Agency

There are two principles of prime importance in the plan of salvation, that of free agency and the role of our Savior, who atoned for our sins. Free agency is an essential component in the plan of salvation and is of utmost importance to our Heavenly Father as it is an inherent component of the nature of God.

As we know, in the beginning before we came to earth, we lived with our Heavenly parents. Our Father in Heaven presented a plan of salvation wherein we would come to earth to learn from our experiences here. We would be given the agency to choose whether we would follow God's commandments or not. Because we would at times make the wrong choice, He would provide a Savior for us, Jesus Christ. Through Jesus Christ, we could return to God's presence. Allowing us our agency meant that some may not choose to return to God's presence. Satan proposed his own plan. He said he would save us all, that none would be lost. This plan was rejected and Satan and those who chose to follow him were cast out. 

We learn a lot from this experience in our premortal life. I would like to read a quote from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' website:

"The premortal Council in Heaven is an excellent case study that demonstrates the character of God. There our Heavenly Father presented His plan for our eternal progression. Key elements of that plan included agency, obedience, and salvation through the Atonement of Christ. Lucifer, however, proposed a different approach. He guaranteed that all would obey--none would be lost. The only way to accomplish this would be through tyranny and force. But our loving Heavenly Father would not permit such a plan. He valued the agency of His children. He knew that we must make mistakes along the way if we are to truly learn. And that is why He provided a Savior, whose eternal sacrifice could cleanse us of sin and permit our entry back into the kingdom of God. 

"When our Father in Heaven saw that many of His beloved children were seduced by Lucifer, did He force them to follow His plan? Did he intimidate or threaten those who were making such a terrible choice? No. Our all-powerful God could surely have stopped this rebellion. He could have forced His will upon the dissenters and made them comply. But instead, He allowed His children to choose for themselves."

I think this is very interesting to consider that even in this most crucial decision of such eternal consequence, the Lord would still not force His children to choose Him. Thus we see that our Heavenly Father values our agency and how important the principle to choose for ourselves truly is. Why is it so crucial? Heavenly Father's plan could not be accomplished without it.

I recently read another take on Satan's plan. It proposed that while Satan may have thought to force us to comply, to force us to be saved, that really was an impossible feat. To quote Jeffery M. Bradshaw: "the principle of agency is part of humankind's eternal nature and continues to operate even in the most coercive situations imaginable." (https://interpreterfoundation.org/what-was-the-nature-of-satans-premortal-proposal/) 

The desire for agency, freedom of choice, lies deep within our hearts. Wars have been fought, countries created, all over man's desire for freedom. Look at Christians in China, who despite laws against practicing their religion, still meet in secret; despite Bibles being forbidden, find ways to obtain even just pages of God's word and will memorize it to keep it in their hearts. It truly would be impossible to force all to salvation or subject them against their will. Jeffery M. Bradshaw states that more likely what Satan was proposing to do, his ultimate plan to save all of God's children, was not to force people to choose to be saved, but rather to save them no matter what they chose. Thus Satan's plan was to save them in their sins. This is in stark contrast to God's plan which would save us from our sins. That is a very important preposition, in our sins vs. from our sins, and makes a huge difference in the plan and what it can accomplish. In Satan's plan, if we were saved in our sins, then it would also frustrate the purpose of agency in transforming us.

I don't know if you've ever been in a situation where you had two choices and neither one really affected the outcome, so in effect, it really didn't matter what you chose. In such a situation, however, there was no responsibility, there was no learning to be gained by making that choice either way. That is in effect how Satan's plan would operate if we were to be saved in our sins, meaning, we all could do what we like. Choosing to follow God's law or not to follow God's law wouldn't affect the outcome as all would be saved. There is no growth in such a plan.

God's plan is the opposite. He knew the importance of our agency. God knew that we had to experience opposition in all things. In 2 Nephi 2:11 we read, "For it must needs be that there is an opposition in all things. If not...righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad." To know the good and to do good, we had to become acquainted with evil and make mistakes. Even Satan as he tempted Eve understood that to become like God, we must know good and evil. We all have had to partake of the tree of knowledge of good and evil in this mortal life. However, this knowledge is essential. God knew that we would learn from our mistakes and that the process of turning our hearts to Him, of repenting for those mistakes, of having faith in our Savior to heal us, has the power to transform us.

