Do You Know Why I as a Christian Believe in Christ?
Excerpts
One evening after work, years ago, I boarded my usual bus home to New Jersey from New York City. The woman I happened to sit next to noticed what I was writing on my computer and asked, “You believe in … Christ?” …
… Children and youth: would you please ask your parents or a leader later on, “Why did Jesus have to die?” …
Well, I informed my new friend that we have a spirit in addition to a body and that God is the Father of our spirits. … Because He loves her and all His children, He made a plan for us to receive a body in the image of His glorified body, be part of a family, and return to His loving presence to enjoy eternal life with our families like He does with His. But, I said, we would face two main obstacles in this necessarily fallen world: (1) physical death—the separation of our bodies from our spirits. … And (2) spiritual death—our separation from God because our sins, mistakes, and flaws as mortals distance us from His holy presence. …
I testified to my friend, and I witness to you, that Jesus Christ is [the] Savior, that He had to suffer, die, and rise again—His infinite Atonement—to redeem all humanity from physical death and to give eternal life with God and our families to all who would follow Him. …
The steps God revealed we must take to follow Jesus and receive eternal life are called the doctrine of Christ. They include “faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism [into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints], receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end” [Preach My Gospel (2019), 63].