Plan of Salvation

The term, "plan of salvation" is used to refer to a few different ideas.

First, we have the general idea that we die and sin, and, as such, we lack the immortality and purity that is characteristic of God, our father, and these create a barrier we cannot overcome both to returning to be with him, as well as to be like him. The Plan of Salvation is the overall idea, that a savior, Jesus Christ, was provided for us to overcome these obstacles, by overcoming death so that we could all be resurrected, and by taking our sins him, providing us a method to clean ourselves of our sins by exercising faith in him. (Exercising faith, being a term which encompasses, generically, believing in him in a manner that motivates us to follow him, and do what he asks of us. Thus it covers repentance, obedience to commandments, and doing anything else he might teach us to help us become like him.)

Second, we have a kind of lifecycle of an intelligence, or lifecycle of a spirit. It should be obvious that this is related to the first meaning of the plan of salvation.

  1. As intelligences, we get a spirit body.
  2. As spirit children, we receive bodies when we are born into this world.
  3. When we die, our spirits and our bodies separate again, with our bodies rotting, and our spirits going to a spirit world.
  4. Our spirits receive bodies again in the process called resurrection.
  5. We are judged, assigning us to one of the kingdoms.
  6. We continue to live in our final state in the kingdom where we ended up.

Third, we see this term applied to the process we go through during our lives to qualify for salvation. This is a sort of ideal process described for people who live to be able to choose to take each step. This is also related to the first definition of the Plan of Salvation.

  1. Baptism
  2. The Gift of the Holy Ghost (frequently done immediately after baptism)
  3. Receiving the Priesthood (for men)
  4. Initiatory and Endowment
  5. Marriage in the temple (often done immediately after endowment)
  6. Endure to the end

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