Obedience:The Doorway to Freedom
Part 2
by Brent L. Top

Read Part 1 here:

Agency and Accountability

There is a diagram that I use with my classes at Brigham Young University when I talk about agency and accountability that visually reflects the Book of Mormon teaching on the sub­ject. I think it is helpful to take a complex spiritual concept and make it simple to understand. For me, this visual diagram helps me to see how choice is directly linked to consequences. It shows how the consequences of wrong choices can restrict free­dom and how obedience is truly, as Elder Boyd K. Packer called it, "the doorway to freedom."

All of us are familiar with people who feel they are free to do anything they want. Sometimes these people even mock and per­secute those of us who do not feel the same freedom and who do not engage in the activities they advocate. "You Mormons can't do anything," they sometimes mockingly declare. "You are not free. You can't smoke, drink, or do any of the 'fun things' we can do." In reality we all begin with the same divine gift of agency, but every choice we make either adds to our freedom or restricts it. As Lehi anciently taught, every significant choice we make is either leading us to liberty and eternal life or captivity and spiri­tual death. So those people who think they are most free will soon come to realize that their wicked choices have left them far less free than they had intended. Even when they felt most free there were limitations on and parameters surrounding their free­dom. They may have used their agency to choose evil, but they usually forget that "every action has an equal and opposite reac­tion"—every choice has an accompanying consequence. "With respect to the loss of personal liberty through the misuse of agency," President Marion G. Romney explained, "our lives are filled with tragic evidence."

We see the alcoholic with his craving for drink, the dope fiend in his frenzy, and worse, the pervert with his irretrievable loss of manhood. Who will say that such persons enjoy liberty?

Notwithstanding the fact that through its misuse, political, economic, and personal liberty are lost, free agency will always endure because it is an eternal principle. However, the free agency possessed by any one person is increased or diminished by the use to which he puts it. Every wrong decision one makes restricts the area in which he can thereafter exercise his agency. The further one goes in the making of wrong decisions in the exercise of free agency, the more difficult it is for him to recover the lost ground. One can, by persisting long enough, reach the point of no return. He then becomes an abject slave. By the exercising of his free agency, he has decreased the area in which he can act, almost to the vanishing point. ("The Perfect Law of Liberty," Ensign, November 1981, p. 45.)

President Romney uses two interesting phrases in his description of the end result of making wrong choices and choosing evil rather than righteousness: "the point of no return" and "the vanishing point." Sin is extremely addicting. Without repentance, it is possible to become a "spiritual junkie"--addicted to all manner of evil--just as powerfully as drug "junkies" or alcoholics are addicted to their substances of choice. "From an initial experiment thought to be trivial," Elder Russell M. Nelson observed: "A vicious cycle may follow. From trial comes a habit. From habit comes dependence. From dependence comes addiction. Its grasp is so gradual. Enslaving shackles of habit are too small to be sensed until they are too strong to be broken .... Addiction surrenders later freedom to choose." ("Addiction or Freedom," Ensign, November 1988, pp. 6-7.)

The Book of Mormon warns of the binding power of sin by using such terms as "awful chains" (2 Nephi 1:13), "chains of hell" (Alma 13:30), "bands of iniquity" (Mosiah 23:12), "bands of death" (Alma 5:7), and other images of spiritual bondage. The prophet Amulek warned of the binding powers of sin when he urged his people to not procrastinate their repentance. "For behold, if ye have procrastinated the day of your repentance. . . ," he warned, "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" (Alma 34:35). In the full context of his sermon, Amulek was speaking of the final state of the wicked "in that eternal world," but the "night of darkness" when Satan "doth seal you his" can also occur in this life. Through continu­ally choosing evil and suffering the freedom-restricting conse­quences of those choices it is possible to reach that terrible "point of no return"--"the vanishing point" of personal liberty. Elder Spencer W. Kimball testified:

It is true that the great principle of repentance is always available, but for the wicked and rebellious there are serious reservations to this statement. For instance, sin is intensely habit-forming and sometimes moves men to the tragic point of no return. Without repentance there can be no forgiveness, and without forgiveness all the blessings of eternity hang in jeop­ardy. As the transgressor moves deeper and deeper in his sin, and the error is entrenched more deeply and the will to change is weakened, it becomes increasingly nearer hopeless and he skids down and down until either he does not want to climb back up or he has lost the power to do so. (The Miracle of For­giveness [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1969], p. 117.)

