Agency: My choice of my master.
Implications of a “right to choose.”

by Gordon Timothy

There are only two masters:.
--God or Mammon;
--The Spirit or the flesh;
--The way of life or the way of death;
--The way of liberty or the way of slavery
--The way of sin or the way of righteousness
Trying to serve both is disastrous


Which of the Following is the Most Accurate Definition of Freedom?

1. You can do anything you want as long as you really want it, period?
A Naïve view
Optimistic, Positive Thinking
People think they need to believe it is so
Is only believed by those who are naïve about reality.
It is not true.
Assumes that having truth makes us less free.
It is not true freedom

2. You can do anything you want as long as you don’t interfere with your neighbor?
Political View
It contains an important principle for living with other people
Considers other people
More inclusive of situations
Doesn’t include integrity
Limited to actions judged only by their effect on other people.
Can be hypocritical
Narrow scope of application
It is not true freedom.

3. You can do anything you want as long as you are willing to take the consequences?
Sinners’ View
Includes the reality that consequences come with our doing and choosing
But if I’m not willing, consequences come anyway
Some people wrongly use this to feel justified in choosing sin over righteousness
We should be without self hatred
Ignores conscience
It is not freedom

4. You can do anything you want as long as you do it within set bounds and limits?
Reality
You can do what you want only by obeying law, satisfying limits
If you do not obey the laws, you cannot do it.
Freedom = obedience to law
Not man’s laws, but eternal laws
Even man’s laws often help us be more free

What if you don’t agree with the limits/ bounds? It doesn’t matter. It is not about opinions, but about reality.

Example: I want to fly.
• I can if I want? No
• I can if I don’t interfere with my neighbor? No
• I can if I am willing to take the consequences? No. (If I jump off some height, I can have an illusion of flying, but I am not really flying)
• I can if I obey the laws that permit it. YES

Freedom is Obedience
D&C 130:20-21 There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—
And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.
Moses 5:23 If thou doest well, thou shalt be accepted. And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door, and Satan desireth to have thee; and except thou shalt hearken unto my commandments, I will deliver thee up, and it shall be unto thee according to his desire.

Anti-Law is Anti-Freedom
D&C 82:10 I, the Lord am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise.
D&C 84: 51 For whoso cometh not unto me is under the bondage of sin.
88:35 That which breaketh a law, and abideth not by law, but seeketh to become a law unto itself, and willeth to abide in sin, and altogether abideth in sin, cannot be sanctified by law, neither by mercy, justice nor judgment. Therefore, they must remain filthy still.

Agency is Responsibility
John 8:31: …If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
32: and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
34: …whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin
36: If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed
Boyd K. Packer: “There is no true freedom without responsibility and knowledge of the truth. The scriptures do not mention free agency. They do stress moral agency.
David Bednar: Once you have made covenants, you are no longer a “free agent,” but are accountable to keep those covenants
Joshua 24: 15 - Choose ye this day whom ye will serve … but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
Alma 13:10-13 - …choosing to repent and work righteousness rather than to perish… [they] could not look upon sin save it were with abhorrence…
2 Nephi 2: 16: 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 or the other.
2 Ne. 2:26 …because they are redeemed from the fall, they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it should be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day…
2 Ne. 2:27 …Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh, and all things are given them which are expedient unto man.
And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and the power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.
2 Ne. 2:28-29 [I hope you will] choose eternal life, according to the will of His holy Spirit, And not choose eternal death, according 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…
2 Ne. 9:39 … to be carnally-minded is death, and to be spiritually minded is life eternal
Romans 6: 16: Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey, whether it be of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
23: For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
2 Ne. 10:23-25 …ye are free to act for yourselves– to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life…reconcile yourselves to the will of God, and not to the will of the devil and the flesh…
Alma 3: 19…every man that is cursed (does) bring upon himself his own condemnation.
Alma 3: 26 …they…reap their rewards according to their works, whether they were good or whether they were bad, to reap eternal happiness or eternal misery, according to the spirit which they listed t obey, whether it be a good spirit or a bad one.
Alma 3: 27 For every man receiveth wages of him whom he listeth to obey
Matt. 6: 24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other.
Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Rom 8:5-6,13 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
Gal 5:16 Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh
D&C 37:4 Behold, here is wisdom, and let every man choose for himself until I come.
D&C 58:26-28,33; It is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward
D&C 93:31 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…
39. And that wicked one cometh and taketh away light and truth through disobedience …
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.
Article of Faith #2 We believe than men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression.
Implication:
No one else is responsible for my
- behaviors, actions
- thoughts
- feelings
I am

Models and Examples:
1. Lehi’s Dream 1 Ne 8-15
We choose between the path to the building, the pride of the world and the tree of life, the Love of God. The river, the depths of hell and filthiness is what we get when we try to go both ways. Some fall away into forbidden paths and are lost.
The building is fruitless and foundationless; it will fall and destroy those who depend upon it.
The tree is firmly rooted; it has the sweetest fruit there is: The love of God, the Atonement of Christ.

2. Job, a Perfect man believes the promises, is rewarded well
Is it pride, or love? Take away rewards and see
God seems to not be keeping His promises…
Job is counseled by his wife to curse God and die.
His friends tell him he must be wicked, and must repent …
Has he done it for himself or for the love of God?

3. Abraham Gen. 22:1-13
Nearly was sacrificed himself. Believes the promises of the Lord: That through his son Isaac the world will be blessed… Told to sacrifice Isaac. What becomes of the promise?
Is his faith in himself, or is it in God?
Is his obedience forced?
Does he take pride in the promises?
Does he think of himself as better than everyone else?
Or does he seek to bless

4. You, me? Blessed for keeping commandments
Article of Faith # 2
“To act and not be acted upon”
Blessings sometimes seem to disappear. Some consequences are not given until Judgment day, making them ineffective as controls.
Other people’s behavior is offensive, hurtful. Am I a victim, or an agent?

To choose the way of the flesh is to become the slave of wickedness, of Satan.
To choose the way of the Spirit is to become free, since God will not force His will, but makes us free when we choose Him as Master

I am responsible for my actions? You are responsible for yours.
I will be punished for and by my own sins. You will be punished for and by your sins.
I make a choice; I choose a consequence.
I go against my conscience; I deserve guilt and other natural consequences.
I try to get out of the consequence; I have chosen worse consequences.
I take an action; It cannot be blamed on someone else
I take offense; that is my action.
I get angry; that is my action.
I accuse another; that is my action.
I blame another; that is my action.
I judge another; that is my action.
Breaking a commandment is my own action
Keeping commandments is my own action
Seeking help from God is my own action.
Repenting is my own action, though I cannot do it alone.

When I act selfishly; that is my sin.
When I try to force another; that is my sin
When I try to defend my ego by punishing another, I become the bad guy.
When I try to hide my sin; I am my own victim.
When I call another names; that is my sin.
When I hate another, or myself, that is my sin.
When I let you make me feel a certain way; that is my action.
When I think myself better than others, that is my sin
When I lust, I sin.

I don’t teach what I know; that is my sin.
I don’t help one in need when I can; that is my sin
I enslave another; that is my sin.I take advantage of another (cheat, use, harm); that is my sin