Articles of Faith:2

#2  We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression.

One of the greatest gifts we have been given in this life is agency, our ability to choose and make our own decisions. While our decisions can often affect the lives of others, we are ultimately accountable only for our own actions. We are not punished for our parent's sins, and they are not punished for ours.

With our agency also comes accountability. We must be accountable for the choices we make, and we will be punished for the sins we commit, unless we fully repent of them. (I will speak more on the subject of repentance in the following few posts.)

We believe in the fall of man, which took place when Adam and Eve partook of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden. Because of the fall, all men and women experience physical death. And because of the fall, all men and women, when they come to this earth, are temporarily cut off from the presence of God, our Heavenly Father, and experience a "spiritual death."

But God did not want our connection with him to be permanently severed. Therefore, He created a plan that would provide a way for us to return to Him again. The central key to this plan would be our Savior, Jesus Christ. Through him, we can physically live again after death through the power of the resurrection, and through his atonement we can be cleansed of our sins through the process of repentance, in order to become worthy enough to again enter into the presence of God.
Our Bible Dictionary states:
"The fall was no surprise to the Lord. It was a necessary step in the progress of man, and provisions for a Savior had been made even before the fall had occurred. Jesus Christ came to atone for the fall of Adam and also for man's individual sins."