click to enlarge

When I discuss the lower half of this diagram with my stu­dents and show how the sin-caused and Satan-imposed conse­quences of bad choices continually constrict freedom, I ask them to think of specific "friends" in high school who mocked them for not being "free" to do the things these so-called friends were doing. "Where are they now?" I ask. "What has happened to their so-called freedom? And where are you in comparison?" It is interesting to discuss how so often many of those who thought they were most free become slaves to all manner of sins. Doors of opportunity are slammed in their faces by their own choices. In contrast, those who were persecuted as being "not free to do whatever you want" now have greater freedom to feel, to do, to be—because righteous use of agency always opens "the doorway to freedom."

It is readily apparent by examining the diagram that there are constrictions and restrictions in both the upper and the lower por­tions. There is, however, a big difference between the two, and that difference makes all the difference. When a person once chooses to sin, he may not choose the consequences that restrict his freedom, yet they occur as the natural side effects of sin~ Satan-imposed and sin-induced. On the other hand, there are indeed restrictions of a positive nature, self-imposed restrictions of freedom in order to preserve freedom and expand the parameters of choice. These self-imposed restraints constitute self-control~ the "best control,"—the most important "freedom of choice" (see Boyd K. Packer, "Agency and Control," chapter 16 in The Shield of Faith [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1998], pp.128-29). Choosing to obey a divine commandment or exercise self-discipline in some manner may temporarily restrict what we can or cannot do in some areas, but it always leads to greater freedom in those areas we desire most.

Freedom Through Obedience

For example, I am always amazed by gifted musicians who can perform some of the most difficult, complex, yet remarkably beautiful compositions. It is like a miracle to me. It brings great joy to them as well as the audience. Sometimes I am inspired as much by the joy they exude in their performing as in the music itself. The most gifted musicians perform with such passion and poise that they make what they are doing almost look easy. But easy it's not, and usually the audience has no idea of the "price" that has been paid for such musical freedom.

I have a small inkling and large regrets. As a boy I took piano lessons for a few years. My teacher even told me I had talent, but I didn't have self-discipline—I hated to practice. It took time, concentration, and energy that I wanted to spend on baseball instead. Because I was unwilling to "restrict" my freedom at that time, I have neither piano playing talent nor am I a major-league baseball player. Mom and Dad exerted all kinds of external pres­sure on me to practice and to develop that talent. Nothing worked. Not even gentle proddings, financial incentives, loss of privileges, and angry confrontations caused me to practice—at least for very long. In the end, however, only internal pressure, self-imposed discipline, will yield the desired results. When I do things only because of external pressures I am not really free. I only become free when I choose to do those things all by myself. This is as true with spiritual matters as it is with the temporal.

My children have often said, usually after they have been told they can't do something inappropriate, "I can't wait to grow up, because then I can do whatever I want!" As parents we often worry about what they are doing, but should also be attentive to what they are wanting. Our desires are closely linked to our free­dom to choose. We are not totally free just because we may, because of any number of external factors, choose to do fight. We become truly free, however, when choosing to do right is also what we, from within ourselves, want. President Boyd K. Packer has taught:

I am free, and I am very jealous of my independence. I am quick to declare my independence and my freedom. Choice among my freedoms is my freedom to be obedient. I obey because I want to: I choose to.

Some people are always suspicious that one is only obedient because he is compelled to be. They indict themselves with the very thought that one is only obedient because he is compelled to be. They feel that one would obey only through compulsion. They speak for themselves. I am free to be obedient, and I decided that--all by myself. I pondered on it; I reasoned it; I even experimented a little. I learned some sad lessons from dis­obedience. Then I tested it in the great laboratory of spiritual inquiry--the most sophisticated, accurate, and refined test that we can make of any principle. So I am not hesitant to say that I want to be obedient to the principles of the gospel. I want to. I have decided that. My volition, my agency, has been turned in that direction. The Lord knows that. ('That All May Be Edified,”p.255.)

