The Plan of Salvation Part I: Overview

One of the very unique doctrinal points in the LDS church is known as “The Plan of Salvation.” It is sometimes referred to as “The Plan of Happiness” or “The Plan of Redemption.” Essentially, it is an explanation of the purpose of life according to the Gospel as we teach it. Usually, it is taught with the help of a diagram like the one below:

We started as spirits in the pre-mortal existence, were born into this mortal life, will eventually die, be resurrected and will be judged and allowed to enter a “kingdom of glory,” hopefully. As you can see, it’s a much broader view than that provided by most religions, who mostly teach of this life, a judgement, heaven and hell.

I find that having a broader view of how it all fits together explains a lot of the common challenges put to religion:

• Q: How is it fair that God would allow people to be born into such different conditions?
  A: God provided our challenges and situations in this life based on who we were in the pre-mortal existence.
• Q: Why would good people who don’t learn about Christ go to hell?
  A: They will have a chance to learn about him in the spirit world.
• Q: What’s the point of Heaven if you’re just sitting around on a cloud playing a harp?
  A: Heaven is much more than an eternity of praise. It is the opportunity to become like God.

I realize that I am alluding to a lot of different details here that may be confusing if you haven’t already been taught this stuff. I will get to all of this eventually. My point here is to illustrate that the big picture view, provided by the Plan of Salvation, allows us to tie a lot of things together into a context where they make sense, when without that context they don’t seem to make sense in a world with a just and loving God.

This plan was laid out for us before the Earth was formed. God essentially said, “I have a plan to help you all become like me. It will be extremely difficult, will take eons and will result in many of you failing to attain that goal.” We are God’s children, and he wanted to provide us with the best opportunities he could provide. He also desires our happiness. This is why the plan is also sometimes called the great plan of happiness. Even for most of those who fail, the reward is the greatest degree of happiness He can provide.

Ultimately, the main question the plan of salvation answers is, “what is the purpose of life?” The answer is, to learn how to gain true happiness.

Posts in this series:

1. Part I: Overview (this post)
2. Part II: Our Pre-Mortal Existence
3. Part III: Our Life on Earth
4. Part IV: Death, the Spirit World and the Resurrection
5. Part V: The Judgement and Kingdoms of Glory