MoralAgency

Moral Agency

Moral Agency is Personal Power to Act--
to act upon things that are good or or things that are evil

D&C 29:35
Behold, I gave unto him that he should be an agent unto himself . .

D&C 37:4
Behold, here is wisdom, and let every man choose from himself until I come.

From True to the Faith: A Gospel Reference

Your Heavenly Father has given you agency, the ability to choose and to act for yourself. (“Agency,” in Truth to the Faith: A Gospel Reference published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day [2004], p. 12)

David A. Bednar - Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

In the grand division of all of God’s creations, there are things to act and things to be acted upon (see 2 Nephi 2:13–14). As sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father, we have been blessed with the gift of moral agency, the capacity for independent action and choice. Endowed with agency, you and I are agents, and we primarily are to act and not just be acted upon. (“And Nothing Shall Offend Them,” Ensign, Nov. 2006, p. 89)

In the grand division of all of God’s creations, there are “things to act and things to be acted upon” (2 Nephi 2:14). As children of our Heavenly Father, we have been blessed with the gift of moral agency, the capacity and power of independent action. Endowed with agency, we are agents, and we primarily are to act and not merely be acted upon” (“Watching With All Perseverance,” April 2010 General Conference)

L. Aldin Porter - of the Seventy

A very important part of the plan is the right of personal choice. The Lord calls it moral agency. We may choose as we desire, but we may not avoid the consequences of our choices. (“Our Destiny,” Ensign, Nov. 1999, p.65)

Alvin R. Dyer (1903-77) - First Presidency
The greatest gift from God unto his children is that of personal agency. (Conference Report, April 1969, p.56)

Wilford Woodruff (1807-1898) - President

• For God has given to every man individual agency, and He will hold him accountable for the use of this agency. (Delivered by President Wilford Woodruff, at the General Conference, Sunday afternoon, October 6, 1889. Collected Discourses, 5 vols. Ed. Brian H.Stuy, Vol. 1)
• God has given unto all of his children of this dispensation, as he gave unto all of his children of previous dispensations, individual agency. This agency has always been the heritage of man under the rule and government of God. [We] possessed it in the heaven of heavens before the world was, and the Lord maintained and defended it there against the aggression of Lucifer and those that took sides with him, to the overthrow of Lucifer and one-third part of the heavenly hosts [see Revelation 12:1-9; D&C 29:36-37; Moses 4:1-4]. By virtue of this agency you and I and all mankind are made responsible beings, responsible for the course we pursue, the lives we live, the deeds we do in the body. (Teachings Of Presidents Of The Church: Wilford Woodruff [2004], p.205)

Richard G. Scott - Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Obedience to the plan is a requisite for full happiness in this life and a continuation of eternal joy beyond the veil. Essential to His plan of happiness is agency–the right of personal choice. (“The Joy of Living the Great Plan of Happiness,” Ensign, Nov. 1996, p.73)

Moral Agency–the Power to Do According to Our Own Will

Mosiah 2

God “has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will” (verse 21; emphasis added)

Alma 12

31 Wherefore, he gave commandments unto men, they having first transgressed the first commandments as to things which were temporal, and becoming as Gods, knowing good from evil, placing themselves in a state to act, or being placed in a state to act according to their wills and pleasures, whether to do evil or to do good– (emphasis added)

Joseph Fielding Smith (1876-1972) - President

This great gift of agency, that is the privilege given to man to make his own choice, has never been revoked, and it never will be. It is an eternal principle giving freedom of thought and action to every soul. No person, by any decree of the Father, has ever been compelled to do good; no person has ever been forced to do evil. Each may act for himself. It was Satan's plan to destroy this agency and force men to do his will. There could be no satisfactory existence without this great gift. Men must have the privilege to choose even to the extent that they may rebel against the divine decrees. Of course salvation and exaltation must come through the free will without coercion and by individual merit in order that righteous rewards may be given and proper punishment be meted out to the transgressor. Therefore, when the great day of the Lord shall come, the wicked who have merited banishment from a righteous government will be consumed, or the privilege of continuance on the earth will be denied. (Answers to Gospel Questions 5 Vols. [1957-66], 2:20; emphasis added)

Moral Agency–A Gift From God

Moses 4

3 Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him . . .

Moses 7

32 The Lord said unto Enoch: Behold these thy brethren; they are the workmanship of mine own hands, and I gave unto them their knowledge, in the day I created them; and in the Garden of Eden, gave I unto man his agency;

D&C 101

78 That every man may act in doctrine and principle pertaining to futurity, according to the moral agency which I have given unto him, that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgment.

Agency–The Foundation Principle of the Eternal Plan

Joseph F. Smith (1838-1918) - President

The free agency of man is a fundamental principle which, according to the tenets of the Church, even God Himself does not suppress. (Teachings Of Presidents Of The Church: Joseph F. Smith [1998], p.283)

Ezra Taft Benson (1899-1994) - President

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints proclaims that life is eternal, that it has purpose. … [God has a] plan … for the benefit and blessing of us, His children. … Basic to [that] all-important plan is our free agency. … The right of choice … runs like a golden thread throughout the gospel … for the blessing of His children. (The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson [1988], pp. 80-81.)

Marion G. Romney (1897-1988) - First Presidency

I purpose to make a few remarks about the foundation principle upon which the gospel of Jesus Christ is built, the principle of agency. (Conference Report, October 1968, p.64)

J. Reuben Clark, Jr. (1871-1961) - First Presidency

When the Lord placed man upon the earth he set up certain general laws, fundamental principles, and then permitted man to develop himself within those laws and those principles. If he undertook to tell us each time what we were to do in every detail ... [it] we would virtually destroy the free agency of man, the foundation stone upon which all of our existence is built. (Conference Report, April 1936, p.61; emphasis added)

Bruce R. McConkie (1915-1985) - Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Agency is so fundamental a part of the great plan of creation and redemption that if it should cease, all other things would vanish away. "All truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act for itself, as all intelligence also; otherwise there is no existence." (D. & C. 93:30.) (Mormon Doctrine, 2d ed. [1966], p.26)

William R. Bradford - of the Seventy

The most basic, fundamental principle of truth, that upon which the entire plan of God is founded, is free agency. As an individual you have the right to govern yourself. It is divinely given to you to think and act as you wish. It is your decision. (“The Governing Ones,” Ensign, Nov. 1979, p.37)

Agency is an Eternal Principle

Brigham Young (1801-1877) - President

The volition of the creature is free; this is a law of their existence and the Lord cannot violate his own law; were he to do that, he would cease to be God. He has placed life and death before his children, and it is for them to choose. If they choose life, they receive the blessing of life; if they choose death, they must abide the penalty. This is a law which has always existed from all eternity, and will continue to exist throughout all the eternities to come. Every intelligent being must have the power of choice, and God brings forth the results of the acts of his creatures to promote his Kingdom and subserve his purposes in the salvation and exaltation of his children. (Discourses of Brigham Young [1954], p.62)

From True to the Faith: A Gospel Reference

You had the power to choose even before you were born. In the premortal Council in Heaven, Heavenly Father presented His plan, which included the principle of agency. Lucifer rebelled and “sought to destroy the agency of man” (Moses 4:3). As a result, Lucifer and all those who followed him were denied the privilege of receiving a mortal body. Your presence on the earth confirms that you exercised your agency to follow Heavenly Father’s plan.

