Lesson 2

What is the plan of salvation?

Heavenly Father prepared a plan to enable us to become like Him. The plan includes the Creation, the Fall, the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and all the laws, ordinances, and doctrines of the gospel. This plan allows us to be perfected through the Atonement, receive a fulness of joy, and live forever in the presence of God.

Female soldier

As a teacher, prepare yourself spiritually

It is important not to let this lesson bog down in speculation about the premortal life, the afterlife, or the degrees of glory. Give a general outline and framework of the plan of salvation. The later lesson on the Atonement will add much to the subject of salvation.

How has knowing about Heavenly Father’s plan influenced your choices and your perspective in life? What aspects of the plan of salvation do you want to learn more about? Why is a correct understanding of the plan of salvation important? How can understanding the plan of salvation help service members grow spiritually and be better prepared for their service?

Prayerfully study the following scriptures and resources. Other resources may be included later in the outline as well. Use what you feel inspired to share with the service members.

• Jeremiah 1:5 (Our premortal relationship with God)

• 1 Corinthians 15:39–42 (Degrees of glory)

• 1 Corinthians 15:20–22 (All men will die, and all will be resurrected)

• Hebrews 12:9 (God is the Father of our spirits)

• 1 Peter 3:18–20; 4:6 (Christ visits the spirit world)

• Revelation 20:12–13; Alma 5:15–21; Alma 11:41–45 (All will be resurrected with a perfect body and live forever; we will stand before God to be judged)

• 2 Nephi 2:22–25 (The Fall of Adam brought about mortality)

• 2 Nephi 2:27 (Agency is essential to the plan)

• Alma 34:32–33 (This life is the time to repent and prepare to meet God)

• Alma 40:11–14 (The state of human beings after they die)

• D&C 76:30–113 (Description of the kingdoms of glory)

• Abraham 3:22–25 (We come to earth to gain a body and to be tested)

• Thomas S. Monson, “The Race of Life,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2012, 90–93

• Dean M. Davies, “A Sure Foundation,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2013, 9–11

• “Plan of Salvation,” True to the Faith (2004), 115–17

• Boyd K. Packer, “The Great Plan of Happiness,” New Testament Seminary Teacher Resource Manual (1999), 279–82

• Videos: “Men’s Hearts Shall Fail Them”; “The Plan of Salvation”

Begin the learning experience

Use the following idea or think of your own to introduce this week’s lesson:

• Show or describe to the service members a blueprint or architectural plan. Why is it important to have a blueprint before beginning a building project? Invite a young man to read two paragraphs from Bishop Dean M. Davies’s talk “A Sure Foundation,” beginning with the phrase “Like the designers and builders of our time.” How is the plan of salvation like a blueprint for our lives?

Teaching tip

“Some of the best teaching moments start as a question or concern in the heart of a class member. However, if you seem too busy, too judgmental, or too focused on covering your prepared material, those you teach may not feel comfortable sharing their questions or concerns with you. Be willing to
set aside what you have planned, as prompted by the Spirit, and listen to class members’ concerns. Let them know through your words and actions that you are eager to hear them” (Teaching in the Savior’s Way [2016], 16).

Teaching in the Savior’s way

“Revelation often comes ‘line upon line’ (2 Nephi 28:30), not all at once. So it is best to begin preparing to teach at least a week in advance. As you ponder how the gospel principles you are teaching will bless your class members, ideas and impressions will come throughout your daily life—as you travel to work, do household chores, or interact with family and friends. Don’t think of spiritual preparation as something you make time for but as something you are always doing” (Teaching in the Savior’s Way, 12).

Learn together

Each of the following activities will help the service members understand the plan of salvation. Follow the inspiration of the Spirit as you select one or more of the activities that will work best for your group.

• Assign each service member one or more of the scripture passages in this outline. Ask each to read the passage to determine what part of the plan of salvation the passage teaches about. Invite them to share what they learned. How does knowing about the plan of salvation affect the way we see ourselves? others? the world around us?

