Difference between revisions of "Mortality"

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The meaning of mortality is commonly known as the time from birth until physical death. However, doctrine of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] teaches that mortality is much more than just the time from birth to death. It is a vital part of the [[Plan of salvation|Plan of Salvation]], which is God’s plan for His children.  
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[[image: Mormon-mom-baby.jpg|250px|right|alt=Mormon Mom and Baby| Mormon Mom and Baby]]'''Mortality''' is the time between birth and death. The word "mortality" has no meaning, however, unless there is such a thing as "immortality." The doctrines of [http://comeuntochrist.org The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints] teach that mortality is a vital part of the [[Plan of Salvation]], which is God’s plan for His children. Latter-day Saint doctrine teaches that God's desire is to prepare mankind to be exalted:
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:For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man ([https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/pgp/moses/1?lang=eng Moses 1:39]).
  
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Doctrine of the Church teaches that before we were born we lived as [[Pre-Mortal Life|spirits]] with God. While there we were able to grow and learn from our [[Heavenly Father]]. Heavenly Father knew that in order for us to grow and progress as much as we could, we would need to receive physical bodies, learn to [[Agency|choose]] between good and evil, and gain experience. So a plan that members refer to as either the Plan of Salvation or the Plan of Happiness was presented and put into action. The plan would mean that we would be born into mortality, forget or pre-mortal life, and have to live by [[faith]]. Heavenly Father knew that we would make mistakes so He sent His Only Begotten Son [[Jesus Christ]] to be our [[Savior]] and example. His [[Atonement of Jesus Christ|Atoning sacrifice]] made it possible for us to [[Repentance|repent]] and return to live with our Father in Heaven.
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The "Plan of Salvation" teaches that before we were born on earth, we lived as [[Pre-Mortal Life|spirits]] with God, and that God is the literal father of our spirits. God created the earth whereupon we would live through His son, [[Jesus Christ]]:
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:And there stood one among them [Jesus Christ] that was like unto God, and he said unto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell;
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:And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;
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:And they who keep their first estate [premortal life] shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate [life on earth] shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever ([https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/pgp/abr/3?lang=eng Abraham 3:24–26]).
  
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Not all of God's spirit children liked His plan. Another plan was presented by Lucifer, now known as [[Satan]]. His plan was contrary to the will of God and so Lucifer and his followers were cast out of Heaven and denied the opportunity to gain bodies. All who have been born or will be born accepted Heavenly Father’s plan and gained their second estate (or mortality).  
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One of the main purposes of mortality is the obtaining of a physical body. The passions and appetites of the physical body certainly provide a way through which men and women can be tested, but the body also provides power to act. A physical body is a great blessing. Love cannot be fully expressed without it. Through the physical body, family relationships can be formed, men and women can become co-creators with God by bearing and raising children, [[Ordinances|ordinances]] can be performed, and men and women can learn charity by providing for the poor, sick, and afflicted. Man's sojourn on this earth gives him experience, helps him to develop wisdom and compassion and faith.
  
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Lance B. Wickman described mortality in this manner:
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Another purpose of mortality is a deliberate separation from God. The restored gospel of Jesus Christ teaches that a "veil of forgetfulness" keeps people in mortality from remembering their premortal existence. Therefore, men must develop faith in order to retain and improve their connectedness to God, their Father. God does not leave men comfortless. Every person born on the earth brings with him the light of Christ, which behaves as a conscience, guiding the person to have a natural sense of right and wrong. Man is given his agency, his freedom of choice. The more righteous his choices, the greater the light that abides with him, and vice versa. God has given mankind prophets, scripture, personal prayer, and greatest of all, the gift of His Only Begotten Son, an infinite sacrifice to bridge the gap between man and God. Through the [[Atonement|atonement]] of Christ, men may leave this life prepared to meet God and inherit a portion of His glory.  
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:It is a proving ground, a probationary state, a time to walk by faith, a time to prepare to meet God ... It is in nurturing humility (see Alma 32:6–21) and submissiveness (see Mosiah 3:19) that we may comprehend a fullness of the intended mortal experience and put ourselves in a frame of mind and heart to receive the promptings of the Spirit. Reduced to their essence, humility and submissiveness are an expression of complete willingness to let the “why” questions go unanswered for now, or perhaps even to ask, “Why not?” It is in enduring well to the end ... that we achieve this life’s purposes. I believe that mortality’s supreme test is to face the “why” and then let it go, trusting humbly in the Lord’s promise that “all things must come to pass in their time” (D&C 64:32) (Lance B. Wickman, “But If Not,” ''Ensign'', Nov. 2002, 30).
 