In mortality, you continue to have agency. Your use of this gift determines your happiness or misery in this life and in the life to come. You are free to choose and act, but you are not free to choose the consequences of your actions. The consequences may not be immediate, but they will always follow. Choices of good and righteousness lead to happiness, peace, and eternal life, while choices of sin and evil eventually lead to heartache and misery. (“Agency,” in Truth to the Faith: A Gospel Reference published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day [2004], p. 12)

Howard W. Hunter (1907-1995) - President

There are, of course, those who, in bitterness and disbelief, have rejected the idea of an independent spirit in man that is capable of free will and choice and true liberty.

We declare a bright and glorious view of God and man to all who will hear, a view revealed in and illuminated by the restored light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We testify of God’s loving goodness and of his eternal respect for each of us, for us as individual children of God and for what each of us may become.

<>As our prophet leader, President Ezra Taft Benson has declared, “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints proclaims that life is eternal, that it has purpose. … [God has a] plan … for the benefit and blessing of us, His children. …
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<>“Basic to [that] all-important plan is our free agency. …
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“The right of choice … runs like a golden thread throughout the gospel … for the blessing of His children.” (The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1988, pp. 80–81.)

Part of our reassurance about the free, noble, and progressing spirit of man comes from the glorious realization that we all existed and had our identities, and our agency, long before we came to this world. To some that will be a new thought, but the Bible teaches clearly just such an eternal view of life, a life stretching back before this world was and stretching forward into the eternities ahead.

God said to Jeremiah, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” (Jer. 1:5.) At another time God reminded Job that “all the sons of God shouted for joy” (Job 38:7) before there was yet any man or woman on the earth God was creating. The Apostle Paul taught that God the Father chose us “before the foundation of the world.” (Eph. 1:4.)

Where and when did all of this happen? Well, it happened long before man’s mortal birth. It happened in a great premortal existence where we developed our identities and increased our spiritual capabilities by exercising our agency and making important choices. We developed our intelligence and learned to love the truth, and we prepared to come to earth to continue our progress.

Our Father in Heaven wanted our growth to continue in mortality and to be enhanced by our freedom to choose and learn. He also wanted us to exercise our faith and our will, especially with a new physical body to master and control. But we know from both ancient and modern revelation that Satan wished to deny us our independence and agency in that now-forgotten moment long ago, even as he wishes to deny them this very hour. Indeed, Satan violently opposed the freedom of choice offered by the Father, so violently that John in the Revelation described “war in heaven” (Rev. 12:7) over the matter. Satan would have coerced us, and he would have robbed us of that most precious of gifts if he could: our freedom to choose a divine future and the exaltation we all hope to obtain.

Through Christ and his valiant defense of our Father’s plan, the course of agency and eternal aspirations prevailed. In that crucial, premortal setting, a major milestone was passed, a monumental victory was won. As a result, we would be allowed to continue to pursue what President David O. McKay once described as the “eternal principle of progress.” Later Christ himself would come to earth, President McKay noted, “to perfect society by perfecting the individual, and only by the exercising of Free Agency can the individual even approach perfection.” (In Conference Report, Apr. 1940, p. 118). (“The Golden Thread of Choice,” Ensign, Nov. 1989, p. 18)

Russell M. Nelson - Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Principles of agency pertain on both sides of the veil. There, in postmortal realms, personal choice and accountability will be of paramount importance. (“The Spirit of Elijah,” Ensign, Nov. 1994, p. 84).

Agency Is Not the Ultimate Goal – It Is a Means to an End!

Dallin H. Oaks - Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

My next example in this message on weightier matters is the role of choice, or agency.

Few concepts have more potential to mislead us than the idea that choice, or agency, is an ultimate goal. For Latter-day Saints, this potential confusion is partly a product of the fact that moral agency—the right to choose—is a fundamental condition of mortal life. Without this precious gift of God, the purpose of mortal life could not be realized. To secure our agency in mortality we fought a mighty contest the book of Revelation calls a “war in heaven.” This premortal contest ended with the devil and his angels being cast out of heaven and being denied the opportunity of having a body in mortal life (see Rev. 12:7-9).

But our war to secure agency was won. The test in this postwar mortal estate is not to secure choice but to use it—to choose good instead of evil so that we can achieve our eternal goals. In mortality, choice is a method, not a goal.

Of course, mortals must still resolve many questions concerning what restrictions or consequences should be placed upon choices. But those questions come under the heading of freedom, not agency. Many do not understand that important fact. We are responsible to use our agency in a world of choices. It will not do to pretend that our agency has been taken away when we are not free to exercise it without unwelcome consequences.

Because choice is a method, choices can be exercised either way on any matter, and our choices can serve any goal. Therefore, those who consider freedom of choice as a goal can easily slip into the position of trying to justify any choice that is made. “Choice” can even become a slogan to justify one particular choice. For example, today one who says “I am pro-choice” is clearly understood as opposing any legal restrictions upon a woman’‘s choice to abort a fetus.

More than 30 years ago, as a young law professor, I published one of the earliest articles on the legal consequences of abortion. Since that time I have been a knowledgeable observer of the national debate and the unfortunate Supreme Court decisions on the so-called “right to abortion.” I have been fascinated with how cleverly those who sought and now defend legalized abortion on demand have moved the issue away from a debate on the moral, ethical, and medical pros and cons of legal restrictions on abortion and focused the debate on the slogan or issue of choice. The slogan or sound bite “pro-choice” has had an almost magical effect in justifying abortion and in neutralizing opposition to it.

Pro-choice slogans have been particularly seductive to Latter-day Saints because we know that moral agency, which can be described as the power of choice, is a fundamental necessity in the gospel plan. All Latter-day Saints are pro-choice according to that theological definition. But being pro-choice on the need for moral agency does not end the matter for us. Choice is a method, not the ultimate goal. We are accountable for our choices, and only righteous choices will move us toward our eternal goals.

In this effort, Latter-day Saints follow the teachings of the prophets. On this subject our prophetic guidance is clear. The Lord commanded, “Thou shalt not … kill, nor do anything like unto it” (D&C 59:6). The Church opposes elective abortion for personal or social convenience. Our members are taught that, subject only to some very rare exceptions, they must not submit to, perform, encourage, pay for, or arrange for an abortion. That direction tells us what we need to do on the weightier matters of the law, the choices that will move us toward eternal life.

In today’s world we are not true to our teachings if we are merely pro-choice. We must stand up for the right choice. Those who persist in refusing to think beyond slogans and sound bites like pro-choice wander from the goals they pretend to espouse and wind up giving their support to results they might not support if those results were presented without disguise.

For example, consider the uses some have made of the possible exceptions to our firm teachings against abortion. Our leaders have taught that the only possible exceptions are when the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest, or when a competent physician has determined that the life or health of the mother is in serious jeopardy or that the fetus has severe defects that will not allow the baby to survive beyond birth. But even these exceptions do not justify abortion automatically. Because abortion is a most serious matter, we are counseled that it should be considered only after the persons responsible have consulted with their bishops and received divine confirmation through prayer.

