Most of us glibly refer to the plan of salvation, but without taking into account just how all inclusive it really is.
Casual definition
We’ve all seen the graphic outlining the plan of salvation. It starts with a circle labeled Pre-earth life, followed by another circle representing earth life (mortality). Then we have a circle for the spirit world, which splits into three stacked circles showing the three degrees of heaven. Sometimes there are other parts representing hell or something else, but this is it in a nutshell. Most of the time this is basically all we think about when we consider the Lord’s plan for our eventual salvation and exaltation.
Only recently have I begun to notice recurring references in the scriptures that are actually talking about small details of the plan of salvation (I’ll call it the Plan from here on). The more I thought about the first reference to catch my attention, the more of these references I began to see as I read subsequent sections of the Doctrine and Covenants, which is what we are studying this year (2025). But these references aren’t just in the Doctrine and Covenants. I am seeing them in the Book of Mormon as my wife and I read it each morning. This tells me that the Plan and its references fill the scriptures. They’re everywhere!
The problem with seeing these references for what they are is that they have been there all along. We are so accustomed to not questioning these references that we don’t see them for what they suggest. The following information is just the tip of the iceberg. I will list several of the references I’ve recently come across then discuss each of them. What they are showing me is that the Plan really is a full blown plan, with far more detail than we ever could imagine. I wanted to include numerous places in the scriptures, but I found so many of them in just Doctrine and Covenants 124 that I never get beyond that one section in this article.
Plans
Let’s look at the word “plan” to see just what is involved in its use in the scriptures. I have looked up the word both in the Websters dictionary, as well as in the 1828 version of the Websters dictionary. Both have parts that are instructive. As you read these definitions, think about God preparing a way to open a path for exaltation for His children. Consider first that for a God to create a path to take an intelligence and raise them to the level of a God is no mean or menial feat. It is extremely complicated and involved, not to mention it takes eons of time. But this is what makes God a God, He can do this kind of thing.
Websters 1828 definition (not the complete definition)
the word is applied particularly to the model of a building, showing the form, extent and divisions in miniature, and it may be applied to the draught or representation of any projected work on paper or on a plain surface; as the plan of a town or city, or of a harbor or fort.
2. A scheme devised; a project; the form of something to be done existing in the mind, with the several parts adjusted in idea, expressed in words or committed to writing; as the plan of a constitution of government; the plan of a treaty; the plan of an expedition.
So to make a plan of something is to conceptualize what you want to have happen then record what the end result is supposed to be, and how you will get there. This includes all the obstacles and things that need to be considered along the way so you have everything accounted for. The grander the project, the more details involved.
Websters dictionary
to arrange a method or scheme beforehand for (any work, enterprise, or proceeding).
I spent my career as a secretary. In the business world it is often the case that those in charge think of an idea, but the work to bring that idea to life and fruition is done by their underlings. It is rare to find an entrepreneur (this person who comes up with the vision or idea) who is capable of also supplying all the details that go into making their idea a reality. They need people to help them flesh out their idea and handle the details they haven’t thought of or don’t want to deal with. Every entrepreneur is different, so I’m speaking in vague generalities here. I’m just expressing a general concept.
Of course I have no idea how God, our Father, assembled what was needed for planning the ascension of His children from intelligences, to spirits, to physical bodies, to resurrected bodies, to exalted beings. My little mind can’t hold that much information. All I know is that He takes credit for the whole thing. It is His plan. We agreed to the process. We had to, for God never forces anyone to do something against their will. It’s not in His nature to do something like that.
However God came up with the plan for our salvation and eventual exaltation, suffice it to say that He did. The Plan contains all the laws needed for each step along the way to make possible the advancement of His children from one stage to the next. The Plan contains all the creations that need to be made to accommodate the needs of His children, and what will happen to them after those creations are used for His purposes for His children. I was surprised when I realized one day that when Christ created this universe he also created all the places each of us will inherit after our final judgment. The places we call the Telestial and Terrestrial kingdoms have already been created and are being prepared for habitation. All this was done before the earth was even created. (The order in which anything was created is completely unknown to me, since the scriptures are silent on specifics. I state that these things were created in this order merely because it makes sense to me that the crowning creation of this universe would be the planet upon which the creator himself would offer the all-important saving sacrifice for the family of God. Just my opinion.)
