Questions of the Soul: Part 2

I am pleased to be able to answer a question that was posed by a friend on facebook. The question that was asked is, "Before we came to the earth, were we the same as we are now?, and will we be the same person when we leave this mortal place?" - Ashley Green.

So Ashley here it goes. In the book of Jeremiah in the Old Testament of the Bible we read:

"5 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. "- (Jeremiah 1:5)

From this we can come to understand many things.  One, we come to learn that before being created in our physical bodies, God knew us. God knew Jeremiah, then why not us? We also notice that God tells Jeremiah that he "sanctified [him], and ordained [him] a prophet unto the nations." Jeremiah, like other prophets of God, was chosen before this life to be for-ordained with the potential and opportunity in life to be a prophet of God. This for-ordination is not be confused with the idea of pre-determination. God does not make our paths unchangeable. He lovingly gives us or agency, or free will, to choose for ourselves whether or not we will live up to that for-ordination through our righteousness. Because Jeremiah was a righteous and steadfast son of God before this life, he chose to remain on that path in his mortal life.

So if we know that we have had our personalities since before this life, why would we not be the same person in this life, and in the life to come. The Book of Mormon answers these questions profoundly and simply. In the Book of Alma we read the following:

" 34 ...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." -(Alma 34:34)

We have the same spirit that we did from the beginning. That same spirit will always be the defining sense of our personality. We are children of an Eternal Father. Why would then not understand that our spirits are also eternal in nature. 

We read again in the Book of Mormon a simple gospel truth that holds much significance on this topic. In reference to the great "Plan of Happiness", which is the plan that our Father in Heaven has for His children that informs us of our existence before this life, our purpose in this life, and our existence in the life to come, a Book of Mormon prophet named Alma tells us about the role repentance serves in our life to come:

" 16 Now, repentance could not come unto men except there were punishment, which also was eternal as the life of the soul should be, affixed opposite to the plan of happiness, which was as eternal also as the life of the soul."

There is something more then just that need for repentance that I want you to notice. Alma teaches us that our "soul[s]" are eternal in nature. What does eternal mean? Well eternal is defined as being without beginning or end. If our "soul" is without beginning or end, then we have no reason to think otherwise then the fact that we are the same children today, and will be tomorrow, that our Father created spiritually. This does not mean that we can't change our actions. We have been granted the power of choice. We can decide, just as we decided to come to this life, what we will do with it while we are here. 

I hope that this answers your question. If there is anything else that I can help with, either on this topic, or another. I would hope that anyone reading this would leave a comment on the page to let me know. 

Now I hope that my witness of this truth is helpful. However, to be on the safe side, I would like to include another witness as shown in this short video segment.