That the second part is true is evident from such scripture as: "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned;"[B] and, "Being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him."[C] But while you are under the necessity of sustaining the proposition, so far as the Jewish Scriptures are concerned, by inference, by conclusions drawn from the consideration of numerous passages, in the Book of Mormon we have passages which at once sustain the doctrine: "And also his blood atoneth for the sins of those who have fallen by the transgression of Adam, who have died not knowing the will of God concerning them, or who have ignorantly sinned. But woe, woe unto him who knoweth that he rebelleth against God; _for salvation cometh to none such, except it be through repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ_."[D]
[Footnote B: Mark xvi. 16.]
[Footnote C: Heb. v: 16.]
[Footnote D: Mosiah iii: 11, 12.]
Alma, in answering a question asked him by the lawyer Zeezrom, said of Jesus:—"And he shall come into the world to redeem his people; and he shall take upon him the transgressions of those who believe on his name; and these are they that shall have eternal life, and salvation cometh to none else; therefore the wicked remain as though there had been no redemption made, except it be the loosing of the bonds of death; for behold the day cometh that all shall rise from the dead and stand before God and be judged according to their works."[E]
[Footnote E: Alma xi: 40,41.]
Still more plain in relation to the effect that Messiah's Atonement has upon the personal sins of men, is the word of the Lord through the Prophet Joseph Smith to Martin Harris, warning him to repent lest his sufferings be sore—how sore, how exquisite, how hard to bear he knew not: "For behold, I God, have suffered these things for all that they might not suffer if they would repent, but if they would not repent, they must suffer even as I, which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit; and would that I might not drink the bitter cup and shrink— nevertheless, glory be to the Father, I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men."[F]
[Footnote F: Doc. and Cov. Sec. xix, 16-18. See also Mosiah iii, 20, 21.]
These passages to my mind prove the dual character of Messiah's Atonement—the redemption from the consequences of Adam's transgression, from death; and redemption from personal sins on condition of implicit obedience to the laws of Christ—to the gospel, which we have already seen is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes and obeys it.
It will doubtless be observed by the attentive reader that upon this showing those who die before they are capable of knowing good or evil, before they arrive at the years of accountability and who, therefore, are pure and innocent, are saved by the merits of Jesus Christ alone. Being redeemed from the death brought upon them by the fall of Adam, by the Atonement made by Christ, and having committed no personal sins —dying in the days of their innocence—they have nothing to repent of. Having broken no law. Justice has no claim upon them; they fall into the arms of Mercy alone, and there they are secure. Well might Jesus exclaim—"Suffer little children to come unto me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven!" But those who interpret that scripture to mean that little children have to be baptized or perform or have performed for them any other ordinance, in order that they might come unto Christ, or to save them in the kingdom of God, are woefully ignorant of the gospel, and fail to grasp the grandeur, the consistency the perfection there is in it.