This doctrine is supernal. In one passage, Lehi earns the right to an honorary degree in philosophy. What a simple concept? How incredible are the implications? This one passage explains why the plan of Satan, as proffered in the pre-mortal sphere, was unacceptable. How could one experience opposition in all things if we were all forced to be good. Lehi correctly explains, there would have been no purpose in the end of its creation (v. 12).
Ezra Taft Benson
“…the Father’s plan, which required that all people obtain mortal bodies, be tried and proven in all things, and have opportunity to choose of their own free will…Lucifer—a personage of prominence—sought to amend the plan, while Jehovah sustained the plan. The central issue in that council, then, was: Shall the children of God have untrammeled agency to choose the course they should follow, whether good or evil, or shall they be coerced and forced to be obedient? Christ and all who followed Him stood for the former proposition—freedom of choice; Satan stood for the latter—coercion and force. Because Satan and those who stood with him would not accept the vote of the council, but rose up in rebellion, they were cast down to the earth, where they have continued to foster the same plan. The war that began in heaven is not yet over. The conflict continues on the battlefield of mortality. And one of Lucifer’s primary strategies has been to restrict our agency through the power of earthly governments. Proof of this is found in the long history of humanity” (The Constitution: A Heavenly Banner, pp. 2-3 as taken from Latter-day Commentary on the Book of Mormon compiled by K. Douglas Bassett, p.87)
Richard G. Scott
“Sadness, disappointment, severe challenge are events in life, not life itself….A pebble held close to the eye appears to be a gigantic obstacle. Cast on the ground, it is seen in perspective. Likewise, problems or trials in our lives need to be viewed in the perspective of scriptural doctrine….Some people are like rocks thrown into a sea of problems. They are drowned by them. Be a cork. When submerged in a problem, fight to be free to bob up to serve again with happiness….When you trust in the Lord, when you are willing to let your heart and your mind be centered in His will, when you ask to be led by the Spirit to do His will, you are assured of the greatest happiness along the way and the most fulfilling attainment from this mortal experience. If you question everything you are asked to do, or dig in your heels at every unpleasant challenge, you make it harder for the Lord to bless you.” (Ensign, May 1996, pp. 24-5 as taken from Latter-day Commentary on the Book of Mormon compiled by K. Douglas Bassett, p.86)