“To All Those Who Shall Believe on His Name”

Brant Gardner

Rhetorical: Amulek now furthers his argument by defining that infinite sacrifice. He has a conceptual problem that he must address, and that is the difference between the infinite sacrifice and the requirement to follow Christ to participate in that infinite sacrifice. It would be very easy to assume that an infinite atonement would also be infinitely applied. Amulek now introduces the concept that while the atonement is infinite, it is still attached to, and accessible through, the person of the Atoning Messiah.

In the world with which Mesoamericans were familiar, the king would make an autosacrifice of blood that was considered efficacious only for the people of that king. While Amulek has as much as said that the common king-sacrifice was insufficient, nevertheless he does retain the concept of the community’s relationship to their king. The king performs sacrifice for his own people, and none other. The coming Atoning Messiah will also be a “king” in that he provides an effective infinite sacrifice. While the sacrifice itself is different in that it is effective, the rights to that sacrifice are similar. Christ will perform that sacrifice for his own people. This is what Amulek means by “all those who shall believe on his name.” That process of naming is a process of adoption. By becoming Christ’s people one may access the infinite and effective atonement that was accomplished for those who are Christ’s (identified by the adoption into his people).

Multidimensional Commentary on the Book of Mormon

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