Our Advocate

by Autumn Dickson

I feel like there are many ways to illustrate the atonement of Jesus Christ in order to add layers to our understanding. I don’t think one verse, one way of explaining it, one parable can do it justice. It’s so universal and so individual at the same time. Applying it and having it change us can be so nuanced. Studying layer upon layer can give us a more full picture of the Savior’s powerful sacrifice.

This section holds one of my favorite verses, and it teaches us another layer about His atonement. I’ve actually shared this verse before in a different Easter message in a different year, but I taught it from a completely different angle so I’m going to use it again.

A sacred learning experience

I just want to note that this is the gospel according to Autumn. I don’t know that my description is how things are going to go, but I do believe there are principles here that are most definitely true. My description is merely meant to teach those principles, not to try and preach exactly what Judgment Day looks like.

I want you to picture that it’s your turn to go in and be judged by your Heavenly Father and Savior. You’re nervous. You don’t really feel like reliving some of the worst decisions of your life, but there’s no turning back now. You did what you did, and now you get to watch it.

As you enter the room, you’re blown away by the warmth there. You take your seat waiting for the video montage to start so that They can start weighing your good deeds against your sins, your opportunities against your disadvantages.

You watch your video-montage-life, and then the Savior stands to be your advocate. You are blown away when the Savior doesn’t actually say much about what your life looked like. Instead, He says this…

Doctrine and Covenants 45:4-5

4 …Father, behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased; behold the blood of thy Son which was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified;

5 Wherefore, Father, spare these my brethren that believe on my name, that they may come unto me and have everlasting life.

The Savior was speaking to His church in this verse. He literally tells His Saints, “Listen to me, your Advocate before the Father. This is what I’m going to tell your Heavenly Father. I’m going to ask Him to look at My perfection and My sacrifice so that you can be saved.” I believe that we are all going to be judged on who we’ve become, truly I do. I also think we are going to experience something very powerful on Judgment Day.

The Lord loves to teach us and because progression will still exist on the other side, I believe that Judgment Day is going to double as a learning opportunity. I believe that we’re going to feel humbled as we listen to the Savior asking the Father to spare us because of what the Savior did for us, not because we worked really hard to keep the commandments and change. In that day, we are going to learn that we truly are saved by grace.

I imagine us walking out in tears, completely surprised that Judgment Day wasn’t painful. It will be beautiful and sacred and humbling to realize that our choices and personal change do matter, but that they would be rendered useless had our older Brother chosen against sacrificing Himself on our behalf. I imagine being filled with a reverent, deep-seated awe that renders us speechless.

Souls not saved

That is not the only thing the Savior teaches in this section though. Right before He describes His role as the advocate, He also teaches this particular principle:

Doctrine and Covenants 45:2 And again I say, hearken unto my voice, lest death shall overtake you; in an hour when ye think not the summer shall be past, and the harvest ended, and your souls not saved.

The Savior pleads with us to listen to His voice in case Judgment Day comes at an unexpected time, and we find our souls not saved. This begs the question, “What does it mean to be saved?”

In my personal interpretation of the gospel, we are experiencing varying levels of salvation and damnation at any given time in our lives. We are inviting heaven or hell. We are feeling close to the Savior, full of love for others, free from the constraints of men, and safety in vulnerability before the Lord. Or, we are feeling far away from our loving Brother, clinging to a selfish focus and desperate need to make ourselves happy, carrying the weight of the fickleness of mankind, and fearing that the floor is going to fall out from beneath us.

Being saved is gradually inviting more and more heaven into your life by taking advantage of tools given to us by the Savior. For example, being saved is not about taking the sacrament and dying before you have an opportunity to sin again. Being saved is about taking the sacrament and allowing yourself a moment of peace to remember the Savior and His great love in sacrificing Himself for you. Continually reflecting on that love and building a relationship and confidence in Him invites salvation because loving Him is salvation. It also pushes you to look outward and love others, another aspect of salvation.

That’s why we’re taught that you can’t just repent right before you die. We’re taught that you’ll be the same person on the other side that you are on this side. Salvation doesn’t just come when you say sorry. Salvation is something you grow into.

The Savior also reminded His people about the parable of the ten virgins in Section 45. You can’t borrow oil, and oil doesn’t magically appear when you need it. The “oil” is something you have to gather ahead of time so that you’re ready to be a part of the Celestial Kingdom when the Savior utilizes His atonement to bring you there for good.

In short…

In short, we gradually become more like our Savior, experiencing life as He does, experiencing “salvation” as He does. The atonement of Jesus Christ is there, all throughout our life. It is a power that helps us change and grow. The love behind the sacrifice inspires us to want to do better. It gives us the hope we need to keep trying. And then, when it’s our time to be judged, the Savior’s atonement facilitates us walking into the Celestial Kingdom where we can enjoy that salvation forever. The Savior’s atonement means that our change and effort matter.

If the Savior had been unsuccessful in His sacrifice, I wonder if there would have still been some merit in following the laws of Christ. I think it’s worth reflecting on because it can help us understand what we would have faced without His triumph, and I believe that can bring a lot of gratitude. Would forgiveness still help a person to rise above pain? Would turning outwards towards others still bring happiness? Would gratitude, humility, and seeking knowledge still bring some level of worth? The Savior enjoys salvation because He follows these laws perfectly so even if the Savior had failed, I wonder if following them (to whatever extent we’re capable of) would still bring some portion of happiness.

I don’t know how things would have turned out if the Savior had failed. I don’t know how much happiness would have still been available to us or if we would have all eventually given up and dissolved into dissolution and despair. We wouldn’t get our bodies back which, according to the scriptures, is described as a sort of prison. I don’t remember how it feels to be a spirit, but I believe that there was a legitimate reason we were excited to get a body and a legitimate reason that the Savior went through what He did in order to guarantee a resurrection.

We wouldn’t get to return to Them. Anyone who has missed anyone can understand this to a degree. Someday, that veil won’t be over our eyes anymore. We will remember where we came from and Who sent us, and the ache of never returning to Them will stick with us.

People may never heal from the mistakes we’ve made. We may never heal from the wrongs committed against us.

We would be relegated to a place that’s probably a lot like earth. It’s filled with some good, but it’s also filled with people who turn against each other. There are always people who want to hurt each other and hate each other. When things on earth feel heavy, I cling to the idea that the Savior is going to make up for it all. How would I change without that hope?

I don’t know exactly how the world would look without the triumph of the Savior over sin and death. I do know what the Spirit feels like, and I know that the feelings of the Spirit are meant to give us a tiny glimpse into what it feels like on the other side. I know that forgiveness has freed me. I know that one day, misunderstandings will clear, minds and hearts will heal, and we will be placed in an existence that is full of everything we could possibly ask for. I know that because of the Savior, we will have the opportunity to enjoy that existence in its fullness; I am grateful that the Savior chose to perform the atonement so that we could return to Him.

Autumn Dickson was born and raised in a small town in Texas. She served a mission in the Indianapolis Indiana mission. She studied elementary education but has found a particular passion in teaching the gospel. Her desire for her content is to inspire people to feel confident, peaceful, and joyful about their relationship with Jesus Christ and to allow that relationship to touch every aspect of their lives. Autumn was the recipient of FAIR’s 2024 John Taylor Defender of the Faith Award.

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