Plan of Salvation Part 2

Alright so who has ever wondered what really happens when we die? I know I have! The back half to my last blog gives us the answer to this question. Only through the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ that has been restored to the earth can we find this answer. Well this is what happens. There will be a time when life on this earth will end and everyone will experience a physical death. By that I mean that our spirit will leave our bodies. When this happens our bodies stay here on earth our spirits go to what is called the Spirit World. In Alma chapter 40 verse 11 we learn this. The verse says this "Now, concerning the ^astate of the soul between ^bdeath and the resurrection—Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are ^ctaken ^dhome to that God who gave them life." So if we were good in this life we will be happy in the Spirit World and if we were bad then we will be unhappy. We will remain here until the time of Christ's second coming. At this time we will be resurrected and our spirits and bodies will be reunited forever. This is also taught in Alma chapter 40 in verse 23 which reads "The ^asoul shall be ^brestored to the ^cbody, and the body to the soul; yea, and every limb and joint shall be restored to its body; yea, even a ^dhair of the head shall not be lost; but all things shall be restored to their proper and ^eperfect frame." After the resurrection we will all come before our Savior and be judged according to our faithfulness to the gospel. To gain eternal life we must do all the things necessary to live the gospel. When we are judged we will be placed into one of three Kingdoms of Heaven.  In 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verses 40-42 it reads, "^aThere are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the ^bcelestial is one, and the glory of the ^cterrestrial is another. There is one glory of the ^asun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the ^bstars: for one star ^cdiffereth from another star in ^dglory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in ^acorruption; it is raised in incorruption:" So if we have lived completely righteous we will be put in the Celestial Kingdom where Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live. There we can live eternally with our families. The Terrestrial is for people who didn't live as good as they could have. There is a third Kindgdom called the Telestial. This is a place for the unrepentant. All these places are considered heaven, but only in the Celestial can we live with God forever with our families. I know that the way we get there is through the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is Christ's Church restored on the earth today.

Plan of Salvation Part 1

Alright so today I want to blog about something that I have been teaching for the past 10 months or so, the Plan of Salvation. This plan is something that has got me through a lot in my life. It helps me understand why I am here on earth, what my relationship with God is, and what is going to happen after I die. These things troubled me a lot through my teenage years. I was always wondering what the point was to obey God's commandments and death always scared me a little bit.

So this what it is all about.....We lived with God before this life as his spirit children. He created a plan for us to come down to earth and get a physical body. Basically we needed a place to go out of God's presence to be tried and tested in mortality. So ofcourse he created the earth for us to live on. He then created Adam and Eve as the first people on earth. They lived in the Garden of Eden in a state of innocence. Eve was beguiled by the serpent as it says in Genisis 3:13 and ate the forbidden fruit. Adam also partook of the fruit and this is called the Fall. As a result of them eating the fruit they were cast out of the Garden and into world to experience things in mortality out of God's presence. Now they could have children and bring Heavely Father's spirit children to earth. Also, because of this fall all of us are mortal, so we all sin and will eventually die. To overcome this Heavenly Father sent his son. In John 3:16-17 it reads "For ^aGod so ^bloved the ^cworld, that he ^dgave his ^eonly begotten ^fSon, that whosoever ^gbelieveth in him should not perish, but have ^heverlasting ⁱlife. For God ^asent not his Son into the world to ^bcondemn the world; but that the world through him might be ^csaved." So through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we can be saved. He overcame physical death for us by his resurrection and suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane and died on the cross for our sins. Jesus Christ suffered for our sins and pains and our purpose in this life is to except that. Then we must have faith in him and excercise that faith. We need to be obedient to his commandments. We also need to get baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God. If we do these things we can live with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ for eternity in our families. I know that Jesus Christ performed the Atonement out of love for us. Tune in to my next blog to find out what happens after this life if we accept Jesus Christ or if we don't!