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The Purpose of Life

Posted: November 9th, 2013, 3:48 pm
by clarkkent14
Since we are on a "show it to me in scripture" binge, I would like to propose a question. According to scripture, what is the purpose of this mortal existence? I don't want what you think, just plain answers from the word of God. I ask this because I believe we have false teachings repeated over and over that result in unbelief and stumbling blocks. They will become evident I believe through this discussion.

Re: The Purpose of Life

Posted: November 9th, 2013, 4:01 pm
by log
Abr 3:24 And there stood one among them that was like unto God, and he said unto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell;

25 And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;

26 And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever.
2 Nephi 2:25
25 Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.

Re: The Purpose of Life

Posted: November 9th, 2013, 4:55 pm
by Thinker
clarkkent14 wrote:Since we are on a "show it to me in scripture" binge, I would like to propose a question. According to scripture, what is the purpose of this mortal existence? I don't want what you think, just plain answers from the word of God. I ask this because I believe we have false teachings repeated over and over that result in unbelief and stumbling blocks. They will become evident I believe through this discussion.
Hi ClarkKent :D
I think, as maybe you're implying, that for every scripture there is an equal and opposite one, equally true.
"Thinking with integrity is paradoxical thinking."
"There must needs be opposition in all things." How would we appreciate anything otherwise?

IE: "Men are that they might have joy."
"My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;
And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes."

"Prince of Peace."
"I have not come to bring peace, but a sword."

Scriptures are symbolic - and admitingly, many have been warped over the centuries, by power-hungry people.
Initially, we look to authority figures to tell us what to make of symbols, but at some point, we need to "put of childish things."
Much of the interpretation is up to each of us.
Consider how you define things... and consider other perspectives (remember paradox).

The biggest is love - which is God.
Love is not kissing someone's behind, to make them happy for the moment.
Love is hoping and striving for what is best, through trial and error - love is a verb continuously in the process of creating and striving - from the trillions of microbes within us - to our solar system and beyond. :)

Re: The Purpose of Life

Posted: November 9th, 2013, 6:06 pm
by clarkkent14
Thinker wrote:I think, as maybe you're implying, that for every scripture there is an equal and opposite one, equally true.
I can see how you might think this is where I am going, but I am honestly trying to look for scriptures that deal with the purpose of this mortality. I'll ask more questions as I go along. I can only think of three that stand out with strength in this regard. Log has referenced two of them. Here is the third.
30 And now, my brethren, I would that, after ye have received so many witnesses, seeing that the holy scriptures testify of these things, ye come forth and bring fruit unto repentance.

31 Yea, I would that ye would come forth and harden not your hearts any longer; for behold, now is the time and the day of your salvation; and therefore, if ye will repent and harden not your hearts, immediately shall the great plan of redemption be brought about unto you.

32 For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.

33 And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed.

34 Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world.

35 For behold, if ye have procrastinated the day of your repentance even until death, behold, ye have become subjected to the spirit of the devil, and he doth seal you his; therefore, the Spirit of the Lord hath withdrawn from you, and hath no place in you, and the devil hath all power over you; and this is the final state of the wicked.

36 And this I know, because the Lord hath said he dwelleth not in unholy temples, but in the hearts of the righteous doth he dwell; yea, and he has also said that the righteous shall sit down in his kingdom, to go no more out; but their garments should be made white through the blood of the Lamb.

Re: The Purpose of Life

Posted: November 9th, 2013, 6:22 pm
by clarkkent14
These three verses deal with what Bruce R McKonckie taught were the three pillars of eternity. The Creation, The Fall, and The Atonement. Feel free to disregard anything I say, most of this is from recent ponderings, but I am just a man.

1. The Creation | "we will make an earth whereon these may dwell; And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them." (Abraham 3:24-25)
2. The Fall | "Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy." (2 Nephi 2:25)
3. The Atonement | "this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors" (Alma 34:32)

With this in mind, we are commonly taught "The Plan of Salvation" and if you can't draw this on a whiteboard you're not a tried and true Mormon! j/k, but we have all been taught this, with some minor variations depending on the gospel artist. The first time I was taught this was when I was nine years old by the missionaries. I distinctly remember their flip charts. I was already baptized, but my foster brother was "investigating." I remember that they said our purpose here on earth had four specific purposes. This chart below lists them as I remember.

http://thedesignercoop.net/wp-content/u ... vation.png" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

1. Gain a body
2. Be happy
3. Be tested
4. Learn the gospel

Can you find scriptures to support these four purposes? Or would you disagree with them?

Re: The Purpose of Life

Posted: November 9th, 2013, 7:20 pm
by clarkkent14
I would also add as part of the equation God's purpose in regard to this mortality.
Moses 1:39 wrote:For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.
Is there more than this? Other scriptures that state God's purposes?

Re: The Purpose of Life

Posted: November 9th, 2013, 9:06 pm
by clarkkent14
So nobody can find a scripture to support the idea that we need to gain a body?

Re: The Purpose of Life

Posted: November 9th, 2013, 9:12 pm
by log
D&C 93: 33 For man is spirit. The elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a fulness of joy;

34 And when separated, man cannot receive a fulness of joy.

35 The elements are the tabernacle of God; yea, man is the tabernacle of God, even temples; and whatsoever temple is defiled, God shall destroy that temple.

Re: The Purpose of Life

Posted: November 9th, 2013, 9:14 pm
by log
And a couple more.
1 Corinthians 11:11 Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord.

12 For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God.
Abraham 5:17 And Adam said: This was bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; now she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man;

18 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh.
D&C 132:19 And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife by my word, which is my law, and by the new and everlasting covenant, and it is sealed unto them by the Holy Spirit of promise, by him who is anointed, unto whom I have appointed this power and the keys of this priesthood; and it shall be said unto them—Ye shall come forth in the first resurrection; and if it be after the first resurrection, in the next resurrection; and shall inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers, dominions, all heights and depths—then shall it be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, that he shall commit no murder whereby to shed innocent blood, and if ye abide in my covenant, and commit no murder whereby to shed innocent blood, it shall be done unto them in all things whatsoever my servant hath put upon them, in time, and through all eternity; and shall be of full force when they are out of the world; and they shall pass by the angels, and the gods, which are set there, to their exaltation and glory in all things, as hath been sealed upon their heads, which glory shall be a fulness and a continuation of the seeds forever and ever.

20 Then shall they be gods, because they have no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting, because they continue; then shall they be above all, because all things are subject unto them. Then shall they be gods, because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them.

21 Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye abide my law ye cannot attain to this glory.

Re: The Purpose of Life

Posted: November 10th, 2013, 12:14 am
by dauser
Perhaps our body is like priesthood...it is something we can take off (like a coat) and put back on.

The creation, the fall, the atonement, the restoration of yourself, posterity and your world...

Re: The Purpose of Life

Posted: November 10th, 2013, 12:33 pm
by clarkkent14
log wrote:D&C 93: 33 For man is spirit. The elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a fulness of joy;

34 And when separated, man cannot receive a fulness of joy.

35 The elements are the tabernacle of God; yea, man is the tabernacle of God, even temples; and whatsoever temple is defiled, God shall destroy that temple.
Although this is truth, I can't see that it says this a purpose of this mortality. However by connecting a few dots I can see where it would come into play. Other scriptures are needed to give it that context.