Is Satan necessary?

Posted on November 26, 2013 by LDS Scripture Teachings

Occasionally I find myself in a conversation with those that ask the question, “Is Satan essential for the
Plan of Salvation to work?” While I do not think this question is one of the more vital gospel questions
we may ask, it certainly is interesting! The answer may help us to understand our place in the Plan of
Salvation, as well as understand some passages that teach us of the Millennium.

In the Pre-earth life, it appears that the children of Heavenly Father were capable of some degree of
agency, of choosing their destiny. In Alma 13 we read the following:

Pre earth CouncilAnd again, my brethren, I would cite your minds forward to the time when the Lord
God gave these commandments unto his children (in other words, Alma is speaking of the pre-earth
life); and I would that ye should remember that the Lord God ordained priests, after his holy order,
which was after the order of his Son, to teach these things unto the people. And those priests were
ordained after the order of his Son, in a manner that thereby the people might know in what manner to
look forward to his Son for redemption. And this is the manner after which they were ordained—being
called and prepared from the foundation of the world according to the foreknowledge of God, on
account of their exceeding faith and good works; in the first place being left to choose good or evil;
therefore they having chosen good, and exercising exceedingly great faith, are called with a holy calling,
yea, with that holy calling which was prepared with, and according to, a preparatory redemption for
such. And thus they have been called to this holy calling on account of their faith, while others would
reject the Spirit of God on account of the hardness of their hearts and blindness of their minds, while, if
it had not been for this they might have had as great privilege as their brethren. Or in fine, in the first
place they were on the same standing with their brethren; thus this holy calling being prepared from the
foundation of the world for such as would not harden their hearts, being in and through the atonement
of the Only Begotten Son, who was prepared (Alma 13:1-5, emphasis added).

This passage seems to indicate that there were individuals in the pre-earth life that exercised mighty
faith while there were those that chose the opposite. Many of the specifics are unknown at this point
and time, but one thing is certain: we all had the ability to choose who we would follow. The Adversary
rebelled against the plan of Heavenly Father and did all he could to enlist followers. His rebellion existed
in his own choosing- in other words before Lucifer became Satan we have no record of Satan. Another
way to put it is like this: did Satan need to exist for Lucifer to rebel against God? It seems reasonable to
suppose that Satan is not an essential part of God’s plan for our redemption. Let me make a couple of
salient points that might strengthen this claim.
If it was a requirement that someone “volunteer” to assume the role of an adversary, what would that
say about Heavenly Father’s perfect plan for his children? Would a loving, kind, merciful, and just God
require that one of his children be permanently banished from his presence? It seems rational to
assume otherwise. In fact the scriptures make the following claims:

Speaking of Lucifer, in D&C 76 we read that he was “called Perdition, for the heavens wept over him—
he was Lucifer, a son of the morning. And we beheld, and lo, he is fallen! is fallen, even a son of the
morning!” (D&C 76:26-27) If it was necessary that Lucifer become Satan, perhaps this verse would be
read differently. Also it is worth noting that God’s work and glory is to “bring to pass the immortality and
eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39). It would seem contrary to his plan that he should require one of his
children to willfully rebel against his purpose for creating us in the first place. Not only this, but we are
not talking about one individual, but the host that followed Lucifer in the pre-earth struggle for agency.
John states that Satan “drew the third part of the stars of heaven” after him (Revelation 12:4). Whether
that is 1/3 or just a “third part” represent a large number, not necessarily 1/3, we are talking about
many people. Would God be just in forcing individuals to choose? Is not agency part of the entire
program, the very thing that makes the plan of salvation operative?

When we read of what makes the plan operational, perhaps the clearest verses of scripture come to us
from Lehi in 2 Nephi 2. Lehi lists four things that must exist for man to have agency, to be free. These
are: 1)opposition, 2)laws designating right and wrong, 3)knowledge of good and evil, and 4)the power to
choose. Nowhere in this text does Lehi say that Satan must exist for us to have agency. He does state
that opposition is essential: “For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my
first-born in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither
holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore all things must needs be a compound in one…” (2
Nephi 2:11) Is it possible that the conditions of mortality alone provide this essential opposition?

Consider the following:

We read in Mosiah 3:19 that “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…” In other words, the
condition that man finds himself in as a fallen creature is one where his natural tendencies are to seek
self-interest, to do all he can to look out for himself and benefit his own situation, even to the detriment
of others. We do not have to look very far to see evidence of this in our world. It is as if man is
“hardwired” to behave this way. In the New Testament book of James we read: “Let no man say when
he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any
man: But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust
hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” (James 1:13-15
emphasis added). James seems to indicate that it is our own natural lusts that lead us to sin. We seem
quite capable of committing sin without the help of the Adversary!

SatanThis being said, let us not forget that Satan is a real being, intent on our destruction. I view Satan
as one who is a stirrer of the pot, one who incites man to rebellion, who “stirreth up the hearts of men
to contend with anger, one with another” (3 Nephi 11:29). An analogy that might work with most
teenagers would be the character Ursula in the film The Little Mermaid. Ursula tempts Ariel, but Ariel’s
nature compels her to want that which her father has forbidden. Of course Ursula uses Ariel’s natural
tendencies against her, but Ursula is not essential for Ariel to be tempted. I realize the weakness in this
analogy, as Ursula provides a means whereby Ariel can fulfill her desire to change her circumstance and
completely rebel against her father’s wishes, but the desire to rebel was present in Ariel without the
influence of the wicked Ursula.

Probably the most persuasive verse of scripture hinting at the necessity of Satan is found in D&C 29:
“And it must needs be that the devil should tempt the children of men, or they could not be agents unto
themselves; for if they never should have bitter they could not know the sweet…” (D&C 29:39) The
question I have in relation to this verse is this: is this verse saying that it was necessary that Satan should
tempt us or that man should be tempted? I interpret this to mean that it was essential that God should
have us in an environment where opposition exists in order that we may freely choose to follow his
plan. Of course, in this mortal condition, we are subject to the weaknesses of the flesh, and would be
tempted. Satan, of course only serves to exacerbate this situation. It is clear that we must have
opposition in order to exercise agency, but I find it difficult to prove that someone take the role of
“Satan” in order to provide this essential requirement of agency. Perhaps we will know more in the
future when “the Lord shall come, he shall reveal all things- Things which have passed, and hidden
things which no man knew, things of the earth, by which it was made, and the purpose and the end
thereof” (D&C 101:32-33).

One thing is certain- Satan does exist. We need not be fearful or overly focused on this fact, however.

President James E. Faust taught:

President James E. Faust

President James E. Faust

We need not become paralyzed with fear of Satan’s power. He can have no power over us unless we
permit it. He is really a coward, and if we stand firm, he will retreat. The Apostle James counseled:
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). He cannot
know our thoughts unless we speak them. And Nephi states that the devil “hath no power over the
hearts” of righteous people. (1 Nephi 22:26) We have heard comedians and others justify or explain
their misdeeds by saying, “The devil made me do it.” I do not really think the devil can make us do
anything. Certainly he can tempt and he can deceive, but he has no authority over us that we do not
give him.

The power to resist Satan may be stronger than we realize. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught: “All beings
who have bodies have power over those who have not. The devil has no power over us only as we
permit him. The moment we revolt at anything which comes from God, the devil takes power.” (The
Words of Joseph Smith, ed. Andrew F. Ehat and Lyndon W. Cook (1980), 60.)

He also stated, “Wicked spirits have their bounds, limits, and laws by which they are governed.” (History
of the Church, 4:576.)

So Satan and his angels are not all-powerful. One of Satan’s approaches is to persuade a person who has
transgressed that there is no hope of forgiveness. But there is always hope. Most sins, no matter how
grievous, may be repented of if the desire is sincere enough. (President James E. Faust, The Forces That
Will Save Us, Ensign, January 2007.)

THE PROBATIONARY TEST OF MORTALITY

Bruce R. McConkie 1915-1985

Elder Bruce R. McConkie

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Address given at the University of Utah Institute of Religion January 10, 1982
I’m very pleased and honored to have this opportunity to meet and worship with you on this special
occasion. Earlier, President Swinton intimated to me on the telephone that perhaps I’d like to say
something here tonight that I had said recently at the Brigham Young University. I’ve been thinking of
that since and have come to the conclusion that the students up here didn’t have the things to repent of
that the Brigham Young University students had. I think I won’t say more upon that line. But I hope very
much that I may be guided by the power of the Spirit to say what ought to be said tonight.

On any occasion where speakers in the Church get in tune with the Holy Spirit, they end up saying what
the Lord wants to have said. Another way of expressing that is that they end up saying what the Lord
would say if he personally were present. In a very literal and real sense, we’re the agents and
representatives of the Lord. We have no message of our own. There’s nothing that I, as an individual,
can devise which will ennoble, exalt or, above all, save another person. All things that are good and
uplifting and that have saving virtue and power rest in the Lord. He has given us, as His servants,
something that’s called the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and that entitles us to the constant companionship of
that member of the Godhead if we’re faithful and true. On any occasion that we manage to get in tune
with the Spirit, we say what ought to be said on that particular occasion. Then, everyone who hears,
who is in tune with the same Spirit, is receptive and believes and understands the expressions that are
made. Our revelations say that when that situation exists where the speaker speaks by the power of the
Spirit, and the hearers hear by the same power, perfect worship results. Now, I hope that’s what we can
have here tonight in this very pleasant and wholesome setting where we join together.

I thought, if properly guided, I’d like to talk to you about a great test that everyone of us is obligated to
take. I suppose that during our student days we’re acutely and particularly aware of testing processes.
We do a lot of studying and preparation so that we can pass this test or that — whether it’s oral, a
written comprehensive test, or whatever — for a degree. Let’s center our attention tonight on the
greatest test that any individuals will ever be called upon to take in all eternity. That test is going to
come, or does come, to every living soul born into the world, and it’s the test of mortality. We’re
engaged in a mortal life at the moment. We’re living in a period that has been defined prophetically as a
probationary estate — that language applying to the status and condition of man since the Fall.

Now, what I’d like to do, if I might, with your supportive and prayerful help, is give a broad overview of
what is involved in the Plan of Salvation. If we can have that broad overview and have our minds
centered on what the Lord has done and is in the process of doing for all of his children, then we can get
in a position to know what we need to do in every field of activity in order to pass the test of this
probationary estate.

Let me suggest some great concepts or truths which will have the effect of giving this overall view of the
plan of eternal salvation. One way of approaching the subject would be to say that there are three great
and eternal events that have preeminence over and supersede all others in importance from eternity to
eternity. In all the eternities that have been or will be — as far as we’re concerned — there are three
things that stand preeminent. We know a little about each one of them. We do not know very much
about any of them, but we do know enough so that we can see the relationship that they have to each
other and the effect they ought to have on us as individuals. These three events are the Creation, the
Fall, and the Atonement. There are no events that have ever occurred in all eternity, or ever will, as
important to us as individuals as the Creation, the Fall, and the Atonement, and the Creation, the Fall,
and the Atonement are wrapped together in one package to form what is called the Plan of Salvation.

Let’s begin our consideration here tonight by just going back to basics and stating some things that all of
us, I hope, know and are aware of, but stating them anew in relation to other events with which they
are connected so that we may get a comprehensive and well-integrated and well-woven together view
of what’s involved in the great and eternal Plan of Salvation.

