Most people who have thoughts and questions of a religious nature cannot help but wonder about such things as immortality, heaven - or "spiritual paradise" as Latter-Day Saints often call it - and where we go or what happens to us after we die.
Thankfully, our Heavenly Father has seen fit to give us ample answers to these questions, if we know where to look. This article will use latter-day scripture to answer these questions. If you would prefer to be taught these things out of the Bible only, please see my other article on the subject: Immortality, Paradise and Hell, Paul's "Three Heavens".
Paradise
The Book of Mormon prophet Alma the Younger taught his son Corianton - and, by extension, us:
Hell
The other thing believers wonder and worry about is "hell". Will I make it to heaven, or will I "go to hell?" But latter-day scripture clarifies that "hell" is only reserved for those who completely reject the influence of the Spirit of God and do not allow it to affect their thoughts and decisions:
Note that paradise and hell are states in which the dead dwell until the resurrection. At that point, those who are still evil remain in hell indefinitely - a state Alma refers to as "outer darkness". Those who have accepted Christ and entered into covenants with Him through the ordinances of the priesthood whether in hell or in life pass over into paradise, find salvation in judgement. They "shine forth in the kingdom of God" - a reference to their inheritance in one of the "kingdoms" or "mansions" of the Father.
To put it in the words of Alma the Younger - again speaking to his son Corianton:
"...there is a space between death and the resurrection of the body, and a state of the soul in happiness or in misery until the time which is appointed of God that the dead shall come forth, and be reunited, both soul and body, and be brought to stand before God, and be judged according to their works. Yea, this bringeth about the restoration of those things of which has been spoken by the mouths of the prophets. The soul shall be restored to the body, and the body to the soul; yea, and every limb and joint shall be restored to its body; yea, even a hair of the head shall not be lost; but all things shall be restored to their proper and perfect frame. And now, my son, this is the restoration of which has been spoken by the mouths of the prophets— And then shall the righteous shine forth in the kingdom of God. But behold, an awful death cometh upon the wicked; for they die as to things pertaining to things of righteousness; for they are unclean, and no unclean thing can inherit the kingdom of God; but they are cast out, and consigned to partake of the fruits of their labors or their works, which have been evil; and they drink the dregs of a bitter cup." (Alma 40:21-26)
In an effort to get him to think about judgement day and the consequence of his sinful choices, Alma the Younger taught his son this:
Judgement: A Day of Trouble, Or A Day of Salvation?
We often think of "judgement day" as a day when those who have done evil will "be in trouble". There may be some truth to this, but this is actually the wrong way to think about it. The laws to which God holds us answerable are laws to which He himself is answerable. The consequences of our actions are not so much consequences imposed by God as they are natural consequences inherent to human nature. In giving us His seemingly restrictive laws, God has not sought to control or to oppress us, but rather to "show us the ropes" both in mortality and in immortality, to warn us of what is coming when we make certain choices. Judgement day is not so much about God sending us to hell for breaking His commandments as it is about deciding to what degree He can legally help us avoid the consequences of our mistakes and poor choices. Have we made covenants with Him? Have we striven - however weakly - to keep them?
Three "Degrees" or "Kingdoms" of Glory
While they were studying about the "resurrection of the just" and "of the unjust", Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon received revelation that expounded upon the meaning of Paul's "third heaven". In it, the Lord described His heavens as being divided into three "heavens" or kingdoms, with a place outside of it for those who fight against Christ and deny the Holy Ghost.
Outer Darkness and the Sons of Perdition
Concerning the permanent hell that exists outside and beneath the heavens, Joseph Smith writes:
"And while we were yet in the Spirit, the Lord commanded us that we should write the vision; for we beheld Satan, that old serpent, even the devil, who rebelled against God, and sought to take the kingdom of our God and his Christ— Wherefore, he maketh war with the saints of God, and encompasseth them round about. And we saw a vision of the sufferings of those with whom he made war and overcame, for thus came the voice of the Lord unto us: Thus saith the Lord concerning all those who know my power, and have been made partakers thereof, and suffered themselves through the power of the devil to be overcome, and to deny the truth and defy my power— They are they who are the sons of perdition, of whom I say that it had been better for them never to have been born; For they are vessels of wrath, doomed to suffer the wrath of God, with the devil and his angels in eternity; Concerning whom I have said there is no forgiveness in this world nor in the world to come— Having denied the Holy Spirit after having received it, and having denied the Only Begotten Son of the Father, having crucified him unto themselves and put him to an open shame. These are they who shall go away into the lake of fire and brimstone, with the devil and his angels— And the only ones on whom the second death shall have any power; Yea, verily, the only ones who shall not be redeemed in the due time of the Lord, after the sufferings of his wrath." (Doctrine and Covenants 76:28-38)
Note that outer darkness is for those who deny the Holy Ghost and "crucify [Christ] unto themselves". These are they who by the witness of the Holy Ghost knew who the Savior was, chose to make of themselves enemies of Christ and rebel against Him, and who will ultimately hold out, unrepentant, until the last resurrection closes the door to that possibility.
