YES.
David A Bednar said so.
He said, "It is one thing to know that Jesus Christ came to earth to die for
us. That is fundamental and foundational ... But we also
need to appreciate that the Lord desires, through His Atonement and by the
power of the Holy Ghost, to live in us—not only to direct us but also
to empower us. (My emphasis.)
Saturday night a soloist performed 'O Divine Redeemer' at Stake Conference accompanied a superb pianist. The words entered my heart until I prayed them in my mind as tears of gratitude came. Jesus Christ permits me to repent. He can live in me. He can empower me. What a marvelous thing.
Elder David A Bednar had a lot more to say about all the ways Christ can help us when he addressed students at BYU as their President in October 2001- and about 'grace'. He talked about that power too, and gave illustrations with their implications.
He states, "We may mistakenly believe we must make the journey from good to better and become a saint all by ourselves through sheer grit, willpower, and discipline, and with our obviously limited capacities.
The gospel of the Savior is not simply about avoiding bad in our lives; it also is essentially about doing and becoming good. And the Atonement provides help for us to overcome and avoid bad and to do and become good. Help from the Savior is available for the entire journey of life—from bad to good to better and to change our very nature.
“It is likewise through the grace of the Lord that individuals, through faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ and repentance of their sins, receive strength and assistance to do good works that they otherwise would not be able to maintain if left to their own means. This grace is an enabling power … Grace is the divine assistance or heavenly help each of us desperately needs, … the enabling power of the Atonement strengthens us to do and be good and serve beyond our own individual desire and natural capacity."
Elder Bednar testifies, "You and I in a moment of weakness may cry out, 'No one
understands. No one knows.' No human being, perhaps, knows. But the Son of God
perfectly knows and understands, for He felt and bore our burdens before we
ever did. And because He paid the ultimate price and bore that burden, He has
perfect empathy and can extend to us His arm of mercy in so many phases of our
life. He can reach out, touch, succor—literally run to us—and strengthen us to
be more than we could ever be and help us to do that which we could never do
through relying upon only our own power.
“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I
will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and
lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy,
and my burden is light” (Matthew
11:28–30).
"I declare my witness of and appreciation for the infinite
and eternal sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. I know the Savior lives. I have
experienced both His redeeming power and His enabling power, and I testify that
these powers are real and available to each of us. Indeed, “in the strength of
the Lord” we can do and overcome all things as we press forward on our journey
of mortality."
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