Obviously, we begin with the fact that we’re the offspring of God. We begin with the fact that God, our
Heavenly Father, is a glorified, exalted, and perfected Being, who has all wisdom, all power, all might. In
Him is the perfection of every godly attribute. He’s a resurrected being. The Prophet taught that God
was the only supreme and independent being. In Him all fullness and perfection dwell. He said that He
was omnipotent, omniscient, and by the power of His spirit, omnipresent — meaning that He has all
power and knows all things. Through the indicated way, He is in and through and round about all things
— He being, of course, a personal being, a personage of tabernacle who has a body of flesh and bones.

God enjoys a type, a kind, and a status of existence of life that is called eternal life, and eternal life
consists of two things. It consists of, number one, life in the family unit. It consists, number two, of
having the power, dominion, might, and omnipotence of the Father — all of which is described under
the heading, “The Fullness of the Father,” or, “The Fullness of the Glory and Power of the Father.” Now,
the name of that kind of existence is eternal life. You and I have the potential of gaining eternal life,
meaning that it is within our power to advance from the state in which we now are to the state of glory
and exaltation so that we will be like Him and live the kind of life that He lives — life in the family unit.
Of course, that means celestial marriage and all that grows out of it. It means advancing, progressing,
and growing from grace to grace as Christ Himself did as He worked out His salvation, until we become
as God is. Well, that’s what is in store. God, our Father, ordained and established the system that would
enable us to do that.

Joseph Smith said that God, Himself — finding that He was in the midst of spirits and glory — ordained
laws whereby we might advance and progress and become like Him. The name of those laws is the
Gospel of God — meaning God, our Eternal Father. We talk about the Gospel of Christ, and when we do
it, what we mean is that the Lord Jesus adopted His Father’s plan. He espoused it, He promoted it, He
became the central figure in it and worked out the Atonement so that salvation comes by Him. We
properly call God’s great and eternal plan the Gospel of Jesus Christ so that we’ll center our attention in
the Redeemer who did the things that put the plan into full operation. He’s the One who gave it efficacy
and virtue and force by working out the infinite and eternal atonement. When Paul described it, he did it
in the perfect language. He said, “The Gospel of God concerning Jesus Christ, our Lord, who was made of
the seed of David, according to the flesh.”

Well, God ordained and established the Plan, and it had as its purpose the salvation of all His spirit
children who would believe and obey, including His Firstborn Son, who is Christ. Christ Himself had to
work out His salvation the same as all of us do. He was the Firstborn, and He had might and
omnipotence and power. He obtained these things in the preexistence by His devotion and obedience
there until He is described in the revelations as being like unto God.

Now, having in mind that there is this premortal existence in which we are the spirit children of God and
that He is providing a system enabling us to gain eternal life, we note that He is the Creator of all things,
that His program provided for a Fall, and that His plan required a redemption, an atoning sacrifice. We
have the three things that I mentioned: the Creation, the Fall, and the Atonement, and He has given us a
little knowledge about each one of them. We know enough now about the Creation so that we can
understand what is involved in the Fall, and really, that’s all we know. We don’t have the capacity, in our
present finite circumstances, to understand the Creation. It is beyond any mental or intellectual capacity
that any living mortal has to comprehend or understand how God created the universe and how He
created this earth. We know, in principle, that He is the Creator of worlds without number and that He
did it by and through the Only Begotten. He has not given us the details. If He did, we would not be able
to comprehend them. Someday we’ll get into a position where we can. We know certain things. We
know the manner and form in which created things came into existence, and we know that in order to
enable us to comprehend what was involved in the Fall. Now, that’s all the Lord has ever revealed about
Creation — just enough to let us comprehend the doctrine of the Fall.
What we know about Creation is that all things were created in a paradisiacal state, a state that is higher
than and superior to the state in which created things now exist. This applies to the earth and to all
forms of life on the earth. There was no death in that day. Now, you have to understand that much
about the Creation so that you’ll be able to comprehend what the Fall is. Creation was essential. If there
had been no Creation, there would have been no earth. There would be no place for the spirit children
of God to come and get a mortal body and undergo the probationary test of which we’re speaking, so
Creation is first.

Secondly, is the Fall. We know enough about the Fall to enable us to understand what the atoning
sacrifice of Christ is, and that’s about all that we know. We’re not able to comprehend, in it’s entirety,
what the Fall of Adam was. But we do know this — that the Fall brought temporal and spiritual death
into the world. There was neither temporal death nor spiritual death for man, or any form of life, prior
to the Fall. The earth fell and Adam fell and all forms of created life fell, meaning that they changed from
the state in which they were after they were created into a mortal state, and you fall downward, not
upward. When you fall, you get into the state of mortality that now exists, and with this mortal type of
existence came death and procreation. There was neither death nor procreation prior to the Fall, either
for Adam or any form of life. Now, we know that concept. All we need to know about the Creation is
what lets us know about how the Fall could operate. And all we need to know about the Fall is sufficient
to enable us to understand how the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus operates.

The Atonement is founded on two great principles. On the one hand, the Atonement is possible because
of the divine Sonship of the Lord, meaning that He was born into this world as the Son of God. If He
hadn’t been born in that manner, He wouldn’t have been able to atone for the sins of the world. On the
other side, the other foundation stone of the atonement, is the Fall of Adam. Adam brought temporal
and spiritual death into the world. Christ came to ransom men from the effects of temporal and spiritual
death. The ransom from the natural death is immortality. The ransom from the spiritual death is eternal
life. Christ came to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man, and He did it because death
came by Adam, and life came by Jesus Christ.

The central thing in the whole gospel system is the atoning sacrifice of the Lord. There isn’t any single
event that ever has occurred or ever will occur from Creation’s dawn, as long as eternity lasts, that in
any way compares in importance with the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s the great
cornerstone of revealed religion. That is an act — again incomprehensible to us — performed by a divine
being that had the effect of putting into operation and giving efficacy, virtue and force to the entire Plan
of the Father. The Plan of the Father operates because of the atoning sacrifice of Christ. If there had
been no atonement, there would be no resurrection; meaning there would be no immortality. If there
had been no atonement, there would be no eternal life, meaning that those raised in immortality would
not then be raised unto eternal life, as the language of our scripture says. Everything that we have grows
out of the atonement. Without it we would have nothing, the purposes of God would vanish away, and
the reason for Creation itself would cease to exist. There isn’t any language that any mortal person has
ever been given that enables him to express with sufficient definity, power, and ability the tremendous
and glorious, infinite and wondrous import of the atoning sacrifice. The revelations refer to it as being
“infinite and eternal.” No language can go beyond those two words.

All things center in the Atonement. Salvation itself, in all its forms, all that we have and are, centers in
the Atonement. The Atonement grows out of the Fall, and the Fall comes because of the nature of the
Creation that God our Father provided. I’m saying to you — in just giving a broad overview of what is
involved — that the three greatest events in all eternity are the Creation, the Fall, and the Atonement.

The Fall placed us in a state where we are described as being carnal, sensual, and devilish by nature.
That means that we’re here in a state where we’re subject to evil, ill, devilishness, carnality, and all of
the ills of the flesh — deliberately and advisedly so placed in order to have a probationary estate in
order to have a test that grows out of preexistence. That state exists, and it’s mortality. In this mortal
state the scriptures describe the human body as being corruptible. We have corruptible bodies and what
that means is we have bodies that decay; and they’ll go back, in due course, to the dust. They’re not the
perfect eternal bodies that exist in a celestial world. Paul talks about being raised from “corruption to
incorruption;”-meaning in the resurrection — and from “mortality to immortality.” We’re going to get a
different kind of a body in due course, but we’re in a corruptible state now. Being in a corruptible state,
we’re subject to disease, afflictions, and all the ills and vicissitudes that go with mortal life. It is
deliberately so ordained.

We’re here to get some experience — some experience that we couldn’t get in any other way. There are
some things in life that can only be known by experience. There are some things that you can’t describe
in language, that you can’t tell to someone else by any power of the intellect or persuasiveness of the
tongue. There are some things that can only be understood by experience. I think, perhaps, the best
illustration — at least the best I can think of–would be trying to describe color to a blind person. If
someone were born blind and you had the obligation to explain to him what red, yellow, and blue were,
you would utterly fail. There’s no way of using some language to get over to a person who’s never seen
a ray of light what’s involved in color and the difference between one color and another. There are
some things that can be known only by experience, and I’m using that as an illustration to apply to
mortality. There are some things that can only be known, by an eternal offspring of Deity, by experience,
and so we get a mortal state where we will experience disease, pain, afflictions, and sorrow. If we didn’t
experience these, they would never become part of us and be engraven in our souls in the manner in
which they will be. We’re here to get experience in mortality.
It’s common among us to say that life never was intended to be easy. You hear it said very frequently
out in the world — by people without understanding and knowledge of the Plan of Salvation — that
they can’t believe in a God who would permit war or they can’t believe in a God who would permit
someone to suffer and die of cancer or something else. In the world, all that kind of an expression
means is that the speaker has no comprehension whatever of what is involved in mortality, of why we
came here, and the reason for our mortal being and existence. We’re here to get the kind of experience
that could not have been gained in any other way. If we did not get this experience, we never could go
on and become like God, our Father. We never could become immortal if we had not first been mortal.
We could never have eternal life unless we got the kind of a body that God our Heavenly Father
possesses. It’s all part of one cohesive plan. I say that to give an overview.

I want to say something else to give an overview. I’d like to compare the probationary experiences of
preexistence with the probationary experiences of mortality. We lived as the spirit children of God in His
presence While we were there, we had agency for one thing — freedom of choice, complete and
untrampled. For another thing, He gave us laws, and these laws enabled us to advance or progress if we
chose to obey them.

In the preexistence we lived in the presence of God. All of us have seen God, our Father. No person on
earth lives who, back in that sphere, did not see the face of God, and we knew that all of the teaching
that came from Him was His, that it originated with Him, that He was our Father. We were taught,
obviously, by other people in pre-existence who represented Him in various schools, as it were, that we
attended. But all of the truths were His, and we knew it. That kind of a life is described as “walking by
sight.” Please note — we walked by sight because we knew the source of the teaching, and we were
spirit beings.

We don’t understand everything about a spirit. We know a spirit is a man or a woman. We do know this:
When we came down here into mortality, we came under circumstances where the curtain was drawn
and we wouldn’t remember preexistence, and instead of walking by sight, we would walk by faith.
That’s one thing.

Secondly, we would be subject to the ills of the flesh, and there would be passions, appetites, and
desires planted in the mortal body that were not there when we were in the preexistent sphere. Now,
that dramatizes the test between the preexistence and the test of mortality. Back there we walked by
sight. Down here we walk by faith, and we have to believe and obey the Holy Gospel when it’s taught to
us by the Lord’s representatives. We no longer have the personal knowledge that the truths are coming
from God. Back there we were tried and examined and on probation as spirit beings. Down here we’re
on probation as mortals, where appetites control our bodies, where we have lusts, and where we’re
subject to hunger, thirst, fatigue, disease, sexual appetites, and all the rest. That makes this an entirely
different kind of test than the one we took in preexistence.