Later in that same section of the Doctrine and Covenants, he continues:
"Wherefore, he saves all except them—they shall go away into everlasting punishment, which is endless punishment, which is eternal punishment, to reign with the devil and his angels in eternity, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched, which is their torment— And the end thereof, neither the place thereof, nor their torment, no man knows; Neither was it revealed, neither is, neither will be revealed unto man, except to them who are made partakers thereof;" (Doctrine and Covenants 76:44-46)
Outer darkness is reserved only for those who refuse to acknowledge the Savior. Those who are sent to outer darkness "die as to spiritual things". The prophets have taught that "every knee shall bow and every tongue confess" (see Mosiah 27:31, Philippians 2:9-11) Those who will not do so die as to spiritual things, and it is as though they are no more, for they become perdition.
For everyone else, the torment of hell, if they experience it, will come to an end; the temporary paradise in the spirit world will have its end. Death and hell will be compelled to deliver up their inhabitants and all who ultimately acknowledge their Savior will experience some degree of salvation in one "heaven" or another, in one degree of glory or another.
To put it in the words of Joseph Smith:
"For all the rest shall be brought forth by the resurrection of the dead, through the triumph and the glory of the Lamb, who was slain, who was in the bosom of the Father before the worlds were made. And this is the gospel, the glad tidings, which the voice out of the heavens bore record unto us— That he came into the world, even Jesus, to be crucified for the world, and to bear the sins of the world, and to sanctify the world, and to cleanse it from all unrighteousness; That through him all might be saved whom the Father had put into his power and made by him; Who glorifies the Father, and saves all the works of his hands, except those sons of perdition who deny the Son after the Father has revealed him." (Doctrine and Covenants 76:39-43)
But what are these three heavens or glories, and into which will I be saved? Paul taught that there were three heavens, and he described two of them as "celestial" and "terrestrial", making only a passing reference to the other. But Joseph Smith received extensive revelation describing all three heavens or glories.
Bodies of Celestial Glory - The Celestial Kingdom
We continue our study of Doctrine and Covenants section seventy-six, where Joseph and Oliver record their description of the three degrees of glory as revealed to them by the Lord while they were "in the Spirit":
[Those who enter into celestial glory are] they who:
In other words, those who enter into the Celestial Kingdom are those who were baptized, received the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, and received their endowment and sealing by the power to loose and to bind on earth and in heaven. These are they who have received all these saving ordinances through the authority of the Levitical order (the priesthood of Aaron) and the order of Melchizidek, and these are they who live and die trying on some level to keep the covenants they've made thereby. I note again that there is no caveat or proviso that prevents those who would have accepted the fullness of the restored gospel and who would have been willing to apply that same effort from receiving these ordinances after death and thereby entering into the covenants that open the way into eternal exaltation. Truly our God is a God of mercy and of love! (Romans 8:35-39)
LDS Lower Light: Temple Ordinances as Described in The Bible
(Doctrine and Covenants 76:81-88, 99-106)
Despite the fact that the Telestial Kingdom is for those who suffered for their own sins in hell, we need make no mistake: it too is a kingdom of glory. Inasmuch as they too will be cleansed of their sins, if only by their own suffering, they too will be admitted into a kingdom of glory.
