Boyd K. Packer

You should learn while you are young that while the Atonement of Christ applies to humanity in general, the influence of it is individual, very personal, and very useful. Even to you beginners, an understanding of the Atonement is of immediate and very practical value in everyday life. ("Washed Clean," Ensign, May 1997, p. 9)

D&C 138

19 And there he preached to them the everlasting gospel, the doctrine of the resurrection and the redemption of mankind from the fall, and from individual sins on conditions of repentance.

Joseph Fielding Smith

We must accept the infinite atonement of Christ, believing that he is the Redeemer of the world, both from Adam's transgression and from our individual sins on condition of our repentance. (Doctrines of Salvation, 2:3)

James E. Talmage

Through the atonement accomplished by Jesus Christ--a redeeming service, vicariously rendered in behalf of mankind, all of whom have become estranged from God by the effects of sin both inherited and individually incurred--the way is opened for a reconciliation whereby man may come again into communion with God, and be made fit to dwell anew and forever in the presence of his Eternal Father. This basal thought is admirably implied in our English word, "atonement," which, as its syllables attest, is at-one-ment, "denoting reconciliation, or the bringing into agreement of those who have been estranged." The effect of the atonement may be conveniently considered as twofold:

1. The universal redemption of the human race from death invoked by the fall of our first parents; and,

2. Salvation, whereby means of relief from the results of individual sin are provided. (Jesus the Christ, p.23)

Orson Pratt

The earth was formed to be inhabited--it was designed to be the abode of animated existence--the dwelling-place of beings capable of enjoying life and hap piness. ... At the time of its creation, it was pronounced by its Author to be "very good." ...

Such was the inheritance given to man, with its vast treasures and sumptuous luxuries--such was the gift of heaven under certain restrictions. These restrictions were not complied with--man fell--a great change came over the fair face of creation--the earth was cursed-- sickness, pain, and misery ensued--immortality yielded to mortality--death reigned triumphantly throughout the animal kingdom--the everlasting inheritance on the newly-formed earth was forfeited--all seemed to be lost--forever lost! ... The earth, though cursed, was to be redeemed ... Though this great redemption was to be universal, yet the change was to be gradual or progressive, not immediate; the effects of the fall were to continue for a season, until all the inhabitants of the spirit world, designed for this creation, should learn by bitter experience, the unhappy consequences of sin. Hence, the whole world still groans under the sad effects of the original transgression. ....

The universal redemption of the posterity of Adam from the fall will be fully accomplished after the earth has been filled with its measure of inhabitants, and all men have been redeemed from the grave to immortality, and the earth itself has been changed and made entirely new.

But a universal redemption from the effects of original sin, has nothing to do with redemption from our personal sins; for the original sin of Adam, and the personal sins of his children, are two different things. The first was committed by man in his immortal state; the second was committed by man in a mortal state; the former was committed in a state of ignorance of good or evil; the latter was committed by man, having a knowledge of both good and evil. As the sins are different, and committed entirely under different circumstances, so the penalties are different also. The penalty of the first transgression was an eternal separation of body and spirit, and eternal banishment from the presence of Jehovah; while the penalty of our own transgressions does not involve a disunion of body and spirit, but only eternal banishment. The first penalty not only shut man out from the presence of God, but deprived him eternally of a body; the second penalty permits him to retain his body, though in a banished condition. As the penalties are different, so also is the redemption. Redemption from the first penalty is unconditional on the part of man; redemption from the second penalty is conditional. Unconditional redemption is universal; it takes within its scope all mankind; it is as unlimited as the fall; it redeems men from all its effects; it restores to them their bodies; it restores them to the presence of God.

The children of Adam had no agency in the transgression of their first parents, and therefore they are not required to exercise any agency in their redemption from its penalty. They are redeemed from it without faith, repentance, baptism, or and other act, either of the mind or body.

Conditional redemption is also universal in its nature; it is offered to all, but not received by all; it is a universal gift, though not universally accepted; its benefits can be obtained only through faith, repentance, baptism, the laying on of the hands, and obedience to all other requirements of the Gospel.

Unconditional redemption is a gift forced upon mankind, which they cannot reject, though they were disposed. Not so with conditional redemption; it can be received or rejected according to the will of the creature.

Redemption from the original sin is without faith or works; redemption from our own sins is given through faith and works. Both are the gifts of free grace; but while one is a gift forced upon us unconditionally, the other is a gift merely offered to us conditionally. The reception of the one is compulsory; the reception of the other is voluntary. ...

Had there been no other sin but that of Adam's, the redeemed earth would have become the eternal abode of all the posterity of Adam, without one exception. But both man and the earth have been still further corrupted by other sins. The posterity of Adam have transgressed the code of laws given since the fall, and subjected themselves to its penalty. This penalty does not interfere with the first penalty. Man will be redeemed from the first before the second will be fully inflicted. When his redemption from the first death is completed, then comes the judgment, when his own sins will be inquired into, and not Adam's. As he stands before the judgment-seat, he will find himself entirely innocent of Adam's transgression, and entirely redeemed from the effects of it, but he still finds himself guilty of his own individual sins, the penalty of which is a second death, not a dissolution of body and spirit like that of the first death, but a banishment from the presence of God, and from the glory of his power.

Redemption from the second death, as we have already observed, is conditional. Man having voluntarily committed sin, must voluntarily comply with the conditions of redemption: otherwise, he must suffer the penalty. ... There is no escape for the sinner from the second death, only through the conditions of the Gospel. All who will believe in Christ, and repent of their sins, and be baptized by immersion for the remission of them and receive the Holy Ghost through the ordinance of the laying on of hands, and continue faithful unto the end, shall escape the penalty of the second death. All who reject these conditions must suffer it, for the word of God cannot become void, and justice be thwarted from his stern decrees. (Journal of Discourses, 1:328-331)