THE PLAN OF SALVATION
WHAT IS MY PURPOSE OF LIFE?
Life on earth is a testing period
during which we prepare to meet God again.
THE CREATION AND THE FALL
The earth was created as a place
for our Heavenly Father's children to live and gain experience. Adam and
Eve were the first of God's children to come to earth. They lived in a
place called the Garden of Eden, where they were still in God's presence.
Our Heavenly Father wants all
of his children to have the perfect joy he has attained. To gain
that joy, it is necessary for us to come to earth to obtain physical bodies.
Let’s understand some of the important reasons for getting a physical
body. God is a God of love, and seeks that which is best for each of
us. Therefore, he provided a plan for us to become more like him. To
gain the wisdom that God has, we needed many experiences,(1)
particularly since there are many things we could not learn or do as spirits in
the premortal life. For example, a spirit cannot feel physical pain or
suffering, and learn by experience what pain is. Neither can a spirit be
baptized or married, nor experience the pain and joy of having children or
watching them grow. To obtain experiences like these, we have come to this
earth and received physical bodies. It’s a wonderful feeling to be on this
earth gaining wisdom and knowledge day by day.
Our Heavenly Father gave Adam and Eve
agency, or freedom to choose. He commanded them not to eat the fruit of
the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Obeying this commandment meant
they could remain in the garden, but they could not progress by learning from
experiences and challenges. Satan tempted Adam and Eve to eat the
forbidden fruit, and they chose to do so. This was part of God's plan.
Because of their decision, they were separated from God's presence physically
and spiritually. They became mortal, that is, subject to sin and death.
They were unable to return to Him without his help. Their physical and
spiritual separation from God is called "the Fall."
Our Heavenly Father sent angels and the Holy Ghost to teach Adam and Eve the
plan of salvation. Central to this plan is the Atonement of Jesus
Christ, which enables God's children to overcome the effects of the Fall and
have joy in this life and in eternity.
YOUR LIFE ON EARTH
Because of the Fall, you are separated from God physically and spiritually.
This separation is part of God's plan for His children. Your purpose in
leaving His presence to come to earth included obtaining a body, gaining
experience, and learning to make right choices.
…Wisdom and
knowledge:
one way to get these great gifts are by reading words from the prophets,
modern and of old. Scriptures are a powerful teaching tool to help us
learn of God’s plan for us.
Many aspects of life bring happiness, and some bring sorrow. These
experiences help you learn to distinguish between good and evil and to make
correct choices. God influences you to do good and to follow Him, while
Satan tempts you to ignore God and commit sin. (Sin is knowingly
choosing to do wrong or not to do right.) When you choose to follow God
and keep His commandments, you grow in wisdom and strength of character.
You can experience joy even in times of trial, and you can face life's
challenges with a spirit of peace.
You have made many good choices in your life, but you have also made some
wrong choices. When you make wrong choices and commit sin, you separate
yourself to some degree from God. The scriptures call this separation
spiritual death. In addition to separating you from God, sin also causes
guilt and shame. You cannot overcome sin and its effects by yourself.
THE ATONEMENT OF JESUS CHRIST
Because your Heavenly Father loves you, He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to pay
for your sins. This payment is part of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ voluntarily suffered for your sins, pains, sicknesses, and
sorrows. Through His grace and mercy, He can help you in your trials and
relieve you of the guilt and shame that result from your sins.
"For God so loved the world, that he
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not
perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16
In paying for your sins, Jesus did not eliminate your agency or personal
responsibility; He will not make you clean against your will. To receive
His help and strength, you need to exercise faith in Him, repent, be baptized,
receive the Holy Ghost, and choose to follow His teaching for the rest of your
life. As you rely on the Atonement, you will feel the love of God, and
He will help you endure your trials. You will experience joy, peace, and
consolation. All that seems unfair in life can be made right through the
atonement of Jesus Christ and the mercy and love of our Heavenly Father.
The Atonement is the central point in the plan of salvation.
FAITH
Another reason we come
to earth is to develop faith in God.(2) Our Heavenly Father
wants all of his children to have faith in him.(3)
If we are to have faith in him, we must learn to trust him and have confidence
in his promises to us.(4) One of the great Book of Mormon prophets,
Alma, gave a definition of faith.
"And now as I said concerning faith… faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore, if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen
which are true."
(Alma 32:21)
In other words, Faith is a hope,
a confidence, a belief in things that are true but which we cannot see.
In our premortal life, we walked primarily by sight; in this life we walk
primarily by faith.(5) Our Heavenly Father made it possible
for us to live by faith by placing a veil of forgetfulness over our minds,
thus causing us to forget the premortal life. Therefore, we live
not by memory but by faith. Do you suppose we could develop faith
if we could remember what it was like to be in the premortal existence
with God? No. We would all be perfect because we would remember our
wonderful existence with our Father in Heaven and we wouldn’t want to do
anything wrong to make him disappointed in us.(6)
We have already progressed to
the point of obtaining a physical body, which is one of the main reasons
for coming to earth. Remember, the other reason for being on this
earth was that God wanted us to test our faith and see if we would keep
all of his commandments when we are not in his presence.(7)
When we came to earth, he caused us to forget the premortal life and gave
us commandments to live by. Some of those commandments are to
1)
have faith in the Lord
2) repent of our sins
3) be baptized,
and
4) love one another.
God Measures our love and faith
in him by how well we keep the commandments. He told his disciples
that if they loved him, they would keep his commandments (John 14:15)
As we keep the commandments, our faith grows and we prepare (8) to
live with our Heavenly Father in his kingdom. No one can ever be
saved in his kingdom without showing his faith by obeying the Lord’s commandments.(9)
Just think of the many ways we can manifest our faith in God? Faith
grows by keeping the commandments and by prayer and study of scriptures
and gospel principles.
We lived as spirits
with our Heavenly Father in a premortal life and that we were born into
mortality so we could obtain bodies, gain wisdom and knowledge, develop faith, and prove to our Heavenly
Father that we would keep his commandments.(10) The most important
thing we can do in this life is to keep God’s commandments, and, in fact,
obeying God’s commandments is the only way we will ever be truly happy.
As we keep the commandments
of God, He will prepare a place for you in His Kingdom. We will each
be judged and rewarded according to our own works here on this earth.
We are personally responsible for our own salvation (remember "The Devil
Made Me Do It" mentality?). We cannot be saved by another man’s labor
or how another man keeps the commandments.
|
And so my needs are great;
Help me to understand his words
Before it grows too late. |
Lead
me, guide me, walk beside me,
Help me find the way.
Teach me all that I must do
To live with him someday.
(11) |
|
(2) Hebrews 11:1,6
(3) Romans 1:17
(4) Moroni 7:26,28,32,33 |
(6) 2 Corinthians 5:7
(7) Alma 12:24 |
(9) Ether 12
(10) Matthew 7:21 |
(11) I Am a Child of God, 2nd verse, by N. W. Randall
& M. T. Pettit (Hear
the piano music to this song)
"If Adam had not transgressed he would not
have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden...
"And
[Adam and Eve] would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained
in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing
no good, for they knew no sin.
"But
behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all
things.
"Adam
fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy."
2 Nephi 2:22-25
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Concept
What Happens After this Life?
Dear
God,
So far, today,
I've done all right. I haven't gossiped or lost my temper.
I haven't been greedy, grumpy, nasty, or self centered. I'm really
happy about that so far. But in a few minutes I'm going to be getting
out of bed and then I'm going to need a lot of help. Thank you!
Amen