You prepare for a test. We have no way of knowing how long we lived in the premortal sphere. It is
inevitable that we lived there. It’s unavoidable to reach the conclusion that we lived there for an infinite
period of time. We’ve heard some of the early brethren talk in terms of millions of years. It certainly was
that. I would suppose that we can get some vision and understanding of how long we lived in the
premortal life by just reciting some of the things that happened. We know that here’s a being who is
called the Firstborn Spirit, who is the Lord Jesus, and that He lived there long enough to advance and
progress to become like God and to become, under the Father, the Creator of worlds without number.
It’s implicit in that kind of a concept that long periods of time — totally beyond mortal conception —
were involved. That means that we prepared, for what we would designate as an infinite duration of
time, for the privilege and opportunity of coming down here and taking the test of mortality, and so this
mortal life becomes the final examination for all of the life that we lived back there. We prepared and
went to school. Now we’re taking the examination to see if we will be awarded the degree, and the
degree — in this sense — is eternal life. Whereas, this mortality is the final examination for all that went
before, in a manner of speaking. If you want so to designate it, this mortality is the entrance
examination into the high state of glory and honor as found in the various kingdoms that are prepared.

What I’ve done by giving that broad overview of the Plan of Salvation (I think that’s what I’ve done) is to
single out mortality and to designate this mortality as the most important part of all eternity. That’s why
I said that we’re here, taking a test, and that this is the greatest and most important test that any person
will ever take. This is a probationary estate.

I’ve talked about concepts and doctrines. I sat down this afternoon and pulled out of the theoretical
blue, as it were, five fields. These fields I named spiritual, moral, social, intellectual, and physical. It
doesn’t make a particle of difference, really, how you outline these things. You can outline them in any
way you’d like in order to get the concept or the overview. The fact is, that by outlining things in those
five fields, you inevitably have a lot of matters that overlap. For purposes of getting the picture before
us so that we’ll understand what is involved, what I’m saying is that everything that we do in this mortal
life can appropriately, if we want to twist it and jam it into the outline, be put into one of the five heads
that I have named.

Now, we’re undergoing a test. We’re going to be tested for everything in mortality. You don’t get tested
in just one field and let the rest of life’s experiences go by the board. You get tested where the whole
man, the whole personality, is concerned. We read a lot of things that, seemingly, are strange in the
scriptures. Jesus says, “For every idle word that men shall speak they will give account in the day of
judgment.” We’re going to be judged by the words that we speak.

The Book of Mormon designations and scriptures talk about the fact that we will be judged by our
thoughts, by our words, and by our acts. What I’m saying is that in this mortal probation we’re going to
be judged by everything that we do. Now, some things have far greater import than others. There isn’t
any question in any Latter-day Saint mind that the most important field of judgment is the spiritual.
We’re going to have to answer some questions where the spiritual is concerned. I don’t know what
questions we’ll be asked and what we’ll have to answer, but I do know the general fields. When we’re
judged in the realm of spiritual things, we’re going to be judged by what we thought of the Lord Jesus
Christ, — that above all else — whether we accepted Him as the Savior and Redeemer, whether we took
the counsel that He gave — “learn of me,” “take my yoke upon you,” and so on.

We’re going to be judged by whether we walk by faith. We’re going to be judged by the truths we
believe, and if we don’t believe all the gospel truths that we should, there’s a deficiency. If we believe
something and accept it as truth, which is not, that’s going to be taken into consideration in our
judgment.

Now, I’m perfectly well aware of the theoretical postulates that go around about creation and evolution,
and all the rest, and I know that the theories have changed radically from when I studied them here at
the University of Utah to the day when you are now studying them. When your children and
grandchildren study them they’ll be changed again, and every generation of teachers will think that
they’re setting forth eternal, absolute, and ultimate truth. But nonetheless, these are the theories of
men and they don’t accord in many respects with the revelations. They assume, for instance, that death
has always been in the world, and so on.

Well, we’re going to be judged by what we believe, and we’re going to be judged by what we think
about Joseph Smith. We’re going to be judged by whether we receive the Priesthood and magnify our
callings. We’re going to be judged by our attitude towards the Church. The Church happens to be the
agency that God has established on earth to administer the gospel and to raise a standard of truth and
light to the world. If the Church says this or that on a moral issue-such as the ERA — and we take a
different stand, we’re going to be judged by that when the day comes that we stand before the bar of
Jehovah. We’re going to be judged in the spiritual realm by how many of the gifts of the spirit we
manage to get into our lives.
There isn’t any real way to differentiate these headings. They overlap, and some items might be under
other headings, but we’re going to be judged about moral things. That well could include under that
heading all of the standards of the gospel — every principle of decency and sexual morality, every
principle of honesty and integrity.

We’ve had a little fad sweeping Utah. I read in the paper — people who pretend to know — that Utahns
were subject to more scam arrangements and financial abusive schemes than anybody else. Well, if we
get involved in some of these pyramiding things, we’re going to be judged for the lack of sense and
understanding and wisdom that we had in that field aside from the fact that we’ll probably lose
everything that we put into it.

We’re going to be judged by social matters. I suppose that could include marriage relationships that we
form, the fellowship that we have in this organization or that among our fellowmen, the service that we
perform for others, how we operate in the programs of the Church, the institutes and the seminaries,
the Relief Society and Priesthood quorums. We’re going to be judged by the power that we seek to get
in political ventures and the wealth that we desire to acquire.

We’re going to be judged in an intellectual field, and certainly, that’s going to involve the seeking of
truth and study. It’s going to involve false doctrine. I think that a good deal of the false doctrine that
goes around is purely an intellectual enterprise in the hands of those who believe it. They rationalize this
or that to make the conduct that they have harmonious. I can’t think of a better illustration of that than
this Adam-God philosophy that goes around. People say they believe that Adam is God, that we worship
him, and that he is the father of our spirits as well as the father of our bodies. They want to believe that,
and the reason is that they can quote somebody of the past who seems to have said it and somebody of
the present who denies it’s true. Then, they can say, “Well, Spencer Kimball says this and somebody of
the past said something else, and I’ll choose to believe what somebody in the past said,” and that
enables them then to say that somebody of the past believed in plural marriage and Spencer Kimball
doesn’t. “And because the past prophets are true and the living prophets aren’t, I think I’ll enter plural
marriage,” and, of course, they lose their souls. Now that’s just a perfect intellectual enterprise on their
part to justify the lusts and appetites of the flesh.

Well, there are moral issues all over, and we’re going to be judged by them; there are intellectual
pursuits, and we’re going to be judged by them. We’re going to be judged by physical things. We’re
expected to do things in the physical field that are right. We have a revelation in which the Lord says all
things unto Him are spiritual, and He’s never given a temporal commandment unto the children of men.
Then, He says a very interesting thing, “. . . neither to Adam your father.” All you have to do is go back
and look at the list of commands that He gave to Adam. Almost every one of them that’s in Genesis or in
the Book of Moses is temporal, but the Lord calls them spiritual. That this means is that we’re going to
be judged by the way we plow our ground, plant our crops and harvest them, and everything we do in
our business affairs as well as our spiritual affairs.

Tonight, as far as I’m concerned, I have just opened a door to investigation. I haven’t pretended to say
the last word on this subject except that what I’ve said, as far as the principles of the gospel are
concerned, is certainly sound and is true. But for our practical approach, I’m opening a door of
investigation. I’m saying to you that there are certain great, overriding concepts and that if we
understand them, we get into a position where we can apply individual truths to our lives. What I think
all of us need to do is to determine where we stand in every field of mortal endeavor. Then, based on
the general overall concepts that are clear and plain, we make a determination on how we will live in
this field or in that field in order to pass the probationary estate in order to succeed in the test of
mortality. If we make the right choices, we’ll go on to eternal reward, and if we do not, then we’ll get
some lower and lesser place in the kingdoms that are prepared.

Let me append to what I’m saying there — something that is needed to give a rounded picture. It’s not
quite on the subject, but it gives a rounded picture of what’s involved. You could take the expressions
that I’ve made and say they’re a little severe, or they’re harsh or difficult, and hence, it’s hard to gain
eternal salvation. I’d like to append to them the fact — and this a true gospel verity — that everyone in
the Church who is on the straight and narrow path, who is striving and struggling and desiring to do
what is right, though is far from perfect in this life; if he passes out of this life while he’s on the straight
and narrow, he’s going to go on to eternal reward in his Father’s kingdom.

We don’t need to get a complex or get a feeling that you have to be perfect to be saved. You don’t.
There’s only been one perfect person, and that’s the Lord Jesus, but in order to be saved in the Kingdom
of God and in order to pass the test of mortality, what you have to do is get on the straight and narrow
path — thus charting a course leading to eternal life — and then, being on that path, pass out of this life
in full fellowship. I’m not saying that you don’t have to keep the commandments. I’m saying you don’t
have to be perfect to be saved. If you did, no one would be saved. The way it operates is this: you get on
the path that’s named the “straight and narrow.” You do it by entering the gate of repentance and
baptism. The straight and narrow path leads from the gate of repentance and baptism, a very great
distance, to a reward that’s called eternal life. If you’re on that path and pressing forward, and you die,
you’ll never get off the path. There is no such thing as falling off the straight and narrow path in the life
to come, and the reason is that this life is the time that is given to men to prepare for eternity. Now is
the time and the day of your salvation, so if you’re working zealously in this life — though you haven’t
fully overcome the world and you haven’t done all you hoped you might do — you’re still going to be
saved. You don’t have to do what Jacob said, “Go beyond the mark.” You don’t have to live a life that’s
truer than true. You don’t have to have an excessive zeal that becomes fanatical and becomes
unbalancing. What you have to do is stay in the mainstream of the Church and live as upright and decent
people live in the Church — keeping the commandments, paying your tithing, serving in the
organizations of the Church, loving the Lord, staying on the straight and narrow path. If you’re on that
path when death comes — because this is the time and the day appointed, this the probationary estate
— you’ll never fall off from it, and, for all practical purposes, your calling and election is made sure.
Now, that isn’t the definition of that term, but the end result will be the same.

There’s great hope for Latter-day Saints. There’s great hope for anyone who will repent, believe, obey,
strive, struggle and seek to work out his salvation. There isn’t hope for anyone who will not. Our
revelation says, “Surely every man must repent or suffer; for I, God, am Endless.” Well, either we suffer
for our sins, according to the law of justice, or we repent, and through the atoning sacrifice, the Lord
Jesus bears our sins and we become inheritors of mercy. Now we can go forward. We can have every
reward that the scriptures speak of. We’re not an austere people. We don’t remove ourselves from the
world. We’re deliberately in the world so that we’ll have opportunity to overcome the world. We can
have in the Church every association and felicity and good feeling that anyone can have. Anything that’s
wholesome and good is available to us. We’re denied nothing, and that’s good. In addition to that, we
can have the hope of glorious immortality — meaning eternal life — in the realms and the worlds that
are ahead.

Now, let’s have in mind as we conclude tonight, that the work we’re engaged in is true. Let’s just know
that with absolute surety. Let’s know that the doctrine I’m teaching is true. The ideal testimony bears
record that the doctrine taught is true and that the work is true. I’m teaching true doctrine, for one
thing, and testifying that I am teaching, and I’m adding to that the testimony that the work is true.
Because these things are true, they operate in the lives of men. Because they’re true, we can have peace
and joy and happiness in this life, and we can be inheritors of eternal life in the world to come.

God grant that such a gracious and beneficent gift may come to all of us, I pray in the name of Jesus
Christ, Amen.

