The Atoning One by Robert L. Millet

The Atoning One Reviews

• 
  Anna

  A deeply reverent and thoughtful book. I will need to read it more than once to fully understand all the points made here.
• 
  Lenna • Sugar Dusted Pages

  A great companion (along with The Christ Who Heals) to The Infinite Atonement.
• 
  Timothy

  I love Brother Millet and his wonderful way of teaching important principles. There is none more important than the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It is worthy of our deep contemplation and understanding.
  This book is wonderful. Take the time to ponder sacred things. I read the ebook and loved it so much that I asked my kids for it for Father's Day so I can highlight some key thoughts. There is new stuff in here at least to me.
• 
  Megan

  This book was perfect for Sunday reading. Read by the author, Millet uses a lot of scriptures, quotes, and personal experiences to build a spectrum of insight around Christ's atonement and it's necessity. I also really appreciate Millet's familiarity with other Christian faiths and his recounting of conversations he's had with other pastors along the lines of Adam and Eve or Grace and Works.
  My favorite chapters--the ones I went back to over again and then referred to the written text to read a 3rd time were about the Fall of Adam and Eve and the state of the garden of Eden. There were some quotes from early prophets I hadn't heard before on this topic, and I really liked getting some further insight into questions I've been posing for a long time, like "How can God give two disparate commandments when it is not possible to keep both?" Or "other than the Book of Mormon prophets teaching us that Adam and Even couldn't have had children in the garden of Eden, how do we know that's true? And why?"
  Millet talks a lot about grace--about a lot of experiences he's had with increasing his understanding of grace and his knowledge of grace as well as his gratitude/testimony of grace. But I would have loved for him to have shared more of that with us, rather than just telling us that it had affected him and he is different because of it.
  Lots of insights sprinkled throughout the book. I enjoyed listening to it and contemplating new points that he brought up.
  Well written, interesting and insightful. Definitely recommend.
  
• 
  Monica

  I love anything Brother Millet writes, but this was my favorite of those I've read. It was so powerful in such an approachable, personal way. I listened to this book, which is read by him, and it was wonderful to hear it in his voice. He is a family friend through both my in-laws and my father, who served under Brother Millet at BYU. This truly fortified my personal testimony of Jesus Christ as my Savior and Redeemer. It gave me much to think about and reflect on, and it gave me a greater desire to strengthen my relationship with Jesus Christ through study, prayer, and personal obedience to His teachings. Will listen to this over and over.
• 
  Teresa

  Another great book by Robert Millet. I read this to prepare myself for Easter. Such a moving recounting of all we owe to the Savior.
• 
  Suzan

  Inspirational book with profound and thoughtful insights about the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
• 
  Heather

  This was another one of those books that I kept saying to myself as I listened to it, "I LOVE THIS BOOK!" This is so, so good. Millet is the narrator for this and for that I am so glad. He starts where you really should start a book on Christ, in the beginning....moving on to Adam and Eve, the fall.
  
  I loved his chapter on Grace. I loved all his chapters really. I have this on my Amazon wish list for my library. I NEED this book on my shelf.
• 
  Melody Warnick

  Reading this on a Sunday morning was about as peaceful as I've felt in a long time.
• 
  Heather

  This is a sweet and helpful book about Jesus Christ and His Atonement. Here are some of my favorite quotes:
  
  "Jesus Christ died for our sins, was buried, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven. These matters are what the Prophet Joseph Smith referred to as the 'fundamental principles of our religion.' 'Truth, glorious truth, proclaims there is a Mediator' (Boyd K. Packer, p. xi)."
  
  "Instructors were asked to teach out of the scriptures... read, ponder, and immerse themselves in the doctrinal messages of the Book of Mormon. One does not travel very far into that scriptural text before he or she encounters what might be called 'redemptive theology' (p. 4)."
  
  "Today we are more focused on the Savior, on his Atonement, and on the divine grace that flows from him and his Father (p. 4)."
  
  "Peace and contentment in this life, linked with everlasting fulfillment in the life to come, are to be found in and through his atoning sacrifice and in no other way (p. 5)."
  
  "No one can ever really appreciate the value of medication until he or she understands the seriousness of the malady (p. 6)."
  
  "After Adam partook of the forbidden fruit, blood became 'the life-giving fluid in Adam's body, and was inherited by his posterity. Blood was not only the life of the mortal body, but also contained in it the seeds of death which bring the mortal body to its end. Previously the life force in Adam's body was the spirit' (p. 9)."
  
  "To argue or debate or quarrel over what the Lord has chosen to leave unclear for now is foolish and certainly unproductive (p. 15)."
  
