Lessons for Our Day from the Book of Mormon Another Testament of Jesus Christ - 2024
Lesson No. Six

Agency, Freedom, Accountability, and Acceptable Government

Introduction – In the United States we are in a season of politics which will intensify until the national election is held on 5 November 2024. I expect to occasionally write during this time, not in a partisan way, but in an attempt to apply gospel doctrine and principles. In this Lesson I will use Lehi’s powerful teachings found in 2 Nephi 2. I will also refer frequently to the teachings of President Dallin H. Oaks, Free Agency and Freedom, The Book of Mormon: Second Nephi, The Doctrinal Structure, Papers from the Third Annual BYU Book of Mormon Symposium,1989, hereinafter (Oaks). My comments are italicized.

Agency, also referred to as free agency (Oaks, p. 1) and moral agency (D&C 101:77), is the power to choose between good and evil:

1. Agency is a gift of God, and is an essential part of pre-mortal, mortal, and eternal life. “No person or organization can take away our agency in mortality” (Oaks, p. 9). Furthermore, “Satan, who sought to take away our free agency in the pre-existence, is not permitted to take it from us in this life. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught the devil cannot compel men to do evil; he has ‘power over us only as we permit him’” (Oaks, p. 12).

2. Lucifer and his followers were cast out of heaven because they sought to take away our agency. “Satan is still trying to take away our free agency by persuading us to voluntarily surrender our will to his” (Oaks, p. 12).

3. Our agency is secure because of the atonement of Jesus Christ. (See 2 Nephi 2:26-27)

4. We have agency but the consequences of our choices are fixed and certain. Choosing good brings joy, choosing evil and not repenting brings misery. (See 2 Nephi 2:28-29)

Freedom is “the power to act upon our choices…. but in the circumstances of mortality freedom is always qualified. Freedom may be qualified or taken way (1) by physical laws, including the physical limitations with which we are born, (2) by our own actions, and (3) by the actions of others, including governments” (Oaks, p. 10).

5. “A loss of freedom reduces the extent to which we can act upon our choices, but it does not deprive us of our God-given free agency…. When Pharaoh put Joseph in prison, he restricted Joseph’s freedom, but he did not take away his free agency” (Oaks, p. 10, 11).

6. “Other limitations on freedom are self-imposed, such as the immobility we seek when we buckle our seat belt or the commitment we make when we sign a contract. In these examples we limit one freedom in order to achieve a larger and more important one” (Oaks, p. 11).

7. “Many losses of freedom are imposed upon us by others. The science of government is a consideration of the procedures and extent to which the official representatives of one group of citizens can impose restrictions on the freedom of another group. Decisions on the extent to which government power should restrict the freedom of individuals are among the most difficult ones we face in an organized society” (Oaks, p. 11).

Agency and accountability go together. God’s gift of agency makes us accountable for our choices.

8. The Lord established the Constitution of the United States, and He expects it to be maintained according to the just and holy principles of moral agency and accountability (See D&C 101:77-78).

9. "The founders who established this nation believed in God and in the existence of moral absolutes - right and wrong - established by this Ultimate Law-giver. The Constitution they established assumed and relied on morality in the actions of its citizens" (Dallin H. Oaks, Preserving Religious Freedom, February 4, 2011, Chapman University School of Law).

Government, acceptable to the Lord, requires laws that are constitutional and candidates who are honest, wise, and good. See D&C 98:4-10:

10. “And now, verily I say unto you concerning the laws of the land, it is my will that my people should observe to do all things whatsoever I command them” (Vs 4). The Lord’s first requirement for acceptable government is that the laws of the land be consistent with His commandments.

11. “And that law of the land which is constitutional, supporting that principle of freedom in maintaining rights and privileges, belongs to all mankind, and is justifiable before me” (Vs 5).

12. “Therefore, I, the Lord, justify you and your brethren of my church in befriending that law which is the constitutional law of the land” (Vs 6).

13. “And as pertaining to law of man, whatsoever is more or less than this, cometh of evil” (Vs 7). Any law or action that is that is not consistent with the constitutional law of the land is not of God.

14. “I the Lord God, make you free, therefore ye are free indeed; and the law (which is consistent with the Constitution He established) also maketh you free” (Vs 8, explanation added). The Lord is saying laws that are constitutional make us free. Therefore, the test of constitutionality, in the words of the Lord, is whether the law in question preserves freedom.

15. “Nevertheless, when the wicked rule the people mourn. Wherefore, honest men and wise men should be sought for diligently, and good men and wise men ye should observe to uphold; otherwise whatsoever is less than these cometh of evil” (Vs 9 -10). This is a profound insight. The Lord is teaching how important it is that candidates and office holders are honest, wise and good men and women. If honest, wise and good men and women are not elected it is an indictment on the people themselves, and they will mourn.

Testimony – I add my testimony using the words of Lehi: “And now my sons, I would that ye should look to the great Mediator, and hearken unto his great commandments; and be faithful unto his words, and choose eternal life, according to the will of his Holy Spirit; And not choose eternal death, according to the will of the flesh and the evil which is therein, which giveth the spirit of the devil power to captivate, to bring you down to hell, that he may reign over you in his own kingdom” (2 Nephi 2:28-29).

Released on February 13th, 2024.