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The Second Article of Faith

© Rebecca Talley

The second of the articles penned by Joseph Smith in 1842, known as The Second Article of Faith states, "We believe that men will be punished for their own sins and not for Adam's transgression."

After the earth was created by God, and all of the plants, animals, fish, and other living organisms were placed on it, man and woman were created. "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female he created them" (Genesis 1:27).

Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden enjoying peace and tranquility, not knowing good from evil. Nothing was born in the Garden of Eden and nothing died because everything remained in its immortal state. Had Adam and Eve remained in the Garden in that state forever, no offspring would ever have been born. "And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden And all things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created; and they must have remained forever, and had no end. And they would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin" (2 Nephi 2:22-23).

Satan came into the Garden and deceived Eve. He offered her fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve had been commanded not to partake of this tree, "And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Genesis 2:16-17). Eve, not wanting to partake at first, was convinced by Satan that the only way to be like God was to partake of the fruit. Since she and Adam had been commanded by Heavenly Father to not partake of it, once she did partake she transgressed the law given to her. Adam also partook of the fruit. He and Eve were cast out of the Garden and suffered spiritual death. The Fall also brought about temporal or physical death, in that all creatures became mortal.

Being cast out of the Garden meant that Adam and Eve no longer enjoyed communion with God, the Father. This is known as "spiritual death." Because of the transgression, a mediator was needed, someone to plead man's case with the Father, someone who would mediate between man and God. This mediator is Jesus Christ. In the pre-existence, Christ was chosen as the one who would come to earth to atone for our sins. Jesus Christ is the only one who could redeem mankind for the fallen state resulting from the transgression of Adam and Eve. Jesus Christ redeems all from physical death, and will redeem from spiritual death all those who believe in Him and will humble themselves enough to seek forgiveness for their sins.

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