The Deliverer

Jesus Christ sets us free.

Early in His earthly ministry, He quoted a passage from Isaiah describing His mission. One aspect of that mission was “to preach deliverance to the captives” (Luke 4:18, Isaiah 61:1).

One thing which holds us captive is our sins. Paraphrasing another passage from Isaiah, the apostle Paul rejoices that Jesus helps us overcome our wrong decisions:

There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:

For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

Romans 11:26-27, see Isaiah 59:20

In his vision of the redemption of the dead, Joseph F. Smith saw a large group of people gathered in the spirit world at the time of the Savior’s death. When He arrived, they “bowed the knee and acknowledged the Son of God as their Redeemer and Deliverer from death and the chains of hell” (Doctrine and Covenants 138:23).

The prophet Jacob rejoiced in “the way of deliverance of God.” The grave, he said, must deliver up its captive bodies, and hell must deliver up its captive spirits (2 Nephi 9:11-13).

Today, as we commemorate the birth of the Savior, I will be grateful that He empowers us to overcome every obstacle, including our own sins. I will remember that He is our Deliverer.