The grand objective of the Savior’s gospel was summarized succinctly

by President David O. McKay (1873–1970):

“The purpose of the gospel is …

to make bad men good and good men better, and to change human nature.”

Thus, the journey of mortality

is to progress from bad to good to better

and to experience the mighty change of heart—

to have our fallen natures changed.

And they all cried with one voice, saying:

Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us;

and also, we know of their surety and truth,

because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent,

which has wrought a mighty change in us,

or in our hearts,

that we have no more disposition to do evil,

but to do good continually.

Mosiah 5:2

For the natural man is an enemy to God,

and has been from the fall of Adam,

and will be, forever and ever,

unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit,

and putteth off the natural man and

becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord,

and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love,

willing to submit to all things

which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him,

even as a child doth submit to his father.

Mosiah 3:19

I draw your attention to two specific phrases.

First—“putteth off the natural man.”

The journey from bad to good is the process of

putting off the natural man or the natural woman in each of us.

In mortality we all are tempted by the flesh.

The very elements out of which our bodies were created

are by nature fallen and ever subject to the pull of

sin, corruption, and death.

But we can increase our capacity to overcome the desires

of the flesh and temptations

“through the atonement of Christ.”

When we make mistakes, as we transgress and sin,

we can repent and become clean

through the redeeming power of

the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

Second—“becometh a saint.” This phrase describes the continuation and second phase of life’s journey to make “good men better” or, in other words, to become more like a saint. This second part of the journey, this process of going from good to better, is a topic about which we do not study or teach frequently enough

nor understand adequately.

I suspect that many Church members are much more familiar with the nature of the redeeming and cleansing power of the Atonement than they are with the strengthening and enabling power. It is one thing to know that Jesus Christ came to earth to die for us—that is fundamental and foundational to the doctrine of Christ. But we also need to appreciate that the Lord desires, through His Atonement and by the power of the Holy Ghost, to live in us—

not only to direct us but also to empower us.

Most of us know that when we do wrong things, we need help to overcome the effects of sin in our lives. The Savior has paid the price and made it possible for us to become clean through His redeeming power. Most of us clearly understand that the Atonement is for sinners. I am not so sure, however, that we know and understand that the Atonement is also for saints—for good men and women who are obedient, worthy, and conscientious and who are striving to become better and serve more faithfully. We may mistakenly believe we must make the journey from good to better and become a saint all by ourselves, through sheer grit, willpower, and discipline, and with our obviously limited capacities.

The gospel of the Savior is not simply about avoiding bad in our lives; it also is essentially about doing and becoming good. And the Atonement provides help for us to overcome and avoid bad and to do and become good. Help from the Savior is available for the entire journey of mortality—

from bad to good to better and to change our very nature.

Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead,

being the first that should rise.

2 Nephi 2:8

The Savior has suffered not just for our iniquities but also for the inequality, the unfairness, the pain, the anguish, and the emotional distresses that so frequently beset us. There is no physical pain, no anguish of soul, no suffering of spirit, no infirmity or weakness that you or I ever experience during our mortal journey that the Savior did not experience first. You and I in a moment of weakness may cry out, “No one understands. No one knows.” No human being, perhaps, knows. But the Son of God perfectly knows and understands, for He felt and bore our burdens before we ever did. And because He paid the ultimate price and bore that burden, He has perfect empathy and can extend to us His arm of mercy in so many phases of our life. He can reach out, touch, succor—literally run to us—and strengthen us to be more than we could ever be and help us to do that which we could never do through relying upon only our own power.

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden,

and I will give you rest.

“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

“For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light”

(Matthew 11:28–30).

I declare my witness of and appreciation for the infinite and eternal sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. I know the Savior lives. I have experienced both His redeeming power and His enabling power, and I testify that these powers are real and available to each of us. Indeed, “in the strength of the Lord” we can do and overcome all things as we press forward on our journey of mortality.