In summary, Joseph Smith said this about the three degrees of glory:
"And thus we saw, in the heavenly vision, the glory of the telestial, which surpasses all understanding; And no man knows it except him to whom God has revealed it. And thus we saw the glory of the terrestrial which excels in all things the glory of the telestial, even in glory, and in power, and in might, and in dominion. And thus we saw the glory of the celestial, which excels in all things—where God, even the Father, reigns upon his throne forever and ever; Before whose throne all things bow in humble reverence, and give him glory forever and ever." (Doctrine and Covenants 76:89-93)
We Do Not Get to Judge
Having these guidelines in place, it is easy for us to start putting ourselves or others into one kingdom or another. We need to resist the urge to do this. We especially need to resist the tendency to put ourselves or others into too low a kingdom of glory. We do not know the hearts and minds or the capacity for moral responsibility of ourselves or of others they way our Heavenly Father does. We know neither the fullness of the mercy, nor the fullness of the justice of God which He will surely extend to all men. (see 2 Nephi 9:25-26 for example)
We need to remember the parable of the laborers wherein the Savior demonstrates His willingness to give of His fullness to those whom others judged unworthy:
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Apostle, General Conference, April 2012: The Laborers in the Vineyard
All of us struggle here in mortal weakness; all of us "see through a glass darkly". (1 Corinthians 13:12) But for those who know Christ, and especially those who have received their saving ordinances in His church, it would be wise to think on our weakness, on our Savior, and on the salvation which He offers the way Nephi did:
No matter what our station in life, I believe all of us, with rare exception, will experience something far greater in the world to come than we can ever hope to conceive or understand here. All of us, if only for a moment, stand to be first driven to horror and desperation by a plain view of the perfect justice of God contrasted with our shortfall. But then we will also be stunned at the unimaginable abundance of the Lord's kindness and mercy toward us at that day! (see Romans 8:14-28, Romans 3:20-25, 2 Corinthians 5:10-21)
Thankfully, our Heavenly Father has seen fit to give us ample answers to these questions, if we know where to look. This article will use latter-day scripture to answer these questions. If you would prefer to be taught these things out of the Bible only, please see my other article on the subject: Immortality, Paradise and Hell, Paul's "Three Heavens".
Paradise
The Book of Mormon prophet Alma the Younger taught his son Corianton - and, by extension, us:
"Now there must needs be a space betwixt the time of death and the time of the resurrection. And now I would inquire what becometh of the souls of men from this time of death to the time appointed for the resurrection? ...there is a time appointed unto men that they shall rise from the dead;
and there is a space between the time of death and the resurrection. ...the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from
this mortal body, yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or
evil, are taken home to that God who gave them life. And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow." (Alma 40:6-12)
Hell
The other thing believers wonder and worry about is "hell". Will I make it to heaven, or will I "go to hell?" But latter-day scripture clarifies that "hell" is only reserved for those who completely reject the influence of the Spirit of God and do not allow it to affect their thoughts and decisions:
"And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits
of the wicked, yea, who are evil—for behold, they have no part nor
portion of the Spirit of the Lord; for behold, they chose evil works
rather than good; therefore the spirit of the devil did enter into them, and take possession of their house—and these shall be cast out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth, and this because of their own iniquity, being led captive by the will of the devil. Now this is the state of the souls of the wicked, yea, in darkness, and a state of awful, fearful looking for the fiery indignation of the wrath of God upon them; thus they remain in this state, as well as the righteous in paradise, until the time of their resurrection. (Alma 40:13-14)
We often think of the words "wicked" or "evil" as derogatory. These are in fact just references to people who reject God and His teachings. Although the word "wicked" is used in the scriptures to invoke a sense of consequence or seriousness to the decision to reject God, it is not meant to be insulting; nor is it meant to be condemnatory.
The pain of hell is not so much a fire or heat or some imagined torment inflicted by the devil as it is a regret for sin awakened by the realization of an impending and inevitable accounting before God. The pain of hell is the realization of the contrast between what God has expected of us and what we have allowed to ourselves to become. For those who have made a genuine effort to do what is right in the sight of God and to better themselves before Him, such fear, regret, or torment are irrelevant. There is not room enough in hell for someone who is trying.
Judgement and ResurrectionThe pain of hell is not so much a fire or heat or some imagined torment inflicted by the devil as it is a regret for sin awakened by the realization of an impending and inevitable accounting before God. The pain of hell is the realization of the contrast between what God has expected of us and what we have allowed to ourselves to become. For those who have made a genuine effort to do what is right in the sight of God and to better themselves before Him, such fear, regret, or torment are irrelevant. There is not room enough in hell for someone who is trying.
Note that paradise and hell are states in which the dead dwell until the resurrection. At that point, those who are still evil remain in hell indefinitely - a state Alma refers to as "outer darkness". Those who have accepted Christ and entered into covenants with Him through the ordinances of the priesthood whether in hell or in life pass over into paradise, find salvation in judgement. They "shine forth in the kingdom of God" - a reference to their inheritance in one of the "kingdoms" or "mansions" of the Father.