When our desires for righteousness coincide with our choice to obey we feel a liberty—a "freedom of the soul"—that the world cannot offer in any form. In my own life I have felt this freedom even in the face of worldly ridicule for my "blind obedi­ence" and "lack of freedom." I feel no restriction to my freedom because of the law of chastity. I don't look at beautiful women and disgustedly think to myself: "Top, you poor soul. You are not free to commit adultery. The Church is taking away not only your free agency but also all the fun out of life." What a ridiculous thought! There is not one nanosecond when I entertain such a thought, because I live the law of chastity because I chose, even covenanted, to do so, not out of external Church pressure or because my job depends on temple worthiness, but because I desire to do so. By doing so I have greater freedoms, joys, and blessings than a worldly person can imagine. And so it is, not only with chastity but with every principle of the gospel—obeying because we really want to opens the door of freedom. "Subjection to God," Elder Neal A. Maxwell stated, "is really emancipation"("'Willing to Submit,'" Ensign, May 1985, p. 71).

With each righteous choice, coupled with righteous desires, come greater blessings and opportunities, ever expanding until there remain no parameters, no limitations to the freedom that one can enjoy. "Just as following wrong alternatives restricts free agency and leads to slavery," President Romney explained, "so pursuing correct alternatives widens the scope of one's agency and leads to perfect liberty."

Freedom thus obtained--that is, by obedience to the law of Christ--is freedom of the soul, the highest form of liberty. And the most glorious thing about it is that it is within the reach of every one of us, regardless of what people about us, or even nations, do. All we have to do is learn the law of Christ and obey it. To learn it and obey it is the primary purpose of every soul's mortal life. ("The Perfect Law of Liberty," p. 45.)

The Book of Mormon teaches and illustrates this timeless theme best of all. Not only was Nephi, son of Helaman, granted all power and perfect liberty because of his obedience and righ­teousness, but others too experienced the expansive nature of freedom of the soul. The people of Nephi who repented of their sins and exercised their agency in righteousness were blessed with economic prosperity, political liberty, and more. Mormon tells us that they experienced an unsurpassed spiritual freedom because "they did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God" (Helaman 3:35; see also Mosiah 3:19).

A Price to Be Paid

They, like Nephi, learned that freedom isn't really free. It has its "price"—submission of one's desires and deeds to the will of God. In reality, that "cost" is not exorbitant—it returns to us our initial investment and much, much more in dividends. "When you and I finally submit ourselves," Elder Neal A. Maxwell stated, "by letting our individual wills be swallowed up in God's will, then we are really giving something to Him! It is the only possession which is truly ours to give!" ("'Swallowed Up in the Will of the Father,'" p. 24.) This kind of obedience~ "the only unconditional surrender which is also a total vic­tory"—Is the key that turns the lock and opens up to us the freedom of heaven. As Elder Boyd K. Packer taught:

Obedience—that which God will never take by force—He will accept when freely given. And He will then return to you freedom that you can hardly dream of—the freedom to feel and to know, the freedom to do, and the freedom to be, at least a thousandfold more than we offer Him. Strangely enough, the key to freedom is obedience.

. . . Perhaps the greatest discovery of my life, without ques­tion the greatest commitment, came when I finally had the con­fidence in God that I would loan or yield my agency to Him—without compulsion or pressure, without any duress, as a single individual alone, by myself, no counterfeiting, nothing expected other than the privilege. In a sense, speaking figura­tively, to take one's agency, that precious gift which the scrip­tures make plain is essential to life itself, and say, "I will do as thou directs," is afterward to learn that in so doing you possess it all the more. ("That All May Be Edified," pp. 256-57.)

In the many years since that weekend trip to Boise, I have repeatedly gained a witness of the truthfulness of the lesson I learned then—that freedom is dependent upon trust, and trust comes with obedience. My children have heard this story many times and have heard me say, "If you want to have total freedom, then earn my total trust by desiring and doing only that which is right." But this lesson, as taught in the Book of Mormon, is far bigger than just adolescents gaining independence from parental supervision. It is about achieving perfect liberty—that freedom of the soul—that is promised to those who exercise their God-given agency in faithful obedience—in yielding their will and wishes to the will of the Father. We all have agency; that is not the issue.

The burning issue of the day, the relevant question that faces all of us today is, what will we choose? In this age of personal independence "doing your own thing"—Lehi's mes­sage is perhaps needed now more than ever. To what and to whom will we look for freedom? The Book of Mormon provides us the only answer that will ultimately lead to the personal free­dom mankind desperately seeks.

I would that ye should look to the great Mediator, and hearken unto his great commandments; and be faithful unto his words, and choose eternal life, according to the will of his Holy Spirit;

And not choose eternal death, according to 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 in his own kingdom (2 Nephi 2:28-29).