Share this:

Obtaining perfection takes more than a lifetime

Posted on November 19, 2015 by LDS Scripture Teachings

climb up a ladder“Salvation does not come all at once; we are commanded to be perfect even as our
Father in Heaven is perfect. It will take us ages to accomplish this end, for there will be greater progress
beyond the grave, and it will be there that the faithful will overcome all things, and receive all things,
even the fullness of the Father’s glory.

Joseph Fielding Smith 1876-1972

I believe the Lord meant just what he said: that we should be perfect, as our Father in heaven is perfect.
That will not come all at once, but line upon line, and precept upon precept, example upon example,
and even then not as long as we live in this mortal life, for we will have to go even beyond the grave
before we reach that perfection and shall be like God.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation,
comp. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1954-56, 2:18-19)

We need to come to terms with our desire to reach perfection and our frustration when our
accomplishments or behaviors are less than perfect. I feel that one of the great myths we would do well
to dispel is that we’ve come to earth to perfect ourselves, and nothing short of that will do. If I
understand the teachings of the prophets of this dispensation correctly, we will not become perfect in
this life, though we can make significant strides toward that goal… I am also convinced of the fact that
the speed with which we head along the straight and narrow path isn’t as important as the direction in
which we are traveling. That direction, if it is leading toward eternal goals, is the all-important factor
(Elder Marvin J. Ashton, Ensign, May 1989, p. 20-21)

Bruce R. McConkie 1915-1985

We don’t need to get a complex or get a feeling that you have to be perfect to be saved. You don’t.
There’s only been one perfect person, and that’s the Lord Jesus, but in order to be saved in the Kingdom
of God and in order to pass the test of mortality, what you have to do is get on the straight and narrow
path—thus charting a course leading to eternal life—and then, being on that path, pass out of this life in
full fellowship. I’m not saying that you don’t have to keep the commandments. I’m saying you don’t
have to be perfect to be saved. If you did, no one would be saved. The way it operates is this: you get on
the path that’s named the “straight and narrow.” The straight and narrow path leads a very great
distance, to a reward that’s called eternal life. If you’re on that path and pressing forward, and you die,
you’ll never get off the path. There is no such thing as falling off the straight and narrow path in the life
to come. If you’re working zealously in this life—though you haven’t fully overcome the world and you
haven’t done all you hoped you might do—you’re still going to be saved. You don’t have to have an
excessive zeal that becomes fanatical and becomes unbalancing. What you have to do is stay in the
mainstream of the Church and live as upright and decent people live in the Church—keeping the
commandments, paying your tithing, serving in the organizations of the Church, loving the Lord, staying
on the straight and narrow path. If you’re on that path when death comes you’ll never fall off from it,
and, for all practical purposes, your calling and election is made sure (Bruce R. McConkie, “The
Probationary Test of Mortality,” Jan 10, 1982, University of Utah Institute).

HBJ striving

“I certainly make no pretense of being perfect, nor do any of my brethren. There was only one perfect
man who ever walked the earth. The Lord has used imperfect people in the process of building His
perfect society. If some of them occasionally stumble, or if their characters may have been slightly
flawed in one way or another, the wonder is the greater that they accomplished so much.” (President
Gordon B. Hinckley, “Optimism in the face of opposition,” Los Angeles Institute student fireside, Feb. 10,
1990).

Elder Neal A. Maxwell 1926-2004

“Our perfect Father does not expect us to be perfect children yet. He had only one such Child.
Meanwhile, therefore, sometimes with smudges on our cheeks, dirt on our hands, and shoes untied,
stammeringly but smilingly we present God with a dandelion–as if it were an orchid or a rose! If for now
the dandelion is the best we have to offer, He receives it, knowing what we may later place on the altar.
It is good to remember how young we are spiritually.” (Elder Neal A. Maxwell, That Ye May Believe, p.
100).

“We all occupy diversified stations in the world, and in the kingdom of God. Those who do right, and
seek the glory of the Father in heaven, whether their knowledge be little or much, or whether they can
do little or much, if they do the very best they know how, they are perfect… To be as perfect as we
possibly can, according to our knowledge, is to be just as perfect as our Father in heaven is. He cannot
be any more perfect than He knows how, any more than we. When we are doing as well as we know
how in the sphere and station which we occupy here, we are justified in the justice, righteousness,
mercy, and judgment that go before the Lord of heaven and earth. We are as justified as the angels who
are before the throne of God.” (President Brigham Young, Deseret News Weekly, 31 Aug. 1854, p. 37).
“You know, I believe that the Lord will help us. I believe if we go to him, he will give us wisdom, if we are
living righteously. I believe he will answer our prayers. I believe that our Heavenly Father wants to save
every one of his children. I do not think he intends to shut any of us off because of some slight
transgression, some slight failure to observe some rule or regulation. There are the great elementals
that we must observe, but he is not going to be captious about the lesser things.

J. Reuben Clark 1871-1961

I believe that his juridical concept of his dealings with his children could be expressed in this way: I
believe that in his justice and mercy, he will give us the maximum reward for our acts, give us all that he
can give, and in the reverse, I believe that he will impose upon us the minimum penalty which it is
possible for him to impose” (President J. Reuben Clark, Conference Report, 3 Oct. 1953, p. 83-84).

“My brothers and sisters, our time here is so precious and so short. How well I understand the prophet
Jacob when he said, “Our lives passed away like as it were unto us a dream.” All too soon, our time is
finished. While we can- while we have the time to complete our work- let us walk in the right direction,
taking one step after another. That is easy enough. We don’t have to be perfect today. We don’t have to
be better than someone else. All we have to do is to be the very best we can” (Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin,
Ensign, Nov. 2001).

The Resurrection

Posted on August 29, 2015 by LDS Scripture Teachings

The Resurrection
When the resurrected Lord appeared to His Apostles, He helped them understand that He had a body of
flesh and bones. He said, “Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a
spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have” (Luke 24:39). He also appeared to the Nephites after
His Resurrection (see 3 Nephi 11:10-17).

John 20:27 "Thomas, reach hither thy finger... be not faithless, but believing."

John 20:27 “Thomas, reach hither thy finger… be not faithless, but believing.”

At the time of the resurrection, we will “be judged according to [our] works. … We shall be brought to
stand before God, knowing even as we know now, and have a bright recollection of all our guilt” (Alma
11:41, 43). The eternal glory we receive will depend on our faithfulness. Although all people will be
resurrected, only those who have come unto Christ and partaken of the fulness of His gospel will inherit
exaltation in the celestial kingdom.

All will be resurrected. Amulek stated:

Now, there is a death which is called a temporal death; and the death of Christ shall loose the bands of
this temporal death, that all shall be raised from this temporal death. The spirit and the body shall be
reunited again in its perfect form; both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame, even as we
now are at this time; and we shall be brought to stand before God, knowing even as we know now, and
have a bright recollection of all our guilt. Now, this restoration shall come to all, both old and young,
both bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked and the righteous; and even there shall not
so much as a hair of their heads be lost; but every thing shall be restored to its perfect frame, as it is
now, or in the body, and shall be brought and be arraigned before the bar of Christ the Son, and God the
Father, and the Holy Spirit, which is one Eternal God, to be judged according to their works, whether
they be good or whether they be evil. (Alma 11:42-44)
I have found that as the understanding that God has a body – that he is corporeal, has been lost, so has
the knowledge of the resurrection. LDS apostles and authors have taught that we will indeed inhabit a
material heaven after we are resurrected with actual literal material bodies. The apostle Paul clearly
taught a literal resurrection as well. (see for example: 1 Corinthians 15:12-13; 19-23)

Resurrection – How the resurrection is to take place

Brigham Young tied keys to the resurrection:

Brigham YoungWhen the angel who holds the keys of the resurrection shall sound his trumpet, then the
peculiar fundamental particles that organized our bodies here, if we do honor to them, though they be
deposited in the depths of the sea, and though one particle is in the north, another in the south, another
in the east, and another in the west, will be brought together again in the twinkling of an eye, and our
spirits will take possession of them. (Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 372.)

In 1872 President Young stated his belief that there are some ordinances the Church does not currently
practice, one being resurrection:

It is supposed by this people that we have all the ordinances in our possession for life and salvation, and
exaltation, and that we are administering in these ordinances. This is not the case. We are in possession
of all the ordinances that can be administered in the flesh; but there are other ordinances and
administrations that must be administered beyond this world. I know you would ask what they are.

I will mention one. We have not, neither can we receive here, the ordinance and the keys of the
resurrection. They will be given to those who have passed off this stage of action and have received
their bodies again, as many have already done and many more will. They will be ordained, by those who
hold the keys of the resurrection, to go forth and resurrect the Saints, just as we receive the ordinance
of baptism, then the keys of authority to baptize others for the remission of their sins. This is one of the
ordinances we cannot receive here, and there are many more. )Brigham Young, “Increase of Saints Since
Joseph Smith’s Death, etc.”, Aug. 24, 1872, Journal of Discourses 15:137.)
Additionally, Wilford Woodruff’s journal contains the following:

Wilford WoodruffWho will resurrect Joseph’s Body? It will be Peter, James, John, Moroni, or someone
who has or will receive the keys of the resurrection. It will probably be one of those who hold the keys
of this dispensation and has delivered them to Joseph and you will see Jesus and he will eat peaches and
apples with you. But the world will not see it or know it for wickedness will increase. Joseph and Jesus
will be there. They will walk and talk with them at times and no man mistrusts who they are. Joseph will
lead the Armies of Israel whether he is seen or no, whether visible or invisible as seemeth him good.

Joseph has got to receive the keys of the resurrection for you and I. After he is resurrected he will go and
resurrect Brother Brigham, Brother Heber, and Brother Carlos, and when that is done then He will say,
“now go Brother Brigham and resurrect your wives and children and gather them together. While this is
done, the wicked will know nothing of it, though they will be in our midst and they will be struck with
fear. This is the way the resurrection will be. All will not be raised at once but will continue in this way
until all the righteous are resurrected.

After Joseph comes to us in his resurrected body, He will more fully instruct us concerning the baptism
for the dead and the sealing ordinances. He will say, be baptized for this man and that man and that
man be sealed to that such a man to such a man, and connect the Priesthood together. I tell you there
will not be much of this done until Joseph comes…(Susan Staker, ed., Waiting for the World’s End: The
Diaries of Wilford Woodruff, pp.168-169. See also Robert J. Matthews, Selected Writings of Robert J.
Matthews, chapter 44, The Doctrine of the Resurrection, p. 505-525.)

“Some might suppose that it would be a great blessing to be taken and carried directly into heaven and
there set down, but in reality that would be no blessing to such persons; they could not reap a full
reward, could not enjoy the glory of the kingdom, and could not comprehend and abide the light
thereof, but it would be to them a hell intolerable and I suppose would consume them much quicker
than would hell fire. It would be no blessing to you to be carried into the celestial kingdom, and obliged
to stay therein, unless you were prepared to dwell there.” (Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham
Young, p. 95.)

Since all who have possessed a body in mortality will be resurrected, a time will ultimately come when
the postmortal spirit world pertaining to this earth will cease to exist as the earth will become the
celestial home for resurrected beings (Elder Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 762).
What will be the status of children in the Resurrection?

Joseph F. Smith

Joseph F. Smith

President Joseph F. Smith explained the Latter-day Saint belief: “Joseph Smith taught the doctrine that
the infant child that was laid away in death would come up in the resurrection as a child; and, pointing
to the mother of a lifeless child, he said to her: ‘You will have the joy, the pleasure, and satisfaction of
nurturing this child, after its resurrection, until it reaches the full stature of its spirit.’ There is restitution,
there is growth, there is development, after the resurrection from death. I love this truth. It speaks
volumes of happiness, of joy and gratitude to my soul. Thank the Lord he has revealed these principles
to us.” (Gospel Doctrine, pp. 455-56.)

