[2] Church members believe that all individuals have the ability to differentiate between good and evil[3] and that Satan and his followers are not able to tempt people beyond the point where they can resist.
This preparation would allow them to later become the men and women of Earth, to be further educated and tested in the schoolhouse of mortality in order to return to God's presence and become like him.
Jehovah (the pre-mortal Jesus) volunteered to follow the plan as outlined, which preserved agency, accountability for action, and the necessary result that some of God's children would never to return to heaven as a consequence of sin.
The second volunteer, Lucifer, attempted to amend the plan by proposing that all mankind would return to God despite their sins—essentially defeating agency and the divine principle of accountability for action.
[10] Latter-day Saints believe that these foreordinations were not unalterable decrees, but rather callings from God for man to perform specific missions in mortality.
Church doctrine states that God's plan includes the foreordination of prophets and teachers who have gifts and callings to teach and re-teach correct principles so that agency can be used wisely.
[11] God's plan includes the important role of parents to teach their children the path of righteousness and happiness,[12] and the blessing of the holy scriptures to give a foundation of gospel knowledge, including the knowledge of the saving role of Jesus Christ and the importance of ordinances and covenants of the gospel.
[citation needed] For example, apostle Ezra Taft Benson often spoke of the "evil" communist or socialist movements that threatened the free agency of mankind: "it is realized that communism is turning out to be the earthly image of the plan which Satan presented in the preexistence.
Mormon doctrine teaches that many men and women since the beginning of mortal time have used their agency unwisely, limiting their own progress and their opportunity to receive light and knowledge.
Beginning with Cain, some have used their agency to inflict harm, abuse, tyranny, slavery, or death upon others, contrary to the will and commandments of God.
LDS doctrine holds that agency is an eternal principle, and that God has provided the way through the atonement of Jesus Christ whereby men and women can repent of their wrongful acts of commission or of omission, and come back into the path of receiving further light and knowledge through making right choices.
The atonement of Christ and the plan of compassion among men also provides a way whereby those who have been harmed by the sinful actions of others may be healed in a spiritual sense, although this may take great patience and long-suffering, and often requires the help of others.
[18] LDS doctrine also holds that whenever gospel knowledge has been lost or limited among portions of mankind, this has come about because of the unrighteousness of the people and their leaders, as described by the prophet Isaiah in the Bible.
They teach that unrighteous dominion is never acceptable to God, and that with the agency given to men is the expectation that when they marry, they will treat their wife and children with love, respect, tenderness, and material and emotional support.
As it is believed the God the Father has blessed all of His children with the freedom to choose, Adam and Eve were given agency to make their own choices on the earth.