Some Latter-day Saints say they deplore abortion, but they give these exceptional circumstances as a basis for their pro-choice position that the law should allow abortion on demand in all circumstances. Such persons should face the reality that the circumstances described in these three exceptions are extremely rare. For example, conception by incest or rape—the circumstance most commonly cited by those who use exceptions to argue for abortion on demand—is involved in only a tiny minority of abortions. More than 95 percent of the millions of abortions performed each year extinguish the life of a fetus conceived by consensual relations. Thus the effect in over 95 percent of abortions is not to vindicate choice but to avoid its consequences. Using arguments of “choice” to try to justify altering the consequences of choice is a classic case of omitting what the Savior called “the weightier matters of the law.”

A prominent basis for the secular or philosophical arguments for abortion on demand is the argument that a woman should have control over her own body. Not long ago I received a letter from a thoughtful Latter-day Saint outside the United States who analyzed that argument in secular terms. Since his analysis reaches the same conclusion I have urged on religious grounds, I quote it here for the benefit of those most subject to persuasion on this basis:

“Every woman has, within the limits of nature, the right to choose what will or will not happen to her body. Every woman has, at the same time, the responsibility for the way she uses her body. If by her choice she behaves in such a way that a human fetus is conceived, she has not only the right to but also the responsibility for that fetus. If it is an unwanted pregnancy, she is not justified in ending it with the claim that it interferes with her right to choose. She herself chose what would happen to her body by risking pregnancy. She had her choice. If she has no better reason, her conscience should tell her that abortion would be a highly irresponsible choice.

“What constitutes a good reason? Since a human fetus has intrinsic and infinite human value, the only good reason for an abortion would be the violation or deprivation of or the threat to the woman’s right to choose what will or will not happen to her body. Social, educational, financial, and personal considerations alone do not outweigh the value of the life that is in the fetus. These considerations by themselves may properly lead to the decision to place the baby for adoption after its birth, but not to end its existence in utero.

“The woman’s right to choose what will or will not happen to her body is obviously violated by rape or incest. When conception results in such a case, the woman has the moral as well as the legal right to an abortion because the condition of pregnancy is the result of someone else’s irresponsibility, not hers. She does not have to take responsibility for it. To force her by law to carry the fetus to term would be a further violation of her right. She also has the right to refuse an abortion. This would give her the right to the fetus and also the responsibility for it. She could later relinquish this right and this responsibility through the process of placing the baby for adoption after it is born. Whichever way is a responsible choice.”

The man who wrote those words also applied the same reasoning to the other exceptions allowed by our doctrine—life of the mother and a baby that will not survive birth.

I conclude this discussion of choice with two more short points.

If we say we are anti-abortion in our personal life but pro-choice in public policy, we are saying that we will not use our influence to establish public policies that encourage righteous choices on matters God’s servants have defined as serious sins. I urge Latter-day Saints who have taken that position to ask themselves which other grievous sins should be decriminalized or smiled on by the law due to this theory that persons should not be hampered in their choices. Should we decriminalize or lighten the legal consequences of child abuse? of cruelty to animals? of pollution? of fraud? of fathers who choose to abandon their families for greater freedom or convenience?

Similarly, some reach the pro-choice position by saying we should not legislate morality. Those who take this position should realize that the law of crimes legislates nothing but morality. Should we repeal all laws with a moral basis so that our government will not punish any choices some persons consider immoral? Such an action would wipe out virtually all of the laws against crimes. (“Weightier Matters,” Ensign, Jan. 2001, pp. 13ff)

The Free Exercise of Agency–The Purpose of Mortality

Wilford Woodruff (1807-1898) - President

The Lord Almighty never created a world like this and peopled it for six thousand years, as He has done, without having some motive in view. That motive was, that we might come here and exercise our agency. The probation we are called upon to pass through is intended to elevate us so that we can dwell in the presence of God our Father. And that eternal variety of character which existed in the heavens among the spirits–from God upon his throne down to Lucifer the son of the morning–exists here upon the earth. That variety will remain upon the earth in the creations of God, and for what I know, throughout the endless ages of eternity. Men will occupy different glories and positions according to their lives–according to the law they keep the flesh. (The Discourses of Wilford Woodruff [1946], p.8)

One of the Purposes of Earth Life is to Test Our Agency

Gordon B. Hinckley (1910-2008) - President

We were born into this life under a divine plan. We are here to test our worthiness, acting in the agency which God has given to us. (“The Great Things Which God Has Revealed,” Ensign, May 2005, pp. 80ff)

Marion G. Romney (1897-1988) - First Presidency

[T]he whole gospel of Jesus Christ presupposes man's untrammeled exercise of free agency. Man is in the earth to be tested. The issue as to whether he succeeds or fails will be determined by how he uses his agency. His whole future, through all eternity, is at stake. (Conference Report, April 1966, p. 98)

Russell M. Nelson - Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Why are you here on planet earth? One of the most important reasons is to receive a mortal body. Another is to be tested–to experience mortality–to determine what you will do with life's challenging opportunities. Those opportunities require you to make choices, and choices depend on agency. A major reason for your mortal existence, therefore, is to test how you will exercise your agency. (See 2 Ne. 2:15, 25.) (“Choices,” Ensign, Nov. 1990, p. 20)

D. Todd Chirstofferson - Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

A consistent effort will educate and refine our desires so that in time our desires will become aligned with the Father’’s. But we should expect to be tested. The gift of agency is intended to give us experience. We “taste the bitter, that [we] may know to prize the good” (Moses 6:55). And Jesus, “though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered” (Hebrews 5:8).

Joseph Smith was told to expect some severe opposition despite making good choices. Said the Lord, “Know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good” (D&C 122:7). We are in a mortal experience because we cannot become as God without that experience. We must prove to Him and to ourselves that we can consistently make the right choices and then stick to those choices, come what may.

Some think that they should be spared from any adversity if they keep God’s commandments, but it is “in the furnace of affliction” (Isaiah 48:10; 1 Nephi 20:10) that we are chosen. The Lord’s promise is not to spare us the conflict but to preserve and console us in our afflictions and to consecrate them for our gain (see 2 Nephi 2:2; 4:19–26; Jacob 3:1).

Exercising agency in a setting that sometimes includes opposition and hardship is what makes life more than a simple multiple-choice test. God is interested in what we are becoming as a result of our choices. He is not satisfied if our exercise of moral agency is simply a robotic effort at keeping some rules. Our Savior wants us to become something, not just do some things. He is endeavoring to make us independently strong—more able to act for ourselves than perhaps those of any prior generation. We must be righteous, even when He withdraws His Spirit, or, as President Brigham Young said, even “in the dark.”

Using our agency to choose God’s will, and not slackening even when the going gets hard, will not make us God’’s puppet; it will make us like Him. God gave us agency, and Jesus showed us how to use it so that we could eventually learn what They know, do what They do, and become what They are.