To put it in the words of Alma the Younger - again speaking to his son Corianton:
"...there is a space between death and the resurrection of the body, and a state of the soul in happiness or in misery until the time which is appointed of God that the dead shall come forth, and be reunited, both soul and body, and be brought to stand before God, and be judged according to their works. Yea, this bringeth about the restoration of those things of which has been spoken by the mouths of the prophets. The soul shall be restored to the body, and the body to the soul; yea, and every limb and joint shall be restored to its body; yea, even a hair of the head shall not be lost; but all things shall be restored to their proper and perfect frame. And now, my son, this is the restoration of which has been spoken by the mouths of the prophets— And then shall the righteous shine forth in the kingdom of God. But behold, an awful death cometh upon the wicked; for they die as to things pertaining to things of righteousness; for they are unclean, and no unclean thing can inherit the kingdom of God; but they are cast out, and consigned to partake of the fruits of their labors or their works, which have been evil; and they drink the dregs of a bitter cup." (Alma 40:21-26)
In an effort to get him to think about judgement day and the consequence of his sinful choices, Alma the Younger taught his son this:
"Do not suppose, because it
has been spoken concerning restoration, that ye shall be restored from
sin to happiness. Behold, I say unto you, wickedness never was happiness. And now, my son, all men that are in a state of nature, or I would say, in a carnal state, are in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity; they are without God in the world, and they have gone contrary to the nature of God; therefore, they are in a state contrary to the nature of happiness. And
now behold, is the meaning of the word restoration to take a thing of a
natural state and place it in an unnatural state, or to place it in a
state opposite to its nature? O, my son, this is not the case; but the meaning of the word restoration is to bring back again evil
for evil, or carnal for carnal, or devilish for devilish—good for that
which is good; righteous for that which is righteous; just for that
which is just; merciful for that which is merciful. Therefore, my son, see that you are merciful unto your brethren; deal justly, judge righteously, and do good continually; and if ye do all these things then shall ye receive your reward; yea, ye shall have mercy
restored unto you again; ye shall have justice restored unto you again;
ye shall have a righteous judgment restored unto you again; and ye
shall have good rewarded unto you again. For that which ye do send out shall return unto you again..." (Alma 41:10-15)
LDS Lowerlight: Living Without God in the World - How & Why to Fix It
LDS Lowerlight: Living Without God in the World - How & Why to Fix It
Judgement: A Day of Trouble, Or A Day of Salvation?
We often think of "judgement day" as a day when those who have done evil will "be in trouble". There may be some truth to this, but this is actually the wrong way to think about it. The laws to which God holds us answerable are laws to which He himself is answerable. The consequences of our actions are not so much consequences imposed by God as they are natural consequences inherent to human nature. In giving us His seemingly restrictive laws, God has not sought to control or to oppress us, but rather to "show us the ropes" both in mortality and in immortality, to warn us of what is coming when we make certain choices. Judgement day is not so much about God sending us to hell for breaking His commandments as it is about deciding to what degree He can legally help us avoid the consequences of our mistakes and poor choices. Have we made covenants with Him? Have we striven - however weakly - to keep them?
Concerning judgement day, the Book of Mormon prophet Nephi taught:
"And
this death of which I have spoken, which is the spiritual death, shall
deliver up its dead; which spiritual death is hell; wherefore, death and
hell must deliver up their dead, and hell must deliver up its captive
spirits, and the grave must deliver up its captive bodies, and the
bodies and the spirits of men will be restored one to the other; and it
is by the power of the resurrection of the Holy One of Israel. O
how great the plan of our God! For on the other hand, the paradise
of God must deliver up the spirits of the righteous, and the grave
deliver up the body of the righteous; and the spirit and the body is
restored to itself again, and all men become incorruptible, and
immortal, and they are living souls, having a perfect knowledge like
unto us in the flesh, save it be that our knowledge shall be perfect. Wherefore,
we shall have a perfect knowledge of all our guilt, and our
uncleanness, and our nakedness; and the righteous shall have a perfect
knowledge of their enjoyment, and their righteousness, being clothed
with purity, yea, even with the robe of righteousness. And
it shall come to pass that when all men shall have passed from this
first death unto life, insomuch as they have become immortal, they must
appear before the judgment-seat of the Holy One of Israel; and then
cometh the judgment, and then must they be judged according to the holy
judgment of God. And assuredly, as the Lord
liveth, for the Lord God hath spoken it, and it is his eternal word,
which cannot pass away, that they who are righteous shall be righteous
still, and they who are filthy shall be filthy still; wherefore, they
who are filthy are the devil and his angels; and they shall go away into
everlasting fire, prepared for them; and their torment is as a lake of
fire and brimstone, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever and has no
end." (2 Nephi 9:12-16)
To
summarize, the dead are resurrected - death comes to an end. For all who
are in hell but have accepted their Savior at that point, hell comes to
an end. When we stand before God, we see His perfection and glory and
all that we need to be in order to know the joy of sharing eternity with
Him, and then we look at ourselves and see the difference. We see the
full import of every sinful thing we've ever thought, felt, said, or
done. At the very least, we see those things wherein we have been
unrepentant, anyway. We see in Him the perfect standard of right and
wrong, unsullied by our habits, justifications, and excuses.
