Lessons on the Plan of Salvation
Lesson No. Twenty-Four
Counsel to My Grandchildren: You Passed the Mid-Term Now It’s the Final
Agency and accountability in the premortal existence – Like in this life, as we grew in our pre-earth life we became accountable. This is because we knew and could chose between good and evil. (See D&C 29:35-36)
President Joseph Fielding Smith taught: “The spirits of men…had an equal start, and we know they were all innocent in the beginning; but the right of free agency which was given to them enabled some to outstrip others, and thus, through the eons of pre-mortal existence, to become more intelligent, more faithful, for they were free to act for themselves, to think for themselves, to receive the truth or rebel against it.”
Elder Bruce R. McConkie explained: “We lived in the premortal life with our Heavenly Father for an infinite period of time. We were on probation; we were being schooled and tested and examined; we were given the laws and the circumstances so that we could progress and advance….along the course leading to exaltation. In the premortal existence we developed various capacities and talents. Some developed them in some fields and some in another. The most important of all fields was the field of spirituality, the ability, the talent to recognize truth.”
The midterm test – President Joseph Fielding Smith taught that “men could and did in many instances, sin before they were born…God gave his children their agency even in the spirit world, by which the individual spirits had the privilege, just as men have here, of choosing the good and rejecting the evil, or partaking of the evil to suffer the consequences of their sins…some even there were more faithful than others in keeping the commandments of the Lord.” (The above quotations from Joseph Fielding Smith and Bruce R. McConkie are from The New Testament Student Manual, Life and Times of Jesus and His Apostles, pp.336-37).
Because of we had agency and were accountable in our pre-earth existence not only could we sin but we could also have faith in our Savior, repent, be forgiven, and progress during that period of our existence. This could be likened to a midterm test.
You scored high on the midterm and were well prepared for the final – One-third of the spirit children of God, students as it were, failed the midterm and were removed from the course. However, you were “called and prepared…on account of [your] exceeding faith and good works.” In the pre-earth existence you could “choose good or evil; therefore [you] having chosen good and exercising exceedingly great faith, were called with a holy calling, yea, with that holy calling which was prepared with, and according to, a preparatory redemption” (Alma 13:4). This is the doctrine of election.
The doctrine of election “has reference to one’s situation in mortality; that is, being born at a time, at a place, and in circumstances where one will come in to favorable contact with the gospel. This election took place in the premortal existence” (Bible Dictionary, Election, p 663). Because you were righteous then and had “exceedingly great faith” in the atonement of the Lord you earned the blessing of being born in a family where you would have the gospel.
You have started your final test; if you did it once you can do it again – In the pre-existence you developed your personality and many gifts and talents. The most important of these was your spiritual capacity and strength. You got an A on the mid-term, you can get an A on the final (an A- will not do). You brought all these gifts and talents with you when you were born. You are spiritually strong and well prepared. You did it once before, and you can do it again. If you do so “you will have glory added upon your head forever” (Abraham 3:26).