The time to fulfill the requirements for exaltation is now (see Alma 34:32-34). President Joseph Fielding
Smith said, “In order to obtain the exaltation we must accept the gospel and all its covenants; and take
upon us the obligations which the Lord has offered; and walk in the light and understanding of the truth;
and ‘live by every word that proceedeth forth from the mouth of God’ ” (Doctrines of Salvation, 2:43).

“Those who gain exaltation in the celestial kingdom are those who are members of the Church of the
Firstborn; in other words, those who keep all the commandments of the Lord. . . .”The higher ordinances
in the temple of God pertain to exaltation in the celestial kingdom In order to receive this blessing, one
must keep the full law, must abide the law by which that kingdom is governed; for, ‘He who is not able
to abide the law of a celestial kingdom cannot abide a celestial glory.'” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines
of Salvation, 2:41-42.)

“I think it is of great importance to us as a people to know what we shall do. Are we content to aim for
telestial glory? I never heard a prayer offered, especially in the family circle, in which the family does not
beseech God to give them celestial glory. Telestial glory is not in their thoughts. Terrestrial glory may be
all right for honorable Gentiles, who have not faith enough to believe the Gospel and who do right
according to the best knowledge they have; but celestial glory is our aim–I perhaps should not say it is
the aim, for sometimes it is not, but it is the hope. If into a family that had just offered prayer, and had
asked God to lead them into the celestial kingdom, an angel should enter and should say to them that
their prayers were useless and that they would never attain unto celestial glory, what a feeling would be
produced in the breasts of that family! How sorrowful and afflicted they would feel! Yet, as I have said,
while it is the aim of many, they do not act as if it were their true aim. They either misconceive the
nature of the duties they have to perform to attain to celestial glory, or else they are very blind indeed.

“I ask again, what is your aim, or my aim? What do I desire? If I desire celestial glory, the highest law
that God has revealed I will be willing to obey, and to observe every word that proceedeth from His
mouth. I do not want to speak of myself, but if there is a law that God has revealed and it is necessary to
be obeyed before celestial glory can be reached, I want to know it and obey it. All that I am on this earth
for is to get celestial glory.” (George Q. Cannon, Conference Report, Apr. 1900, pp. 55-56.)

“Into the terrestrial kingdom will go all those who are honorable and who have lived clean virtuous lives,
but who would not receive the Gospel, but in the spirit world repented and accepted it as far as it can be
given unto them. Many of these have been blinded by tradition and the love of the world, and have not
been able to see the beauties of the Gospel.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Church History & Modern
Revelation, 1:287-88.)

This was adapted from Robert J. Matthews' book "Selected Writings of Robert J. Matthews", p. 523

This was adapted from Robert J. Matthews’ book “Selected Writings of Robert J. Matthews”, p. 523

“After the Lord and the righteous who are caught up to meet him have descended upon the earth, there
will come to pass another resurrection. This may be considered as a part of the first, although it comes
later. In this resurrection will come forth those of the terrestrial order, who were not worthy to be
caught up to meet him, but who are worthy to come forth to enjoy the millennial reign.” (Joseph
Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 2:296.)

“Those who enter into the telestial kingdom, where their glories differ as do the stars of heaven in their
magnitude, and who are innumerable as the sands of the seashore, are the ungodly, the filthy who
suffer the wrath of God on the earth, who are thrust down to hell where they will be required to pay the
uttermost farthing before their redemption comes. These are they who receive not the gospel of Christ
and consequently could not deny the Holy Spirit while living on the earth. “They have no part in the first
resurrection and are not redeemed from the devil and his angels until the last resurrection, because of
their wicked lives and their evil deeds. Nevertheless, even these are heirs of salvation, but before they
are redeemed and enter into their kingdom, they must repent of their sins, and receive the gospel, and
bow the knee, and acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ, the Redeemer of the world.” (Joseph Fielding
Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 2:22.)

“That glory granted the inhabitants of the lowest kingdom of glory is called telestial glory. In the infinite
mercy of a beneficent Father it surpasses all mortal understanding, and yet it is in no way comparable to
the glory of the terrestrial and celestial worlds. Telestial glory is typified by the stars of the firmament,
and ‘as one star differs from another star in glory, even so differs one from another in glory in the
telestial world’ (D.&C. 76:81-112; 1 Cor. 15:41), meaning that all who inherit the telestial kingdom will
not receive the same glory.” (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 778.)

“Even to hell there is an exit as well as an entrance; and when sentence has been served, commuted
perhaps by repentance and its attendant works, the prison doors shall open and the penitent captive be
afforded opportunity to comply with the law, which he aforetime violated. . .

“The inhabitants of the telestial world — the lowest of the kingdoms of glory prepared for resurrected
souls, shall include those ‘who are thrust down to hell’ and ‘who shall not be redeemed from the devil
until the last resurrection.’ ([D&C] 76:82-85.) And though these may be delivered from hell and attain to
a measure of glory with possibilities of progression, yet their lot shall be that of ‘servants of the Most
High, but where God and Christ dwell they cannot come, worlds without end.’ (v. 112.) Deliverance from
hell is not admittance to heaven.” (James E. Talmage, The Vitality of Mormonism, pp. 255-56.)

Resurrected beings do not have blood

Posted on July 11, 2018 by LDS Scripture Teachings

John Taylor 1808-1887

Resurrected beings have the power to do the things that mortals can do (though the ability to create
life, or the power of procreation will be reserved for those that are exalted). Resurrected beings are very
similar mortals, their bodies are tangible, having hands that can touch and feel just as we do. They have
arms, legs, eyes, a mouth, hair, and other features that they possessed in mortality. Unlike mortals,
however, resurrected personages have spirit matter in their bodies in the place of blood.

As John Taylor once said, “When the resurrection and exaltation of man shall be consummated,
although more pure, refined and glorious, yet will he still be in the same image, and have the same
likeness, without variation or change in any of his parts or faculties, except the substitution of spirit for
blood.” John Taylor, Mediation and Atonement, 166.

Alma 40-41 The Resurrection & Justice

Posted on March 3, 2014 by LDS Scripture Teachings

There is much to cover in Alma 40-42. It is good to emphasize one or two doctrines when teaching Alma
40-41. I focused on the fact that there is a resurrection, that many witnesses have testified of this
reality, and that the scriptures have much to share regarding the order of the resurrection, and what will
take place between the time of death and the resurrection.

In Alma 40 Alma writes to his son Corianton. Although we do not have all of the questions he was asking,
the text seems to indicate that Corianton was concerned with the resurrection, as well as how things in
mortality seem to be unfair (Alma 40:1 and 41:1-2). Alma wrote:

Now there must needs be a space betwixt the time of death and the time of the resurrection… Now,
concerning the state of the soul between death and the resurrection—Behold, it has been made known
unto me by an angel, that 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, 11-12).

We learn here that the righteous go to a place of “happiness… a state of rest, a state of peace…” while
the unrighteous are taken to a place where they receive a different reward:

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 learn in the Doctrine and Covenants that the wicked in the Spirit World were in darkness until the
death of Jesus Christ (see D&C 138:21-22), which made it so that they would have the opportunity to
learn of Christ and come unto him. After the Savior’s death unlocked the gate between Spirit Prison and
Paradise, we learn in the Doctrine and Covenants that:

Jesus in Spirit WorldAnd as I wondered, my eyes were opened, and my understanding quickened, and I
perceived that the Lord went not in person among the wicked and the disobedient who had rejected the
truth, to teach them; But behold, from among the righteous, he organized his forces and appointed
messengers, clothed with power and authority, and commissioned them to go forth and carry the light
of the gospel to them that were in darkness, even to all the spirits of men; and thus was the gospel
preached to the dead. And the chosen messengers went forth to declare the acceptable day of the Lord
and proclaim liberty to the captives who were bound, even unto all who would repent of their sins and
receive the gospel. Thus was the gospel preached to those who had died in their sins, without a
knowledge of the truth, or in transgression, having rejected the prophets. These were taught faith in
God, repentance from sin, vicarious baptism for the remission of sins, the gift of the Holy Ghost by the
laying on of hands, And all other principles of the gospel that were necessary for them to know in order
to qualify themselves that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God
in the spirit (D&C 138:29-34).

This event made it possible so that those that rejected the gospel of Jesus Christ, or those that never
heard of the Son of God will have a chance to accept Christ, repent of their sins, and come unto him.
This doctrine helps us to understand what the Savior meant when he told Peter, “upon this rock I will
build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). It was through the
keys restored to the earth and through the priesthood of God that the gates of hell will stay open- that
the gospel can be preached among those in hell in order that they may come unto Christ and receive
salvation. 1

Alma 40:11 – Taken Home to That God That Gave Them Life

Alma 40:11 can be confusing. Alma states that the wicked are in a state of “darkness” where it is “awful”
(Alma 40:14), yet he says that “all men, whether they are good or evil, are taken home to that God who
gave them life” (Alma 40:11). Often students ask, “So which is it? Do all men go directly in to the
presence of God, or is something else inferred here?”
Alma’s language is similar to that of the author of Ecclesiastes: “Then shall the dust return to the earth
as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:7). Both of these scriptural
writers are speaking in wide ranging terms, and their statements should not be understood to mean that
the spirit, at the time of death, goes directly into the immediate presence of the Lord. President Brigham
Young explained that to speak of the spirit returning to the God who gave it means that “when the
spirits leave their bodies they are in the presence of our Father and God” in the sense that they “are
prepared to see, hear and understand spiritual things.” 2 Elder Orson Pratt said, “To go into the
presence of God is not necessarily to be placed within a few yards or rods, or within a short distance of
his person.” 3

Elder George Q. Cannon

Elder George Q. Cannon

President George Q. Cannon explained: “Alma, when he says that the spirits of all men, as soon as they
are departed from this mortal body. . . are taken home to that God who gave them life,’ has the idea
doubtless, in his mind that our God is omnipresent- not in His own personality but through His minister,
the Holy Spirit. He does not intend to convey the idea that they are immediately ushered into the
personal presence of God. He evidently uses that phrase in a qualified sense.” 4

“As for my going into the immediate presence of God when I die,” President Heber C. Kimball observed,
“I do not expect it, but I expect to go into the world of spirits and associate with my brethren, and
preach the Gospel in the spiritual world, and prepare myself in every necessary way to receive my body
again, and then enter through the wall into the celestial world.” 5

Safely Dead

Alma 40:12 indicates that the righteous who die will enter into a place of “happiness” which is also a
“state of rest, a state of peace” where they are safe from their mortal troubles. It is important to note
that those who enter into paradise are “safely dead”, in other words, the Adversary will no longer have
influence over them. President George Q. Cannon wrote:

Satan has power here over us to a certain extent. He can afflict us; he can tempt us; he can annoy us in
many ways. These are the consequences of the fall and for a wise purpose belong to our probation here
in the flesh. But, if we listen to the Lord, if we strive to keep His commandments, if we seek to be
governed by His Spirit, when death comes, Satan’s power ceases. He can no more afflict or torment or
tempt or annoy those who are thus faithful. His power over them ceases forever.

