A concept that arose in some reading I have been doing about baptism applies just as well here to the doctrine of atonement. In Jewish ritual, they performed ritual purifications by immersing in a font called a mikvah. The Israelite priest cleansed himself each time before officiating every Sabbath, and at the seasonal festivals. For us, baptism happens only once. We are buried in the water once, and we belong to Jesus Christ. At baptism, we make covenants once and for all, and now belong to his family. Accordingly, Amulek taught that while their priests were making many sacrifices, repeated washings, and covenant renewals, when Christ comes, there will be one infinite sacrifice to cover everything.
In what ways is the Atonement infinite? The Atonement is of a divine nature. It was made by an infinite being who redeems his people. God is an infinite being, infinite in the sense of being eternal and being immortal. The Atonement is made by a being who is more than human.
It also in infinite in the sense that it has universal application. First of all, the Fall is overcome, and as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive, and that is universal.
The Atonement also cures death, which was caused by the Fall of Adam. In addition to death, sin, imperfection, corruption, and work also came into the world when Adam and Eve fell. The state of existence in the Garden of Eden was at a higher degree of glory than the one that we enjoy now. Whatever changes came about by the fall of the first Adam will be fully corrected. The extent of the Atonement is complete and infinite in that regard as well.
It is also infinite in magnitude, coverage, and potential. The word potent means powerful. So, it is really also infinite in terms of potency and power. It is infinite in coverage. It applies not only to every person that has lived or ever will live on this earth, but countless earths like this. Through Christ, all can become begotten sons and daughters unto God. That is why it can be the great and last, because it is sufficient and necessary to atone for all breaches of trust and relationship between deity and us.
It is infinite in its applicability to all. Everyone will be resurrected.
Regarding sin, the Atonement is also potentially infinite in scope, but its application depends upon repentance. It is like having an infinite amount of money in your bank account, but you still have to go and present your I.D. to draw the money out. You have to do something to make it applicable to you. However, that account is never going to run out. There will never be a lack of funds.
It transcends all boundaries of time and space. The Relief Society motto says, “We are beloved spirit daughters of God and our lives have meaning, purpose and direction.”
It is infinite in mercy, and also love.
It was infinite in terms of suffering. Jesus took upon him all of the sins and burdens and bled from every pore
It was infinite in terms of willingness. There was nothing that the Atonement was not willing to cover. It was voluntary in every respect. Jesus said, “Not my will, but thine, Father be done.”
And in obedience, with no reservations of any kind.
The Atonement is really in a different realm of existence than this secular world. It is in a spiritual realm. It can take us out of this world; it can cure the problems that we have in this world; it can overcome the sins that we have created. There is something beyond this physical, finite, temporal world— that is why we call it temporal, because it is temporary. It is of a non-infinite nature. The concept of a boundary or a set with limitations necessarily implies that the set is incomplete and that something exists beyond it.
The Atonement is infinite in time. It answered all the demands of justice with no claims to be made about when that act was performed.
The Atonement, then, is also perfect in its function. In Alma 7:11–12, it says that he will take upon him death, “that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people and he will take upon him their infirmities.” He will suffer pains, afflictions, temptations of every kind that he may take upon himself all of these to meet all of the demands. In Alma 7:9 we read, “It is expedient that an atonement should be made for according to the great plan of the eternal God there must be an atonement made.” Amulek likewise says in Alma 34 that this is according to the eternal plan. It is eternal in the sense that it was laid down before the creation of this world, which means it is coming to us from an eternal sphere; it is infinite in origin, being a part of God’s eternal plan.
We love to use allegories to try to describe what is happening in the atonement process. For example, we tell about a bully in school who steps forward to take the beating for some child who has been mistreated. And again, there is another story about a person who has fallen into the ice on a frozen lake and a rope is thrown out and they grab on to the rope and hold on to it so they can be pulled out. There are stories like The Touch of the Master’s Hand, in which we have an old, battered violin and nobody thinks it is worth anything, but the influence of the master’s hand made the violin much more than the people thought it was worth. What is our worth? It is not much unless the master touches us.
All these metaphors are good, but they are all incomplete. They each describe one different aspect of the whole atonement process, but I do not think any analogy can accurately encapsulate the entirety of the Atonement. We might even say that the Atonement is infinitely infinite. It is infinite in every way possible. Nothing else is like it completely.
Book of Mormon Central, “Why Must There be an Infinite and Eternal Sacrifice? (Alma 34:12),” KnoWhy 142 (July 13, 2016).
Tad Callister, The Infinite Atonement, (Provo, UT, Deseret Book Co. 2000).