AGENCY or FREEDOM OF CHOICE

What is Agency?

Agency is the ability and freedom to choose good or evil. 

This is an eternal principle.  It has always existed throughout eternity with Heavenly Father and His children.

We are the sons and daughters of God the Father and have had our Free Agency to choose since we lived in the pre-existence or spirit world before coming here.

Jesus Christ and the Son of the Morning.

We had the choice in the spirit world to follow Jesus Christ, then known as Jehovah, and in Hebrew pronounced Yahweh, which refers to the God of Israel. 

He was the first born Son of God the Father.  (Since we are all sons and daughters of God, this makes Him our Elder Brother) 

In the King James Version of the Bible, Jehovah has been translated as Lord.  Today we know that Lord means Jesus Christ.

Another early born spirit son of God the Father was named the son of the Morning.  He was later known as Lucifer or the Devil.  (Unfortunately this also makes him our elder brother too.)

This title signifies son of light.  This meant that he was important and had authority and power in the spirit world.

Modern Revelations speaks of him here:

Doctrine and Covenants 76: 25-27

25 And this we saw also, and bear record, that an angel of God who was in authority in the presence of God, who rebelled against the Only Begotten Son whom the Father loved and who was in the bosom of the Father, was thrust down from the presence of God and the Son,

26 And was called Perdition, for the heavens wept over him for he was Lucifer, a son of the morning.

27 And we beheld, and lo, he is fallen! Is fallen, even a son of the morning!
Among others, one place in the Bible also speaks of him here:

Isaiah 14: 12

12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

Freedom of Choice or Agency.

We had our Freedom of Choice in the spirit world. 

We knew Heavenly Father’s Plan of Salvation there because it was explained to us. 

But there was rebellion and Lucifer and his followers were cast down to the earth and are now being used to tempt and test us here.

Moses 4: 1-4

1 And I, the Lord God, spake unto Moses, saying: That Satan, whom thou hast commanded in the name of mine Only Begotten, is the same which was from the beginning, and he came before me, saying—Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor.

2 But, behold, my Beloved Son, which was my Beloved and Chosen from the beginning, said unto me—Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever.

3 Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down;

4 And he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice.

While here on earth, it is essential that we learn to exercise our Free Agency and make choices throughout our life. 

This is our final test.

Four principles must be in place for us to use our Agency.

One, laws ordained by God must be in effect to be obeyed or disobeyed.

Two, there must be opposition in all things so we can choose from, like good and evil, right and wrong.

Three, by those who enjoy this Agency, knowledge of good and evil and the difference between the opposites must be known.  We inherit this from Adam and Eve partaking of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden.

Four, the unrestricted power of choice must exist.

Between 588-570 B.C., the Prophet Lehi, explaining to his children before he died, that they are free to choose between life and death.

See 2 Nephi 2: 26-30  

The Prophet Helaman tells us that because we are free to choose, whatever happens to us is because of ourselves and the choices we have made in this life.

See Helaman 14: 30-31

Once men are damned because of their choices, (Damned means that you cannot progress on in the eternities) no power of choice can alter their course and gain salvation. 

If they go into Hell, they still have their free agency but will not be able to use it to gain their lives back again.

The purpose of this life is to test men and see if they will take the bodies that are given them, and by choosing to use their agency to be righteous by following the word of God, and will make them fit abodes for the Spirit of God.

For further information, go to www.lds.org

Comment are welcome.



 

PART 2 - THE PROPHET NEPHI'S VISION

 

Chapter 13 of 1 Nephi describes Satan's setting up the Church of the Devil throughout the world. 

 

It is not a specific church, but the world itself, the society and wickedness of obtaining and worshiping of worldly things, in other words:  BABYLON.

 

1 NEPHI 13: 1-9

 

1 And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me, saying: Look! And I looked and beheld many nations and kingdoms. 

