Introduction...
In the Book of Mormon we read:
10 And he said unto me: Behold there are save atwo churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the bother is the church of the cdevil; wherefore, dwhoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church, which is the mother of abominations; and she is the ewhore of all the earth.
When I was younger, and less acquainted with the world and other belief systems, I usually associated this with a particular denomination; Catholicism, Buddhism, etc. Now that I have had the opportunity to visit many different lands, and associate with various types of people, I have come to realize that I was wrong. In this verse Nephi the angel is explaining things that are eternal in scope. He is speaking of the Church of the Firstborn and the Church of the Devil. That these two churches have existed since before the foundation of the world is explained in the Book of Abraham:
The second answering voice was Lucifer. His plan of "salvation", the governing dogma of his church, was to "...redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost..."(Moses 4:1). Lest we think that his motives were altruistic, he went on to explain: "...and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor." (Moses 4:1) This was the defining moment, the moment when we all had to decide which plan to follow. In the Book of Revelation we learn that a third part of the hosts of heaven chose Lucifer's plan. The remainder decided to follow the plan presented by God and Christ whereby we would be given the opportunity to test ourselves in this mortal experience and through the grace of Christ and his atonement be prepared to receive the blessings of eternal life; and better prepared to appreciate those blessings having been faithful to the plan.
As I have pondered these scriptures, I have come to understand that Lucifer did not take that defeat at the grand council as a final defeat. He is still trying to force his plan down out throats, the same way he did before. His way is coercion, force, manipulation. He know best, and no one could ever tell him differently. Christ on the other hand offered us a plan of freedom with personal responsibility. There was no way any of us could make it back to live in the presence of our Eternal Father under this plan unless Christ, our eldest Brother would pay the price for our sins.He paid the price, but the responsibility is ours to accept that gift and live our lives as examples of the believers.
So as we walk down this path together, I want to look at the way governments are behaving in these last days. Are they advocating a plan of personal responsibility, or are they instead forcing their ideals on us? I want to look at the way our rights as children of God are being eroded away, and how the state is trying to take the place of God in our lives.
Let's see where this all leads.
Jared