I believe this will be a deeply uncomfortable moment for all mortals, for all of
us have sinned and come short of the glory of God. (see Romans 3:23)
All of us have an imperfect record and an imperfect state of
repentance. The resurrection will, among other things, remove the dark glass that keeps us from seeing the full significance of all our actions in life, whether good or bad.
But, I believe those
who have accepted the ordinances of the gospel, who have made and striven to
keep covenants with Him will then see the mercy of God as never before!
We will see Him recognize what we have sought to become. This
will be a moment when, once more, our loving Savior covers all that was impossible
to us in mortality. This will be the moment when we are redeemed from
the effects of the Fall by which Adam and Eve afforded us the
opportunity to experience mortality. This will be the moment when mortal
weakness becomes irrelevant, not just through the mercy of Christ as we experienced in life but because we have become immortal. God and man are permanently
reconciled, Father and children reunited, never to part ways again. This
will be the moment when those who have been redeemed in the new and
everlasting covenant will know their place in glory, in the mansions of
the Father! (see 2 Nephi 9:18)
Three "Degrees" or "Kingdoms" of Glory
While they were studying about the "resurrection of the just" and "of the unjust", Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon received revelation that expounded upon the meaning of Paul's "third heaven". In it, the Lord described His heavens as being divided into three "heavens" or kingdoms, with a place outside of it for those who fight against Christ and deny the Holy Ghost.
Outer Darkness and the Sons of Perdition
Concerning the permanent hell that exists outside and beneath the heavens, Joseph Smith writes:
"And while we were yet in the Spirit, the Lord commanded us that we should write the vision; for we beheld Satan, that old serpent, even the devil, who rebelled against God, and sought to take the kingdom of our God and his Christ— Wherefore, he maketh war with the saints of God, and encompasseth them round about. And we saw a vision of the sufferings of those with whom he made war and overcame, for thus came the voice of the Lord unto us: Thus saith the Lord concerning all those who know my power, and have been made partakers thereof, and suffered themselves through the power of the devil to be overcome, and to deny the truth and defy my power— They are they who are the sons of perdition, of whom I say that it had been better for them never to have been born; For they are vessels of wrath, doomed to suffer the wrath of God, with the devil and his angels in eternity; Concerning whom I have said there is no forgiveness in this world nor in the world to come— Having denied the Holy Spirit after having received it, and having denied the Only Begotten Son of the Father, having crucified him unto themselves and put him to an open shame. These are they who shall go away into the lake of fire and brimstone, with the devil and his angels— And the only ones on whom the second death shall have any power; Yea, verily, the only ones who shall not be redeemed in the due time of the Lord, after the sufferings of his wrath." (Doctrine and Covenants 76:28-38)
Note that outer darkness is for those who deny the Holy Ghost and "crucify [Christ] unto themselves". These are they who by the witness of the Holy Ghost knew who the Savior was, chose to make of themselves enemies of Christ and rebel against Him, and who will ultimately hold out, unrepentant, until the last resurrection closes the door to that possibility.
Later in that same section of the Doctrine and Covenants, he continues:
"Wherefore, he saves all except them—they shall go away into everlasting punishment, which is endless punishment, which is eternal punishment, to reign with the devil and his angels in eternity, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched, which is their torment— And the end thereof, neither the place thereof, nor their torment, no man knows; Neither was it revealed, neither is, neither will be revealed unto man, except to them who are made partakers thereof;" (Doctrine and Covenants 76:44-46)
Outer darkness is reserved only for those who refuse to acknowledge the Savior. Those who are sent to outer darkness "die as to spiritual things". The prophets have taught that "every knee shall bow and every tongue confess" (see Mosiah 27:31, Philippians 2:9-11) Those who will not do so die as to spiritual things, and it is as though they are no more, for they become perdition.
