The following are excerpts from:
Joseph Fielding Smith, Seek Ye Earnestly (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1970)
Some of the Negative Consequences of the Fall
Adam came here to bring mortality upon the earth, and that resulted in the shutting out from the presence of the Eternal Father of both Adam and Eve and their posterity . . . Adam’s transgression did, however, place him and all things upon the earth under the curse of death, the separation of the spirit and the body. Without the means of escape from this condition all mankind would have been lost forever and the purposes of the Lord would have been destroyed. (pp. 3, 435)
The Necessity of Water Baptism and Confirmation
Baptism into the Church is not enough to save us. It is for the remission of sins, that is true, but there is another baptism which is just as essential, and that is the baptism of the spirit, or the bestowal of the gift of the Holy Ghost. After we are baptized, we are confirmed. What is the confirmation for? To make up companions with the Holy Ghost; to have the privilege of the guidance of the third member of the Godhead—companionship, that our minds might be enlightened, that we might be quickened by the Holy Spirit to seek for knowledge and understanding concerning all that pertains to our exaltation in the kingdom of God. (pp. 53-54)
It was a necessity for Christ to be Tested and Temped, and such Plays a Role in our Salvation
Christ Was Tested to the Finish
I sit down at various times and open my scriptures and begin to read in the New Testament the accounts written by Matthew, by Mark, and Luke about those dreadful days when the Savior was taken and when he went through terrible anguish of soul, and his Father withdrew from him and left him entirely alone. He had to be tested to the finish. What for? What you and I might receive salvation in the kingdom of God and be crowned with crowns and become kings and queens, priests and priestesses in the kingdom of God.
If we love the Lord as we say we do, as we think maybe we do, then we ought to be willing to abide by every word that he has given us by way of commandment. We ought to be grateful for that which he did.
What he did for us no one else could have done. It required a sacrifice by the shedding of blood of a Son of God. And in the shedding of his blood, he gave back what was given to Adam in the Garden of Eden when he became mortal. He gave back his blood. Blood is the mortal element of the human body. That is, it is the life-giving fluid. It is a wonderful thing, but it is mortal. There will be of blood in the body in the resurrection. We leave our blood here. We do not take it with us; and since Adam received it through the fall, the Savior gave it back through his crucifixion. He paid the debt. (pp. 100-1)
Christ’s Atoning Death was a Necessity; it was not a contingency
Atonement of Christ
Now, may I spend a few minutes presenting before us what we all know to be the truth, that Jesus Christ came into this world to die. That was his mission. By that death upon the cross and through the shedding of his blood, to bring redemption, twofold, first, to redeem man from Adam’s transgression, to restore them again to life, so destroy death, gain the victory, which apparently Satan had won through the transgression of Adam. In some manner which I cannot fully explain and which you cannot fully explain, there was a necessity or an infinite atonement, and God dying for a fallen world. That had to be by the shedding of blood, and his blood only could be shed to restore again that life which had been taken away, and bring back again to men the power to live forever. And through his death there come to us universally, to every living creature, a resurrection of the dead. (pp. 126-27)
The Driving Force behind the Atonement was Love, not a Legal Obligation
Vicarious Work Is Foundation of Salvation
Vicarious work is the foundation of salvation. There is no salvation without vicarious work. If Christ had not felt in his heart a love for us, if there had not been that love of the Father to sacrifice his Son for us, and if the Son had not been willing, there would have been no salvation for us. We would be subject to Satan forever, as Lehi says in the Book of Mormon. The Father, through his love for us, called upon the Savior who was willing, of course, to come into this world to act vicariously for me and for you. He came and offered himself as a sacrifice to save me and save you from a condition where we could not help ourselves. (pp. 228-29)
