First, That the resurrection from the dead is universal, as the scriptures witness:
And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.[[103]]
For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself. * * * Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in which all that are in their graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.[[104]]
Or, as the last two clauses were given to the Prophet Joseph Smith by inspiration:
They who have done good in the resurrection of the just, and they who have done evil in the resurrection of the unjust.[[105]]
After giving a full account of the resurrection of the righteous and their reign upon the earth for a thousand years, the writer of the Apocalypse [A-poc-a-lypse] says:
And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. * * * And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to his works.[[106]]
Second, The scriptures plainly declare that the redemption of men from the consequences of Adam's transgression shall be universal:
Therefore as by the offense of one [Adam] judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men to the justification of life.[[107]]
Since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the first fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.[[108]]
Behold, he created Adam, and by Adam came the fall of man. And because of the fall of man, came Jesus Christ even the Father and the Son; and because of Jesus Christ came the redemption of man. And because of the redemption of man, which came by Jesus Christ, they are brought back into the presence of the Lord; yea, this is wherein all men are redeemed, because the death of Christ bringeth to pass the resurrection, which bringeth to pass a redemption from an endless sleep, from which sleep all men shall be awakened by the power of God when the trump shall sound; and they shall come forth, both small and great, and all shall stand before his bar, being redeemed and loosed from this eternal band of death, which death is a temporal death.[[109]]
5. Through the atonement made by Messiah, therefore, a full and complete redemption from the consequences of Adam's transgression is brought about; that is, a victory over the grave is secured, and that, too, through the merits of Jesus Christ. And while the law transgressed by Adam has been vindicated, the posterity of Adam who became subject to death through his disobedience, are redeemed from the grave without anything being required of them. For as their agency was not concerned in bringing about the mischief, nothing is required of them in order to obtain redemption from it. So far salvation is free and universal. (See notes 1, 2 and 3, end of section.)
6. The Atonement a Fact Proven by Evidence.—It is often asked: "How is it that through the sacrifice of one who is innocent salvation may be purchased for those under the dominion of death?" We observe, in passing, that what should most concern man is, not so much how it is that such is the case; but is it a fact? Is it true that God has established such a scheme of redemption? is what should concern him. To that question the blood sprinkled upon a thousand Jewish altars, and the smoke that darkened the heavens for ages from burnt offerings, answer yes. For those sacrifices, and that sprinkled blood were but typical of the great sacrifice to be made by the Messiah.