2 Nephi 2:26–30

Free to Choose

young men at a party

Throughout your life, you will be faced with choices. Some of the choices you make will have lasting, sometimes even eternal, consequences. Lehi taught that because of Jesus Christ, everyone is “free to choose liberty and eternal life” or “captivity and death” (2 Nephi 2:27). This lesson can help you to use your agency to follow Jesus Christ.

Knowing each learner’s circumstances. Every student has different experiences and relationships that influence how they think and feel about gospel truths. Seek to understand each student and their background. As you prepare and teach lessons, think about the variables that may affect how students react.

Student preparation: Invite students to read 2 Nephi 2:27 and to prayerfully consider which choices in their lives are helping them come closer to the Savior and receive the blessings He offers. Invite them also to consider any choices they may want to change.

Possible Learning Activities

Making choices

Write the following list on the board. Invite students to discuss in pairs, in small groups, or as a class.

Consider why different people may decide to do or not do the following:

• pray regularly

• attend church

• repent

• obey the Word of Wisdom

• forgive others

Contemplate your own reasons for choosing to do or not do these actions. Also consider other commandments included in the gospel of Jesus Christ. As you study this lesson, seek help from the Holy Ghost to understand how you are using your agency in ways the Lord approves of and how you may want to improve.

Free to choose

Toward the end of his life, the prophet Lehi taught his family about key parts of Heavenly Father’s plan of salvation. His teachings included the Fall, the Savior’s Atonement, and agency.

Read 2 Nephi 2:26, looking for what Lehi taught about these three parts.

• What did you learn?

  As students share, it may be useful to point out the phrase “they are redeemed from the fall” and ask what they remember about the Fall.

• How do the Fall and the Savior’s Atonement make it possible for us to have agency?

Read 2 Nephi 2:27. Draw a simple diagram to show what the verse teaches, or summarize it in your own words.

Invite students to share what they drew or how they summarized the verse. Students could share in pairs, in small groups, or as a class.

2 Nephi 2:27 is a doctrinal mastery passage. Consider marking doctrinal mastery passages in a distinctive way so you can locate them easily. You will have an opportunity in the next lesson to practice applying the doctrine taught in this passage to a question or situation.

Consider drawing a diagram on the board like the one illustrated below, or use a version that students created. Refer to the diagram as students answer the following questions. You could display the whole graphic at once, or you could show the top half first and then add the bottom half when discussing the third and fourth questions.

The following is one way to represent this verse:

Free to Choose diagram

One way you might summarize the Savior’s teaching in verse 27 is that we are free to choose liberty and eternal life through Jesus Christ or to choose captivity and death.

Notice that just above the box titled “Free to Choose,” the arrows begin close to each other. Some people might feel that exercising our agency to follow Jesus Christ limits our choices and actually takes away our freedom.

• Why might some people feel that following Jesus Christ restricts our freedom?

Notice how this diagram shows that as we follow Jesus Christ, the arrows open wider. In reality, following Jesus Christ grants us more choices and greater liberty.

• In what ways does following Jesus Christ lead to liberty?

Notice that on the other side of the diagram, the arrows begin far apart and then come closer together.

• Why might some people feel that disobeying Jesus Christ leads to freedom?

• How does choosing to disobey Jesus Christ lead to captivity?

Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles described why disobeying the Lord leads to less freedom:

Elder D. Todd Christofferson

Satan … promotes conduct and choices that limit our freedom to choose by replacing the influence of the Holy Spirit with his own domination (see D&C 29:40; 93:38–39). Yielding to his temptations leads to a narrower and narrower range of choices until none remains and to addictions that leave us powerless to resist. (D. Todd Christofferson, “Moral Agency,” Ensign, June 2009, 49)

To see an example of the truth you learned, consider watching “Leave the Party” (6:26), available at ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

Consider inviting students to share how this story illustrates the principle they identified.

Read 2 Nephi 2:28–30, and take a few minutes to ponder how you are choosing to exercise your agency.

Ponder your answers to the following questions:

• How are your choices to follow Jesus Christ leading you to liberty and eternal life? How is the Lord blessing you for your efforts?

• How might some of your choices be leading you to captivity? What can be your first step to change? How might the Lord help you?

Assure students that any poor choices they may have already made can be overcome through faith in Jesus Christ and repentance. Testify of the Savior, His Atonement, and His ability to strengthen us to make choices that will lead to happiness and eternal life. If prompted, it might be helpful to remind students that their bishop or branch president has keys of the priesthood to help anyone back onto the covenant path.

Commentary and Background Information

Why should I strive to make good choices if people around me make bad choices?

“You are responsible for the choices you make. God is mindful of you and will help you make good choices, even if your family and friends use their agency in ways that are not right. Have the moral courage to stand firm in obeying God’s will, even if you have to stand alone. As you do this, you set an example for others to follow.

“While you are free to choose your course of action, you are not free to choose the consequences. Whether for good or bad, consequences follow as a natural result of the choices you make” (For the Strength of Youth [booklet, 2011], 2).

Why is having agency and knowing how to use it so important to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ?

Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained:

Elder D. Todd Christofferson

Using our agency to choose God’s will, and not slackening even when the going gets hard, will not make us God’s puppet; it will make us like Him. God gave us agency, and Jesus showed us how to use it so that we could eventually learn what They know, do what They do, and become what They are. (D. Todd Christofferson, “Moral Agency,” Ensign, June 2009, 53)

Why does the Lord give us commandments and invite us to use our agency to keep them?

Elder Robert D. Hales (1932–2017) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles stated:

Elder Robert D. Hales

The commandments are not a burden or a restriction. Every commandment of the Lord is given for our development, progress, and growth. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught: “God has designed our happiness. … He never will institute an ordinance or give a commandment to His people that is not calculated in its nature to promote that happiness which He has designed” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith [1976], 256). (Robert D. Hales, “If Thou Wilt Enter into Life, Keep the Commandments,” Ensign, May 1996, 36)

Supplemental Learning Activities

2 Nephi 2:26–27. Jesus Christ can redeem the children of men

There may be students or people students know who are making choices that lead to captivity. Consider showing the video “Painted into a Corner” (3:41) to help students feel the hope that is possible through Jesus Christ. The video could be shown after students discuss how following Satan leads to captivity.

2 Nephi 2:27. Choose liberty and eternal life

The following activity can help students ponder the principle identified in the lesson and how they can apply it.

Invite students to make up a scenario about someone needing to change.

Consider asking questions like the following: What would you recommend this person do? What freedoms would these choices bring? How could this person seek help from the Savior? In what ways might the Savior help? How might Satan seek to discourage or prevent this person from changing? How might this person overcome Satan’s efforts?

After students finish, invite them to ponder on something in their life they may need to change. These same questions could be displayed for students to reflect on about themselves.