It is difficult for us to understand how it is possible for God to live in the past, present, and future all at once. But He does. He sees “the end from the beginning.” There is nothing He doesn’t already know (omniscience). Because of this He is able to be prepared for all future events by beginning for future needs eons ahead of time. If that means preparing whole worlds for habitation, then so be it. It is no more difficult to build them now than it will be in a trillion years from now. God has all the time existence has to offer, so He never needs to worry about not having enough of it.
Scriptures
Here is just a sampling of references I have found recently as I’ve been studying the scriptures. Once you begin to see a few references, you will find that the scriptures are full of them, and new types of references will present themselves to you as you continue your studying.
Doctrine and Covenants 124
1 Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you, my servant Joseph Smith, I am well pleased with your and acknowledgments, which you have made; for unto this end have I raised you up, that I might show forth my through the things of the earth.
Did you catch that? God is telling Joseph that He raised Joseph up “that I might show forth my wisdom through the weak things of the earth.” This is a deliberate action taken by God to make a point to His other children. It makes me wonder how long He has been waiting for this event to happen so His point can be made. Such things were planned before the world was created, along with everything else that happens in this life. God saw it all unfolding in the future. He has just been patiently been waiting for it to come to fruition.
Verse one is setting up the Lord’s commandment to Joseph to write a solemn proclamation of His gospel to all the kings of the earth.
4 Let it be in the spirit of meekness and by the power of the Holy Ghost, which shall be in you at the time of the writing of the same;
5 For it shall be you by the Holy Ghost to know my concerning those and authorities, even what shall befall them in a time to come.
6 For, behold, I am about to call upon them to give heed to the light and glory of Zion, for the set time has come to favor her.
Verse four tells Joseph that he will have the needed influence of the Holy Ghost when it comes to writing the needed proclamation. Verse five tells Joseph that he will be shown, through the Holy Ghost, what will happen to these kings and authorities in the future. And verse six has an important comment that we don’t often consider. It tells us that all things that happen in mortality happen as they were designed from the beginning to happen. God says that the time has come for the kings of the earth to “give heed to the light and glory of Zion, for the set time has come to favor her.”
Have you ever considered that all the major things that happen in this world are happening because it is time for them to happen? This idea opens the discussion about God’s involvement in the affairs of this world. In at least one place the Lord takes credit for the rise and fall of all earthly rulers. He takes credit for their rising and their fall. God sees when it will be time for a people to be destroyed because of their own wickedness. Look at Genesis 15. The Lord is telling Abraham of his future, and of the future of Abraham’s posterity. In the following verses God tells Abraham that his posterity will serve masters in Egypt for 400 years, until the “iniquity of the Amorites” is full. This is why Israel was commanded to kill every man, woman, and child. God always removes a people from mortality when they are fully ripe in their wickedness. For the Amorites it would be another 400 years in the future.
13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall them four hundred years;
14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they out with great .
15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good age.
16 But in the generation they shall come again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet .
As I have mentioned in earlier writings, God destroys people ripe in iniquity only if there is no one else to do it. So we have Him destroying Sodom and Gomorrah and the world as a whole with the flood. But if there are other wicked people who can get the job done then the wicked are destroyed by other wicked people. In this case, God has promised Abraham that He will give his descendants the land of the Amorites after they have been destroyed, but Abraham’s descendants will have to do the destroying to have the land cursed to the Amorites and blessed to the Israelites. That is the general rule the Lord follows in such cases. Look it up, the scriptures detail it in multiple places.
Again, this shows that God is aware of what is going on, when a change is coming, how it will come, by whom, and who will be blessed and who will be cursed. As a side note let me remind us all that God does not make these things happen. He has seen that our choices will cause the necessity for these things to take place, and our choices have been woven into the plan for our salvation. God has made accommodations for all the eventual choices we will make in mortality. He doesn’t make us do anything. He has just made plans for the choices He knows we will make. Remember that God’s purposes are never frustrated or caused to not happen. What God thinks and speaks is a more sure thing to happen than anything else in the universe. His being all knowing and all powerful makes sure that no one can outthink Him or out do Him. His purpose is to exalt all His children who He can get to choose Him, and He let’s no one prevent that from happening. And He does it while protecting the moral agency of even the most wicked person. Can you think of a more spectacular demonstration of His Godliness?
