The Plan of Salvation

LDS believe that we have an eternal nature--that we've existed always (in one form or another) and that we will always exist. We believe that before we were born, we lived in the presence of our heavenly Father, that as His children, we have divine potential, and that He wants us to progress to be like Him, just as any parent would want for his or her children.

We were different from our Father in a couple significant ways. First, we were imperfect and capable of sin. Second, we did not have bodies, whereas God had a perfect, resurrected body. In order to become perfected and receive a body, we needed to come to earth. On earth, we would be given a body and retain our agency and choose what we would do with our bodies. We had never had bodies before and had existed only as spirits. When it was announced that we were going to have a chance to come on earth and experience physical bodies, we rejoiced.

And yet, on earth we knew we would sin and still be imperfect and therefore unlike God. And because of the Fall of Adam, and due to Adam and Eve's choice to partake of the forbidden fruit, we knew we would die and lose our physical bodies. But our Father was aware that we would still fall short if He didn't prepare a way for us to overcome our tendency to sin (and sin again) and to restore our physical bodies.

To do this, He sent His firstborn Son, Jesus Christ. Christ was the only perfect person to be born on earth. His mission, in part, was to suffer for our sins, taking upon Himself the punishment demanded by justice. Justice demands that laws be enforced. A broken law results in punishment. Only a perfect offering could satisfy the demands of justice. Christ, in His perfection, was able to pay the infinite price of mankind's evil deeds. And, in His mercy, He allows us to turn to Him and accept that offering. His willingness and act of taking our punishment is part of the atonement.

But even with the effects of sin being overcome, we still are unlike God because our bodies will die. This is where the other significant part of the atonement comes in--Christ allowed Himself to die in order for Him to overcome death. On the third day after His death, He was resurrected--He received a perfect, immortal body. Because of His resurrection, He unlocked the gates of death and all mankind will be resurrected.

Between these two aspects of the atonement, we are redeemed from the mortal experience. Our purpose in life--to become like our heavenly Father--can be accomplished.

However, while resurrection is given to all mankind, being redeemed from our sins is not automaticly given to us. We need to turn from our sins and repent. Repentance consists of acknowledging our mistakes, turning from them and turning toward God. Through repentance, we can be cleansed of our mistakes and errors and made new. We then, acknowledging that Christ paid the steep price for our sins, offer ourselves to Him willingly. Through this process, we progress bit by bit, day by day, year by year, and so forth until we are perfected (which will take us a long time after death).

In this manner, God's plan for us before we came to earth is fulfilled--we overcome our tendency to sin and receive a perfect, immortal body. Then we live forever in the presence of our Father.

After we die, our bodies and spirits are separated, though. Our bodies decay, but our spirits live on in the Spirit World. They await the resurrection. When all of our Father's spirit children have been born and the mortal experience comes to a close, Christ will return to earth to reign. During a period of 1000 years, there will be peace on the earth. At the end, all will be judged according to their choices in mortality and be held accountable for all they said and did. Each person (with a few exceptions) on earth will receive an inheritance in a kingdom of glory according to their use of the atonement and their willingness to repent and live as Christ has directed us. Those inheriting the highest kingdom of glory (the celestial kingdom) will be able to continue to progress.

This plan--to come to earth, to experience life, to repent and accept the atonement, to be resurrected and to inherit a kingdom of glory--is known as the plan of salvation. It is the purpose of life. It is why we came to earth. It's where we're going after we die.

This is a brief sketch and I've skipped some important elements, but it's enough to give an over-view and flavor of where we came from, why we're here and where we're going. What it ignores for the most part is how we get where we're going. In brief, it's to follow God's commandments and live as how he'd have us live. In order to understand that, it's important to understand Christ's role as mediator and how he balances the demands of justice and mercy. That will be the subject of another post.

I remember learning these things as I met with the missionaries. I think everyone that's lived to a certain age on earth has wondered about the purpose of life. It's given me great perspective and helped me to make better choices to understand what life is all about. While I make poor decisions all the time, I behave better and make better choices because I have a sense of the big picture. It enables me to make choices that are of eternal value rather than those that are merely of momentary value.

I also know that there's a reason to try and that change is truly possible. I think a lot of people feel powerless to break bad habits and really change their character. But through the atonement, real substantive change is possible. The foregiveness and cleansing that comes from being forgiven of my errors gives me freedom to start anew without the baggage of my past bad choices. And I can feel myself progress, bit by bit.

The plan of salvation also gives me a knowledge and assurance that there's a reason to make good choices, that every choice, good or bad, has a consequence. I may be free to choose as I will, but that does not mean that I can choose the consequences of my actions (or to avoid them entirely). Just as I can't turn off the laws of physics, I can't turn off eternal laws. Selfishness, dishonesty, anger, violence--in brief, any bad choice--brings consequences that can be painful and even destructive. Good choices, such as service, kindness, generosity, hard work, honesty--they all bring good consequences in our lives. It's inevitable.

And because there's a purpose to life, we shouldn't just slide through life as though it were some big vacation. We have a purpose on earth and we should be anxiously engaged in it while we're alive. It's a time to prove oneself and work hard to progress. Understanding the plan of salvation helps me spend my time wisely and fruitfully.