The Plan of Salvation

Write on the chalkboard Heavenly Father’s Plan of .

Ask class members to complete the phrase. Encourage them to think of as many answers from the scriptures as they can. Write their responses on the chalkboard. After a minute or two, share any of the following answers that they have not mentioned:

• Salvation (Alma 24:14; 42:5; Moses 6:62)

• Happiness (Alma 42:8, 16)

• Redemption (Jacob 6:8; Alma 12:25–33)

• Restoration (Alma 41:2)

• Mercy (Alma 42:15, 31)

• What do these words teach about Heavenly Father’s plan?

• The prophet Alma referred to Heavenly Father’s plan as “the great plan of happiness” (Alma 42:8). How can the plan of salvation bring us happiness?

• The Prophet Joseph Smith taught, “The great plan of salvation is a theme which ought to occupy our strict attention, and be regarded as one of heaven’s best gifts to mankind” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith [1976], 68). What can we do to give the plan of salvation “our strict attention”?

Explain that this lesson is an overview of the plan of salvation. It shows how the principles of the gospel relate to each other as part of one great plan.

Explain that the plan of salvation can be divided into three parts: premortal life, mortal life, and life after death.

Write Premortal Life on the chalkboard. Point out that one significant blessing of the Restoration is our increased knowledge of our premortal life. This knowledge helps us understand life’s purpose and our part in God’s plan of salvation. As class members discuss the following questions, have them read the suggested scripture passages.

• We are sons and daughters of God, and we lived in a premortal existence as His spirit children (D&C 76:24; 93:29). How does the knowledge that you are a child of God influence you?

• Before the earth was created, Heavenly Father called a council in heaven and presented the plan of salvation to all His spirit children. What were some elements of the plan that Heavenly Father presented in the premortal world? (See 2 Nephi 2:24–26; Alma 34:8–9; Abraham 3:24–25. Answers could include the Atonement of Jesus Christ; the Creation of the earth; the Fall; time on earth during which we would receive a mortal body and be tested; and agency, or the power to choose good or evil.)

• How did Jehovah, the Firstborn of the Father, respond to the plan of salvation? (See Moses 4:2. To show how the Savior obeyed the Father’s will, you may want to read D&C 19:16–19 and D&C 76:40–42. Emphasize that the Atonement of Jesus Christ makes the plan of salvation possible. The Savior is the central figure in God’s plan for our salvation.)

• Lucifer rebelled against the plan of salvation, seeking to destroy our agency and gain Heavenly Father’s power (Moses 4:1, 3; D&C 29:36). He became Satan, and he and his followers were cast out of the Father’s presence and denied mortality (D&C 29:36–38; 76:25–27; Moses 4:4; Abraham 3:26). Why is it important for us to know about the existence of Satan and his followers?

• How did we respond to the plan of salvation? (See Job 38:4–7. Explain that latter-day prophets have taught that verse 7 in this passage refers to the joy we all felt in our premortal existence when we accepted the plan of salvation.)

Explain that in the premortal world, Heavenly Father chose and foreordained noble spirits to carry forth His work on the earth (D&C 138:55–56; Abraham 3:22–23; see also Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 365).

• In what ways might our knowledge of premortal life influence our daily decisions? How can our knowledge of our premortal life help us when we face trials?

Point out that when we accepted Heavenly Father’s plan in our premortal life, we kept our “first estate.” Because of our faithfulness, we were given the opportunity to come to earth, which is our “second estate” (Abraham 3:26).

Write Mortal Life on the chalkboard. Explain that because of the Fall of Adam and Eve, we are in a fallen state in mortality (D&C 29:40). We are subject to physical death and also to spiritual death, or separation from the presence of God (D&C 29:41–42; Alma 42:9, 14; physical death and spiritual death will be discussed later in the lesson). From latter-day revelation we learn that the Fall is a necessary step in our eternal progress. Eve spoke of the blessings of the Fall: “Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient” (Moses 5:11).

As class members discuss the following questions, have them read the suggested scripture passages.

• What are some purposes of mortal life? (Write class members’ responses on the chalkboard. Answers could include those listed below.)

  1. To receive a physical body. The Prophet Joseph Smith said, “We came to this earth that we might have a body and present it pure before God in the celestial kingdom” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 181).

  2. To prove our faithfulness through obedience to God’s commandments (Abraham 3:25–26). This includes repenting of our sins and receiving the ordinances of salvation (Alma 12:24; D&C 29:42–43; Articles of Faith 1:3).

  3. To live in families and to seal children to their parents through temple ordinances (Moses 2:28; D&C 93:40; 131:1–4; 138:48).

     The First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles proclaimed that “marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children. … The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave. Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally” (“The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” Ensign, Nov. 1995, 102).

• How does your understanding of the purposes of mortality make a difference in your life? How does your understanding of these purposes influence the decisions you make?

• As part of our mortal life, Satan is allowed to tempt us (D&C 29:39). Why? (See D&C 29:39; see also 2 Nephi 2:11–13.) Why is agency an important part of the plan of salvation? (See D&C 58:27–28; 101:78; 2 Nephi 2:25–27.)

Emphasize that our life does not end at physical death. Write Life after Death on the chalkboard. As class members discuss the following questions, have them read the suggested scripture passages.

• When we die, our spirits will enter the spirit world (see Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 309–10.) How will our works during mortality influence our life in the postmortal spirit world? (See Alma 34:34; 40:11–14.)

• People who do not receive the gospel on earth will have that opportunity in the spirit world (D&C 137:7–9; 138:30–34). What can we do to help them receive all the blessings of the plan of salvation? (See D&C 128:6–8, 15. Answers could include that we can do family history work and can perform priesthood ordinances for them in temples.)

• Remind class members that the Fall brought physical and spiritual death into the world. How will we be delivered from physical death? (See Alma 11:42; D&C 88:14–16; 93:33. Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, all people will be resurrected, or “raised from this temporal death.” Our spirits will reunite with our bodies, and we will be able to “receive a fulness of joy.”) How can we be delivered from spiritual death? (See Alma 42:11–13, 15; Articles of Faith 1:3.)

Explain that after we are resurrected, we will return to the presence of God to be judged according to our works (Alma 11:43–45; D&C 76:111). We will inherit a place in the celestial kingdom, the terrestrial kingdom, or the telestial kingdom based on the manner in which we have “received the testimony of Jesus” (D&C 76:51; see also verses D&C 76:50, 79–82). The next lesson includes a discussion of these three kingdoms of glory.

• In what ways does the knowledge of life after death help us during mortality?