Doctrine and Covenants 124 – Temple
28 For there is not a place found on earth that he may come to and again that which was lost unto you, or which he hath taken away, even the fulness of the priesthood.
29 For a font there is not upon the earth, that they, my saints, may be for those who are dead—
30 For this ordinance belongeth to my house, and cannot be acceptable to me, only in the days of your poverty, wherein ye are not able to build a house unto me.
God’s plan for our salvation (the Plan) requires that His most important covenants be administered in sacred places. So unless there is a temple, a house built for the glory of God, He will not permit His ordinances to be administered to His children. This is important to God, and He doesn’t mess around with it. In the subsequent verse He tells the Saints that they can continue to baptize for the dead in the rivers, but only for a short period of time, just long enough to build a temple so He can reveal the fulness of the priesthood to them. If they don’t take this seriously God promises to reject both them and the dead for whom they were doing the baptizing.
Why are these ordinances reserved for temples? Partly, I think, because they are reserved for those who want to return to God’s presence and live with Him in the Celestial kingdom. Those who choose to live in the other kingdoms require no covenants, no ordinances. It is the priesthood covenants and ordinances that change us through our faithfulness into people who are able to live and become gods one day. This is the celestial part of the Savior’s atoning sacrifice. His sacrifice provides a resurrected body for all of God’s children, but only those who repent and accept God’s ordinances through His priesthood can become exalted. This is the whole purpose of the Restoration of Christ’s gospel for the latter days, to provide God’s children with all the priesthood power needed to become exalted in the future.
Baptisms for the dead
We’re still in Doctrine and Covenants 124. There are so many references to the Plan in this section that I am having to skip to just the ones I like best.
33 For verily I say unto you, that you have had sufficient time to build a house to me, wherein the ordinance of baptizing for the dead belongeth, and for which the same was instituted from before the foundation of the world, your baptisms for your dead cannot be acceptable unto me;
Baptisms for the dead is an integral part of the overall plan. God’s purpose of saving and exalting as many of His children as want to live with Him in the future includes the ability to make that choice no matter where they are in the progress of mortality, which includes the spirit world. Let’s face it, the vast majority of His children don’t know anything about the Savior and his Atoning sacrifice until it is taught to them in the spirit world. Since God is no respecter of persons, meaning He treats us all alike, we all have to have the same opportunity to repent and come to Jesus, no matter when that opportunity is presented to us.
Verse thirty three tells us that all the ordinances of salvation were designated and defined before the world came into being. Where those ordinances are allowed and preferred to be administered were outlined and set down at the same time. In short, all the laws of the gospel were laid out and approved well before the Lord created the home in which we currently reside. Some of the doctrines and priesthood practices were designated to be revealed only at certain times and to certain prophets. So when the Lord tells Joseph Smith that such and such has been reserved since before the world was created for the salvation of His children, He is telling us that such things as baptisms for the dead was always held to be used universally as a latter-day ordinance as we prepare for the Lord’s millennial reign. The practice was introduced to Christ’s original apostles, but it wasn’t meant to be used in full until there were temples in which all the other ordinances of salvation and exaltation could be had. This is what makes being in the latter days so special.
Final Thoughts
In this paper I have only given you a small selection of scriptures where the Lord reveals that all that is happening is according to His plan for our salvation. Read the scriptures with your eyes wide open and you will find instance after instance of where the Lord speaks in an eternal way, referring to things that happened back when the Plan was first taught to us, or to things that will happen in the future. The full list of references to all the things the Plan has outlined for our salvation and exaltation are too numerous to list in full. But as you look for them you will see them everywhere. The plan of salvation is far bigger and more expansive than we generally give it credit for being.
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Well thought out. I enjoyed this. Well done thou good and faithful son of mine.
Yes indeed Sister Merrill! You raised a real-deal thinker. And we are blessed benefactor’s. Thank you!!!