  "'The need which the Christian faith answers is not so much that we are ignorant and need better information, but that we are lost and need someone to come and find us, stuck in the quicksand waiting to be rescued, dying and in need of new life' (p. 17)."
  
  "Before we can, in the words of Apostle Paul, 'put on Christ,' we must first, in the words of the angle to King Benjamin, put off the natural man (p. 17)."
  
  "The Fall was a vital part of the great plan of the Eternal God (p. 18)."
  
  "To say that we are not responsible for or condemned by the Fall of Adam is not to say that we are unaffected by it (p. 18)."
  
  "'Temporal death passes upon all men when they depart this mortal life. Spiritual death passes upon all men when they become accountable for their sins' (Bruce R. McConkie, p. 19)."
  
  "The Lord's redemption takes us well above and beyond where we were before we sinned (p. 20)."
  
  "'The grace of God does not merely restore us to our previous innocent state... His aim is much higher: He wants His sons and daughters to become like Him' (Dieter F. Uchtdorf, p. 20)."
  
  "Seeking to be independent, natural men and women ironically end up conforming to the telestial trends of the day (p. 23)."
  
  "As a sanctifier, the Holy Ghost 'expands, and purifies all the natural passions and affections. It inspires virtue, kindness, goodness, tenderness, gentleness and charity' (p. 24)."
  
  "It isn't that these wonderful people never sinned again but that they didn't want to.... What they did over time... was yield themselves to God's sanctifying influence and find themselves less attracted to worldliness and impurity and more drawn to and enticed by goodness, by righteousness (p. 25)."
  
  "'Satan does not hold any power over man, only so far as the body overcomes the spirit that is in a man, through yielding to the spirt of evil' (Brigham Young, p. 27)."
  
  "Little children are saved without any preconditions (p. 29)."
  
  "Our natures cannot be changed by merely attending meetings and being involved in the work of the Church (p. 29)."
  
  "The answer is to be found--the solution is to be discovered only--in the man Jesus, called the Christ or Anointed One, the Atoning One (p. 31)."
  
  "Christ's life 'neither began in Bethlehem nr concluded on Calvary. He was the Firstborn of the Father, the Only Begotten Son in the flesh, the Redeemer of the world' (p. 32)."
  
  "'Create' means to organize (p. 35)."
  
  "The Savior is Christ of the cosmos, God of the galaxies. Surely this is part of what it means to refer to the Savior's work as infinite and eternal (p. 38)."
  
  "Christ is Father through spiritual rebirth (p. 40)."
  
  "'He is the God of Israel, the Holy One of Israel; the one who led that nation out of Egyptian bondage, and who gave and fulfilled the law of Moses.'... 'The Father has never dealt with man directly and personally since the fall, and he has never appeared except to introduce and bear record of the Son' (Joseph Fielding Smith, p. 43)."
  
  "Who can comprehend the saving and redeeming work of a God (p. 60)?"
  
  "Jesus Christ our Lord came to earth not only to change us, but also to exchange with us; it is as if he says to each one of us, 'Come unto me. I will take your sin, and I will give to you my righteousness' (p. 67)."
  
  "In the sacrifice of Jesus of Nazareth, 'the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men' was purely and plainly manifest (p. 69)."
  
  "He who stood in for us, our Substitute, our Satisfaction, our Ransomer, our Redeemer calls to us to follow him, to emulate him, and to testify of him, particularly to those who have not yet come to know him. IT is to the Savior's disciples that the good news has been given, and it is from them that these glad tidings must go into all the world. That is our Great Commission (p. 69)."
  
  "'My Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross... that I might draw all men unto me' (p. 73)."
  
  "We come to know those we serve (p. 74)."
  
  "Surely part of coming to know our Lord and Savior is coming to know who he is and what he has done (p. 82)."
  
  "Be close to him... spend time with him... enjoy communion with him (p. 83)."
  
  "When we speak of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, the greatest act of mercy and love in all eternity, we must of necessity speak of that intercession, that reconciliation as being both infinite and intimate (p. 83)."
  
  "'Christ's Atonement is the centerpiece of human history' (Neal A. Maxwell, p. 90)."
  
  "Christ's infinity does not preclude either his immediacy or his intimacy (p. 90)."
  
  "Eternal life is always a gift (p. 104)."
  
  "Understanding the grace of God and learning to trust in and rely upon that grace have changed the lives of thousands upon thousands of Latter-day Saints (p. 111)."
  
  "'Our obedience to God's commandments comes as a natural outgrowth of our endless love and gratitude for the goodness of God' (p. 112)."
  
  "Our Savior is far more interested in the direction we are headed, in the genuine effort we are making, than he is with our immediate geography or our current accomplishments. Our sacrifice is more sacred to him than is our increase (p. 115)."
  