  
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The things we must do in mortality are sometimes referred to as a divine mission. This mission is to learn the things that will help us gain characteristics that Heavenly Father has. Some of these things are to control our bodies, choose right over wrong, humility, obedience, kindness, love, charity and living by faith. If we learn these things and apply the principles of the Atonement we are prepared to return again to live with Heavenly Father.
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===The necessity of opposition===
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The only way the sons and daughters of God can exercise [[Agency|freedom of choice]] is if there is "opposition in all things."
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:And because of the intercession for all, all men come unto God; wherefore, they stand in the presence of him, to be judged of him according to the truth and holiness which is in him. Wherefore, the ends of the law which the Holy One hath given, unto the inflicting of the punishment which is affixed, which punishment that is affixed is in opposition to that of the happiness which is affixed, to answer the ends of the atonement—
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:For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, . . . righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.
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:And to bring about his eternal purposes in the end of man, after he had created our first parents, and the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and in fine, all things which are created, it must needs be that there was an opposition; even the forbidden fruit in opposition to the tree of life; the one being sweet and the other bitter [https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/2?lang=eng (2 Nephi 2:10–11, 15)].
  
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In comparison with the duration of eternity, mortality is a very brief time. Nevertheless, it is during mortality that we make the choices which will effect how we will spend the rest of eternity. In the words of Elder [[Joseph B. Wirthlin]] "Mortality is very brief but immeasurably important" (“The Time to Prepare,” ''Ensign'', May 1998, 14).
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There was opposition in the premortal world. The Lord knew that man would fall, so He prepared a Savior, Jesus Christ, to fulfill the earthly mission of atoning for our sins, and to live a life of perfect example for mankind to follow.  Lucifer, one of the first born of God's spirit children, railed against the plan. He offered to save every man by force, robbing man of his agency. Satan drew a third of the host of heaven after him.  At that point, the progress of Lucifer and his followers ended. They were denied bodies (and by inference, the possibility of resurrection) and cast out. All who have been born or will be born on earth accepted Heavenly Father’s plan and gained their second estate (or mortality). In mortality, Satan tempts man in an attempt to make him miserable, misery being separation from God.
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*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 (Isaiah 14:12)!
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*And was called Perdition, for the heavens wept over him—he was Lucifer, a son of the morning ([https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/76?lang=eng Doctrine and Covenants 76:26]).
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*. . . an angel of God, according to that which is written, had fallen from heaven; wherefore, he became a devil, having sought that which was evil before God.
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:And because he had fallen from heaven, and had become miserable forever, he sought also the misery of all mankind [https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/2?lang=eng (2 Nephi 2:17, 18)].
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===Mortality is a probationary state===
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[[Lance B. Wickman]] described mortality in this manner:
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:It is a proving ground, a probationary state, a time to walk by faith, a time to prepare to meet God. . . . It is in nurturing humility (see [https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/alma/32?lang=eng Alma 32:6–21]) and submissiveness (see [https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/mosiah/3?lang=eng Mosiah 3:19]) that we may comprehend a fullness of the intended mortal experience and put ourselves in a frame of mind and heart to receive the promptings of the Spirit. Reduced to their essence, humility and submissiveness are an expression of complete willingness to let the “why” questions go unanswered for now, or perhaps even to ask, “Why not?” It is in enduring well to the end . . . that we achieve this life’s purposes. I believe that mortality’s supreme test is to face the “why” and then let it go, trusting humbly in the Lord’s promise that “all things must come to pass in their time” ([https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/64?lang=eng Doctrine and Covenants 64:32]) (Lance B. Wickman, “But If Not,” ''Ensign'', Nov. 2002, 30).
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In comparison with the duration of eternity, mortality is a very brief time. Nevertheless, it is during mortality that we make the choices which will effect how we will spend the rest of eternity. In the words of Elder [[Joseph B. Wirthlin]] "Mortality is very brief but immeasurably important" (“The Time to Prepare,” ''Ensign'', May 1998, 14).
  
 
'''External Links:'''
 
'''External Links:'''
 
* [http://www.mormon.org/learn/0,8672,1120-1,00.html Why am I here on Earth?]
 
* [http://www.mormon.org/learn/0,8672,1120-1,00.html Why am I here on Earth?]
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* [http://lds.about.com/library/weekly/previousyears/aa030599.htm LDS Basics: Mortality]
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* [http://lds.about.com/library/weekly/previousyears/aa030599.htm The Basic Plan for Our Salvation]
 
[[Category: Plan of Salvation]]
 
[[Category: Plan of Salvation]]
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[[de:Sterblichkeit]]
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[[es:Mortalidad]]
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[[fr:Mortalité]]
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[[it:Mortalità]]
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[[ru:Смертная жизнь]]
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[[tl:Buhay sa Mortalidad]]

Latest revision as of 18:03, 13 October 2020

Mormon Mom and Baby
Mortality is the time between birth and death. The word "mortality" has no meaning, however, unless there is such a thing as "immortality." The doctrines of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teach that mortality is a vital part of the Plan of Salvation, which is God’s plan for His children. Latter-day Saint doctrine teaches that God's desire is to prepare mankind to be exalted:
For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man (Moses 1:39).