There are two other laws that Satan's plan ignored, the laws of justice and the law of mercy. These laws are eternal, divine laws within which God operates and must operate to be God. To deny either law would not only make God cease to be God, but would frustrate the plan of happiness which is designed to help us become like God.

Both laws center around agency. The law of justice allows us to choose but requires that we receive the consequences of those choices. Through the law of justice, we are blessed for good choices and punished for sin. As all will sin, the law of mercy allows a Savior to step in, to suffer for our sins, to share of His perfection with us, that we may be saved through His mercy without denying the law of justice. The law of mercy does however require our agency as well. Mercy can only be applied on our behalf as we choose to accept Christ as our Savior, as we choose to accept His sacrifice, as we choose to exercise faith in Him and repent, and as we choose to allow His atonement to work within us and change us.

So Satan's plan, though certainly evil and rebellious, was also utterly ineffectual. You see God doesn't just want us to conform to a certain set of behaviors. As C.S. Lewis wrote: "We might think that God wanted simply obedience to a set of rules; whereas He really wants people of a particular sort." As President Uchtdorf stated, "He wants to change more than just our behaviors. He wants to change our very natures. He wants to change our hearts." God wants us to become like Him.

Only God's plan has the power to change our very natures. Force or compulsion, the lack of accountability or consequence, does not have the power to change our natures. Thus Satan's plan was rejected. Not only because of his rebellion, his pride, his desire to frustrate the plan of God and to seek his own glory, but simply because his plan could not make of us what God desires for us to become. In fact it denied the laws by which God must operate, and by which we must operate to become like Him.

Satan claimed he could save us all, but save us to what? We are taught that no unclean thing can stand in the presence of God. Certainly Satan's plan would not cleanse us of sin, and thus ultimately, no matter how hard we might try, we would ultimately remain unclean before our Father and unable to live in His presence. His denial of the eternal laws of justice and mercy would not allow us to become like our Heavenly Parents. So what would we be saved to? Definitely not what we desire and what our Father in Heaven desires. And that is to return to His presence, to live with Him, to have our hearts and our very natures changed, from fallen man to glorious eternal beings who have the ability to progress until we become like our Heavenly Parents. That is the purpose of God's plan and that can only be achieved through our divine agency and the gift of our Savior.

With that perspective, we can gain greater insight into the trials and hardships we all must face during this life. If we have come to earth to gain knowledge of good and evil, a necessary knowledge if we are to become like God, then we can find purpose in all that we suffer, both as a result of our poor choices and that of others, as well as just the conditions of living in a mortal body in a fallen world. 

Elder Orson F. Whitney said: "No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted...All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable...It is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire."

I love that so much. Elder Wakolo in his conference talk in April 2021 stated, "I will no longer refer to my challenges as trials and tribulations but as my learning experiences...I will no longer refer to my shortcomings and lack of abilities as weaknesses but rather as my development opportunities." I think that is a wonderful perspective to have. It helps us remember that these things will give us experience and are meant for our growth and ultimate good. It reminds us to show ourselves some compassion as we navigate this road back to our heavenly home.

In his talk, "Light Cleaveth unto Light," Elder Dyches says, "Life presents challenges and setbacks, and we all must face some dark days and storms. Through it all, if we 'let God prevail in our lives' the light of the Holy Ghost will reveal that there is purpose and meaning in our trials, that they will ultimately transform us into better, more complete individuals with a firmer faith and brighter hope in Christ, knowing that God was there with us in our dark days all along. As President Russell M. Nelson has counseled, 'The increasing darkness that accompanies tribulation makes the light of Jesus Christ shine ever brighter.'"

I am so grateful for the principle of agency. I am so grateful for the plan of our Heavenly Father that provides the way for us to become like Him. I am profoundly grateful for my Savior who is the way and who provided the Atonement whereby mercy could satisfy justice on our behalf. I'm grateful for the opportunity to know good because we have known sin and to know joy because we have known sorrow. I'm grateful to know that all these things shall be for our good and enable us to become like our Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother so that we can return to Their presence and receive all that They desire to give us.