Lessons on the Plan of Salvation
Lesson No. Three

The Divine Pattern for Teaching the Gospel

Creation, Fall, and Atonement – The plan of salvation is founded on three fundamental doctrines - the creation, the fall, and the atonement.  Elder Bruce R. McConkie taught: 

"God himself, the Father of us all, ordained and established a plan of salvation whereby his spirit children might advance and progress and become like him. It is the gospel of God, the plan of Eternal Elohim, the system that saves and exalts, and it consists of three things. These three are the very pillars of eternity itself. They are the most important events that ever have or will occur in all eternity. They are the Creation, the Fall, and the Atonement.

"Before we can even begin to understand [the plan of salvation] we must know how and in what manner these three eternal verities—the Creation, the Fall, and the Atonement—are inseparably woven together to form one plan of salvation. No one of them stands alone; each of them ties into the other two; and without a knowledge of all of them, it is not possible to know the truth about any one of them…. The Creation is the father of the Fall, and the Fall made possible the Atonement, and that salvation itself comes because of the Atonement….

“Thus, man is created in such a way that he can fall.  He falls and brings mortality and procreation and death into being so that he can be redeemed by the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ.  And he is ransomed from the temporal and spiritual death brought into the world by the Fall of Adam so that he can have immortality and eternal life.  The Creation, the Fall, and the Atonement are bound together as one” (Christ and the Creation, Ensign, June 1982, p. 9).

The most effective way to teach the gospel is to teach the doctrines of the creation, the fall, and the atonement and then invite those we teach to keep the commandments – Following this divine pattern gives people a reason to keep the commandments.  The more we know about the plan of salvation the greater our incentive to keep the commandments.  (See Alma 12:32)

Book of Mormon prophets follow the divine pattern – Ammon followed this pattern as he taught king Lamoni:  “Now when Ammon had said these words, he began at the creation of the world, and also the creation of Adam, and told him all the things concerning the fall of man….But this is not all; for he expounded unto them the plan of redemption, which was prepared from the foundation of the world; and he also made known unto them concerning the coming of Christ.”  Ammon also invited Lamoni and his servants to keep the commandments as he “expounded unto them all the records and scriptures…” (Alma 18:36-39).

Aaron taught Lamoni's father using the same pattern:  Aaron “began from the creation of Adam…how God created man after his own image, and that God gave him commandments, and that because of transgression, man had fallen…. And since man had fallen he could not merit anything of himself; but the sufferings and death of Christ atone for their sins” (Alma 22:12-14).

The king’s heart was touched and he asked, “What shall I do that I may have this eternal life of which thou hast spoken?” Aaron responded, “if thou wilt repent of all thy sins, and will bow down before God, and call on his name in faith, believing that ye shall receive, then shalt thou receive the hope which thou desirest” (Alma 22:15-16)

Missionaries follow the divine pattern – In Preach My Gospel: A Guide to Missionary Service – Lesson 2:  The Plan of Salvation – Missionaries teach their investigators the plan of salvation.  They follow the divine pattern and teach the doctrine of the creation, the fall, and the atonement.  They then invite their investigators to make commitments and keep commandments.

The temple endowment follows the divine pattern – In the temple we are taught of the creation, the fall, and the atonement, and there we learn more about the plan of salvation than anywhere else and in ways that we can only learn in the temple. 

Testimony – We should regularly study the plan of salvation as set forth in the scriptures, particularly the Book of Mormon, and as taught by living prophets.  We should attend the temple often because there we learn more about the plan of salvation.  Remember that the more we learn about the plan of salvation the greater will be our determination to keep the commandments.