But not so with those who disobey God, who keep not His commandments, who yield to the power and
spirit of Satan. They are his servants; they are under his influence. He takes possession of them when
they pass from this mortal existence, and they experience the torments of hell.

Satan is bound as soon as the faithful spirit leaves this tabernacle of clay and goes to the other side of
the veil. That spirit is emancipated from the power and thraldom and attacks of Satan. Satan can only
afflict such in this life. He can only afflict those in that life which is to come who have listened to his
persuasions, who have listed to obey him. These are the only ones over whom he has power after this
life.” 6

I appreciate the thoughts by Elder Bruce R. McConkie on this subject. He said:

Elder McConkieEveryone in the Church who is on the straight and narrow path, who is striving and
struggling and desiring to do what is right, though is far from perfect in this life; if he passes out of this
life while he’s on the straight and narrow, he’s going to go on to eternal reward in his Father’s kingdom.

We don’t need to get a complex or get a feeling that you have to be perfect to be saved. You don’t.
There’s only been one perfect person, and that’s the Lord Jesus, but in order to be saved in the Kingdom
of God and in order to pass the test of mortality, what you have to do is get on the straight and narrow
path–thus charting a course leading to eternal life–and then, being on that path, pass out of this life in
full fellowship. I’m not saying that you don’t have to keep the commandments. I’m saying you don’t
have to be perfect to be saved. If you did, no one would be saved.

The way it operates is this you get on the path that’s named the “straight and narrow.” You do it by
entering the gate of repentance and baptism. The straight and narrow path leads from the gate of
repentance and baptism, a very great distance, to a reward that’s called eternal life. If you’re on that
path and pressing forward, and you die, you’ll never get off the path. There is no such thing as falling off
the straight and narrow path in the life to come, and the reason is that this life is the time that is given
to men to prepare for eternity. Now is the time and the day of your salvation, so if you’re working
zealously in this life–though you haven’t fully overcome the world and you haven’t done all you hoped
you might do–you’re still going to be saved. You don’t have to do what Jacob said, “Go beyond the
mark.” You don’t have to live a life that’s truer than true. You don’t have to have an excessive zeal that
becomes fanatical and becomes unbalancing.

What you have to do is stay in the mainstream of the Church and live as upright and decent people live
in the Church–keeping the commandments, paying your tithing, serving in the organizations of the
Church, loving the Lord, staying on the straight and narrow path. If you’re on that path when death
comes–because this is the time and the day appointed, this the probationary estate–you’ll never fall off
from it, and, for all practical purposes, your calling and election is made sure. Now, that isn’t the
definition of that term, but the end result will be the same. 7

Resurrection – How the resurrection is to take place

Brigham Young tied keys to the resurrection:

Brigham YoungWhen the angel who holds the keys of the resurrection shall sound his trumpet, then the
peculiar fundamental particles that organized our bodies here, if we do honor to them, though they be
deposited in the depths of the sea, and though one particle is in the north, another in the south, another
in the east, and another in the west, will be brought together again in the twinkling of an eye, and our
spirits will take possession of them. 8

In 1872 President Young stated his belief that there are some ordinances the Church does not currently
practice, one being resurrection:

It is supposed by this people that we have all the ordinances in our possession for life and salvation, and
exaltation, and that we are administering in these ordinances. This is not the case. We are in possession
of all the ordinances that can be administered in the flesh; but there are other ordinances and
administrations that must be administered beyond this world. I know you would ask what they are.

I will mention one. We have not, neither can we receive here, the ordinance and the keys of the
resurrection. They will be given to those who have passed off this stage of action and have received
their bodies again, as many have already done and many more will. They will be ordained, by those who
hold the keys of the resurrection, to go forth and resurrect the Saints, just as we receive the ordinance
of baptism, then the keys of authority to baptize others for the remission of their sins. This is one of the
ordinances we cannot receive here, and there are many more. 9

Additionally, Wilford Woodruff’s journal contains the following:

Wilford WoodruffWho will resurrect Joseph’s Body? It will be Peter, James, John, Moroni, or someone
who has or will receive the keys of the resurrection. It will probably be one of those who hold the keys
of this dispensation and has delivered them to Joseph and you will see Jesus and he will eat peaches and
apples with you. But the world will not see it or know it for wickedness will increase. Joseph and Jesus
will be there. They will walk and talk with them at times and no man mistrusts who they are. Joseph will
lead the Armies of Israel whether he is seen or no, whether visible or invisible as seemeth him good.

Joseph has got to receive the keys of the resurrection for you and I. After he is resurrected he will go and
resurrect Brother Brigham, Brother Heber, and Brother Carlos, and when that is done then He will say,
“now go Brother Brigham and resurrect your wives and children and gather them together. While this is
done, the wicked will know nothing of it, though they will be in our midst and they will be struck with
fear. This is the way the resurrection will be. All will not be raised at once but will continue in this way
until all the righteous are resurrected.

After Joseph comes to us in his resurrected body, He will more fully instruct us concerning the baptism
for the dead and the sealing ordinances. He will say, be baptized for this man and that man and that
man be sealed to that such a man to such a man, and connect the Priesthood together. I tell you there
will not be much of this done until Joseph comes… 10

This was adapted from Robert J. Matthews' book "Selected Writings of Robert J. Matthews", p. 523

This was adapted from Robert J. Matthews’ book “Selected Writings of Robert J. Matthews”, p. 523

How are the dead raised?

Joseph F. Smith taught:

The spirit and the body will be reunited. We shall see each other in the flesh, in the same tabernacles
that we have here while in mortality. Our tabernacles will be brought forth as they are laid down,
although there will be a restoration effected; every organ, every limb that has been maimed, every
deformity caused by accident or in any other way, will be restored and put right. Every limb and joint
shall be restored to its proper frame. We will know each other and enjoy each other’s society
throughout the endless ages of eternity, if we keep the law of God. 11

We Will Rise as Identical Beings

We will meet the same identical being that we associated with here in the flesh—not some other soul,
some other being, or the same being in some other form, but the same identity and the same form and
likeness, the same person we knew and were associated with in our mortal existence, even to the
wounds in the flesh. Not that a person will always be marred by scars, wounds, deformities, defects or
infirmities, for these will be removed in their course, in their proper time, according to the merciful
providence of God. Deformity will be removed; defects will be eliminated, and men and women shall
attain to the perfection of their spirits, to the perfection that God designed in the beginning. It is his
purpose that men and women, his children, born to become heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus
Christ, shall be made perfect, physically as well as spiritually, through obedience to the law by which he
has provided the means that perfection shall come to all his children. 12

Nothing is more beautiful than a resurrected being

Zebedee ColtrinAccording to his own account, Zebedee Coltrin saw, along with Joseph Smith and Oliver
Cowdery, a vision of the resurrected Adam and Eve. “They were the two most beautiful and perfect
specimens of mankind [I have] ever seen.” “Their heads were white as snow, and their faces shone with
youth.” 13

Lorenzo Snow was another witness who saw and conversed with resurrected individuals. On one
account he saw the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. He taught:

Lorenzo SnowNothing is more beautiful than a resurrected being. We know that in the future, after we
have passed through this life, we will then have our wives and our children with us. We will have our
bodies glorified, made free from every sickness and distress, and rendered most beautiful. There is
nothing more beautiful to look upon than a resurrected man or woman. There is nothing grander that I
can imagine that a man can possess than a resurrected body. There is no Latter-day Saint within the
sound of my voice but that certainly has this prospect of coming forth in the morning of the First
Resurrection and being glorified, exalted in the presence of God, having the privilege of talking with our
Father as we talk with our earthly father. 14

Notes

1. See Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, Volume. 2, p.157-158.

2. Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 3:368.

3. Orson Pratt, Journal of Discourses, 16:365.

4. George Q. Cannon, Gospel Truth, p. 58.

5. Heber C. Kimball, Journal of Discourses, 3:112-13.

6. George Q. Cannon, Sept. 1, 1885, Juvenile Instructor 20:264 see also Gospel Truth: Discourses and
Writings of President George Q. Cannon, selected, arranged, and edited by Jerreld L. Newquist [Salt Lake
City: Deseret Book Co., 1987], 61.

7. Bruce R. McConkie, The Probationary Test of Mortality, as address at the University of Utah Institute
of Religion, January 10, 1982.

8. Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 372.

9. Brigham Young, “Increase of Saints Since Joseph Smith’s Death, etc.”, Aug. 24, 1872, Journal of
Discourses 15:137.
10. Susan Staker, ed., Waiting for the World’s End: The Diaries of Wilford Woodruff, pp.168-169. See
also Robert J. Matthews, Selected Writings of Robert J. Matthews, chapter 44, The Doctrine of the
Resurrection, p. 505-525

11. Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, p. 447. See also: Teachings of Joseph F. Smith, chapter 10: Jesus
Christ Redeems all Mankind from Temporal Death, p. 86-93.

12. Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, p. 23. See also: Teachings of Joseph F. Smith, chapter 10: Jesus
Christ Redeems all Mankind from Temporal Death, p. 86-93.

13. The first quotation is from the S. L. School of the Prophets Minute Book, 1883, p.70 [11, Oct. 1883].
The second quotation, Spanish Fork, Utah High Priests Quorum Minutes 5 Feb., 1878, extract Zebedee
Coltrin Papers. Found in Church Archives. See also: Zebedee Coltrin’s Vision, and House of Revelation,
Ensign, January 1993.

14. Lorenzo Snow, Teachings of Lorenzo Snow, p. 99.

The Atonement of Jesus Christ

Atonement chart

A. God governs the universe by law.

1. To bring about his eternal purposes, God instituted laws to govern his children (see D&C 130:20–21;
132:5; 2 Nephi 2:13).

2. Sin is the willful breaking of the law (see 1 John 3:4; James 4:17).

3. God’s justice requires that a penalty be paid for every sin (see Matthew 5:26; Alma 42:16–18, 22–26;
D&C 19:17).

4. All of us sin and are therefore fallen and subject to justice (see Alma 34:9, 16; Romans 3:23).
B. Because we are fallen, we have need of an atonement.

1. All of us would suffer an everlasting physical and spiritual death without Christ’s atonement (see 2
Nephi 9:6–12; Helaman 14:16).

2. Because all of us sin, we would have remained subject to the devil forever without the atonement of
Christ (see 2 Nephi 9:8–12; Alma 34:8–9; Romans 3:23).

C. Only Jesus Christ possessed the qualifications and attributes necessary to perform an infinite
atonement.

1. As the Only Begotten Son of God, the Savior inherited the capacity to suffer for the sins of all the
children of God (see Jacob 4:5; D&C 20:21; 19:18; Mosiah 4:7).

2. The Savior was free from personal sin (see 1 John 3:5; Hebrews 4:15; D&C 45:3–4).

3. The Savior had power over death (see John 5:26; 10:17–18).

D. By means of his divine attributes and the power of the Father, Jesus accomplished the infinite and
eternal atonement.

1. Jesus submitted himself to the will of the Father in performing the Atonement (see Matthew 26:39;
Mark 14:36; John 4:34; 8:29; Mosiah 15:7).

2. The Atonement was an act of pure love on the part of God the Eternal Father and his Son Jesus Christ
(see John 15:13; 3:16; 1 John 4:7–10).

3. The atonement made by the Savior began in Gethsemane and ended at the empty tomb (see
Matthew 26:36–46; Luke 22:39–44; Mark 15:25–37).

