I’ve been thinking a lot about fallen man.

I think that it is because, I’m beginning to understand what weakness is – and I mean more than just weaknesses, but actual weakness. It comes as a result of the fall.

I had a conversation recently with a friend. She was wondering about the natural man – and why men are naturally inclined to be carnal, sensual, and devilish. We both agree on our beliefs. She is also Mormon, she was just thinking about it – especially when compared to Total Depravity – which is something that many Christian religions believe, but I don’t think that Mormons would buy into this idea.

Why not – though? Natural man is an enemy to god, right?

Well, today, I was reading the following:

3 For they are carnal and devilish, and the devil has power over them; yea, even that old serpent that did beguile our first parents, which was the cause of their fall; which was the cause of all mankind becoming carnal, sensual, devilish, knowing evil from good, subjecting themselves to the devil.
4 Thus all mankind were lost; and behold, they would have been endlessly lost were it not that God redeemed his people from their lost and fallen state.
5 But remember that he that persists in his own carnal nature, and goes on in the ways of sin and rebellion against God, remaineth in his fallen state and the devil hath all power over him. Therefore, he is as though there was no redemption made, being an enemy to God; and also is the devil an enemy to God.” – Mosiah 16:3-5

And here’s what I’m thinking…

God created man. He didn’t create natural man. When God created Adam and Eve, they were worthy to exist in the presence of the Lord. They were innocent. (See 2 Nephi 2:23.) They were like children (which, by the way, is what we are urged to be like…). So – God created man and placed them in the garden of Eden. He gave Adam and Eve a few commandments: 1) to multiply and replenish the earth. 2) If they wanted to remain in the Garden (the presence of God), they could not eat of the fruit of the tree of Knowledge – or else, they would die. We understand that this death is both spiritual (they were forced to leave God’s presence) and physical (their bodies would grow old, be susceptible to disease, and die).

Adam and Eve partook of the fruit. Now – prior to partaking the fruit of knowledge, Adam and Eve were not capable of sinning. This is because they didn’t have the understanding and knowledge of what it meant to sin. The way that this is expressed, symbolically, is after they partook of the fruit, they recognized their nakedness before God. Then, they covered themselves with fig leaves.

Before partaking of the fruit, like children, Adam and Eve weren’t capable of sin because they didn’t know any better. But, Eve, who was the first to partake, saw that it was a tree “…to be desired to make her wise,… (Moses 4:12. See also Genesis 3:6). I suppose that Eve recognized she didn’t have the kind of knowledge or wisdom possessed by God. I don’t know for sure, but I have to think that she sought more wisdom. She wanted to be like God. That’s why we’re here, afterall.
This fruit then became more tempting as she noticed that 1) There were things she didn’t know. 2)She wasn’t multiplying or replenshing the earth. How could she be like God without doing those things?

So – Adam and Eve partook of the fruit. They chose to partake. The fall needed to happen based on agency. When they partook of the fruit, Adam and Eve, essentially, entered to the age of accountability.

The fall (or Adam and Eve’s partaking of the fruit) introduced the natural man. – Sometimes, I feel like we confuse the term natural man. We think that this is the way that we were naturally created. Not so. I feel a better way to describe the natural man is the way that we are inclined to act based on our mortal natures. The scriptures describe that we became carnal, sensual, and devilish. This has reference to the mortal part of our nature.

Because of the fall, Adam was no longer an innocent immortal being hanging out in the Garden of Eden. He had subjected himself to the devil – just as Abinadi, in Mosiah 16:3, explains.

The Atonement Before the fall of Adam, God had already set forth a plan to redeem us from our fallen state. This is the atonement of Jesus Christ. Christ would suffer for our sins, descend below us all, die, and then be resurrected. In this, he would conquer both death (of the physical body) and hell (separation from God). Christ is the one who bridges the gap for us. He enables us to overcome Natural Man.

Agency Abinadi says, “He that persists… (Mosiah 16:5). Which suggests that we have the choice. We can choose to give into our natural desires – the ones brought on by the fall, or we can choose to yield up our natural desires and become a saint.

The ability to choose is all based on the knowledge we received when we fell. I love that the fruit of which Adam and Eve partook was from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. It wasn’t the tree of sin. It wasn’t the tree of carnality. It was the tree of knowledge – of both good and evil. This means that, although we were changed and we were subjected to the devil, death, and hell; although we did have a new side to our nature – the one of carnality, sensuality, and devilishness, we also had the knowledge required to know that being carnal, sensual, and devilish wasn’t good!. Because Adam and Eve partook of the fruit, they finally knew!

Think, prior to this action, they didn’t have enough knowledge or experience to recognize that God was good, that the garden was good, that the new bodies which had just been created for them were good! Truly, to be as God, they needed to partake of this fruit. However, unlike God, they became subject to death. Anyways. The important thing to remember here is – because of the fall, because we are able to understand both good and evil – we have the knowledge to choose to be a natural man or to become a saint.

Becoming a Saint King Benjamin taught

“19 For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.” – Mosiah 3:19.

So – here’s the thing…we can only become a saint when we acknowledge our shortfall – being a natural man, decide to give all of that up, yield to the enticing of the Holy Spirit, and then take on Christ’s yoke by following Him into the waters of baptism. As we do so, we promise to keep His commandments. We work to become as a child – who submits to the will of the father – just as Christ exemplified during His life on earth.

Through this expression of agency, The Lord is then able to bless us with His pure love and His Spirit – which will help us to continue down the path toward eternal life. As we do so, we are continually sanctified. Though we come to recognize more ways in which we are weak – in which we are “nothing” – we also realize that our potential is great if we will come to Christ. And, as Christ promises, “…he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it,” (Matthew 10:39).

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So, that’s what I’ve been thinking for now. I’m intrigued by this doctrine – it is foundational. I mean, we are taught it various ways throughout the scriptures. And won’t understanding our natures, and our need for a Savior change the way we approach everything??? I feel like this gives us hope. It testifies that God is omniscient and loving.

Do you have any thoughts/ideas on the subject? Is this clear at all? What do you think?