Agency: Essential to the Plan of Life

Robert D. Hales October 2010 Saturday Afternoon Session

Scripture citations

  1. 2 Nephi 2:26

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    I was surprised he did not understand what we mean by the word agency.

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  2. 2 Nephi 2:27

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    I was surprised he did not understand what we mean by the word agency.

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  3. Alma 42:15

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    Our agency—our ability to choose and act for ourselves—was an essential element of this plan.

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  4. Moses 4:1

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    After Heavenly Father presented His plan, Lucifer stepped forward, saying, “Send me, … and I will redeem all mankind, that [not even] one soul shall … be lost … ; wherefore give me thine honor.” This plan was rejected by our Father, for it would have denied us our agency.

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  5. Moses 4:2

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    Then Jesus Christ, Heavenly Father’s “Beloved and Chosen [Son] from the beginning,” exercised His agency to say, “Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever.” He would be our Savior—the Savior of the world.

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  6. Doctrine and Covenants 29:36

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    Because of Lucifer’s rebellion, a great spiritual conflict ensued.

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  7. Moses 4:3

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    And God said, “Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, … I caused that he should be cast down.” Those who followed Satan lost the opportunity to receive a mortal body, live on earth, and progress.

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  8. 2 Nephi 9:9

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    Today the only power Satan and his followers have is the power to tempt and try us.

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  9. Luke 2:49

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    Throughout His life our Savior showed us how to use our agency.

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  10. 3 Nephi 27:13

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    Throughout His life our Savior showed us how to use our agency.

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  11. Luke 22:42

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    Throughout His life our Savior showed us how to use our agency.

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  12. Luke 23:34

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    Throughout His life our Savior showed us how to use our agency.

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  13. Matthew 27:46

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    Throughout His life our Savior showed us how to use our agency.

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  14. Mark 15:34

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    Throughout His life our Savior showed us how to use our agency.

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  15. John 19:30

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    Throughout His life our Savior showed us how to use our agency.

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  16. Hebrews 4:15

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    Though He “was in all points tempted like as we are,” with every choice and every action He exercised the agency to be our Savior—to break the chains of sin and death for us.

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  17. 2 Nephi 28:8

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    The world teaches many falsehoods about agency.

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  18. 2 Nephi 2:11

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    The world teaches many falsehoods about agency.

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  19. Alma 30:17

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    The world teaches many falsehoods about agency.

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  20. 2 Nephi 2:12

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    The world teaches many falsehoods about agency.

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  21. 1 Samuel 15:1

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    “… Go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have.”

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  22. 1 Samuel 15:3

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    “… Go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have.”

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  23. 1 Samuel 15:13

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    The Lord revealed this to the prophet Samuel and sent him to remove Saul from being king.

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  24. 1 Samuel 15:14

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    “What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?”
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  25. 1 Samuel 15:22

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    “Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken [to the commandments of the Lord] than the fat of rams.”
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  26. 1 Samuel 15:24

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    sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.” Because Saul
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  27. Romans 3:23

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    “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” For
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  28. Articles of Faith 1:3

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    that “through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind [including you and me] may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.”
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  29. John 17:24

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    of us, saying: “Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given
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  30. John 17:3

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    this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”
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  31. Mosiah 27:31

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    I bear my special witness that They live.

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Talks cited

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Shared scripture with foundational texts

These sections reference scripture this talk also references. Neither source cites the other.

  1. Jesus the Christ

    Chapter 2: Preexistence and Foreordination of the Christ

    3 shared verses

    • Doctrine and Covenants 29:36

      In this talk:
      Open paragraph (1)
      In Jesus the Christ:
      Open paragraph (f)

      In this struggle between unembodied hosts the forces were unequally divided; Satan drew to his standard only a third part of the children of God, who are symbolized as the “stars of heaven”;b the majority either fought with Michael, or at least refrained from active opposition, thus accomplishing the purpose of their “first estate”; while the angels who arrayed themselves on the side of Satan “kept not their first estate,”c and therefore rendered themselves ineligible for the glorious possibi...

    • John 17:3

      In this talk:
      Open paragraph (2)
      In Jesus the Christ:
      Open paragraph (u)

      When the hour of His betrayal was near, in the last interview with the apostles prior to His agonizing experience in Gethsemane, Jesus comforted them saying: “For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.

    • Moses 4:1

      In this talk:
      Open paragraph (1)
      In Jesus the Christ:
      Open paragraph (g)

      Justification for citing these scriptures in connection with our present consideration will be found in the cause of the great contention—the conditions that led to this war in heaven.

  2. Jesus the Christ

    Chapter 10: In the Wilderness of Judea

    1 shared verse

  3. Jesus the Christ

    Chapter 18: As One Having Authority

    1 shared verse

    • Luke 2:49

      In this talk:
      Open paragraph (1)
      In Jesus the Christ:
      Open paragraph (h)

      The incident reminds one of the answer He made to His mother, when she and Joseph had found Him in the temple after their long and anxious search: “How is it that ye sought me?

  4. Jesus the Christ

    Chapter 25: Jesus Again in Jerusalem

    1 shared verse

  5. Jesus the Christ

    Chapter 3: The Need of a Redeemer

    1 shared verse

    • Romans 3:23

      In this talk:
      Open paragraph (1)
      In Jesus the Christ:
      Open paragraph (f)

      The application of the atonement to individual transgression, whereby the sinner may obtain absolution through compliance with the laws and ordinances embodied in the gospel of Jesus Christ, is conclusively attested by scripture.

  6. Jesus the Christ

    Chapter 33: The Last Supper and the Betrayal

    1 shared verse

    • Luke 22:42

      In this talk:
      Open paragraph (3)
      In Jesus the Christ:
      Open paragraph (Luke 22:42)

      The Cup as a Symbol.—Our Lord’s frequent mention of His foreseen sufferings as the cup of which the Father would have Him drink (Matthew 26:39, 42; Mark 14:36; Luke 22:42; John 18:11; compare Matthew 20:22; Mark 10:38; 1 Corinthians 10:21) is in line with Old Testament usage of the term “cup” as a symbolic expression for a bitter or poisonous potion typifying experiences of suffering.

  7. Jesus the Christ

    Chapter 35: Death and Burial

    1 shared verse

  8. Jesus the Christ

    Chapter 4: The Antemortal Godship of Christ

    1 shared verse

    • Mark 15:34

      In this talk:
      Open paragraph (5)
      In Jesus the Christ:
      Open paragraph (Mark 15:34)

      “His lamentation over Jerusalem evidences that, in His humanity, He had not forgotten His former exalted position: ‘O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, … and ye would not!’ (Matt.

  9. Jesus the Christ

    Chapter 5: Earthly Advent of the Christ Predicted

    1 shared verse

    • Luke 23:34

      In this talk:
      Open paragraph (4)
      In Jesus the Christ:
      Open paragraph (m)

      Job in the day of dire affliction rejoiced in his testimony of the coming Messiah, and declared with prophetic conviction: “I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth.”l The songs of David the psalmist abound in oft-recurring allusion to the earthly life of Christ, many circumstances of which are described in detail, and, as to these, corroboration of the utterances is found in New Testament scriptures.m

  10. The Articles of Faith

    Article 2

    1 shared verse

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