Freedom comes from Agency

"I can do whatever I want, I have my free-agency..." my son tells me as he decides not to go to Church.
"You can't make me do anything!" My daughter joins in, "I'm not like you, I'll do it because you want me to, but it's not what I want."

I have taught them about "agency" or the freedom to choose. I have told them that they can do whatever they want, based on this gift given by God. How wrong I was!

While everyone may choose to do as they will, to seek out our own desires, this is not agency. Agency is not about choosing your favorite flavor of ice cream, or choosing a sports car versus an SUV. It is the ability to choose the right, to follow Christ. It is learning about the Lord, Jesus Christ, believing in Him, following Him into the waters of baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and doing all things according to His will. The choice is only available to those who know and do His will. The rest have no choice, no agency, no freedom.

Freedom is the exercise of agency to choose good, requiring that one first acquire a knowledge of the truth. The more knowledge we gain, the greater our ability to choose. Without this knowledge we can only choose evil. Ignorance is not bliss, it prevents you from having agency, and thus, freedom.

Conscience
We are naturally ignorant of God so we must learn about Him in order to follow His will. This is why we are naturally evil, born in sin. King Benjamin explains: "For the natural man is an enemy to God..." (Mosiah 3:19) Our ignorance of the will of God leaves us with only one option: sin, except for a little bit of light we call "conscience."

Everyone born into this world has the beginning of agency, or "conscience" also known in the Scriptures as "the Light of Christ." He said, "And that I am the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world." (D&C 93:2) Our conscience tells us what is right and what is wrong. This is an a-priori knowledge that everyone born into the world has. It is the only truth we are born with. Everyone can agree on justice. Everyone understands that it's wrong to hurt others. This is the beginning point of all knowledge. It is the only good we have, until we learn more about the will of God. Good is what God wants for us. It is His will. Evil is everything else, or whatever is not the will of God. Mormon tells us how to distinguish between the two.

"For behold, my brethren, it is given unto you to judge, that ye may know good from evil; and the way to judge is as plain, that ye may know with a perfect knowledge, as the daylight is from the dark night.
For behold, the Spirit of Christ [or conscience] is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God.
But whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do evil, and believe not in Christ, and deny him, and serve not God, then ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of the devil." (Moroni 7:15-17)

The Chains of Hell
People can lose even this small amount of agency by suppressing their conscience. The Apostle Paul speaks of those who desire to sin as "having their conscience seared with a hot iron." (1 Timothy 4:2) They no longer have any agency for they can no longer choose to do good; they have lost all connection with the light of Christ. Thus, they can only choose evil. This is what is meant by "the chains of Hell." It refers to those who have lost all agency because of complete ignorance.

Jacob, the brother of Nephi, speaks of those people that Satan "flattereth away, and telleth them there is no hell; and he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none—and thus he whispereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful chains, from whence there is no deliverance." (2 Nephi 28:22) The chains are ignorance. He tells them that he doesn't exist, keeping them ignorant, and preventing them from having a choice. They remain in bondage to sin because they also believe there is no God.

Heathen
There are so many, the large majority of men on the Earth, who do not know the Lord nor have a knowledge of truth. They die in ignorance of the laws of God, therefore have only their conscience to guide them. Yet, they will be redeemed, according to their obedience to the light they had, and it will be more tolerable for them because they cannot receive condemnation for that which they do not know. "And then shall the heathen nations be redeemed, and they that knew no law shall have part in the first resurrection; and it shall be tolerable for them." (D&C 45:54)

However, they must come to a knowledge of the Savior after this life, receive the ordinances, and be faithful in order to be received into the Kingdom of Heaven. This is why we have the ordinance of baptism by proxy for those who have died. Nobody escapes judgment. "That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:10-11)

Unforgivable
You must choose God in order to be in His Kingdom with Him so you must have full knowledge in order to make this choice. With great knowledge comes great responsibility. "For of him unto whom much is given much is required; and he who sins against the greater light shall receive the greater condemnation." (D&C 82:3) Those who are fully-enlightened with all knowledge have complete agency to choose right or wrong, and if they choose wrong, they cannot be forgiven.

"The blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, which shall not be forgiven in the world nor out of the world, is in that ye commit murder wherein ye shed innocent blood, and assent unto my death, after ye have received my new and everlasting covenant, saith the Lord God; and he that abideth not this law can in nowise enter into my glory, but shall be damned, saith the Lord." (D&C 132:27)

In other words, when we have received the highest of ordinances on the Earth, and know the fullness of the goodness of the Lord, and turn against Him, we are using our agency against Him. We have all freedom to choose because we have knowledge and thus are bound by our decision and cannot be forgiven. Jesus gave the basis of forgiveness when he prayed, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." (Luke 23:34)

The end of agency
There are many others who have the light available to them, but choose not to pursue it. When people decide they have enough knowledge and they want no more, they stop. They cease to progress. They no longer follow the light, but rather wander around in darkness. All they know is all they know, and they believe it is enough. This is the end of their agency. These will no longer have agency, they cannot choose because they ignore the light.

If we have great knowledge and choose not to follow it, we lose the knowledge we have and become ignorant. "from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him." (Luke 19:26) If one leaves the Church, he may lose his connection to the will of God and lose his agency. Ignorance is a loss of agency because without knowing the will of God you cannot choose to do His will. Thus, "It is impossible for a man to be saved in ignorance." (D&C 131:6) We cannot choose to do the will of God unless we know it, and we cannot know the will of God without the Holy Ghost. If we separate ourselves from the Holy Ghost, we lose agency -- and freedom.

Freedom
The other end of agency is freedom. It is knowing all things, as Jesus told His disciples, "Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:31-32) The more knowledge of the truth we have, the more freedom we enjoy.

We must know what our choices are in order to be enabled to make one. Salvation comes as fast as we gain knowledge. Agency is based on knowledge, specifically, the knowledge of Jesus Christ. We begin with our conscience, by being obedient to the Light of Christ we will be given more. As we exercise our agency in choosing the right we will continue to be given more of the word of God until we know all things.

"That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day." (D&C 50:24) The "perfect day" is when we have full agency. "Perfect" means "complete," or "whole." When we know everything we are complete, or perfect. We then have our full agency to choose all things. We have the knowledge to choose good and submit our will to God, or to choose evil and do anything else. This responsibility is tremendous because it either takes us to the highest Heaven, or the worst hell, depending on our choices.

Believing that the principle of agency is the freedom to do whatever we want is an insidious lie. Agency, like any other gift from God, must be developed, nurtured, and sought-after. Agency becomes freedom only as we are obedient to the light we have and seek more. Freedom only comes with knowledge of the truth and all that is good, "For there is nothing which is good save it comes from the Lord." (Omni 1:25) As we use our agency to choose good, we grow in freedom "until the perfect day!"