For everyone else, the torment of hell, if they experience it, will come to an end; the temporary paradise in the spirit world will have its end. Death and hell will be compelled to deliver up their inhabitants and all who ultimately acknowledge their Savior will experience some degree of salvation in one "heaven" or another, in one degree of glory or another.
To put it in the words of Joseph Smith:
"For all the rest shall be brought forth by the resurrection of the dead, through the triumph and the glory of the Lamb, who was slain, who was in the bosom of the Father before the worlds were made. And this is the gospel, the glad tidings, which the voice out of the heavens bore record unto us— That he came into the world, even Jesus, to be crucified for the world, and to bear the sins of the world, and to sanctify the world, and to cleanse it from all unrighteousness; That through him all might be saved whom the Father had put into his power and made by him; Who glorifies the Father, and saves all the works of his hands, except those sons of perdition who deny the Son after the Father has revealed him." (Doctrine and Covenants 76:39-43)
But what are these three heavens or glories, and into which will I be saved? Paul taught that there were three heavens, and he described two of them as "celestial" and "terrestrial", making only a passing reference to the other. But Joseph Smith received extensive revelation describing all three heavens or glories.
Bodies of Celestial Glory - The Celestial Kingdom
We continue our study of Doctrine and Covenants section seventy-six, where Joseph and Oliver record their description of the three degrees of glory as revealed to them by the Lord while they were "in the Spirit":
[Those who enter into celestial glory are] they who:
- received the testimony of Jesus, and believed on his name and were baptized ...That by keeping the commandments they might be washed and cleansed from all their sins, and receive the Holy Spirit by the laying on of the hands of him who is ordained and sealed unto this power (accepted the gospel and were baptized; notice there seems to be no caveat as to whether this had to occur in life or after death)
- overcome by faith, and are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, which the Father sheds forth upon all those who are just and true. (applied genuine effort to live the gospel)
- are the church of the Firstborn. (there are many churches, and then there's the church Jesus Christ establishes by calling a prophet, apostles and seventy, He being the same God yesterday, today and forever - see Hebrews 13:8, Ephesians 2:19-21)
- into whose hands the Father has given all things— [they] are priests of the Most High, after the order of Melchizedek, which was after the order of Enoch, which was after the order of the Only Begotten Son... they are gods, even the sons of God— [they] are priests and kings, who have received of his fulness, and of his glory (Latter-Day Saints recognize this as a reference to the fulfillment of temple covenants; see also Revelation 1:6)
- they shall overcome all things. Wherefore, let no man glory in man, but rather let him glory in God, who shall subdue all enemies under his feet.
- These shall dwell in the presence of God and his Christ forever and ever.
- These are they whom he shall bring with him, when he shall come in the clouds of heaven to reign on the earth over his people.
- These are they who shall have part in the first resurrection. These are they who shall come forth in the resurrection of the just.
- These are they whose names are written in heaven, where God and Christ are the judge of all.
Concerning those who enter into Paul's "third heaven", Joseph summarizes:
These are they who are just men made perfect through Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, who wrought out this perfect atonement through the shedding of his own blood. These are they whose bodies are celestial, whose glory is that of the sun, even the glory of God, the highest of all, whose glory the sun of the firmament is written of as being typical." (Doctrine and Covenants 76:50-70)
The Savior taught the Nephites about the requirements for entering into the "rest" of His father - a reference to the Celestial Kingdom:
"And no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom; therefore nothing entereth into his rest save it be those who have washed their garments in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end. Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day. Verily, verily, I say unto you, this is my gospel; and ye know the things that ye must do in my church; for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do; for that which ye have seen me do even that shall ye do; Therefore, if ye do these things blessed are ye, for ye shall be lifted up at the last day." (3 Nephi 27:19)
The Savior taught the Nephites about the requirements for entering into the "rest" of His father - a reference to the Celestial Kingdom:
"And no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom; therefore nothing entereth into his rest save it be those who have washed their garments in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end. Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day. Verily, verily, I say unto you, this is my gospel; and ye know the things that ye must do in my church; for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do; for that which ye have seen me do even that shall ye do; Therefore, if ye do these things blessed are ye, for ye shall be lifted up at the last day." (3 Nephi 27:19)
Although we will be required to present ourselves spotless (not perfect) before the Father at the last day if we are to enter into celestial glory, we will have to present ourselves before our Savior now, in this life, in our shame, in our weakness, in our foolishness, in our mistakes, and yes, in our filth if He is to cleanse us and prepare us to meet the Father.