Remember that with His gift of moral agency, our Heavenly Father has graciously provided us help to exercise that agency in a way that will yield precious, positive fruit in our life here and hereafter. Among other resources, we have the scriptures that contain the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, mentors and parents who love us, the voice of prophets and apostles living among us, the covenants and ordinances of the priesthood and the temple, the gift of the Holy Ghost, prayer, and the Church. May we draw upon these resources constantly to guide our choices, always doing those things that please God. (From “Moral Agency,” Ensign, Jun 2009, pp. 46–53)

Delbert L. Stapley (1896-1978)- Quorum of he Twelve Apostles

As sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father, we have this gift of free agency to use in our mortal lives. We must be tried, tested, and proved to see if we will choose the right and do all things whatsoever the Lord our God shall command us. As spirit children of God, we have built-in powers of conscience sufficient to develop our free agency in right choices and to acquire qualities of goodness, humility, and integrity of purpose. (“Using Our Free Agency,” Ensign, May 1975, p.21)

Wolfgang H. Paul - of the Seventy

When the Lord taught Abraham about the eternal nature of spirits and that he was chosen before he was born, He explained to Abraham one of the important purposes for coming to this earth by saying, “And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them.” [Abr. 3:25] Thus, our agency makes our life on this earth a test period. If we did not have this wonderful gift of agency, we would not be able to show our Father in Heaven whether we will do all that He commanded us. (“The Gift of Agency,” Ensign, May 2006, 34–35; emphasis added)

F. Enzio Busche - of the Seventy

In the message of the Restoration, we learn that during our mortal life our agency is tested through the inseparable connection of our spirit with the elements of this earth, "the flesh," or the "natural man" (see D&C 88:15). By this revelation we not only understand the cause of mankind's misery, but we also receive the keys and power that enable us to end this misery once and for all. As our mind is opened through our study of the plan of salvation, each of us comes to see that our life means that the "real me," or "the spiritual child of God," created in innocence and beauty, is engaged in a fight for life or death with the elements of the earth, the "flesh," which, in its present unredeemed state, is enticed and influenced by the enemy of God.

From the revelations of the Book of Mormon, we know that this enemy fights with all fury and cunningness to make all men miserable like unto himself (see 2 Ne. 2:27). It is Jesus Christ who, through His light, is searching and finding each individual child of God who is yearning and fighting for righteousness and truth and who is crying for help. Without Christ, this war within us is lost. Without Christ’s plan of redemption and His atoning sacrifice, we all would have been lost. We knew that before we came to this earth, and we can sense it again, when through the Light of Christ our minds are quickened with understanding (see D&C 88:11).

The issue is truth, my dear brothers and sisters, and the only way to find truth is through uncompromising self-education toward self-honesty to see the original “real me,” the child of God, in its innocence and potential in contrast to the influence from the other part of me, “the flesh,” with its selfish desires and foolishness. Only in that state of pure honesty are we able to see truth in its complete dimension. Honesty may not be everything, but everything is nothing without honesty. In its final state, honesty is a gift of the Spirit through which the true disciples of Christ feel the force to bear testimony of the truth in such a powerful way that it penetrates the very core of our existence. ...

This war is a war that has to be fought by all of Heavenly Father’’s children, whether they know about it or not. But without a keen knowledge of the plan of salvation, and without the influence of the divine Light of Christ to bring us awareness, this war is being fought subconsciously, and therefore its battlefronts are not even known to us, and we have no chance to win. Wars in the inner self that are fought subconsciously, with unknown battlefronts, lead to defeats which also hurt us subconsciously. These defeats are reflected in our conscious life as expressions of misery, such as a lack of self-confidence, lack of happiness and joy, lack of faith and testimony, or as overreactions of our subconscious self, which we see then as pride, arrogance, or in other forms of misbehavior—even as acts of cruelty and indecency.

No! There is no salvation without Christ, and Christ cannot be with us unless we pay the price of the constant fight for self-honesty.

One of the great tragedies we see in our lives is that the adversary, through the influences of our “flesh,” can cheat us into establishing images of truth or perceptions of truth. Our brain, the great computer where all the facts of life’’s memories are held together, can also be programmed by the “flesh,” with its self-centered ideas to deceive the spiritual self. Without the constant striving through prayer and contemplation to reach the ends of self-awareness and honesty, our so-called intellect can, therefore, based on look-alike truths, play many games of reason, to impress, to get gain, to intimidate, or even to manipulate truth with the vain results of deceit.    (“Truth Is the Issue,” Ensign, Nov 1993, p. 24)

The Fall of Adam Activated Moral Agency During Earth Life

Alma 12:31

Wherefore, he gave commandments unto men, they having first transgressed the first commandments as to things which were temporal, and becoming as Gods, knowing good from evil, placing themselves in a state to act, or being placed in a state to act according to their wills and pleasures, whether to do evil or to do good--

Russell M. Nelson - Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Other blessings came to us through the Fall. It activated two closely coupled additional gifts from God, nearly as precious as life itself-agency and accountability. We became "free to choose liberty and eternal life … or to choose captivity and death" (2 Ne. 2:27). Freedom of choice cannot be exercised without accountability for choices made. (“Constancy Amid Change,” Ensign, Nov. 1993, p. 33).

Moral Agency Given to All Mankind

Joseph F. Smith (1838-1918) - President
There are many blessings, however, which are common to the human family, which all enjoy, without regard to their moral status or religious convictions. God has given to all men an agency, and has granted to us the privilege to serve Him or serve Him not, to do that which is right or that which is wrong, and this privilege is given to all men irrespective of creed, color or condition. The wealthy have this agency, the poor have this agency, and no man is deprived by any power of God from exercising it in the fullest and in the freest manner. This agency has been given to all. This is a blessing that God has bestowed upon the world of mankind, upon all His children alike. But He will hold us strictly to an account for the use that we make of this agency... (Journal of Discourses, 26 vols. [1967], 24:176)

All God’s Children Have the “Right” of Agency

Dictionary Definitions of “Rights”

Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11 ed. – Something to which one has just claim. Something that one may properly claim as due.

Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary – That to which one has a just claim; any power or privilege vested in a person by the law, custom, etc.

Brigham Young (1801-1877) - President

My independence is sacred to me – it is a portion of that same Diety that rules in the heavens. There is not a being upon the face of the earth who is made in the image of God, who stands erect and is organized as God is, that would be deprived of the free exercise of his agency so far as he does not infringe upon other’s rights, save by good advice and a good example. (Discourses of Brigham Young [1954], p.62)

Wilford Woodruff (1807-1898) - President

With regard to the rights of the human family, I wish to say that God has given unto all of his children of this dispensation, as he gave unto all of his children of previous dispensations, individual agency. This agency has always been the heritage of man under the rule and government of God. He possessed it in the heaven of heavens before the world was, and the Lord maintained and defended it there against the aggression of Lucifer and those that took sides with him, to the overthrow of Lucifer and one-third part of the heavenly hosts. By virtue of this agency you and I and all mankind are made responsible beings, responsible for the course we pursue, the lives we live, the deeds we do in the body. (The Discourses of Wilford Woodruff [1946], pp.8-9)

Elements of Moral of Agency

Bruce R. McConkie - Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Four great principles must be in force if there is to be agency:

1. Laws must exist, laws ordained by an Omnipotent power, laws which can be obeyed or disobeyed;

2. Opposites must exist–good and evil, virtue and vice, right and wrong–that is, there must be an opposition, one force pulling one way and another pulling the other.

