Recently read this in 2 Nephi 2 which got me thinking...
"And because of the intercession for all, all men come unto God; wherefore, they stand to be judged of him...unto the inflicting of the punishment which affixed, which punishment is in opposition to that of the happiness which is affixed, to answer the ends of the atonement."
My interpretation:
"intercession for all" = the atonement of Jesus.
Now re-worded:
...because of the atonement, all men come unto God...to be judged of him...to answer the ends of the atonement.
Does this mean that without the atonement, there would be no judgement at all? Going down this trail of thinking, the answer is a definite yes, because if there is no saving grace for those who have made mistakes (which is all of us) that means there's no need for judgement for without the intercession of the atonement, we're all going to hell. (to put it bluntly) Therefore, no judgement necessary.
Later in the same chapter:
"...And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever...to act for themselves and not to be acted upon..."
Our freedom was bought with a price. Because the only way to have freedom is to have consequences that correspond to actions. Punishment for evil, reward for good. Without that, you have no freedom because it doesn't matter what you choose.
The natural result of merely existing in our world is entropy and chaos. Without a counteracting power, all would eventually be lost. But because of the miracle of the atonement we can choose to avoid ruin by being true to him and his laws. True faith in Jesus is the only conduit to access the power which allows us to be snatched out of the chaos, and to be able to "act and not be acted upon". Because without that, we are only being acted upon.
So we have to show some faith and quit running on auto-pilot all the time. We gotta get out there and make things happen, be humble, serve and love others and avoid the self-centered ways of the world. It requires effort, focus, serious thought, prioritizing and re-prioritizing.