• A diagram such as the one on the following page can be used to teach the plan of salvation. Draw this diagram on the board, and use arrows to indicate our progression through the stages of our existence. Show the video “The Plan of Salvation” to generate discussion and to illustrate principles of moral choice, life,
and death. Prayerfully choose
scriptures to share with the class, and help them discover the
elements of the plan.

plan of salvation

• A bridge can be a simple yet effective way to review the plan of salvation in a way that shows how Heavenly Father helps us through mortality. Draw the diagram of the bridge (see the following page) on the board or on a poster. Leave the labels off and write them in as you study the scriptures with your students. Show students the bridge, and ask, What purpose does a bridge serve that a road alone cannot? (It helps you cross a canyon or gap.) Read Abraham 3:22 with your students and help them understand where we were before we came to earth. Then read Moses 1:39 to help them understand where Heavenly Father wants to take us. (Immortality means to live forever as resurrected beings; eternal life means to be with God and be like Him; see the sections “Premortal Existence,” “Spiritual Creation,” and “Agency” in Boyd K. Packer, “The Great Plan of Happiness”). Write Everyone at the left end of the bridge and Eternal Life, with its definition, on the right.

three pillars that help us return to God

• Why were we encouraged to leave heaven and come to this earth? What gaps (what differences) existed between Heavenly Father and us when we lived with Him as His spirit children? Help students discover that although we lived with Heavenly Father and were His children, in many ways we were not yet like Him (see 3 Nephi 12:48; D&C 76:70; 88:41; 130:22; “Premortal Existence” in Boyd K. Packer’s talk). Tell students that the pillars supporting the bridge represent what Heavenly Father has done to help us become like Him, and the road on top of the pillars represents what we must do. Have your students read Abraham 3:24–27 to find what Heavenly Father did for us; then discuss why that was necessary (see “Physical Creation” in Boyd K. Packer’s talk). Write The Creation on the first pillar.

• Invite the students to think about what the second pillar represents. After the physical creation of the earth, what part did Adam and Eve play to prepare the way for us to become more like Heavenly Father? (see 2 Nephi 2:22–25; “The Fall and Mortality” in Boyd K. Packer’s talk). Write The Fall on the second pillar and discuss briefly how the Fall brought opposition, sin, and death into the world.

• Ask, What would happen to us physically and spiritually if everything remained in a fallen condition? Read 2 Nephi 9:6–10 and discuss what God did to help us overcome the effects of the Fall (see “The Atonement” in Boyd K. Packer’s talk). Invite students to identify the third pillar, and write The Atonement of Jesus Christ.

• Why can Jesus Christ promise to redeem us from our sins? On what conditions can we be forgiven of our sins and bring about the plan of redemption in our lives? (see Alma 42:9–15).

• Have students read Helaman 14:15–17, and ask, What blessings of the Atonement are given to all mankind regardless of how they live? (The Resurrection and being brought back into God’s presence for judgment.) There are other blessings that are given only to those who earnestly seek them and live by the gospel. Have students read Articles of Faith 1:3–4 and list the first things God requires us to do to be forgiven of our sins and to be perfected (see also “The Mission of the Church and the Principles and Ordinances of the Gospel” in Boyd K. Packer’s talk). Finish labeling the bridge as it appears in the diagram. Discuss with students how understanding the plan of salvation can help them know why we are commanded to do some things and forbidden to do others.

• As a group read Alma 12:30 and Alma 42:13–15. Invite the service members to look for the phrases that are used to describe the plan of salvation. What do these phrases teach about the plan? Show the video “Men’s Hearts Shall Fail Them,” and ask the group to look for how knowledge of the plan of salvation blessed Elder Russell M. Nelson. Invite service members to share ways this knowledge has blessed them.

Ask the service members to share what they learned today. What feelings or impressions do they have? Do they understand the plan of salvation? Do they have any additional questions? Would it be worthwhile to spend more time on this topic?

Invite to act

Invite the service members to share their testimony of and gratitude for the plan of salvation. Share your own testimony about the plan of happiness and how it has influenced your life.