3. A knowledge of good and evil must be had by those who are to enjoy the agency, that is, they must know the difference between the opposites; and

4. An unfettered power of choice must prevail. (Mormon Doctrine 2nd Ed. [1966], p. 26)

D. Todd Chirstofferson - Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

What, then, are the elements of moral agency? To me there are three.

First, there must be alternatives among which to choose. Lehi spoke of opposites, or “opposition” –righteousness and its opposite, wickedness; holiness versus misery; good versus bad. Without opposites, Lehi said, “All things must needs be a compound in one; … no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility” (2 Nephi 2:11).

He further explained that for these opposites or alternatives to exist, there must be law. Law provides us the options. It is by the operation of laws that things happen. By using or obeying a law, one can bring about a particular result–and by disobedience, the opposite result. Without law there could be no God, for He would be powerless to cause anything to happen (see 2 Nephi 2:13). Without law, neither He nor we would be able to predict or choose a particular outcome by a given action. Our existence and the creation around us are convincing evidence that God, the Creator, exists and that our mortal world consists of “both things to act and things to be acted upon” (2 Nephi 2:14)–or, in other words, choices.

Second, for us to have agency, we must not only have alternatives, but we must also know what they are. If we are unaware of the choices available, the existence of those choices is meaningless to us. Lehi called this being “enticed by the one or the other” (2 Nephi 2:16). He recalled the situation of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden when they were presented with a choice,“even the forbidden fruit in opposition to the tree of life; the one being sweet and the other bitter” (2 Nephi 2:15). Adam and Eve’s choice, of course, brought about the Fall, which brought with it a knowledge of good and evil, opening to their understanding a multitude of new choices. Had they remained in Eden, “they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin” (2 Nephi 2:23). But with the Fall, both they and we gain sufficient knowledge and understanding to be enticed by good and evil–we attain a state of accountability and can recognize the alternatives before us.

The beauty of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that it pours knowledge into our souls and shows things in their true light. With that enhanced perspective, we can discern more clearly the choices before us and their consequences. We can, therefore, make more intelligent use of our agency. Many of God’s children fall into unanticipated traps and unhappiness because they either lack or ignore gospel light. They are unaware of their options or are confused about the outcomes of their choices. Ignorance effectively limits their agency.

Third is the next element of agency: the freedom to make choices (see 2 Nephi 10:23). This freedom to act for ourselves in choosing among alternatives is often referred to in the scriptures as agency itself. For this freedom we are indebted to God. It is His gift to us (see Moses 4:3).

“The Lord said unto Enoch: Behold these thy brethren; they are the workmanship of mine own hands, and I gave unto them their knowledge, in the day I created them; and in the Garden of Eden, gave I unto man his agency” (Moses 7:32).

King Benjamin reminded us that in addition to giving us the freedom to choose, God makes it possible for us to use the gift because He “is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another” (Mosiah 2:21).

Freedom of choice is the freedom to obey or disobey existing laws–not the freedom to alter their consequences. Law, as mentioned earlier, exists as a foundational element of moral agency with fixed outcomes that do not vary according to our opinions or preferences. Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles observed, “We are responsible to use our agency in a world of choices. It will not do to pretend that our agency has been taken away when we are not free to exercise it without unwelcome consequences.” [Dallin H. Oaks, “Weightier Matters,” in Brigham Young University 1998–99 Speeches (1999), 148] (From “Moral Agency,” Ensign, Jun 2009, pp. 46–53)

Harold B. Lee (1899-1973) - President

But, you ask, why does God, if He truly loves his children, permit Satan to tempt us and thereby jeopardize our chances to gain the best experiences in mortality and return to enjoy eternal life in His presence? The answer is given by a great prophet-teacher: “Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself. Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one [which is evil] or the other [which is good].” (2 Nephi 2:16.) Think about that for a moment. If there were no opposition to good, would there be any chance to exercise your agency or right to choose? To deny you that privilege would be to deny you the opportunity to grow in knowledge, experience, and power. God has given laws with penalties affixed so that man might be made afraid of sin and be guided into paths of truth and duty. (See Alma 42:20.) (Stand Ye In Holy Places [1974], p.219)

Agency Given to Choose and Act On Good or Evil Choices

Gordon B. Hinckley (1910-2008) - President

Mankind has been given agency to choose between right and wrong. (“Reverence and Morality,” Ensign, May 1987, 47)

M. Russell Ballard - Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

We tend to think of agency as a personal matter. If we ask someone to define "moral agency," the answer will probably be something like this: "Moral agency means I am free to make choices for myself." Often overlooked is the fact that choices have consequences; we forget also that agency offers the same privilege of choice to others. At times we will be affected adversely by the way other people choose to exercise their agency. Our Heavenly Father feels so strongly about protecting our agency that he allows his children to exercise it, either for good or for evil. (“Answers to Life's Questions,” Ensign, May 1995, p.22)

Boyd K. Packer - Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

We want our children and their children to know that the choice of life is not between fame and obscurity, nor is the choice between wealth and poverty. The choice is between good and evil, and that is a very different matter indeed. (“The Choice,” Ensign, Nov. 1980, p. 21)

Joseph B. Wirthlin - Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
The Father’s plan gave us our agency to choose right or wrong, good or evil so we can learn, develop, and progress. (“Deep Roots,” Ensign, Nov. 1994, p. 75)

David B. Haight - Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

We have our agency to choose right from wrong, good from evil. But just because evil exists does not mean that we must partake of it. You cannot do wrong and feel right. (“A Time for Preparation,” Ensign, Nov. 1991, p. 37)

Dallin H. Oaks - Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

When I say free agency I refer to what the scripture calls agency, which means an exercise of the will, the power to choose. (“Free Agency and Freedom,” in The Book of Mormon: Second Nephi, The Doctrinal Structure [Eds. Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate, Jr. Religious Studies Center, BYU, Provo Utah, 1989] p. 1)

Howard W. Hunter (1907-1995) - President

Today, I would like to address both groups, members of our church as well as others, about one of the most important tenets of our faith and one of the most precious of God’s gifts to mankind. It is our freedom, our agency, our inalienable and divine right to choose what we will believe and what we will not believe, and to choose what we want to be and what we want to do. I wish to speak of our responsibility and our opportunity to choose God, and the good, and eternal life; or to select evil, the destructive, and that which leads to painful misery and despair. (“The Golden Thread of Choice,” Ensign, Nov. 1989, p. 17)

Neal A. Maxwell (1926-2004) - Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

The vital revelations about the agency of man–our freedom to choose–inevitably disclose the perfect generosity and justice of God. (“Free to Choose,” in Moving in His Majesty& Power [ 2004], pp. 1-2)

Dallin H. Oaks - Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

God has given us agency—the power to choose between good (the path of life) and evil (the path of spiritual death and destruction.(“Same-Gender Attraction,” Ensign, Oct. 1995, p. 8)

Good and Evil Is Determined By God Not Man

Richard G. Scott - Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Please understand, no one has the privilege to choose what is right. God reserved that prerogative to Himself. (“Healing Your Damaged Life,” Ensign, Nov. 1992, p. 61)

