Plan of Salvation
Mormons believe that God has a Plan of Salvation for us—which is also called the plan of happiness. Another precept of Mormon doctrine, after all, is that God intends us to be happy and gives us as many opportunities as He can to be so. The Plan of Salvation is to bring to pass God’s work, the eternal life of man, through the Atonement of Christ. But many other things also form part of the plan, such as, unsurprisingly, the Creation, the Fall, and the commandments and ordinances God has given to us.
What is the eternal life of man (and woman)? This is living with God again, as we did in the beginning, for, in Mormon belief, we lived before we lived. This is progressing as He would have us progress—forever and in His light and truth. God would ever have us growing, to be more like Him. This is His purpose and our happiness.
What parts do the Creation and the Fall have in this? Mormonism teaches us that without the Creation, we would have remained spirits. Although we would have never left God’s presence, we would never have been able to have bodies, or to discover ourselves able to live righteously without God’s constant presence. The Fall was likewise essential. Without it, Adam and Eve would not have entered mortality, nor been able to truly choose between the good at the bad. We would not have followed them to Earth. There would have been little purpose in it.
But, although essential, the Fall did bring death and sin into the world and no mere human being is able to cleanse themselves, to return to God on their own. Nothing unclean can live within God’s presence. We needed a Savior and this was Jesus Christ, Son of God, who saved us, voluntarily, from death both spiritual and physical. He atoned for us, and He gave us the resurrection. If we repent, we can become worthy again to live with God.
In Mormon beliefs, we all go through the life-cycle of the plan, its timeline is the same for all of us. We live, we die, and we are resurrected. The steps are detailed below.
- Pre-mortal Existence: Again, we lived with our Heavenly Father before we were born. We are His spirit children and under His guidance, we learned. We developed talents and formed relationships with our brothers and sisters. But in the continual presence of God, we could only progress so far, so God formed the Plan of Salvation and He and Christ created the world. Lucifer rebelled against the Plan and became the devil, drawing a third of heaven after him. These will never be born on the earth. They will never have bodies.
- Birth: Everyone who has ever been born, or will be born, was faithful in the pre-mortal life. All who have physical bodies accepted the Plan. Birth is our first step.
- Mortality: We are here to be tested, to live how the Lord would have us live while we are separated from Him. We must learn to have faith in that which we cannot be certain of, not by our senses. We must learn to be good to one another and promote each other’s happiness. And we must learn to live within families.
- Death: Death, like birth, is a beginning and a transition. We pass from mortality into the world of spirits.
- Spirit World: The spirit world is split. Within it is the spirit prison, which reserved for those who were not able to learn Christ’s gospel in life. They will be able to learn and accept the gospel in death. Spirit paradise is for those who learned and lived it.
- Resurrection: Resurrection reunites body and spirit and it is a gift given to everyone. Everyone who lived on earth, regardless of righteousness, will be resurrected.
- Judgment: After Christ comes the second time and reigns for the duration of the Millennium, then comes the Last Judgment, when all will be judged. In the beliefs of Mormonism, there are four places one may go after the Last Judgment. Joseph Smith, founder of the Church, had it revealed to him that there are three kingdoms, the Celestial, or highest, the Terrestrial, and the Telestial. Only a few, the most vile, go to Outer Darkness, a miserable place where the devil dwells.