
28 And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.
29 I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you.

Mosiah 27:24–26
24 For, said he, I have repented of my sins, and have been redeemed of the Lord; behold I am born of the Spirit.
25 And the Lord said unto me: Marvel not that all mankind, yea, men and women, all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, must be born again; yea, born of God, changed from their carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters;
26 And thus they become new creatures; and unless they do this, they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God.

The very last verses of the book of Mormon (Moroni 10:32–33) also state it clearly:
32 Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.
33 And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot.