Applying the scriptures: scope of moral agency determined by use
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Though the Lord is merciful and long-suffering, the words of Samuel the Lamanite indicate it is possible for individuals to continue in wickedness so long that they lose the power to repent.
President Marion G. Romney, then second counselor in the First Presidency, discussed the topic of moral agency in his October 1981 general conference address."Every wrong decision one makes restricts the area in which he can thereafter exercise his agency. The further one goes in the making of wrong decisions in the exercise of free agency, the more difficult it is for him to recover the lost ground. One can, by persisting long enough, reach the point of no return. He then becomes an abject slave....
"Samuel, the Lamanite prophet, speaking to those who so persisted said: `In the days of your poverty ye shall cry unto the Lord; and in vain shall ye cry, for your desolation is already come upon you, and your destruction is made sure; and then shall ye weep and howl in that day ...and say:...
"`O that we had repented in the day that the word of the Lord came unto us....
"`Behold, we are surrounded by demons, yea, we are encircled about by the angels of him who hath sought to destroy our souls.... O Lord, canst thou not turn away thine anger from us?' (Hel. 13:32, 36-38.)
"...Just as following the wrong alternative restricts free agency and leads to slavery, so pursuing correct alternatives widens the scope of one's agency and leads to perfect liberty. As a matter of fact, one may, by this process, obtain freedom of the soul while at the same time being denied political, economic and personal liberty."