Spencer W. Kimball (1895-1985) - President

You probably think you have found a new freedom: to think wholly for yourself, to make wholly your own determinations, to criticize and decide for yourself what is right and wrong. That was decided eternities ago. Right and wrong are not to be determined by you or me. Those elements were decided for us before our birth. We have the free agency to do the right or do the wrong, but who are we to alter those changeless things? We can scoff at sacred things, express our own little opinions, but remember that millions of men and women with keener minds than ours, with more erudite training than yours and mine, have said things and done things more startling, more ugly, more skeptical than you or I could think of. Millions have gone down the path you are entering. They have all come to grief or will ultimately. Shall the violin say to Tony Stradivarius, “You did not make me”? Shall the created thing question the creator? (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball [1982], p.160)

Do Not Confuse Agency With the “Right” to Do Wrong

Joseph Fielding Smith (1876-1972) - President

I have heard people say, and members of the Church too, “I have a right to do as I please.” My answer is: No, you do not. You haven’t any right at all to do just as you please. There is only one right that you have, and that is to do just what I read to you: keep the commandments of Jesus Christ. He has a perfect right to tell us so. We have no right to refuse. I do not care who the man is; I do not care where he lives, or what he is--when the gospel of Jesus Christ is presented to him, he has no right to refuse to receive it. He has the privilege. He is not compelled to receive it, because our Father in heaven has given to everyone of us in the Church and out, the gift of free agency. That free agency gives us the privilege to accept and be loyal to our Lord’s commandments, but it has never given us the right to reject them. Every man who rejects the commandments of our Father in heaven is rebellious. (Conference Report, April 1967, pp.120-121)

Our Choices Can Never Be Independent of Good or Evil Influences

Henry B. Eyring - First Presidency

Korihor was arguing, as men and women have falsely argued from the beginning of time, that to take counsel from the servants of God is to surrender God-given rights of independence. But the argument is false because it misrepresents reality. When we reject the counsel which comes from God, we do not choose to be independent of outside influence. We choose another influence. We reject the protection of a perfectly loving, all-powerful, all-knowing Father in Heaven, whose whole purpose, as that of His Beloved Son, is to give us eternal life, to give us all that He has, and to bring us home again in families to the arms of His love. In rejecting His counsel, we choose the influence of another power, whose purpose is to make us miserable and whose motive is hatred. We have moral agency as a gift of God. Rather than the right to choose to be free of influence, it is the inalienable right to submit ourselves to whichever of those powers we choose. (“Finding Safety in Counsel,” Ensign, May 1997, p. 25)

Agency Is Not a Power Designed to Get What You Want

Richard G. Scott - Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Your agency, the right to make choices, is not given so that you can get what you want. This divine gift is provided so that you will choose what your Father in Heaven wants for you. That way He can lead you to become all that He intends you to be (see D&C 58:26–32). That path leads to glorious joy and happiness. (“Finding Joy in Life,” Ensign, May 1996, p. 25)

Be Very Careful About Surrendering Agency

Neal A. Maxwell (1926-2004) - Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Yes, we mortals are still free to choose. Yes, a war was even fought in heaven to preserve our moral agency. Yet down here, the great gift of agency is often surrendered without so much as a mild whimper! (“The Seventh Commandment: A Shield,” Ensign, Nov. 2001, p.78)

Every Choice Brings Consequences

D&C 93

    30 All truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act for itself, as all intelligence also; otherwise there is no existence.
    31 Behold, here is the agency of man, and here is the condemnation of man; because that which was from the beginning is plainly manifest unto them, and they receive not the light.
    32 And every man whose spirit receiveth not the light is under condemnation.

Gordon B. Hinckley (1910-2008) - President

I repeat, each of us has a choice between right and wrong. But with that choice there inevitably will follow consequences. (“Reverence and Morality,” Ensign, May 1987, p. 47)

Boyd K. Packer - Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

In mortality men are free to choose, and each choice begets a consequence. (“Atonement, Agency, Accountability,” Ensign, May 1988, p.71)

Russell M. Nelson - Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Often, however, agency is misunderstood. While we are free to choose, once we have made those choices, we are tied to the consequences of those choices. (“Addiction or Freedom,” Ensign, Nov. 1988, p.6)

Richard G. Scott - Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Our agency does allow us to choose among alternate paths, but then we are bound to the consequence God has decreed. (“Healing Your Damaged Life,” Ensign, Nov. 1992, p. 61)

We Are Free to Make Choices
But Not Free to Choose the Consequence of Those Choices

Robert D. Hales - Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

You have to have agency to choose between good and evil. So we say, “I understand I’m free to do what I want. I’’m my own person. I have agency.” It’s true that we are free to make our own choices, but we’’re not free to choose the consequences of those choices. Once you understand that, you begin to understand that there is a great price to be paid for agency. Those people who think agency means “I can do whatever I want whenever I want” do not understand. They may be able to do what they want, but they can’t choose the consequences. (“Integrity and Values: A Discussion with Elder Robert D. Hales,” Ensign, Apr 2005, pp. 46–49)

Joseph B. Wirthlin (Quorum of the Twelve Apostles)

The Lord has given you the gift of agency (see Moses 7:32) and instructed you sufficiently to know good from evil (see 2 Ne. 2:5). You are free to choose (see 2 Ne. 2:27) and are permitted to act (see 2 Ne. 10:23; Hel. 14:30), but you are not free to choose the consequences. With absolute certainty, choices of good and right lead to happiness and peace, while choices of sin and evil eventually lead to unhappiness, sorrow, and misery. (“Running Your Marathon,” Ensign, Nov. 1989, p. 75)

Richard G. Scott (Quorum of the Twelve Apostles)

Yes, moral agency allows you to choose what you will, but you cannot control the outcome of those choices. Unlike the false creations of man, our Father in Heaven determines the consequences of your choices. Obedience will yhield happiness, while ciolation of His commandments will not. (“How To Live Well Amid Increasing Evil,” Ensign, May 2004, pp. 100-103)

God, Not Man, Determines Consequences of Choices and Actions

Brigham Young (1801-1877) - President

•    Our Father controls the results of our acts at his own pleasure, and we cannot prevent it. Man can produce and control his own acts, but he has no control over their results. God causes even the wrath of man to praise him, to redound to his glory and the salvation of his children. (Discourses of Brigham Young [1954], p.63)

•    He has given them the privilege of choosing for themselves, whether it be good or evil; but the results of our choice is still in his hand. All his children have the right of making a path for themselves of walking to the right or to the left, or telling the truth or that which is not true. This right God has given to all people who dwell on the earth, and they can legislate and act as they please; but God holds them in his hands, and he will bring forth the results of his glory, and for the benefit of those who love and serve him, and he will make the wrath of men to praise him. All of us are in the hands of that God. (Discourses of Brigham Young [1954], p.62)

Richard G. Scott - Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

• Yes, moral agency allows you to choose what you will, but you cannot control the outcome of those choices. Unlike the false creations of man, our Father in Heaven determines the consequences of your choices. (“How to Live Well amid Increasing Evil,” Ensign, May 2004, p.100)