In other words, those who enter into the Celestial Kingdom are those who were baptized, received the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, and received their endowment and sealing by the power to loose and to bind on earth and in heaven. These are they who have received all these saving ordinances through the authority of the Levitical order (the priesthood of Aaron) and the order of Melchizidek, and these are they who live and die trying on some level to keep the covenants they've made thereby. I note again that there is no caveat or proviso that prevents those who would have accepted the fullness of the restored gospel and who would have been willing to apply that same effort from receiving these ordinances after death and thereby entering into the covenants that open the way into eternal exaltation. Truly our God is a God of mercy and of love! (Romans 8:35-39)
LDS Lower Light: Temple Ordinances as Described in The Bible
Bodies of Terrestrial Glory - The Terrestrial Kingdom
Joseph Smith continues, giving us more about the terrestrial glory, as revealed to him by the Lord:
"And again, we saw the terrestrial world, and behold and lo, these are they who are of the terrestrial, whose glory differs from that of the church of the Firstborn who have received the fulness of the Father, even as that of the moon differs from the sun in the firmament."
These are they who:
In other words, the terrestrial glory is for people who were good in life, who lived what they knew but who rejected the witness of the Holy Ghost and were not willing to sacrifice to follow the Savior. These are people who rejected the opportunity to receive the ordinances of salvation in the church founded by the Savior (they are not the church of the firstborn). In the Terrestrial Kingdom, they may enjoy the presence of the Son, but not of the Father.
LDS Lower Light: The Holy Trinity As Described in the Bible
LDS Lower Light: The Holy Trinity As Described in Latter-Day Scripture
"And again, we saw the terrestrial world, and behold and lo, these are they who are of the terrestrial, whose glory differs from that of the church of the Firstborn who have received the fulness of the Father, even as that of the moon differs from the sun in the firmament."
These are they who:
- died without law; And also they who are the spirits of men kept in prison, whom the Son visited, and preached the gospel unto them, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh; Who received not the testimony of Jesus in the flesh, but afterwards received it. (These are they who had the fullness of the gospel preached to them in life, who felt the witness of the Holy Ghost bearing witness of the truth of it to the and rejected it, but accepted it after death.)
- are honorable men of the earth, who were blinded by the craftiness of men.
- receive of his glory, but not of his fulness.
- receive of the presence of the Son, but not of the fulness of the Father. Wherefore, they are bodies terrestrial, and not bodies celestial, and differ in glory as the moon differs from the sun. (Whereas the Father and the Son rule and reign in the Celestial Kingdom, the Son rules and reigns additionally over the Terrestrial Kingdom. Those who are saved into this kingdom may experience the presence of the Son, but not of the Father, and cannot have the full glory of either.)
- are not valiant in the testimony of Jesus; wherefore, they obtain not the crown over the kingdom of our God. (see also Matthew 10:37-38)
In other words, the terrestrial glory is for people who were good in life, who lived what they knew but who rejected the witness of the Holy Ghost and were not willing to sacrifice to follow the Savior. These are people who rejected the opportunity to receive the ordinances of salvation in the church founded by the Savior (they are not the church of the firstborn). In the Terrestrial Kingdom, they may enjoy the presence of the Son, but not of the Father.
LDS Lower Light: The Holy Trinity As Described in the Bible
LDS Lower Light: The Holy Trinity As Described in Latter-Day Scripture
Bodies of Telestial Glory - The Telestial Kingdom
The lowest of the three "heavens" or glories is the telestial. Joseph Smith continues:
"And again, we saw the glory of the telestial, which glory is that of the lesser, even as the glory of the stars differs from that of the glory of the moon in the firmament."
These are they who
"And again, we saw the glory of the telestial, which glory is that of the lesser, even as the glory of the stars differs from that of the glory of the moon in the firmament."
These are they who
- received not the gospel of Christ, neither the testimony of Jesus.
- deny not the Holy Spirit (see my discussion about outer darkness above for what this means)
- are thrust down to hell [and] shall not be redeemed from the devil until the last resurrection, until the Lord, even Christ the Lamb, shall have finished his work.
