President’s Message

February 2026

The Atonement of Jesus Christ

By President Bruce C. Kusch

In the October 2024 general conference, President Russell M. Nelson said:

I urge you to devote time each week—for the rest of your life—to increase your under­standing of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. My heart aches for those who are mired in sin and don’t know how to get out. I weep for those who struggle spiritually or who carry heavy burdens alone because they do not under­stand what Jesus Christ did for them.¹

Why would President Nelson urge us to devote time each week to increasing our understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ? The word atonement signifies the reconciliation of man to God. Sin causes us to be estranged or distanced from our Heavenly Father. In a spiritual sense, to be reconciled with God is to mend a broken relationship with Him, so the purpose of the Atonement of Jesus Christ is to correct or overcome the conse­quences of sin, which will ultimately erase the distance and qualify us to live eternally with our Heavenly Father.

The plan of salvation teaches us that we are the spiritual offspring of Heavenly Father and that we lived with Him before coming to earth. This plan includes receiving a physical body, learning of and obeying God’s com­mandments, receiving ordinances, and mak­ing covenants that prepare us to achieve our eternal potential. Before we came to earth, we knew that mortality would be accompanied by accountability for our decisions and actions and that the precious gift of moral agency would be ours with the opportunity to exercise faith in Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. In fact, we fought for this privilege.

We knew there would be trials and chal­lenges, temptations and difficulties. We knew that unresolved sin would make us unworthy to dwell in Heavenly Father’s presence because “no unclean thing can dwell with God.”² We knew that we would be subject to the conse­quences of sin and disobedience to God’s laws and commandments, and we knew that one day we would stand before the judgment seat of God³ to be judged and give an accounting of our lives.

So do you see our dilemma? How could we possibly overcome the sins we have commit­ted? How could we become clean and qualify to live again in His presence?

We rejoiced, knowing that His plan for us included a Savior who would bring to pass an “infinite and eternal” atonement⁴ that would rescue us from the bondage of sin and allow us to become clean and qualified to return to the presence of our Heavenly Father.

We all make mistakes. We “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”⁵ Jesus Christ is the way back. He is the bridge between being lost and being found. His Atonement can erase the distance between us and our Heavenly Father. But it is not automatic, and it doesn’t happen without effort on our part. This effort is the personal, diligent, and joyful application of the doctrine of repentance.

Without Jesus Christ, there would be no Atonement. Without the Atonement, there would be no repentance. And without repen­tance, there would be no need for mercy. We would be subject to the consequences of breaking God’s commandments, with no hope of rescue. Can you see why President Nelson would want us to dedicate time each week to increase our understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and why the Lord instructed the Prophet Joseph Smith to “say nothing but repentance unto this generation”?⁶

What really is repentance? And how can we know that God has forgiven us?

President Nelson said:

When Jesus asks you and me to “repent,” He is inviting us to change our mind, our knowl­edge, our spirit—even the way we breathe. He is asking us to change the way we love, think, serve, spend our time, . . . and even care for our bodies.

. . . [Repentance] is the key to happiness and peace of mind. When coupled with faith, repentance opens our access to the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.⁷

Now I know that often our reluctance to begin a sincere effort to repent may be because we are afraid. President Nelson’s description of repentance doesn’t sound like something we should be afraid of. It sounds glorious! We know that the Savior finds great joy in the soul that repents.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the great Rescuer. His infinite and eternal Atonement rescues us from sin and separation from our Heavenly Father. He does for us that which is impossible to do for ourselves.

When sincere efforts to repent begin, there is work to do. It may take some time. But as we turn to God and come unto Christ—as we exercise faith in His Atonement, as we change, as we study, as we pray, as we worship—the time will come when there will be no stain, nor spot, nor evidence of the past. All of those things will be replaced with peace, happiness, gratitude, and indescribable joy. And we will be better—more spiritually sound—than we have ever been.

The power of the Atonement is real because Jesus is real. Our Heavenly Father is real. And the gospel of Jesus Christ is real. It is true. Every single part of it.

I so testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Notes

1. Russell M. Nelson, “The Lord Jesus Christ Will Come Again,” Liahona, November 2024.
2. 1 Nephi 10:21.
3. See 1 Nephi 10:21.
4. Alma 34:10, 14.
5. Romans 3:23.
6. Doctrine and Covenants 6:9.
7. Russell M. Nelson, “We Can Do Better and Be Better,” Ensign, May 2019; see 2 Nephi 9:23; Mosiah 4:6; 3 Nephi 9:22; 27:19.

This message was adapted from “The Atonement of Jesus Christ,” a devotional address given by President Kusch on September 9, 2025.