The Plan of Salvation
The plan of salvation, also known as the plan of happiness, is the path the Lord has created for all of His children to return to Him.
The plan begins with our pre-mortal life, or our life before we came to Earth. Mormons believe we lived in heaven with our Heavenly Father as spirits that He had created. We were happy there, but we needed more in order to progress and grow. So, Heavenly Father presented the plan for us to come to a created physical world—the Earth—where we would have physical bodies to house our spirits and where we could experience everything life has to offer. This earthly life would bring trials, but we needed a place to be tested and to prove ourselves to our Heavenly Father.
Before the plan was fully decided, Heavenly Father knew we would need a Savior. This role was essential, because we would need someone who would be our mediator with the Father by fulfilling the requirements of justice. Without someone to fill this role we would not be able to return to live with our Heavenly Father in the highest kingdom of heaven, because nothing unclean can live there for eternity. So, there needed to be someone who would come to Earth, take all the sins of mankind upon Himself, and die.
This atonement would fulfill the requirements of justice because the price would be paid for all sins committed. Mormonism teaches that there were two of Heavenly Father’s spirit children who volunteered to be this Savior of the world. Lucifer, now known as Satan, would do it, but he wanted all of the glory to be his own. He also wanted to destroy our agency on Earth and force us to do everything required to come back to live with Heavenly Father. This loss of agency could not work. When Jesus offered to be our Savior, He humbly wanted the glory to go to the Father. Jesus would be the Savior of mankind. (see Moses 4:1-3.)
So, the Earth was created. Mormons believe Jesus Christ, along with other special spirits of our Heavenly Father, created the earth (see Moses 2, 3).
The first man and woman were created on Earth. Their names are Adam and Eve, and they lived for a time in the Garden of Eden, which is a beautiful and perfect earthly place created by the Lord. They lived in the Garden and spoke with and saw God often. They were given a commandment from the Lord to not eat any of the fruit of the tree of good and evil. Adam and Eve made the decision to eat this fruit, though, and when they did, they were aware of more than they had been. Because they had disobeyed the Lord by eating the fruit, they were banished from the Garden and were sent away from the presence of the Lord.
Mormons believe this decision to eat the fruit was not an evil sin, but rather a necessary part of mankind’s progression. Had Adam and Eve not eaten the fruit, they would never have had children—meaning none of us would ever come to Earth—and they would never be able to learn and grow. This act of leaving the Garden and the presence of God to enter the world is known in Mormonism as The Fall, and this event is the process by which mankind became mortal on the earth. Adam and Eve were then commanded by the Lord to multiply and replenish the Earth. Thus, as Mormonism teaches, they are the first parents of everyone on the Earth.
We all come to Earth in the time appointed by the Lord. This is known in Mormonism and the plan of salvation as the mortal life. We receive bodies and are each born to parents and live in families. These families are essential to our happiness on Earth and in the life to come, and Mormons believe we can live with our families forever. Mormons know that, in reality, our lives are short compared to the eternities before and after we come to Earth. Still, mortal life is important, for it is the time we prove ourselves to the Lord. We have free agency, which is necessary in order to make choices between good and evil. We have opportunities for learning and growth. All earthly opportunities give us the chance for joy and peace in this life.
But we will all make mistakes. Heavenly Father knew we would, so Jesus Christ, the Savior, was sent. He was born of a mortal mother, Mary, and a Heavenly Father. Mormons believe Jesus is the literal son of Heavenly Father. He lived a perfect life on the earth and, at the end of His life here, suffered for our sins in the Garden of Gethsemane and then died on the cross. This is the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and it is the only way we can be cleansed of our sins and forgiven by our Heavenly Father. This process of cleansing and forgiveness is known in Mormonism as repentance. Mormons believe that when we sin we need to feel truly sorry for what we have done. Then we need to confess our sins to our Father in Heaven through prayer, and finally, we need to never repeat our sins. By taking advantage of Jesus Christ’s atonement, we can feel clean before our Father in Heaven. We need not feel guilty anymore for sins we have repented of.
At the end of our mortal life on earth, we all die. Mormons believe death is the departure of the spirit from a body that is no longer inhabitable. The spirit leaves the body and enters the spirit world.
This spirit world is the next phase of progression in the plan of salvation and is the time when the spirits of men and women are separated from their bodies. Mormons believe the spirit world is a necessary part of the plan of salvation, as it is where those who never had the opportunity on earth to hear the gospel of Christ may be taught by those who did. It is a time for missionary work and for learning. The children of God who didn’t hear the gospel on earth may choose to accept it in the spirit world and may receive all the eternal blessings that come with that acceptance. The spirits residing in the spirit world will fulfill their appointed work until the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to the earth. Mormons believe Christ will again come to reign as King of kings and Lord of lords over all His creations. Satan and all of his influences will be banished and the earth will be a beautiful place to live.
The final part of the plan of salvation is the separating into three kingdoms, or degrees, of glory. Mormons believe this will occur at what is know universally as “judgment day,” the event at which our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ will preside and we will be judged according to our deeds during our mortal life. Mormons believe that we will again be reunited with our bodies at this time, and it will be a resurrection of all mankind. Our bodies will be in their perfected states, and we will be assigned to one of three kingdoms: the Celestial, the Terrestrial, and the Telestial. The Celestial kingdom is the highest and most glorious of all the kingdoms, next comes the Terrestrial, and finally, the Telestial. Mormons believe the Celestial kingdom is where we may live eternally with our families and with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Mormonism also teaches that each husband and wife—each eternal companionship—will have the opportunity to create spirit children and worlds of their own. This is the ultimate goal in the plan of salvation. Mormons believe that this state of being gods and goddesses—eternal parents—brings joy and happiness that lasts forever.
