April: Through Jesus Christ, We Can be Cleansed of Sin

April is the time when we all celebrate Easter, a time to remember Jesus Christ's atonement for us. The atonement of Jesus Christ includes his suffering in Gethsemane, his death on the cross, and his triumphant resurrection. Because of the atonement of Jesus Christ, we can be saved from physical and spiritual death, and we can be cleansed from sin.

During our life on earth, we will all make mistakes. This is inevitable. However, these mistakes need to be recompensed somehow, as the scriptures teach us that "no unclean thing can enter the kingdom of God" (see 1 Nephi 10:21 ) If the Saviour did not perform the atonement for us, we would still have had to make up for our mistakes, and we would never have been able to return to our Heavenly Father's presence. The Saviour had agreed from the beginning to take upon himself our sins, so that we will have the opportunity to repent of our sins and become clean again.

However, just because the Saviour took upon himself our sins, that does not mean that we no longer have any responsibilities. The Saviour has bought us with a price, and we must show our gratitude to him by believing in him and keeping his commandments, repenting when we have done something wrong, following in his footsteps by being baptized and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and staying true and faithful to the end of our lives.

In the next few months we will be learning more about Christ's gospel, and how Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the Holy Ghost and Enduring to the End are so important for us in this life.

For more information on how Christ's atonement cleanses us from sin, please click here.