2nd Article of Faith

[pam]

There have been many investigators using this website to get some basic doctrinal information about the Church. Each week I will post the an Article of Faith so that the discussion of each can be done. Keep in mind..this is based on LDS doctrine and debating of that will not be tolerated.

We believe that men will be punished for their own sins and not for Adam's transgression.

[PapilioMemnon]

The 2nd Article of Faith is based on our belief that each person is accountable for his/her own choices; we have been given the ability to make choices, and have to be responsible for them.

No, Adam is not to blame for the poor choices I've made in my life!!! and it's my privilege to make another choice which is to repent, and choose the right!

Agency, the ability to choose for ourselves, is a gift from God, that allows us to be agents unto ourselves, act, and not be acted upon; freedom of choice is an essential tool that helps us progress according to our choices (2 Nephi 2 2 Nephi 2).

D&C 58

26 For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward.

27 Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;

28 For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward.

D&C 101

78 That every man may act in doctrine and principle pertaining to futurity, according to the moral agency which I have given unto him, that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgment.

LDS.org - Topic Definition - Agency

Agency - Topical Guide: Agency

Agency is the ability and privilege God gives us to choose and to act for ourselves. Agency is essential in the plan of salvation. Without it, we would not be able to learn or progress or follow the Savior. With it, we are "free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil" (2 Nephi 2:27).

God's children have power to choose; they had this ability even before they were born. In the premortal life, Heavenly Father presented His plan, which included the principle of agency. Lucifer rebelled and "sought to destroy the agency of man" (Moses 4:3). As a result, Lucifer and all those who followed him were denied the privilege of receiving a mortal body. All who have been or will be born on earth chose to follow Heavenly Father's plan.

In this life, people continue to have agency; even if their personal freedoms are restricted or taken away, they can choose how to feel and react. Their use of their agency determines their happiness or misery in this life and in the life to come. People are free to choose and act but are not free to choose the consequences of their actions. The consequences may not be immediate, but they will always follow. Choices of good and righteousness lead to happiness, peace, and eternal life, while choices of sin and evil eventually lead to heartache and misery.

See also Obedience; Plan of Salvation; Temptation

—See True to the Faith (2004), 12–13

Accountability - Topical Guide: Accountability

[utcowboy]

Thank you ladies, I hope you know how much your service is appreciated!

[HiJolly]

I find it interesting that even though we know that no one will be punished for Adam's transgression, nevertheless we are all born subject to the 'natural man', to differing extents.

So even though we teach that the Catholic doctrine of "original sin" is false, with all it implies, yet we believe something akin to it, in that we all sin; and that we all have the inner disposition to sin, which we call the 'natural man'.

...which we lose or "put down" through the process of being born again. Love the Book of Mormon on this topic!

HiJolly

[Hemidakota]

Some help... Pearl of Great Price Student Manual

[Justice]

Yes, HiJolly, I think people of today are much like the people of Ammonihah.

After Alma made Nephihah chief judge so he could devote his time to set the church in order, he went from town to town preaching and calling the people to repentance. In Ammonihah, Alma said something of the people that reminds me so much of religions today.

When Alma entered the city the people knew who he was and threw him out of the city claiming not to believe in the "foolish traditions" of the church. The Lord told him to go back to the city and preach repentance. He went around to the south entrance of the city and tried again, where he me Amulek.

The people started to argue and contend with him over doctrinal issues and they called on and paid the lawyers, who were wise in the ways of the people, to trap Alma in his words.

Alma 9:

3: Now they understood not the words which they spake..."

This is a very interesting comment. Many people of different churches today fall in this same category. Often we have conversations with people about points of doctrine and they use the same words we use when we teach, but they understand them very differently.

For instance:

We believe in God the Eternal Father, and in His Son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.

How many different beliefs are there in this, the most simple and basic claim of Christianity?

What about:

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

It's amazing how many different people all claim to believe these words yet understand them so differently.

Here is perhaps the most widely misunderstood statement:

We are saved by grace.

So, Alma's words ring true today as well, and since the Book of Mormon was written for our day, it makes sense.

On a side note, I have recently changed the way I teach those who say, "all we have to do to be saved is believe in Jesus Christ." I used to say that wasn't true, and try to teach how we must also keep His commandments. But, I recently realized that you cannot claim to believe in Jesus Christ and not at least try to keep His commandments.

John 14:

15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

Christ answered a direct question about what the greatest commandment was by saying that thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, mind, and strength, and that the second was like unto it, that thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

John 14:

21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

John 15:

12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

John 13:

35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

Very powerful teaching from the Master Himself. To make it even more clear, someone even questioned Christ what He meant by "neighbor." He responded with a story called the Good Samaritan. Interestingly enough, this story does not answer the question with a simple "everyone," it answers it by showing that we can treat everyone with love, even our enemies.

Edited July 1, 2008 by Justice