• [O]ur Eternal Father defined truth and established what is right and wrong before the creation of this earth. He also fixed the consequences of obedience and disobedience to those truths. He defended our right to choose our path in life so that we would grow, develop, and be happy, but we do not have the right to choose the consequences of our acts. ... Please understand, no one has the privilege to choose what is right. God reserved that prerogative to Himself. Our agency does allow us to choose among alternate paths, but then we are bound to the consequence God has decreed. Later, if we don’t like where the path takes us, the only out is through repentance. (“Healing Your Damaged Life,” Ensign, Nov. 1992, p. 61)

We Are Not Free to Alter Consequences

Ezra Taft Benson (1899-1994) - President

We are free to choose, but we are not free to alter the consequences of those choices. (Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson [1988], p.382]

Not Free to Escape Consequences of Exercised Agency

Spencer W. Kimball (1895-1985) - President

• Of course we can choose; the free agency is ours, but we cannot escape the consequences of our choice. (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball [1982], p.195)

• Men have free agency, as the Lord has made clear. They may do right or wrong but they cannot escape the responsibility of answering for their errors if they are normal individuals. (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball [1982], p.159)

Russell M. Nelson - Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

• Often, however, agency is misunderstood. While we are free to choose, once we have made those choices, we are tied to the consequences of those choices. (“Addiction or Freedom,” Ensign, Nov. 1988, p. 7)

• We are free to think. We are free to plan. And then we are free to do. But once an action has been taken, we are never free from its consequences. ... To clarify this concept, we can learn from the astronaut. Any time during the selection process, planning, and preparation, he is free to withdraw. But once the powerful rocket fuel is ignited, he is no longer free to choose. Now he is bound by the consequences of his choice. Even if difficulties develop and he might wish otherwise, the choice made was sealed by action. (“Reverence for Life,” Ensign, May 1985, 13)

Boyd K. Packer - Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Life is meant to be a test to see if we will keep the commandments of God. (See 2 Ne. 2:5.) We are free to obey or to ignore the spirit and the letter of the law. But the agency granted to man is a moral agency. (See D&C 101:78.) We are not free to break our covenants and escape the consequences. (“Covenants,” Ensign, Nov. 1990, p. 84)

Neal A. Maxwell (1926-2004) - Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

There is always at least one victim of iniquity. Yes, I am free to choose, but I can neither be immune from the consequences of my wrong choices nor avoid accountability. (“Free to Choose,” in Moving in His Majesty& Power [2004], pp. 1-2)

Consequences to Agency Reach Even to Our Desires

Dallin H. Oaks - Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

God’s law can assign consequences solely on the basis of our innermost thoughts and desires. There is no uncertainty in the administration of this law. As Ammon taught King Lamoni, God “looketh down upon all the children of men; and he knows all the thoughts and intents of the heart; for by his hand were they all created from the beginning.” (Alma 18:32.)

Similarly, Paul warned the Hebrews that God “is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart,” and “all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him.” (Heb. 4:12–13.)

In other words, God judges us not only for our acts, but also for the desires of our hearts. He has said so again and again. This is a challenging reality, but it is not surprising. Agency and accountability are eternal principles. We exercise our free agency not only by what we do, but also by what we decide, or will, or desire. Restrictions on freedom can deprive us of the power to do, but no one can deprive us of the power to will or desire. Accountability must therefore reach and attach consequences to the desires of our hearts. (“The Desires of Our Hearts,” Ensign, June 1986, pp. 64-65)

The Secret of Solving Problems Requires
Understanding the Interaction of Agency and Truth

Richard G. Scott - Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

The secret to solve problems in your life will be found in understanding and using the eternally beneficial interaction of your agency and [God’s] truth.

The Master said: “He that keepeth [the] commandments receiveth truth and light. …

“Light and truth forsake that evil one, …

“And that wicked one cometh and taketh away light and truth, through disobedience, from the children of men.” (D&C 93:28, 37, 39; emphasis added.)

He also declared, “Every man may act in doctrine and principle, … according to the moral agency which I have given unto him, that every man may be accountable … in the day of judgment” (D&C 101:78; italics added).

These scriptures teach how to overcome the effects of wrong choices, whether they be lying, stealing, gambling, addiction to alcohol or drugs, immorality, inflicting abuse, or anything like it. Simply stated, one must use his agency to obey truth.

When others give you advice, have you ever said, “I just don’t believe the way you do. Those are your standards and your principles. I have my own”? Please understand that no one can change truth. Rationalization, overpowering self-interest, all of the arguments of men, anger, or self-will cannot change truth. Satan knows that, so he tries to create an atmosphere where one unwittingly begins to feel that he can not only choose what to do, but can determine what is right to do. Satan strives to persuade us to live outside truth by rationalizing our actions as the right of choice.

But our Eternal Father defined truth and established what is right and wrong before the creation of this earth. He also fixed the consequences of obedience and disobedience to those truths. He defended our right to choose our path in life so that we would grow, develop, and be happy, but we do not have the right to choose the consequences of our acts. Those who willfully, consistently disobey His commandments will inevitably learn that truth. Joseph Smith was inspired to record, “When we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.” (D&C 130:21.)

Please understand, no one has the privilege to choose what is right. God reserved that prerogative to Himself. Our agency does allow us to choose among alternate paths, but then we are bound to the consequence God has decreed. Later, if we don’t like where the path takes us, the only out is through repentance. (“Healing Your Damaged Life,” Ensign, Nov. 1992, p. 61)

Accountability an Important Part of Moral Agency

D&C 101:78

That every man may act in doctrine and principle pertaining to futurity, according to the moral agency which I have given unto him, that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgment.

Russell M. Nelson - Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

You cannot exercise agency and escape accountability and responsibility for each choice. (“Personal Priesthood Responsibility,” Ensign, Nov. 2003, p.44)

D. Todd Christofferson - Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

When we use the term moral agency, we are appropriately emphasizing the accountability that is an essential part of the divine gift of agency. We are moral beings and agents unto ourselves, free to choose but also responsible for our choices. (“Moral Agency,” Ensign, Jun 2009, p. 46)

James E. Faust (1920-2007) - First Presidency

• We have the agency to make choices, but ultimately we will be accountable for each choice we make. (Honesty–A Moral Compass,” Ensign, Nov. 1996, p 41)

• We are all accountable for our actions. My experience as a lawyer taught me that those who follow a life of crime frequently blame their father or mother or society when they are imprisoned. Yet they willfully chose to act "contrary to the nature of God" and consequently are "in a state contrary to the nature of happiness." Some of them even claim, "The devil made me do it!" The truth in that statement is that the devil entices us to do evil. The falsehood is because we have agency. The devil can't make us do anything we choose not to do. (“Message to My Grandsons,” Ensign, May 2007, pp. 54-56)

Russell M. Nelson - Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

You cannot exercise agency and escape accountability and responsibility for each choice. (“Personal Priesthood Responsibility,” Ensign, Nov. 2003, p.44)

God Will Not Tamper With Man’s Agency

Boyd K. Packer - Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

But the decision, the action, must begin with the individual. The Lord will not tamper with our agency. (The Holy Temple [1980], p. 236)

David O. McKay (1873-1970) - President

Men may choose the right or they may choose the wrong; they may walk in darkness or they may walk in the light; and, mind you, God has not left his children without the light. He has given them in the various dispensations of the world the light of the gospel wherein they could walk and not stumble, wherein they could find that peace and happiness which he desires, as a loving Father, his children should enjoy, but the Lord does not take from them their free agency. (Gospel Ideals [1953], p.301)

We Must Exercise Faith in Order to Properly Use Agency

Russell M. Nelson - Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

The proper exercise of moral agency requires faith. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the first principle of the gospel. (See A of F 1:4.) Because of Him, you have your agency. He must be the very foundation of your faith, and the testing of that faith is a fundamental reason for your freedom to choose.

