Teachings of Joseph Fielding Smith Chapter 3: The Plan of Salvation
Have a missionary come to the board. Give them 4 minutes to draw the Plan of Salvation and teach it as if we were investigators. Time them for fun.
Anybody mind sharing what this diagram means to them? Why it's special?
If you look at the headings of the sections in the chapter, the editors pretty much just take us through that drawing on the board. There’s a section on the premortal life, emphasizing how joyous we were to learn about the Plan of Salvation, basically quoting Job 38: 4-7. Then there’s a section on the fall, saying how it was actually a good thing. Then there’s a section on the the Savior. Then there’s a section basically on Earth Life, then there’s a section on the resurrection, and last there’s a section on judgement and how we’ll get to live with our families forever if we do good.
It’s really quite a lot to cover, which is why this is one of the longer chapters, and there’s a large variety of directions we could go or talk about. In my opinion, however, there is a theme running throughout all of it. Everything points to our experience here on Earth. JFS constantly implies that this mortal life is the crux of everything. This life is a big deal, it's our big moment. We looked forward to it, and we will forever look back on it.
The Premortal life points to now (last paragraph in section, page 60)
We learn from the Pearl of Great Price, that there was a council held in heaven, when the Lord called before him the spirits of his children and presented to them a plan by which they should come down on this earth, partake of mortal life and physical bodies, pass through a probation of mortality and then go on to a higher exaltation through the resurrectionwhich should be brought about through the atonement of his Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ [see Moses 4:1–2; Abraham 3:22–28]. The thought of passing through mortality and partaking of all the vicissitudes of earth life in which they would gain experiences through suffering, pain, sorrow, temptation and affliction, as well as the pleasures of life in this mundane existence, and then, if faithful, passing on through the resurrection to eternal life in the kingdom of God, to be like him [see1 John 3:2], filled them with the spirit of rejoicing, and they “shouted for joy.” [See Job 38:4–7.] The experience and knowledge obtained in this mortal life, they could not get in any other way, and the receiving of a physical body was essential to their exaltation.5
The Fall of Adam and Eve Points to now (last paragraph in section, page 61)
The fall of Adam brought to pass all of the vicissitudes of mortality. It brought pain, it brought sorrow, it brought death; but we must not lose sight of the fact that it brought blessings also. … It brought the blessing of knowledge and understanding and mortal life.
The atonement of Jesus Christ points to now, since he suffered for what we did now, and it is our duty now to teach others of him, since every day we can improve and repent now because of him (3rd paragraph in section, page 62)
First ask how atonement points to now
It is our duty to teach the mission of Jesus Christ. Why did he come? What did he do for us? How are we benefited? What did it cost him to do it? Why it cost his life, yes, more than his life! What did he do besides being nailed on the cross? Why was he nailed there? He was nailed there that his blood might be shed to redeem us from this most terrible penalty that could ever come, banishment from the presence of God. He died on the cross to bring us back again, to have our bodies and spirits reunited. He gave us that privilege. If we will only believe in him and keep his commandments, he died for us that we might receive a remission of our sins and not be called upon to pay penalty. He paid the price. …
……...
Now do not ask me how that was done because I do not know. Nobody knows. All we know is that in some way he took upon himself that extreme penalty. He took upon him our transgressions, and paid a price, a price of torment. (can point out that we make a choice, now, to believe, since we don’t know how it works)
This mortal life, obviously, points to now.
Since this is the crux, we’ll read more about what JFS says about our mortal life in a bit.
The Resurrection points to now, as a restoration of what we have now (3rd paragraph in section, page 67)
Every fundamental part of every body will be restored to its proper place again in the resurrection, no matter what may become of the body in death. If it be burned by fire, eaten by sharks, no matter what. Every fundamental part of it will be restored to its own proper place.25
The day of judgement will point to now (5th paragraph in section, page 68)
We are taught in the gospel of Jesus Christ that the family organization will be, so far as celestial exaltation is concerned, one that is complete, an organization linked from father and mother and children of one generation to the father and mother and children of the next generation, and thus expanding and spreading out down to the end of time.30
These glorious blessings of eternal inheritance … do not come except through willingness to keep the commandments and even to suffer with Christ if need be. In other words, candidates for eternal life—the greatest gift of God—are expected to place all that they have on the altar, should it be required, for even then, and should they be required to lay down their lives for his cause, they could never pay him for the abundant blessings which are received and promised based on obedience to his laws and commandments.31
….
