<P> The plan of salvation or gospel of Christ is a series of steps, a continuum, or means to come to God through the mediation of Jesus . It comprises those teachings of Christ which enable a mortal man or woman to overcome the fall of Adam and Eve in his or her life, and ultimately return to the presence of God, to enjoy the kind of life lived by God the Father, or, more succinctly, "exaltation", also known as "eternal life". The specific teachings include the fact that Adam and Eve fell, becoming subject to the temptations of the devil, bringing upon themselves and their posterity both physical death and spiritual death, separating themselves from God . As a remedy for Adam and Eve's predicament, consistent with God's nature and objective to produce divine heirs, God gave Adam and his posterity the moral agency and choice to either (1) follow and serve Christ, or (2) follow and serve Satan (Mosiah 16). To overcome the lasting effects of the fall, Christ offered himself an infinite sacrifice for the sins of all those willing to repent and enter into a covenant with him, trusting in his righteousness or merits for salvation (Alma 22: 14; Moroni 6: 4), while all the rest must depend on their own good works for salvation, or answer the ends of the law themselves, falling short of the glory of God (2 Nephi 2: 22--26; Romans 10: 4). Furthermore, Christ brought about the universal resurrection of all men and women, as they were not responsible for the fall, leaving them to account only for their own deeds in the flesh (Articles of Faith 1: 2; Alma 11: 41--46). </P> <P> Also, as the agent of the Father and judge of all, Christ is able to be both merciful and just (John 5: 22; Romans 2: 16). To obtain his mercy, or be saved from his wrath on the day of judgment, men and women must (1) have faith in Christ, (2) repent of their sins, (3) be baptized by one of his authorized agents in water in the likeness of his burial, to come forth born again of the Spirit, (4) receive the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, again by an authorized servant of God bearing his priesthood, and (5) endure with faith in Christ and repentance from sins to the end of their mortal lives . The LDS Church teaches that this is the only gospel ever taught by Jesus, and that it is imparted in the Bible, Doctrine and Covenants, and most plainly in the Book of Mormon . (See also 2 Nephi 25: 24--30; Articles of Faith 1: 1--4 .) </P> <P> Multiple scriptural names for this limited and oft - repeated body of teachings are: gospel of Jesus Christ (3 Nephi 27: 13--22), doctrine of Christ (3 Nephi 11: 31--41), plan of salvation, plan of redemption (Alma 11: 40--41), words of eternal life (John 6: 68), gospel of repentance, gospel of baptism, gospel of salvation, good tidings Isaiah 52: 7), our report (Isaiah 53: 1), gospel of the kingdom (Matthew 24: 14), good tidings of great joy (Luke 2: 10), gospel of the grace of God (Acts 2: 24), gospel of peace (Romans 10: 15), "good news," and other equivalent names . Once a man or woman has obeyed the first principles of the gospel, he or she must press forward, feasting on the words of Christ, going on to perfection through Christ (Hebrews 5: 12--14; Hebrews 6: 1--3). </P> <P> The plan of salvation describes humanity's place in the universe and the purpose of life . The church teaches that there was a pre-mortal existence, a place which existed prior to mortality in which all people and all life were created in spirit form . Central to this is the notion that humans existed as spirits before birth, were raised by Heavenly Parents and had essential human characteristics such as gender . </P>

What is the doctrine of the mormon church