4. The Savior descended below all things in taking upon himself the sins of all the children of God (see
D&C 122:8; 88:6; 2 Nephi 9:21).

5. The suffering endured by the Savior was beyond what any mortal could endure (see Mosiah 3:7; D&C
19:15–20; 1 Nephi 19:12).

6. The infinite atonement affects worlds without number and will save all of God’s children except sons
of perdition (see Alma 34:9–10, 12; D&C 76:22–24, 40–43).

E. The atonement of Christ harmonized the laws of justice and mercy.

1. Mercy cannot rob justice (see Alma 42:13–14, 24–25).

2. Justice is satisfied by the Atonement, and thus mercy can allow our souls to be cleansed through
repentance (see Alma 42:13–15, 22–25; 34:15–16; Mosiah 15:9).

3. Jesus stood as a mediator, or intercessor, for all the children of God in satisfying the demands of
justice (see Alma 34:10–16; Mosiah 15:7–9; Isaiah 53:12; Hebrews 7:25; 1 Timothy 2:5–6).

F. The atonement of Jesus Christ is essential for the salvation of all the children of God.

1. The Savior overcame physical death and secured a resurrection for all the children of God (see Alma
7:12; Mosiah 16:7–10; 1 Corinthians 15:21–22; Mormon 9:12–14).

2. The agony and suffering of Christ made it possible for all of us to escape eternal punishment if we
repent (see Alma 7:13; D&C 19:15–19).

3. Little children are redeemed through the atonement of Christ (see Moroni 8:8; D&C 29:46–50; Mosiah
3:16–18; 15:25).

4. The atonement of Christ brings everyone back into the presence of God for judgment (see 2 Nephi
2:10; Helaman 14:16-17; Revelation 20:11–15).

G. We must do the will of the Father and the Son to receive the full benefit of the Atonement.

1. The Savior came to save all who would obey him (see Hebrews 5:9; 2 Nephi 9:21; Mosiah 3:19; Alma
11:37).

2. If we do not keep God’s commandments, we must suffer for our own sins (see Alma 11:41; D&C
19:15–20).

3. Mercy is extended to those who keep God’s commandments (see Daniel 9:4; Hosea 10:12; Psalm
103:17–18).

How does the Atonement of Jesus Christ work for those who lived before Jesus came to earth?

Selected quotes on the Atonement of Jesus Christ

1. “Just as a man does not really desire food until he is hungry, so he does not desire the salvation of
Christ until he knows why he needs Christ.” (Ezra Taft Benson, Ensign, May 1987, pg. 85)
2. “This chapter [2 Nephi 9] is one of the most enlightening discourses ever delivered in regard to the
atonement. It should be carefully read by every person seeking salvation.” (Joseph Fielding Smith,
Answers to Gospel Questions, 4:57)

3. “This truth [atonement] is the very root of Christian doctrine. You may know much about the gospel
as it branches out from there, but if you only know the branches and those branches do not touch that
root, if they have been cut free from that truth, there will be no life nor substance nor redemption in
them.” (Boyd K. Packer, Ensign, May 1977, pg. 56)

“Now, the atonement of Christ is the most basic and fundamental doctrine of the gospel, and it is the
least understood of all our revealed truths. Many of us have a superficial knowledge and rely upon the
Lord and his goodness to see us through the trials and perils of life.” (Bruce R. McConkie, Ensign, May
1985 pg. 10)

4. “We may never understand nor comprehend in mortality how He accomplished what He did, but we
must not fail to understand why He did what He did. All that He did was prompted by His unselfish,
infinite love for us.” (Ezra Taft Benson, Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, pg. 15)

5. Another question is sometimes heard: Why should Christ have volunteered to make this sacrifice?
What was the motive that inspired and sustained him from the time of that council in heaven until the
moment of his agonized cry ‘It is finished’? (John 19:30).

The answer to this question is twofold: first, his undeviating devotion to his Father’s will. He said: ‘…My
meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.’(John 4:34)

“Second was his supernal and all-embracing love for mankind, who, without his mediation, would have
remained in the total gloom of desiring without hope throughout eternity.” (Hugh B. Brown, Conference
Report, April 1962, pg. 108)

6. “Our Lord descended in suffering below that which man can suffer; or, in other words, suffered
greater sufferings, and was exposed to more powerful contradictions than any man can be.” (Joseph
Smith, Lectures on Faith, 5:2)
The Crucifixion of Jesus7. “He was in all respects subjected to every mortal failing experienced by the
human family. Not once did he raise the shield of godhood in order to soften the blows. Not once did he
don the bulletproof vest of divinity. That he also had godly powers did not make his suffering any less
excruciating, any less poignant, or any less real. To the contrary, it is for this very reason that his
suffering was more, not less, than his mortal counterparts could experience. He took upon him infinite
suffering, but chose to defend with only mortal faculties, with but one exception-his godhood was
summoned to hold off unconsciousness and death (i.e., the twin relief mechanisms of man) that would
otherwise overpower a mere mortal when he reached his threshold of pain. For the Savior, however,
there would be no such relief. His divinity would be called upon, not to immunize him from pain, but to
enlarge the receptacle that would hold it. He simply brought a larger cup to hold the bitter drink.” (Tad
R. Callister, The Infinite Atonement, pg.119)

8. “We are accustomed to saying that the Atonement took place in Gethsemane. In a literal sense this is
true, since it was in Gethsemane that Christ took upon himself the full burden and weight of the sins of
the world. But the trial of Jesus in Gethsemane would not have been possible and could not have
occurred had not it been preceded by a lifetime of sinless virtue, accomplished in the face of the most
vehement spiritual opposition.

All this he did with the knowledge that one misstep would mean creation’s doom! For had he sinned
even in the smallest point or slightest negligence of thought, the Atonement would have become
impossible and the whole purpose of creation frustrated. The burden of the whole world weighed upon
him through every moment of his life.” (Bruce D. Porter, The King of Kings, pg. 92)

9. “Again, on Calvary, during the last three hours of his mortal passion, the sufferings of Gethsemane
returned, and he drank to the full the cup which his Heavenly Father had given him.” (Bruce R.
McConkie, Ensign, November 1982, pg. 33)

10. “In Alma 7:12, the only place in scriptures, to my knowledge, that it appears, there seems to have
been yet another purpose of the atonement, speaking again of the Savior and his suffering, ‘and He will
take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon
him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy,…’ Have you ever thought that there was
no way that Jesus could know the suffering which we undergo as a result of our stupidity and sin
(because he was sinless) except he near those sins of ours in what I call the awful arithmetic of the
atonement?” (Neal A. Maxwell, BYU Old Testament Address, [1981], pg. 24-25)
11. “Can we, even in the depths of disease, tell Him anything at all about suffering? In ways we cannot
comprehend, our sicknesses and infirmities were borne by Him even before they were borne by us. The
very weight of our combined sins caused Him to descend below all. We have never been, nor will we be,
in depths such as He has known. Thus, His atonement made perfect His empathy and His mercy and His
capacity to succor us, for which we can be everlastingly grateful as He tutors us in our trials. There was
no ram in the thicket at Calvary to spare Him, this Friend of Abraham and Isaac.” (Neal A. Maxwell, Even
As I Am, pg. 116)

12. “I testify that no one has or ever will experience any set of circumstances, be they disappointments,
betrayal, pain, persecution, suffering, or whatever, that cannot and is not swallowed up in the Savior!
You can feel no hurt, emotional or physical, that he has not already felt! There is no combination of
human emotions, or physical illness, or suffering that cannot find refuge in the Savior’s sacrifice for us.”
(John H. Groberg, CES Fireside, May 1, 1994, pg. 6)

13. “The King of Kings descended beneath and overcame every act of iniquity in human history: every
murder ever committed, every act of torture and perversion, cruelty and abuse in all their forms;
violence, anger, lust, betrayal, deception, theft, envy, and the whole sorry parade of human pride and
vanity, in their endless forms… from the slightest shadow of sinful desire to the grief and horror of every
war ever fought; Christ, paid the price for it all.” (Bruce D. Porter, King of Kings, pg. 102-103)

14. “He, by choice, accepted the penalty for all mankind for the sum total of all wickedness and
depravity; for brutality, immorality, perversion, and corruption; for addiction; for the killings and torture
and terror, for all of it that ever had been or all that ever would be enacted upon this earth.” (Boyd K.
Packer, Ensign, May 1988, pg. 69)

15. “The Savior’s atonement is…the healing power not only for sin, but also for carelessness,
inadequacy, and all mortal bitterness. The Atonement is not just for sinners.” (Bruce C. Hafen, Ensign,
April 1990, pg. 7)

16. “The Atonement will not only help us overcome our transgressions and mistakes, but in His time, it
will resolve all inequities of life, those things that are unfair which are the consequences of circumstance
or others’ acts and not our own decisions.” (Richard G. Scott, Ensign, May 1997, pg. 54)
17. “Therefore, one of the most powerful and searching questions ever asked of all of us in our
sufferings hangs in time and space before us: ‘The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou
greater than he?’ (D&C 122:8) Jesus plumbed the depths and scaled the heights in order to comprehend
all things. (See D&C 88:6) Jesus, therefore, is not only a fully atoning but He is also a fully
comprehending Savior!” (Neal A. Maxwell, Ensign, May 1990, pg. 35)

18. “As part of His infinite atonement, Jesus has borne the sins, griefs, sorrows, and, declared Jacob, the
pains of every man woman, and child. Having been perfected in His empathy, Jesus thus knows how to
succor us. Nothing is beyond His redeeming reach or His encircling empathy. Therefore, we should not
complain about our own life’s not being a rose garden when we remember who wore the crown of
thorns!” (Neal A. Maxwell, Ensign, May 1987, pg. 72)

19. “Elder Talmage used the word succor. Do you know its meaning? It is used often in the scriptures to
describe Christ’s care for and attention to us. It means literally to run to. What a magnificent way to
describe the Savior’s urgent effort in our behalf! Even as he calls us to come to him and follow him, he is
unfailingly running to help us.” (Jeffrey R. Holland, Ensign, April 1998, pg. 22)

20. “In the garden and on the cross Jesus saw each of us and not only bore our sins, but also
experienced our deepest feelings so that he would know how to comfort and strengthen us.” (Merrill J.
Bateman, Ensign, May 1995, pg. 14)

21. “The Savior, as a member of the Godhead, knows each of us personally. Isaiah and the prophet
Abinadi said that when Christ would ‘make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed’ (Isaiah
53:10, Mosiah 15:10). Abinadi explains that his seed are the righteous, those who follow the prophets
(Mosiah 15:11). In the garden and on the cross, Jesus saw each of us and not only bore our sins, but also
experienced our deepest feelings so that he would know how to comfort and strengthen us….