2 And the angel said unto me: What beholdest thou? And I said: I behold many nations and kingdoms.

 

3 And he said unto me: These are the nations and kingdoms of the Gentiles.

 

(Meaning nations and kingdoms that were NOT Jews.  That is what Gentiles are, people who are not Jews.)

 

4 And it came to pass that I saw among the nations of the Gentiles the formation of a great church.

 

5 And the angel said unto me: Behold the formation of a church which is most abominable above all other churches, which slayeth the saints of God, yea, and tortureth them and bindeth them down, and yoketh them with a yoke of iron, and bringeth them down into captivity.

 

6 And it came to pass that I beheld this great and abominable church; and I saw the devil that he was the founder of it.

 

7 And I also saw gold, and silver, and silks, and scarlets, and fine-twined linen, and all manner of precious clothing; and I saw many harlots.

 

8 And the angel spake unto me, saying: Behold the gold, and the silver, and the silks, and the scarlets, and the fine-twined linen, and the precious clothing, and the harlots, are the desires of this great and abominable church.

 

9 And also for the praise of the world do they destroy the saints of God, and bring them down into captivity.

This was done long before the discovery and colonizing of America.

Then Nephi see more things happening.

1 NEPHI 13: 10-19

10 And it came to pass that I looked and beheld many waters; and they (The Waters - Atlantic Ocean) divided the Gentiles from the seed of my brethren.

 

11 And it came to pass that the angel said unto me: Behold the wrath of God is upon the seed of thy brethren.

 

12 And I looked and beheld a man among the Gentiles, (Columbus) who was separated from the seed of my brethren by the many waters; and I beheld the Spirit of God, that it came down and wrought upon the man; and he went forth upon the many waters, even unto the seed of my brethren, who were in the promised land.

 

13 And it came to pass that I beheld the Spirit of God, that it wrought upon other Gentiles; and they went forth out of captivity, upon the many waters.  (The Pilgrims)

 

14 And it came to pass that I beheld many multitudes of the Gentiles upon the land of promise; and I beheld the wrath of God, that it was upon the seed of my brethren; and they were scattered before the Gentiles and were smitten.

 

(Nephi's seed were now the Indians or the Lamanites of old, who the Gentiles discovered and they scattered and killed them and eventually put them on reservations)

 

15 And I beheld the Spirit of the Lord, that it was upon the Gentiles, and they did prosper and obtain the land for their inheritance; and I beheld that they were white, and exceedingly fair and beautiful, like unto my people before they were slain.

 

16 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld that the Gentiles who had gone forth out of captivity did humble themselves before the Lord; and the power of the Lord was with them.

 

17 And I beheld that their mother Gentiles (England) were gathered together upon the waters, and upon the land also, to battle against them.

 

(The War of Independence)

 

18 And I beheld that the power of God was with them, and also that the wrath of God was upon all those that were gathered together against them to battle.

 

19 And I, Nephi, beheld that the Gentiles that had gone out of captivity were delivered by the power of God out of the hands of all other nations.

Now Nephi sees a book that the Gentiles bring with them.  It is the Bible.

1 NEPHI 13: 20-36

20 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld that they did prosper in the land; and I beheld a book, and it was carried forth among them. 

 

21 And the angel said unto me: Knowest thou the meaning of the book?

 

22 And I said unto him: I know not.

 

23 And he said: Behold it proceedeth out of the mouth of a Jew. And I, Nephi, beheld it; and he said unto me: The book that thou beholdest is a record of the Jews, (The Bible) which contains the covenants of the Lord, which he hath made unto the house of Israel; and it also containeth many of the prophecies of the holy prophets; and it is a record like unto the engravings which are upon the plates of brass, save there are not so many; nevertheless, they contain the covenants of the Lord, which he hath made unto the house of Israel; wherefore, they are of great worth unto the Gentiles.