The "Plan of Salvation" teaches that before we were born on earth, we lived as spirits with God, and that God is the literal father of our spirits. God created the earth whereupon we would live through His son, Jesus Christ:

And there stood one among them [Jesus Christ] that was like unto God, and he said unto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell;
And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;
And they who keep their first estate [premortal life] shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate [life on earth] shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever (Abraham 3:24–26).

One of the main purposes of mortality is the obtaining of a physical body. The passions and appetites of the physical body certainly provide a way through which men and women can be tested, but the body also provides power to act. A physical body is a great blessing. Love cannot be fully expressed without it. Through the physical body, family relationships can be formed, men and women can become co-creators with God by bearing and raising children, ordinances can be performed, and men and women can learn charity by providing for the poor, sick, and afflicted. Man's sojourn on this earth gives him experience, helps him to develop wisdom and compassion and faith.

Another purpose of mortality is a deliberate separation from God. The restored gospel of Jesus Christ teaches that a "veil of forgetfulness" keeps people in mortality from remembering their premortal existence. Therefore, men must develop faith in order to retain and improve their connectedness to God, their Father. God does not leave men comfortless. Every person born on the earth brings with him the light of Christ, which behaves as a conscience, guiding the person to have a natural sense of right and wrong. Man is given his agency, his freedom of choice. The more righteous his choices, the greater the light that abides with him, and vice versa. God has given mankind prophets, scripture, personal prayer, and greatest of all, the gift of His Only Begotten Son, an infinite sacrifice to bridge the gap between man and God. Through the atonement of Christ, men may leave this life prepared to meet God and inherit a portion of His glory.

The necessity of opposition

The only way the sons and daughters of God can exercise freedom of choice is if there is "opposition in all things."

And because of the intercession for all, all men come unto God; wherefore, they stand in the presence of him, to be judged of him according to the truth and holiness which is in him. Wherefore, the ends of the law which the Holy One hath given, unto the inflicting of the punishment which is affixed, which punishment that is affixed is in opposition to that of the happiness which is affixed, to answer the ends of the atonement—
For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, . . . righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.
And to bring about his eternal purposes in the end of man, after he had created our first parents, and the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and in fine, all things which are created, it must needs be that there was an opposition; even the forbidden fruit in opposition to the tree of life; the one being sweet and the other bitter (2 Nephi 2:10–11, 15).

There was opposition in the premortal world. The Lord knew that man would fall, so He prepared a Savior, Jesus Christ, to fulfill the earthly mission of atoning for our sins, and to live a life of perfect example for mankind to follow. Lucifer, one of the first born of God's spirit children, railed against the plan. He offered to save every man by force, robbing man of his agency. Satan drew a third of the host of heaven after him. At that point, the progress of Lucifer and his followers ended. They were denied bodies (and by inference, the possibility of resurrection) and cast out. All who have been born or will be born on earth accepted Heavenly Father’s plan and gained their second estate (or mortality). In mortality, Satan tempts man in an attempt to make him miserable, misery being separation from God.

  • 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 (Isaiah 14:12)!
  • And was called Perdition, for the heavens wept over him—he was Lucifer, a son of the morning (Doctrine and Covenants 76:26).
  • . . . an angel of God, according to that which is written, had fallen from heaven; wherefore, he became a devil, having sought that which was evil before God.
And because he had fallen from heaven, and had become miserable forever, he sought also the misery of all mankind (2 Nephi 2:17, 18).

Mortality is a probationary state

Lance B. Wickman described mortality in this manner:

It is a proving ground, a probationary state, a time to walk by faith, a time to prepare to meet God. . . . It is in nurturing humility (see Alma 32:6–21) and submissiveness (see Mosiah 3:19) that we may comprehend a fullness of the intended mortal experience and put ourselves in a frame of mind and heart to receive the promptings of the Spirit. Reduced to their essence, humility and submissiveness are an expression of complete willingness to let the “why” questions go unanswered for now, or perhaps even to ask, “Why not?” It is in enduring well to the end . . . that we achieve this life’s purposes. I believe that mortality’s supreme test is to face the “why” and then let it go, trusting humbly in the Lord’s promise that “all things must come to pass in their time” (Doctrine and Covenants 64:32) (Lance B. Wickman, “But If Not,” Ensign, Nov. 2002, 30).

In comparison with the duration of eternity, mortality is a very brief time. Nevertheless, it is during mortality that we make the choices which will effect how we will spend the rest of eternity. In the words of Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin "Mortality is very brief but immeasurably important" (“The Time to Prepare,” Ensign, May 1998, 14).

External Links:

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