In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we believe that before coming to this earth life, we existed as the spirit children of our Heavenly Father. Paul the apostle taught that we are the literal offspring of our Father in Heaven. Jesus taught that we are gods, even children of the most high. It was we who come to this earth life and receive bodies of flesh and bones who fought against Satan and his minions in the great war in heaven. So yes, we do believe that we were given the opportunity to take on a body of flesh and bones and experience this mortal life. We chose to do so because we could then see that God the Father has a body of flesh and bones and is immortal. We all wanted be like him and have immortality. Jesus came to this earth and was the first among us to take on an immortal body of flesh and bones. We believe that spirit and element, inseparably connected, can receive a fullness of joy.
Here are some verses that corroborate the above:
Hebrews 12:9
9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
In this verse we learn that God the Father is the Father of our spirits.
Acts 17:28-29
28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.
We learn from this verse that we are the offspring of God. He is the literal Father of our spirits.
Job 38:3-7
3 Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.
4 Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.
5 Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?
6 Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;
7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
Here we learn that before the foundations of the earth, the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy.
Jeremiah 1:5
5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
In this verse we learn that the prophet Jeremiah was known by God before he was in his mother's belly and that before he came forth out of the womb Jeremiah was sanctified and ordained to be a prophet unto the nations.
Ephesians 1:4
4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
This verse tells us that God chooses some of us before the foundation of the world to great and holy callings.
Revelation 12:7-11
7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
Here we read about the war in heaven. Notice that Michael and his angels fought against the dragon (the Devil and Satan) and his angels. This occurred before we came to this earth. In the days of Adam and Eve, Satan was already cast down to the earth. Satan did not prevail but was cast out of heaven into the earth. But what happened to Michael and his angels? Verse 11 tells us that they needed the blood of Lamb to overcome Satan and also that they had become subject unto death. This verse shows that we who have come to this earth and need the blood of the lamb and subject unto death are those who fought in the great war in heaven alongside Michael, Jesus , our Father in Heaven.
John 9:1-3
1 And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.
2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.
From this verse we learn that the disciples of Jesus wonder if the man who was born blind had sinned before being born. This begs the question, if we did not exist before being born, how could the man have sinned in order to be born blind? Interestingly, Jesus did not say that the man did not exist before being born but simply told his disciples that the blind man did not sin.
Ecclesiastes:12:7
7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
This verse tells us that our spirits will return unto God after death. You cannot return to somewhere you have never been.
2 Timothy 1:9
9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
God called his disciples with an holy calling before the world began.
Here are other verses in LDS scriptures that are mostly not in the bible:
- called and prepared from the foundation of the world, Alma 13:3.
- bringeth them back into the presence of the Lord, Hel. 14:17.
- third part of the hosts of heaven turned he away, D&C 29:36.
- seraphic hosts of heaven, before the world was made, D&C 38:1.
- man, according to his creation before the world, D&C 49:17.
- Man was also in the beginning with God, D&C 93:29.
- choice spirits who were reserved to come forth, D&C 138:53.
- before they were born … received their first lessons, D&C 138:56.
- in heaven created I them; and there was not yet flesh upon the earth, Moses 3:5.
- he beheld the spirits that God had created, Moses 6:36.
- intelligences that were organized before the world was, Abr. 3:22.
- he stood among those that were spirits, Abr. 3:23.
- took his spirit … and put it into him, Abr. 5:7.
- See also Prov. 8:22–31; John 1:2, 14; 8:58; 16:28; 17:5, 24; 2 Tim. 1:9; Titus 1:2; 3 Ne. 1:13; 26:5; Ether 3:16.