 

24 And the angel of the Lord said unto me: Thou hast beheld that the book proceeded forth from the mouth of a Jew; and when it proceeded forth from the mouth of a Jew it contained the fulness of the gospel of the Lord, of whom the twelve apostles bear record; and they bear record according to the truth which is in the Lamb of God.

25 Wherefore, these things go forth from the Jews in purity unto the Gentiles, according to the truth which is in God.

 

26 And after they go forth by the hand of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, from the Jews unto the Gentiles, thou seest the formation of that great and abominable church, which is most abominable above all other churches; for behold, they have taken away from the gospel of the Lamb many parts which are plain and most precious; and also many covenants of the Lord have they taken away.

 

27 And all this have they done that they might pervert the right ways of the Lord, that they might blind the eyes and harden the hearts of the children of men.

 

28 Wherefore, thou seest that after the book hath gone forth through the hands of the great and abominable church, that there are many plain and precious things taken away from the book, which is the book of the Lamb of God.

 

29 And after these plain and precious things were taken away it goeth forth unto all the nations of the Gentiles; and after it goeth forth unto all the nations of the Gentiles, yea, even across the many waters which thou hast seen with the Gentiles which have gone forth out of captivity, thou seest—because of the many plain and precious things which have been taken out of the book, which were plain unto the understanding of the children of men, according to the plainness which is in the Lamb of God—because of these things which are taken away out of the gospel of the Lamb, an exceedingly great many do stumble, yea, insomuch that Satan hath great power over them.

 

30 Nevertheless, thou beholdest that the Gentiles who have gone forth out of captivity, and have been lifted up by the power of God above all other nations, upon the face of the land which is choice above all other lands, which is the land that the Lord God hath covenanted with thy father that his seed should have for the land of their inheritance; wherefore, thou seest that the Lord God will not suffer that the Gentiles will utterly destroy the mixture of thy seed, which are among thy brethren.

 

31 Neither will he suffer that the Gentiles shall destroy the seed of thy brethren.

 

32 Neither will the Lord God suffer that the Gentiles shall forever remain in that awful state of blindness, which thou beholdest they are in, because of the plain and most precious parts of the gospel of the Lamb which have been kept back by that abominable church, whose formation thou hast seen.

 

33 Wherefore saith the Lamb of God: I will be merciful unto the Gentiles, unto the visiting of the remnant of the house of Israel in great judgment.

 

34 And it came to pass that the angel of the Lord spake unto me, saying: Behold, saith the Lamb of God, after I have visited the remnant of the house of Israel—and this remnant of whom I speak is the seed of thy father—wherefore, after I have visited them in judgment, and smitten them by the hand of the Gentiles, and after the Gentiles do stumble exceedingly, because of the most plain and precious parts of the gospel of the Lamb which have been kept back by that abominable church, which is the mother of harlots, saith the Lamb—I will be merciful unto the Gentiles in that day, insomuch that I will bring forth unto them, in mine own power, much of my gospel, which shall be plain and precious, saith the Lamb.

 

(Speaking of The Book of Mormon, the book translated from the plates that Nephi and others were recording on and has the TRUTHS that were taken away from the Bible and is NOW being restored.)

 

35 For, behold, saith the Lamb: I will manifest myself unto thy seed, that they shall write many things which I shall minister unto them, which shall be plain and precious; and after thy seed (Nephi)shall be destroyed, and dwindle in unbelief, and also the seed of thy brethren, (Lamanites) behold, these things shall be hid up, to come forth unto the Gentiles, by the gift and power of the Lamb.

 

(Jesus Christ did this and appeared to them in this land after His resurrection and its recorded in 3 NEPHI)

 

(This is where the Prophet Joseph Smith comes into the picture and he Translates the Gold Plates into the Book of Mormon.)

 

36 And in them shall be written my gospel, saith the Lamb, and my rock and my salvation.

I will be continuing Nephi's Vision in Part 3.

For more information about the Book of Mormon, go to www.lds.org and click on scriptures.  Check out the whole site.