  "I believe Nephi is trying to teach us... that we are saved by the grace of Jesus Christ--meaning, his unmerited divine favor, his unearned divine assistance--above and beyond all we can do, notwithstanding all we can do, perhaps even in spite of all we can do (p. 127)."
  
  "Jesus is not only central to the plan of salvation; he is vital and indispensable. We cannot save ourselves. We cannot earn our exaltation. We cannot exercise the sufficient grit and willpower to do the words of righteousness and battle against Satan on our own (p. 128)."
  
  "'Grace is not God's backup plan. Jesus is not plan B. God's boundless grace comes first and sin is what follows. Grace is not God's response to sin. Sin is our embarrassed, improvised, rebellious rejection of God's original grace' (Adam Miller, p. 129)."
  
  "God and human beings are working together for the salvation of their souls (p. 132)."
  
  "God is the perfect embodiment of every divine quality. Hence he is love... light... the God of all grace (p. 136)."
  
  "For our prayers to be the most focused, we are to do so by the power of the Holy Ghost (p. 141)."
  
  "Christ is our Mediator with the Father, our Intercessor in the courts of glory, but we pray directly to God our Father (p. 142)."
  
  "Jesus Christ is worthy of our veneration, our adoration, our worship, and... our time. His name is a holy name. It is by the power of his name and by his word that worlds came rolling into existence, that individuals are healed, that the blind see and the deaf hear, that the dead are raised (p. 153)."
  
  "He is called the Almighty, the Almighty God, Alpha and Omega, Creator, Eternal Father, Eternal God, Eternal Head, Eternal Judge, Everlasting God, Father of heaven and of earth, God, God of Abraham, God of nature, Holy Messiah, Holy One of Israel, Immanuel, Keeper of the gate, Lamb of God, Lord God Almighty, Lord God Omnipotent, Lord God of hosts, Mighty One of Israel, Most High God, Redeemer of Israel, Supreme Being, True and Living God, True Messiah (p. 154)."
  
  "'It is doctrinally incomplete to speak of the Lord's atoning sacrifice by shortcut phrases, such as 'the Atonement' or 'the enabling power of the Atonement' or 'applying the Atonement' or 'being strengthened by the Atonement.' These expressions present a real risk of misdirecting faith by treating the event as if it had living existence and capabilities independent of our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ' (Russell M. Nelson, p. 156)."
  
  "Truly the work of redemption, the labor of salvation, is an endeavor undertaken by all three members of the Godhead (p. 158)."
  
  "Our good works are necessary but insufficient for our salvation (p. 159)."
  
  "We do not need to understand all of the particulars of the Master's mediation in order to feel profoundly grateful for the Savior's infinite love and compassion (p. 161)."
  
  "Thank heavens that Jesus did come to earth... offer himself a ransom for our sins... rise from the dead and make the Resurrection available to all the children of God (p. 166)."
  
  "I am staggered and overwhelmed 'by the love Jesus offers me' (p. 169)."
• 
  Jeff Birk

  Brother Millet again delivers. I took down some good notes and potential talk ideas in my Evernote account. This is the second book of his I've read in the past few weeks (the first being "Whatever Happened to Faith?"). He shares some very interesting ideas and concepts to follow in regard to the atonement of Jesus Christ, many of which we get casual about or have never thought about seriously. I particularly liked this one: He likes to think that when the moment came in Gethsemane where Christ could’ve backed away he said, “No, I’m going to do this. Bob Millet will need me.” In my case it would be “Jeff Birk will need me. Brittany and Sydney will need me.” He shares a strong testimony at the end knowing that the Savior remits sins because he has remitted his own sins. I liked how he encouraged more reverence in taking Christ's name in any setting, especially when giving and closing prayers and talks.
• 
  Tiffany Dominguez

  This has been one of the most impactful books on the Atonement I’ve ever read. Among the concepts discussed that were perspective changers:
  
  1. Christ was both fully human and fully divine. Not 50% human and 50% divine. The author also asked us to imagine that he suffered one second for every person to help us better conceptualize the idea that He knows intimately how we feel.
  
  2. At the judgement bar, the potential answer to how we will measure our life is our utter dependence on Christ and His Atonement and Grace.
  
  Highly recommended. Millet is both highly personable and has done years on research on pondering on this subject.
• 
  Brent Dunn

  The first few chapters of this book cover well-tread ground. If you have read The Infinite Atonement, for example, there won't be anything new in these chapters. It's a necessary foundation though, for the rest of the book.
  
