PLAN OF SALVATION

Our Life on Earth
Life on earth is an opportunity and a blessing. Our purpose in this life is to have joy
and prepare to return to God’s presence. In mortality we live in a condition where we are
subject to both physical and spiritual death. God has a perfect, glorified, immortal body
of flesh and bones. To become like God and return to His presence, we too must have a
perfect, immortal body of flesh and bones. However, because of the Fall of Adam and Eve,
every person on earth has an imperfect, mortal body and will eventually die. If not for the
Savior Jesus Christ, death would end all hope for a future existence with Heavenly Father.
Along with physical death, sin is a major obstacle that keeps us from becoming like our
Father in Heaven and returning to His presence. In our mortal condition we often yield to
temptation, break God’s commandments, and sin. During our life on earth each of us makes
mistakes. Although it sometimes appears otherwise, sin always leads to unhappiness. Sin
causes feelings of guilt and shame. Because of our sins, we are unable to return to live with
Heavenly Father unless we are first forgiven and cleansed.
While we are in mortality, we have experiences that bring us happiness. We also have
experiences that bring us pain and sorrow, some of which is caused by the sinful acts of
others. These experiences provide us opportunities to learn and to grow, to distinguish
good from evil, and to make choices. God influences us to do good; Satan tempts us to
commit sin. As with physical death, we cannot overcome the effects of sin by ourselves.
We are helpless without the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
In the Garden
2 Nephi 2 Moses 3:15–17 Genesis 1:26–31
Moses 2:26–31 Moses 5:11 Genesis 2:15–17
The Fall
2 Nephi 2:25 Moses 4 Genesis 3
Alma 12:22–34 Moses 5:10–12

:The Atonement
Before the world was organized, our Heavenly Father
chose Jesus Christ to be our Savior and Redeemer. The
atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ made it possible for us
to overcome the effects of the Fall. All of the prophets
since the world began have testified of Jesus Christ as
our Redeemer.
We will all suffer physical death, but Jesus Christ
overcame the obstacle of physical death for us. When
He died on the cross, His spirit became separated from
His body. On the third day, His spirit and His body
were reunited eternally, never to be separated again. He
appeared to many people, showing them that He had an
immortal body of flesh and bone. The reuniting of body and spirit is called resurrection
and is a gift promised to each of us. Because of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, we will all
be resurrected regardless of whether we have done good or evil in this life. We will have
a perfect, immortal body of flesh and bones that will never again be subject to disease,
pain, or death. The resurrection makes it possible to return to God’s presence to be judged
but does not guarantee that we will be able to live in His presence. To receive that
blessing, we must also be cleansed from sin.
God sent His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to overcome the obstacle of sin in addition to
the obstacle of physical death. We are not responsible for the Fall of Adam and Eve, but
we are responsible for our own sins. God cannot look on sin with any degree of
allowance, and sin prevents us from living in His presence. Only through the Savior’s
grace and mercy can we become clean from sin so that we can live with God again. This is
possible through exercising faith in Jesus Christ, repenting, being baptized, receiving the
gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.
To fulfill the plan of salvation, Christ paid the penalty for our sins. He alone was able
to do that. He was called and prepared in pre-earth life.


2 Nephi 2:21 Alma 12:21–24 Abraham 3:25–26
2 Nephi 9:27 Alma 34:31–35
Mosiah 3:19 Alma 42:2–10
Choice
2 Nephi 2:26–29 Joshua 24:15
For the Strength of Youth, “Agency and Accountability”
Good and Evil
Moroni 7:12–19
Sin
Romans 3:23 1 John 1:8–10 1 John 3:4
The Unclean Cannot Be with God
1 Nephi 10:20–21 3 Nephi 27:19 Moses 6:57
Alma 41:10–11
  He was sinless and completely obedient to His Father. Though tempted, He
never gave in to temptation. When the Father asked His Beloved Son to pay the price of
the world’s sins, Jesus was prepared and willing. The Atonement included His suffering in
the Garden of Gethsemane and His suffering and death on the cross, and it ended with His
Resurrection. Though He suffered beyond comprehension—so much so that He bled
from every pore and asked whether it were possible that this burden be lifted from
Him—He submitted to the Father’s will in a supreme expression of love for His Father
and for us. This triumph of Jesus Christ over spiritual death by His suffering and over
physical death by His Resurrection is called the Atonement.
Christ promises to forgive our sins on the condition that we accept Him by exercising
faith in Him, repenting, receiving baptism by immersion, and the laying on of hands for
the gift of the Holy Ghost, and striving faithfully to keep His commandments to the end
of our lives. Through continuing repentance, we may obtain forgiveness and be cleansed
of our sins by the power of the Holy Ghost. We are relieved of the burden of guilt and
shame, and through Jesus Christ we become worthy to return to the presence of God.
As we rely on the Atonement of Jesus Christ, He can help us endure our trials, sicknesses,
and pain. We can be filled with joy, peace, and consolation. All that is unfair about life
can be made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
In paying the penalty for our sins, Jesus did not, however, eliminate our personal
responsibility. We must show that we accept Him and that we will follow His commandments.
Only through the gift of the Atonement can we return to live with God.

The Spirit World
Even though Christ conquered physical death, all people must die, for death is part of
the process by which we are transformed from mortality to immortality. At death our spirits
go to the spirit world. Death does not change our personality or our desires for good or
evil. Those who chose to obey God in this life live in a state of happiness, peace, and rest
from troubles and care. Those who chose not to obey in this life and did not repent live in
a state of unhappiness. In the spirit world the gospel is preached to those who did not
obey the gospel or have the opportunity to hear it while on earth. We remain in the spirit
world until we are resurrected.
Resurrection
2 Nephi 9:6–7 D&C 88:27–32 JST, 1 Corinthians 15:40
Alma 11:42–45 Luke 24:1–10, 36–39 Topical Guide, “Resurrection”
Alma 40:23 1 Corinthians 15:20–23 Bible Dictionary, “Death,” “Resurrection”
Helaman 14:15–19 1 Corinthians 15:41–42
Atonement
2 Nephi 2:6–8 D&C 19:15–19 1 John 1:7
Alma 7:11–13 D&C 45:3–5 Bible Dictionary, “Atonement”
Alma 34:8–10 John 3:16–17

2 Nephi 9:1–24 Alma 11:40 3 Nephi 27
2 Nephi 31 3 Nephi 11:31–41 Moroni 7:27–28
Scripture Study

The Resurrection, Judgment, and Immortality
When our bodies and spirits are reunited through the resurrection, we will be brought
into God’s presence to be judged. We will remember perfectly our righteousness and our
guilt. If we have repented, we will receive mercy. We will be rewarded according to our
works and our desires.
Through the resurrection all people will become immortal—they will live forever.
Immortality is a free gift to all people, whether they are righteous or wicked. Eternal life
is not, however, the same as immortality. Eternal life is a gift of God given only to those
who obey His gospel. It is the highest state that we can achieve. It comes to those who
are freed from sin and suffering through the Atonement of Christ. It is exaltation, which
means living with God forever in eternal families. It is to know God and Jesus Christ and
to experience the life they enjoy.