I stand now, in what I might call the twilight of life, with the realization that in a not-far-distant day I shall be called upon to give an account of my mortal stewardship. …
I am sure that we all love the Lord. I know that he lives, and I look forward to that day when I shall see his face, and I hope to hear his voice say unto me: “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” (Matt. 25:34.)
So it seems that everything in the Plan of Salvation is centered around 2 things: the atonement, and how we live our lives. A plane ticket to heaven is something so expensive that nobody can afford it, but Jesus bought one for all of us. However, he does ask we give him something in return. According to JFS, it’s placing all that we have on the alter.
That’s pretty intimidating, what do you all think?
I think it’s helpful to take things one step at a time. Luckily, in the section about our mortal life, JFS indeed takes us through what we’re supposed to do, one step at a time:
(Building on the foundation of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we work out our salvation during mortality)
Building on the foundation of the atonement, the plan of salvation consists of the following things:
First, we must have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; we must accept him as the Son of God; we must put our trust in him, rely upon his word, and desire to gain the blessings which come by obedience to his laws.
Second, we must repent of our sins; we must forsake the world; we must determine in our hearts, without reservation, that we will live godly and upright lives.
Third, we must be baptized in water, under the hands of a legal administrator, who has power to bind on earth and seal in heaven; we must, through this sacred ordinance, enter into a covenant to serve the Lord and keep his commandments.
Fourth, we must receive the gift of the Holy Ghost; we must be born again; we must have sin and iniquity burned out of our souls as though by fire; we must gain a new creation by the power of the Holy Ghost.
Fifth, we must endure to the end; we must keep the commandments afterbaptism; we must work out our salvation with fear and trembling before the Lord; we must so live as to acquire the attributes of godliness and become the kind of people who can enjoy the glory and wonders of the celestial kingdom.
Sounds a bit easier, right?
Since everything about the plan comes down to what we do with our mortal life, and the first step of the gospel that the plan of Salvation requires is faith, how important is step #1? Why is belief the first step? How necessary a part of “The Plan of Salvation” is it? Do you have to believe to be saved? What do you have to believe in? The Plan of Salvation? God? Jesus? The “gospel”? How do you know if you really believe? What if you want to believe, but there’s some things about the gospel you just have a hard time with? Can you force belief? Will we be penalized for our doubts? Is it OK to admit that we have any? Is belief like a cornerstone of the gospel, where a seed of doubt will make everything come crumbling down? If not, and we can still go to heaven without perfect belief, then why is belief even necessary in the first place?
Notice that steps 2-5 are actions. They are things we do. It is true that we build upon a foundation of the atonement, and that the first step is belief. But the important stuff comes next. And how could it be any other way? The first step to doing anything has to be believing it will be for our good. Nobody goes on a diet or starts doing crossfit or goes into debt for school unless they believe it will do some good. Unless they believe that it will be worth it. Everyone’s live is an investment, and we all spend our lives in a way that we think will give us the maximum return.
Nobody becomes Mormon unless they believe it will pay off. Even if someone joins the church for less-than-traditional reasons -- like welfare or friends or social pressure -- they do it because in some way or another they believe it will pay off. And if you join the church and keep going to church and live the gospel because you believe that there is a God, that there is a Jesus who is our savior, that we have prophets to show us the right way, then you believe being a good Mormon and a good Christian will pay off. If you don’t believe that steps 2-5 that JFS outlined are worth doing, you’re of course never going to do them.
So how do you know if you have enough faith? If you really believe?
It’s pondering this question that it really starts to make sense when James said faith without works is dead, when he says he will “shew thee my faith by my works” (James 2:18). The entire point of faith and belief is getting us to do stuff! To help people, to love others, to engage in service, to covenant with God that we will try and do better. Faith only makes sense when it’s accompanied by good works.
It’s in this context that Alma’s sermon on faith in Alma 32 makes sense. He begs for us to “experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you”. What is the experiment, and what is it that we should desire to believe? In the very least, we can desire to believe that God is there, that he loves us, that he will bless us if we keep the commandments. As Alma says, that is the beginning of faith -- wanting to believe that God is there and he loves us. And ultimately, it’s a choice we all have to make. We can choose to want to believe, or choose not to want it.
