Lessons on the Book of Mormon 2020
Lesson No. Twenty-Two
To Overcome Any Personal Prejudice Know and Believe In the Plan of Salvation
President Russell M. Nelson has called for us to rid our lives of all prejudice, and to teach our children to do the same – “The Creator of us all calls on each of us to abandon attitudes of prejudice against any group of God’s children. Any of us who has prejudice toward another race needs to repent!” (Church News, June 1, 2020).
A week later, on June 8, 2020, President Nelson and the leaders of the NAACP issued a joint statement which read in part: “Prejudice, hate and discrimination are learned. Thus, we call on parents, family members, and teachers to be the first line of defense. Teaching children to love all, and find the good in others, is more crucial than ever.”
The most effective way for us and our children to overcome prejudice or any other moral challenge is to understand the plan of salvation which is best learned from the Book of Mormon.
The fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man is central to the plan of salvation – “All human beings – male and female – are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny….In the premortal realm, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshipped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which his children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize their divine destiny as heirs of eternal life” (The Family – A Proclamation to the World).
Understanding and accepting this doctrine will replace prejudice with love for all of God’s children.
Teaching the plan of salvation has a more powerful effect on behavior than anything else – “Now as the preaching of the word had a tendency to lead the people to do that which was just – yea, it had had a more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else, which had happened unto them – therefore Alma thought it was expedient that they should try the virtue of the word of God” (Alma 31:5; a definition of “virtue” is power). Elder Boyd K. Packer further explained:
“True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior. The study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior.” This is far more effective in changing behavior than the study of history, sociology or psychology, for example.
Elder Packer also taught that knowing the plan of salvation will expose the cunning, snares, and wiles of the devil and lead us to Christ: “Most of the difficult questions we face in the Church right now…cannot be answered without some knowledge of the Plan as a background.” He specifically mentioned abortion, but he could have included role and gender issues, same sex marriage, the abandonment of traditional marriage and families, secularism and the threat to religious freedom, discrimination, and prejudice.
The more we know about the plan of salvation the greater our incentive is to keep commandments – Effective parents begin to teach their children at a very early age about Heavenly Father and Jesus, and they are also taught basic commandments. In this way as children learn more about the plan of salvation they have a desire to keep the commandments.
Missionaries follow this pattern. As soon as a person accepts the belief that God has a plan for them they are invited to begin to keep commandments. Knowledge of the purpose of life gives them a reason to live the Word of Wisdom and the law of chastity, to attend church, and pay tithing.
In the temple we learn more about the plan of salvation than anywhere else, and at the same time we are put under covenant to keep the commandments. Understanding the doctrines of the temple is the greatest motivator of all to keep our covenants.
An Outline of The Plan of Salvation – When I served as president of the Kentucky Louisville Mission I prepared an Outline of the Plan of Salvation to help teach my missionaries the Plan. As I began teaching the Book of Mormon at BYU I expanded this outline. After I began serving in the temple I expanded it again. The final version of my outline is presented above.
Most of the scriptural references in this outline are to the Book of Mormon. This is because the plan of salvation is best learned from the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon teaches the plan of salvation, the plan of redemption, the plan of mercy, the plan of happiness, and the plan of restoration from beginning to end.