You are free to develop and exercise faith in God and in His divine Son, faith in His word, faith in His Church, faith in His servants, and faith in His commandments. ...

Cultivation of that faith will entitle you to the companionship of the Holy Ghost, who will help you make wise decisions. (See 2 Ne. 2:27-28; D&C 14:8.)

Many may profess a measure of faith in God, but without sincere repentance, faith cannot be fully operative. This concept was made known to the Nephites:

“Many of them as are brought to the knowledge of the truth, … and are led to believe the holy scriptures, … which leadeth them to faith on the Lord, and unto repentance, which faith and repentance bringeth a change of heart unto them." (Hel. 15:7.)

Faith, repentance, and obedience will qualify you for sublime gifts of justice and mercy, which are bestowed upon those worthy of the blessings of the Atonement. (See Alma 34:16-17.)

Yes, every test, every trial, every challenge and hardship you endure is an opportunity to further develop your faith. (See D&C 63:11; D&C 101:4.)

Faith can be fortified through prayer. Prayer is the powerful key to making decisions, not only concerning your physical body, but concerning all other important aspects of your life. Humbly seek the Lord in prayer with a sincere heart and real intent, and He will help you. (See Alma 33:23; Moro. 7:9; Moro. 10:4; D&C 9:7-9.)

Remember that faith and prayer alone are seldom sufficient. Personal effort is usually necessary to accomplish your heart's desire. "Faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone." (James 2:17; see also James 2:18, 20, 26; Alma 26:22.) (“Choices,” Ensign, Nov.1990, p.73)

We Must Give God the One Thing He Will Not Take From Us – Our Agency

Boyd K. Packer - Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Now, my young friends, I would like to make reference to another experience, one I think of often but one I seldom talk about. I shall not mention it in detail; I only want to refer to it. It happened many years ago when I was perhaps not quite as young as you are now, and it had to do with my decision to follow that guide.

I knew what agency was and knew how important it was to be individual and to be independent, to be free. I somehow knew there was one thing the Lord would never take from me, and that was my free agency. I would not surrender my agency to any being but to Him! I determined that I would give Him the one thing that He would never take—my agency. I decided, by myself, that from that time on I would do things His way.

That was a great trial for me, for I thought I was giving away the most precious thing I possessed. I was not wise enough in my youth to know that because I exercised my agency and decided myself, I was not losing it. It was strengthened! (“Spiritual Crocodiles,” Ensign, May 1976, p 32)

Preservation of Agency More Important Than Life

Marion G. Romney (1897-1988) - First Presidency

The preservation of free agency is more important than the preservation of life itself. As a matter of fact, without it, there would be no existence. (Conference Report, October 1968, p.65)

Free Government Necessary For Exercise of Agency

Dallin H. Oaks - Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

"That every man may act … according to the moral agency which I have given unto him, that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgment.

“Therefore, it is not right that any man should be in bondage one to another.

“And for this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land.” (D&C 101:78–80.)

In other words, the most desirable condition for the effective exercise of God-given moral agency is a condition of maximum freedom and responsibility. ( “The Divinely Inspired Constitution,” Ensign, Feb. 1992, 72)

Agency and Laws

Wilford Woodruff (1807-1898) - President

The God of heaven, who created this earth and placed his children upon it, gave unto them a law whereby they might be exalted and saved in a kingdom of glory. For there is a law given unto all kingdoms, and all things are governed by law throughout the whole universe, Whatever law anyone keeps, he is preserved by that law, and he receives whatever reward that law guarantee unto him. It is the will of God that all his children should obey the highest law, that they may receive the highest glory that is ordained for all immortal beings. But God has given all his children an agency, to choose what law they will keep. (The Discourses of Wilford Woodruff [1946], p.10)

One of the Mission’s of the Church: To Perpetuate Agency of Man

John Taylor (1808-1887) - President

Besides the preaching of the gospel, we have another mission, namely, the perpetuation of the free agency of man and the maintenance of liberty, freedom, and the rights of man. There are certain principles that belong to humanity outside of the Constitution, outside of the laws outside of all the enactments and plans of man, among which is the right to live. God gave us the right and no man: No government gave it to us, and no government has a right to take it away from us.

We have a right to liberty–that was a right that God gave to all men; and if there has been oppression, fraud, or tyranny in the earth, it has been the result of the wickedness and corruptions of men and has always been opposed to God and the principles of truth righteousness, virtue, and all principles that are calculated to elevate mankind. (The Gospel Kingdom [1944], p.222)

Must Make Certain Judgments to Exercise Agency

Dallin H. Oaks - Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

In contrast to forbidding mortals to make final judgments, the scriptures require mortals to make what I will call “intermediate judgments.” These judgments are essential to the exercise of personal moral agency.(“ ‘Judge Not’ and Judging,” Ensign, Aug. 1999, p. 9)

Our Use of Agency Fashions Our Future

Howard W. Hunter (1907-1995) - President

When the children of Israel returned from Egypt and stood on the threshold of the promised land, they faced the clear choice of what was before them. Of the future that was about to be theirs, the Lord said to them:

“Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;

“A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day:

“And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God.” (Deut. 11:26–28.)

That is the choice the Lord puts before us as we face our own promised lands and our own bright futures. We are given the knowledge, the help, the enticement, and the freedom to choose the path of eternal safety and salvation. The choice to do so is ours. By divine decree before this world was, the actual choice is and always has been our own.

Let us be conscious of the fact that our future is being fashioned by the decisions we make. (“The Golden Thread of Choice,” Ensign, Nov. 1989, p. 19)

Agency Necessary to Inspiration

Boyd K. Packer (Quorum of the Twelve Apostles)

You have your agency, and inspiration does not—perhaps cannot—flow unless you ask for it, or someone asks for you. No message in scripture is repeated more often than the invitation, even the command, to pray—to ask. Prayer is so essential a part of revelation that without it the veil may remain closed to you. Learn to pray. Pray often. Pray in your mind, in your heart. Pray on your knees. (“Personal Revelation: The Gift, the Test, and the Promise,” Ensign, Nov. 1994, p. 59)

We Have Agency to Believe What We Want But Not Teach What We Want

Boyd K. Packer - Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

It is not the belief in a false notion that is the problem, it is the teaching of it to others. In the Church we have the agency to believe whatever we want to believe about whatever we want to believe. But we are not authorized to teach it to others as truth. (“From Such Turn Away,” Ensign, May 1985, p. 35)