- receive not of his fulness in the eternal world, but of the Holy Spirit through the ministration of the terrestrial... they shall be heirs of salvation. (These will have to pay the price for their own sins. Their suffering purifies them until they become once again clean and are able to inherit a degree of glory. For them, salvation amounts to the fact that a degree of glory in the lowest of the mansions of the Father is still made available to those who at last acknowledge the Savior, even if they refuse to benefit from His atoning sacrifice any other way.) (see also Doctrine & Covenants 19:15-19, Alma 40:26)
- who are of Paul, and of Apollos, and of Cephas. These are they who say they are some of one and some of another—some of Christ and some of John, and some of Moses, and some of Elias, and some of Esaias, and some of Isaiah, and some of Enoch; But received not the gospel, neither the testimony of Jesus, neither the prophets, neither the everlasting covenant. (these are members of the Church who have sought to pressure the Church into becoming something other than that for which the Son ordained it by his prophets and apostles. These are they who in every dispensation have until now succeeded in pushing the Church into general apostasy)
- Last of all, these all are they who will not be gathered with the saints, to be caught up unto the church of the Firstborn, and received into the cloud. (a reference to the Lord's second coming)
- These are they who are liars, and sorcerers, and adulterers, and whoremongers, and whosoever loves and makes a lie.
- These are they who suffer the wrath of God on earth. These are they who suffer the vengeance of eternal fire. These are they who are cast down to hell and suffer the wrath of Almighty God, until the fulness of times, when Christ shall have subdued all enemies under his feet, and shall have perfected his work... (inasmuch as they do not repent and receive the saving ordinances, these will have to pay for their own sins in hell until they have been cleansed by their own suffering, before they can be admitted into a kingdom of glory)
(Doctrine and Covenants 76:81-88, 99-106)
Despite the fact that the Telestial Kingdom is for those who suffered for their own sins in hell, we need make no mistake: it too is a kingdom of glory. Inasmuch as they too will be cleansed of their sins, if only by their own suffering, they too will be admitted into a kingdom of glory.
In summary, Joseph Smith said this about the three degrees of glory:
"And thus we saw, in the heavenly vision, the glory of the telestial, which surpasses all understanding; And no man knows it except him to whom God has revealed it. And thus we saw the glory of the terrestrial which excels in all things the glory of the telestial, even in glory, and in power, and in might, and in dominion. And thus we saw the glory of the celestial, which excels in all things—where God, even the Father, reigns upon his throne forever and ever; Before whose throne all things bow in humble reverence, and give him glory forever and ever." (Doctrine and Covenants 76:89-93)
We Do Not Get to Judge
Having these guidelines in place, it is easy for us to start putting ourselves or others into one kingdom or another. We need to resist the urge to do this. We especially need to resist the tendency to put ourselves or others into too low a kingdom of glory. We do not know the hearts and minds or the capacity for moral responsibility of ourselves or of others they way our Heavenly Father does. We know neither the fullness of the mercy, nor the fullness of the justice of God which He will surely extend to all men. (see 2 Nephi 9:25-26 for example)
We need to remember the parable of the laborers wherein the Savior demonstrates His willingness to give of His fullness to those whom others judged unworthy:
"...when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny. And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, saying, these last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?" (Matthew 20:8-15)
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Apostle, General Conference, April 2012: The Laborers in the Vineyard
All of us struggle here in mortal weakness; all of us "see through a glass darkly". (1 Corinthians 13:12) But for those who know Christ, and especially those who have received their saving ordinances in His church, it would be wise to think on our weakness, on our Savior, and on the salvation which He offers the way Nephi did:
"...notwithstanding the great goodness of the Lord, in showing me his great and marvelous works, my heart exclaimeth: O wretched man that I am! Yea, my heart sorroweth because of my flesh; my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities. I am encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins which do so easily beset me. And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins; nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted." (2 Nephi 4:17-19)
No matter what our station in life, I believe all of us, with rare exception, will experience something far greater in the world to come than we can ever hope to conceive or understand here. All of us, if only for a moment, stand to be first driven to horror and desperation by a plain view of the perfect justice of God contrasted with our shortfall. But then we will also be stunned at the unimaginable abundance of the Lord's kindness and mercy toward us at that day! (see Romans 8:14-28, Romans 3:20-25, 2 Corinthians 5:10-21)
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