Meaning of Life

The Mormon doctrine of the Plan of Salvation is a summation of God’s plan for His children. The Mormon Church (officially The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) teaches that God is literally our spiritual father and that our lives on this earth not only have a specific purpose, but are also only a small portion of the whole plan.

Mormons believe that each person who will ever live upon this earth was created spiritually before this world came into being. This part of our spiritual life is referred to by Latter-day Saints (members of the Mormon Church) as the Pre-Existence. While we were living in God’s presence as His spirit children, He presented us with His plan: we would each have the opportunity to come to earth, gain a body, and make choices. If we made the choices which He commanded us to, then we would qualify to return to His presence and live eternally as He now lives. Part of mortality is imperfection. We all make mistakes, but from our poor choices and mistakes, we learn to tell the difference between good and evil, and we learn to choose which to follow.

At a Council in Heaven, before the earth was created, when Heavenly Father presented this plan to us, He knew we would not be worthy to re-enter His presence after making mistakes. His first spirit son, creator of the earth,  and only Begotten Son in the Flesh, Jesus Christ, came forward at this time and said He would come to this earth to fulfill a unique mission, which Mormons call His Atonement. He would take upon Himself the sins and imperfections of this world. By doing this, He would gain the power to satisfy both the law of mercy and the law of justice. If we have faith in Him, follow His commandments and the way that He has shown us, He will apply the power of His Atonement to cleanse us of our sins.

In addition to suffering for our sins, He also gave His life for us. He “descended below all things” in order to gain power over death for the rest of us. Through His death and resurrection, He has power over both death and hell. Anyone who ever lived on this earth will be resurrected, eternally reuniting the body and the spirit. This could be called Salvation, because most of God’s children will inherit a kingdom of glory in heaven. Exaltation is another thing. To be exalted to the highest kingdom of heaven, where God Himself dwells, one must have faith in Christ, repent, and obey His commandments.

Free agency, or the freedom each of us has to make his or her own choices, is an eternal principle, Mormons believe, and was always part of God’s plan for us. When God presented the Plan of Salvation at the Council in Heaven, Mormon doctrine teaches that Satan came forward to present his own plan. He told us that he would force each of us to choose the right, thus ensuring that all of us would return to God in our perfection. Satan wanted the glory for his plan. However, God honors the eternal law of free agency. We each had the choice between God’s plan and Satan’s plan. One-third of the hosts of heaven were cast out of God’s presence when they chose to follow Satan’s plan. Satan was and is a spiritual son of God, just as each of us is a spiritual child of God. However, Satan chose to rebel against God, and was cast out for his pride and rebellion. Now he leads his minions to do his best to frustrate God’s plan. He tries to convince each of us to live contrary to the commandments of heaven so that we will not be able to return to God.

Mormon doctrine also teaches that after this life, we will all return to the presence of God to be judged according to the lives we led here. Mormons believe that there is an eternal existence which will go on long after this life on earth. If we are righteous, live God’s commandments, and perform the necessary ordinances He instructs us to (which ordinances are available in Mormon temples) then we will become exalted beings like God and will live forever.

A key element to the Mormon doctrine of the Plan of Salvation is the focus on families. Families, Mormons believe, are eternal units which will exist in the eternities. This is why temple work is so important.