  I think the book really takes off when it comes to the chapter about grace. Millet gives a nice overview of how the understanding of grace has evolved in the church, compares our views to other protestant faiths, and discusses the balance between grace and works. This book is a good addition for anyone wishing to understand the atonement of Jesus Christ further.
• 
  Barbara

  A strong testimony from one who has studied and taught about the Savior for decades. Robert Millet has a gift for saying the essential and leaving out the superfluous. A book that is definitely worth at least one reading, probably more. Millet's testimony of the Savior is touching. The part that rang truest to me was his answer to his friend who asked what Bob Millet would say if he were before the throne of God, requesting entrance to heaven. I'll leave the answer for the reader to discover.
• 
  Julie Carpenter

  It's been a few weeks since I listened to this audiobook so I'm a little slow in getting a review written. A lot of great thoughts, scriptures and doctrinal information about Christ and His Atonement. As Easter was approaching this year, I wanted to listen to several books about Christ and have my thoughts focusing more on Him and His life and sacrifices. I enjoyed this one a lot.
  
  The author shared several personal stories from his life and experiences he has had over the years, either his or his students (he is a professor of ancient scripture) relating to Christ and His Atonement. I enjoyed the different perspectives this brought and the thoughts it provoked. From some of his beginning thoughts about the Atonement through many years of study, learning, teaching and applying the Atonement in his own life.
  
  This is another book that I would enjoy to have a physical copy of to highlight, make notes in and take more time to ponder over some thoughts, which an audiobook doesn't always allow for. Although I love the convenience of having the book playing while I am doing work around the house, driving my family around or just sitting quietly listening.
  
  Content: Religious aspects about the Atonement of Jesus Christ
  
  I listened to an audiobook on my Deseret Bookshelf account.
  
  Happy Reading!!!
• 
  Elizabeth Thomas

  This book had answers to questions I've asked in my life (and found the same answers to, most of the time). That's the first time a single book has addressed more than one of my personal questions, so I was surprised. I know that doesn't mean it will necessarily answer yours, but perhaps give it a shot. The thing I enjoyed most was that gospel books don't grow testimonies, but this one somehow gave me space to ponder the atonement of Jesus Christ and grow on my own.
• 
  Jamille Parks

  The Atonement of Jesus Christ is fundamentally important to understand in today's Christianity and Brother Millet does an excellent job of going into the reasons for it by starting with the Fall of Adam to the saving grace of the Savior. Wonderful book to put you in the mood for Easter or to better understand and become acquainted with our Master.
• 
  Cami

  There are a lot of great concepts collected into this book. I loved the clear treatment of the Fall of Adam and Eve and it's proper place in understanding the need for Christ's Atonement. I learned about the words Jehovah, Adonai, and Yahweh in a way I had not before. And I enjoyed the author's personal story of coming to understand grace.
• 
  Daniel Nelson

  This insightful, thought provoking book on the Atonement of Christ should be placed among other classics such as the Infinite Atonement by Callister. What this book offers is perspective from new angles. Best of all, there were things I learned because of how Millet presented the topic - with fresh perspective.
• 
  Breanna

  This book really delves deeper into the meaning of the Atonement and what Jesus Christ has done for us. He also talks about grace and how that intertwines with the Atonement. I loved the chapter where he went into greater detail of Gethsemane. This is definitely a powerful book that is worth reading.
• 
  Jill

  I can’t say enough about this book. I love Robert Millet’s insight, testimony and knowledge of Jesus Christ. His testimony has strengthen mine. His insight and wisdom of Christ has increased mine. The more I study of Christ, the more I love him.
• 
  Liesl

  This is an excellent book. I really enjoyed it. He covers the beliefs of Protestant friends along with the LDS church beliefs on Grace and also the dangers of “cheap Grace”; along with many other important things in understanding what our Savior did for us. Good book.
• 
  Janet

  Did not answer the question for which I was seeking an answer. But it did compile many of the piecemeal teachings about the grace and mercy of Christ and our role in coming to him as the only source of our salvation.
• 
  Linda

  Robert Millet teaches with insight and understanding about the Savior and his atoning sacrifice. I gained many insights by listening to his teaching. His discussion of Moroni’s scripture on charity was my favorite part of the book. The pure love of Christ is his love for us.
• 
  Adam

  4.5 stars. Fabulous reflections on the Savior and what He means for each of us in our fallen state. I didn’t quite follow the logic behind each chapter’s subject so it didn’t quite feel like a unified message, other than the authors reflections on each topic he chose. Still amazing stuff, though.
• 
  Wynette Hawks

  This books was awesome! What I really enjoyed was the new thoughts and insights I gained from reading this book. Some misconceptions were delicately handled. I would definitely recommend this book!
• 
  Chad Harrison

  Great review of doctrine regarding the atonement. It dragged a bit in places, but the wonderful insights inthe rest of the book made up for it. I particularly enjoy the discussion of grace, and the greater emphasis placed on it in recent years in the church.