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Final project essay on a topic of choice, mine was the Plan of Salvation
Professor Brad Wilcox...

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Melodie Wride Professor Brad Wilcox Rel A 275 6 November 2019 The Plan of Salvation Before you and I were born, we lived as spirits with our Heavenly Father and Mother, where each of us were given the opportunity to come to earth to qualify for eternal life. We agreed to come down and leave God’s presence for a time, so we could be tested, put through trials and experiences, and therefore prove ourselves and become celestial beings like our heavenly parents. This plan of salvation was God’s plan from the creation of the world. The plan of Salvation, which is made possible through the atonement of Christ, includes the premortal life, mortality, the spirit world, and finally resurrection, where we will be placed in one of the three Kingdoms of Glory. The Plan of Salvation is the fullness of the Gospel, and explains why we are here on earth, as each of us plays a vital role in it. God’s plan gives us hope for the future, and allows us to view our lives through an eternal perspective. We will make better decisions and rely more on God as we understand his plan, and what we can become. To understand the Plan of Salvation, we must first know where we came from. As stated in D&C 93:29, before the creation of the world, each of us existed as intelligences, and were not created, but have always existed, and were organized by God (Abraham 3:22). In the Premortal life, God introduced his plan of happiness, where we would come to earth, be tested through trials and hardships, temptations and worthwhile experiences, all of which would qualify us for eternal life. Most of us rejoiced at this and accepted his plan, but one-third of God’s spirit children chose to follow Satan, and halt their progression, denying themselves of growth and joy.

Although God did not want this for his children, he respected their agency and allowed them to make their own decisions, even if it makes them unhappy. Just as in the war in heaven, God respects our agency, and allows us to “choose liberty and eternal life, through the great mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil” (2 Nephi 2: 27). The entire aspect of God’s plan of Salvation is centered on Jesus Christ. One of the consequences of coming to earth was that we would all be subject to sin, which would make us unworthy to be in the presence of God. Jesus Christ however, as part of the plan was set apart to come to earth and atone for our sins, making it possible for us to become clean again through repentance. Being absent from sin, Christ was the only one worthy and able to atone for our sins. (Moses 4:2) Jesus Christ is the key to make the plan work. Because of him, we can experience opposition, sin, and still be saved through repentance.In Alma 42:15 it states: “And now, the plan of mercy could not be brought about except an atonement should be made; therefore God himself atoneth for the sins of the world, to bring about the plan of mercy, to appease the demands of justice, that God might be a perfect, just God, and a merciful God also.” Here in mortality, we must obey the commandments of Christ, and apply his atonement in our lives, so we can repent of our sins and continue to progress. Each of us are now in the stage of mortality, where we are in a fallen state away from God, where we are put in circumstances to choose right or wrong. Our Fallen Condition away from our father in heaven was necessary for us to be tested accurately; We need to be away from our Heavenly Father for a time, so we could experience opposition and prove ourselves worthy for exaltation, amidst opposition and temptations that were not present in the premortal life. In mortality, as we face these oppositions, we must center our lives on Christ, so we can repent

when we sin. After we die, we will enter into the spirit world, either prison or paradise, and await our resurrection. The spirits in Paradise will be those who have been righteous throughout their life, and those in Prison for those who have not yet received the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As we read in D&C 138:30, there are missionaries in the spirit world who teach the gospel to those in spirit prison. Although repentance in the spirit world is possible, it is much harder to do so in that state, as spirits that have been living that way for so long usually have no desire to change. It is important that we practice repentance, and strive for change early in mortality, because those who continue in sin, no longer have the desire to change. “Scriptures make it clear that no unclean thing can dwell with God but, brothers and sisters, no unchanged thing will even want to” (Wilcox) After the second coming of Christ, all sons and daughters of God will be resurrected and reunite with their bodies, whether they were wicked or righteous in mortality. Once we are resurrected, we will be judged and be placed in a kingdom of Glory, “which will depend on the depth of [our] conversion and [our] obedience to the Lord’s commandments” (Plan of Salvation in True to the Faith). The covenants we made in mortality, and beyond the grave, determine our placement in one of the kingdoms, either the Celestial kingdom, the Terrestrial, or the Telestial kingdom. The highest degree of glory, the Celestial kingdom, is where we can dwell in the presence of our heavenly parents forever, and it is where we can become perfect beings, and become as God is. The Celestial kingdom is for those who have applied the atoning blood of Christ in their lives through repentance, and who wish to receive a fullness of Joy. The Terrestrial kingdom, the second highest degree of glory, is for those who refused to live the Gospel in mortality, and who

are honorable people, “blinded by the craftiness of men” (D&C 76:75). Finally, the Telestial kingdom, the 3rd degree of glory, is for those who “received not the gospel of Christ, neither the testimony of Jesus” (D&C 76:82). As we study the plan of salvation, we can clearly see how merciful God really is. He values our agency enough to let us choose our own fate, whether or not it is what’s best for us. In the end, each of us choose our own fate, to where we are most comfortable. Where we will spend eternity depends on how we lived our lives, that is, the everyday choices we make. As stated in Joseph Smith’s King Follett Sermon, men and women are free to go “...from one small degree to another, and from a small capacity to a great one; from grace to grace, from exaltation to exaltation … until [they] arrive at the station of a God.”. The everyday decisions we make and the way we live our lives in the end, determine our destiny. It is never one significant event that determines where we go, it is a constant way of living. As seen through the Plan of Happiness, God gives us many chances and opportunities to shape our being, from the thousands of years in the spirit world, to the years we spend in mortality, and even after death in the spirit world. But although we can always change, we still need to start now to progress towards Godliness. In the end, each of us individually go to where we choose. For some, they choose not to progress to become like God, as they would rather stay comfortable where they don’t have to grow and be stretched. The goal of the Plan of Happiness is to allow everyone to become like God. And while in mortality, it is important to understand the plan of salvation, so we know the means of our creation, our purpose here on earth, and our potential in the life to come. Knowing the plan of salvation can give us comfort in times of trouble, and it will reassure us of better things to come. This bigger picture that we have will help us know that we are children of heavenly parents with

a divine nature and purpose, and it will guide us on our eternal journey to become just like our heavenly parents. As we follow God’s plan for us and apply Christ’s atonement in our lives, we will be prepared to return to God and eventually become perfect like him, having received a fullness of Joy.

Works Cited “Plan of Salvation.” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/true-to-the-faith/plan-of-salvation?lang=eng. Wilcox, Brad. “His Grace Is Sufficient - Brad Wilcox.” BYU Speeches, https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/brad-wilcox/his-grace-is-sufficient/. “Kingdoms of Glory.” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/true-to-the-faith/kingdoms-of-glory?lang=eng...