The Savior’s atonement in the garden and on the cross is intimate as well as infinite. Infinite in that it
spans the eternities. Intimate in that the Savior felt each person’s pains, sufferings, and sicknesses.
Consequently, he knows how to carry our sorrows and relieve our burdens that we might be healed
from within, made whole persons, and receive everlasting joy in his kingdom.” (Merrill J. Bateman,
Ensign, May 1995, pg. 14)
22. “Alma reveals to us the process by which the master learned perfect empathy in the flesh. He
experienced not only our sins but also our pains, sufferings, temptations of every kind, sicknesses,
infirmities, and weaknesses. He also experienced death in order to loose the bands of death for his
people. Consequently, if one of us has a special problem, it is not possible for him or her to say, No one
knows what I’m experiencing. No one understands my pain or suffering. The Lord knows. He not only
knows the depth of your experience; he knows how to succor you because of his suffering. I testify that
he knows each of us, is concerned about our progress, and has the infinite capacity not only to heal our
wounds but also lift us up to the father as sanctified sons and daughters.” (Merrill J. Bateman, BYU
Speeches 1997, pg. 10-11)

Gethsemane23. “I ask, is there a reason for men and women being exposed more constantly and more
powerfully, to the power of the enemy, by having visions than by not having them? There is and it is
simply this: God never bestows upon His people, or upon an individual, superior blessings without a
severe trial to prove they will keep their covenants with Him, and keep in remembrance what He has
shown them. Then the greater the vision, the greater the display of the power of the enemy. And when
such individuals are off their guard they are left to themselves, as Jesus was. For this express purpose
the Father withdrew His spirit from His son, at the time he was to be crucified. Jesus had been with his
Father, talked with Him, dwelt in His bosom, and knew all about heaven, about making the earth, about
the transgression of man, and what would redeem the people, and that he was the character who was
to redeem the sons of earth, and the earth itself from all sin that had come upon it. The light,
knowledge, power, and glory with which he was clothed were far above, or exceeded that of all others
who had been upon the earth after the fall, consequently at the very moment, at the hour when the
crisis came for him to offer up his life, the Father withdrew Himself, withdrew His Spirit, and cast a veil
over him. That is what made him sweat blood. If he had had the power of God upon him, he would not
have sweat blood; but all was withdrawn from him, and a veil was cast over him, and he then plead with
the Father not to forsake him. ‘No,’ says the Father, ‘you must have your trials, as well as the others.’”
(Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 3:205-206)

24. “His Father looked on with great grief and agony over His Beloved Son, until there seems to have
come a moment when even our Savior cried out in despair: My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken
me?

In that hour I think I can see our dear Father behind the veil looking upon these dying struggles until
even he could not endure it any longer; and, like the mother who bids farewell to her dying child and
has to be taken out of the room so as not to look upon the last struggles, so He bowed His head and hid
in some part of His universe, His great heart almost breaking for the love that he had for His Son. Oh, in
the moment when He might have saved His Son, I thank Him and praise Him that He did not fail us, for
He had not only the love of His Son in mind, but He also had love for us. I rejoice that He did not
interfere, and that His love for us made it possible for Him to endure to look upon the sufferings of His
Son and give Him finally to us, our Savior and our Redeemer. Without Him, without His sacrifice, we
would have remained, and we would never have come glorified into His presence. And so this is what it
cost, in part, for our Father in heaven to give the gift of His Son unto men.” (Melvin J. Ballard, Crusader
for Righteousness, pg. 137)

25. “Having bled at every pore, how red His raiment must have been in Gethsemane, how crimson that
cloak! No wonder, when Christ comes in power and glory, that He will come in reminding red attire
(Doctrine & Covenants 133:48), not only signifying the winepress of wrath but also to bring to our
remembrance how He suffered for each of us in Gethsemane and on Calvary!” (Neal A. Maxwell, Ensign,
May 1987, 72)

26. “He showed condescension in his patience and restraint when brought before men for judgment (1
Nephi 19:9). The God who created everything was judged to be nothing! And yet he endured it with
complete patience. Imagine the Being whose power, whose light, whose glory holds the universe in
order, the Being who speaks and solar systems, galaxies, and stars come into existence – standing
before wicked men and being judged by them as being of no worth or value! When we think of what he
could have done to these men who took him to judgment, we have a new and different sense of his
condescension. When Judas led the soldiers and the high priests to the Garden of Gethsemane and
betrayed him with a kiss, Jesus could have spoken a single word and leveled the entire city of Jerusalem.
When the servant of the high priest stepped forward and slapped his face, Jesus could have lifted a
finger and sent that man back to his original elements. When another man stepped forward and spit in
his face, Jesus had only to blink and our entire solar system could have been annihilated. But he stood
there, he endured, he suffered, he condescended.” (Gerald Lund, Sperry Symposium [1991], pg. 85-86)

27. “[Christ] was walking the fine line that separates death from life, consciousness from
unconsciousness. From Satan’s perspective, the time of vulnerability was here. No wonder Satan came
at such a propitious moment, spewing forth his insidious temptation through the lips of his mortal
pawns: if thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross (Matt. 27:40). The Savior’s body writhed in
pain; his pure, spotless spirit revolted in violent reaction to sin and its consequences that Satan came at
such a moment on the cross is indicative that the Savior was reaching the threshold of his pain, the
climax of his mission. This was Satan’s last chance, his final desperate hope to frustrate the redemptive
plan. It was now or never. There was no angel to strengthen the Holy One, no sustaining influence of the
Father. Surely Satan liked the odds. This was the showdown: Satan, accompanied perhaps by his legions
of nefarious forces, against the Savior in all his compelling loneliness- the Savior in his weakened, almost
lifeless condition battling a universal accumulation of suffering. Satan’s timing was impeccable.” (Tad R.
Callister, The Infinite Atonement, pg. 136-138)
28. “Imagine, Jehovah, the Creator of this and other worlds, ‘astonished’! Jesus knew cognitively what
He must do, but not experientially. He had never personally known the exquisite and exacting process of
an atonement before. Thus, when the agony came in its fulness, it was so much, much worse than even
He with his unique intellect had ever imagined! No wonder an angel appeared to strengthen him! (Luke
22:43)

The cumulative weight of all mortal sins – past, present, and future – pressed upon that perfect, sinless,
and sensitive Soul! All our infirmities and sicknesses were somehow, too, a part of the awful arithmetic
of the Atonement.” (Neal A. Maxwell, Ensign, May 1985, pg. 72-73)

29. “However dim our days may seem, they have been a lot darker for the Savior of the world. As a
reminder of those days, Jesus has chosen, even in a resurrected, otherwise perfected body, to retain for
the benefit of His disciples the wounds in His hands and in His feet and in His side- signs, if you will, that
painful things happen even to the pure and the perfect; signs, if you will, that pain in this world is not
evidence that God doesn’t love you; signs, if your will, that problems pass and happiness can be ours. It
is the wounded Christ who is the captain of our souls, He who yet bears the scars of our forgiveness, the
lesions of His love and humility, the torn flesh of obedience and sacrifice.” (Jeffery R. Holland, CES
Address, August 2000, pg. 9)

30. “There is no impropriety, therefore, in speaking of Jesus Christ as the Elder Brother of the rest of
human kind. That he is by spiritual birth Brother to the rest of us is indicated in Hebrews: Wherefore in
all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful
high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people (Hebrews 2:17).
Let it not be forgotten, however, that He is essentially greater than any and all others, by reason (1) of
His seniority as the oldest or firstborn; (2) of His unique status in the flesh as the offspring of a mortal
mother and of an immortal, or resurrected and glorified, Father; (3) of His selection and foreordination
as the one and only Redeemer and Savior of the race; and (4) of His transcendent sinlessness.” (The First
Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
(June 30, 1916), Improvement Era, 1916, August, 1916 pg. 934)

31. “I once wondered if those who refuse to repent but who then satisfy the law of justice by paying for
their own sins are then worthy to enter the celestial kingdom. The answer is no. The entrance
requirements for celestial life are simply higher than merely satisfying the law of justice. For that reason,
paying for our sins will not bear the same fruit as repenting of our sins. Justice is a law of balance and
order and it must be satisfied, either through our payment or his. But if we decline the Savior’s invitation
to let him carry our sins, and then satisfy justice by ourselves, we will not yet have experienced the
complete rehabilitation that can occur through a combination of divine assistance and genuine
repentance. Working together, those forces have the power permanently to change our hearts and our
lives, preparing us for celestial life.” (Bruce C. Hafen, The Broken Heart: Applying the Atonement to Life’s
Experiences, pg. 7)

32. “One of the greatest sins, both in magnitude and extent, for it enters into the lives of every one of us
without exception to some degree, is the sin of ingratitude. When we violate a commandment, no
matter how small and insignificant we may think it to be, we show our ingratitude to our Redeemer. It is
impossible for us to comprehend the extent of his suffering when he carried the burden of the sins of
the whole world, a punishment so severe that we are informed that blood came from the pores of his
body, and this was before he was taken to the cross. The punishment of physical pain coming from the
nails driven in his hands and feet, was not the greatest of his suffering, excruciating as that surely was.
The greater suffering was the spiritual and mental anguish coming from the load of our transgressions
which he carried. If we understood the extent of that suffering and his suffering on the cross, surely
none of us would willfully be guilty of sin. We would not give way to the temptations, the gratification of
unholy appetites and desires and Satan could find no place in our hearts. As it is, whenever we sin, we
show our ingratitude and disregard of the suffering of the Son of God by and through which we shall rise
from the dead and live forever. If we really understood and could feel even to a small degree, the love
and gracious willingness on the part of Jesus Christ to suffer for our sins we would be willing to repent of
all our transgressions and serve him.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, The Restoration of All Things, p. 199)

How did the Atonement work for people who lived before it actually happened?

Posted on January 12, 2017 by LDS Scripture Teachings

How could the gospel be in effect before the Savior actually performed the Atonement?

In Mosiah, we read the following from King Benjamin:

And the Lord God hath sent his holy prophets among all the children of men, to declare these things to
every kindred, nation, and tongue, that thereby whosoever should believe that Christ should come, the
same might receive remission of their sins, and rejoice with exceedingly great joy, even as though he
had already come among them. (Mosiah 3:13)
To King Benjamin, the Atonement was in effect even though the Savior had not “come among them”
yet… to him, it was as if it had already happened!

Tad Callister wrote a great book entitled The Infinite Atonement. Here he writes:

Mortals Who Predate the Savior’s Sacrifice

The Atonement was clearly efficacious for mortal men who lived after the Savior’s ordeal in the Garden
and on the cross. But what of mortals who lived before the Savior or even further back in time to spirits
of the premortal realm? Does the Atonement reach that far? Is it infinite in time both retroactively and
prospectively?

Does the Atonement apply retroactively to mortals who predated his sacrifice? In other words, could the
people of the Old Testament repent and be cleansed of their sins before the Savior’s mission had been
performed? The answer is yes. The headnote to Alma 39 reads in part, “Christ’s redemption is
retroactive in saving the faithful who preceded it.” Paul taught that the gospel was “preached before . . .
unto Abraham” (Galatians 3:8). Faith, repentance, and baptism were taught in every dispensation of the
gospel commencing with Adam. This is what the scriptures mean when they say, “The Gospel began to
be preached, from the beginning” (Moses 5:58; see also D&C 20:25–26).

Without the retroactive effect of the Savior’s Atonement, the teaching of gospel principles and the
performance of related ordinances in Old Testament times would have been futile acts. The Lord made
this unconditional declaration concerning the brother of Jared, who predated the Savior’s Atonement by
about twenty-two hundred years: “Because thou knowest these things ye are redeemed from the fall”
(Ether 3:13). King Benjamin put to rest any question about the retroactive nature of the Atonement in
his magnificent discourse: “Whosoever should believe that Christ should come, the same might receive
remission of their sins, and rejoice with exceedingly great joy, even as though he had already come
among them” (Mosiah 3:13; emphasis added). Then King Benjamin confirmed the timelessness of the
Atonement when he testified that men shall be damned unless they “believe that salvation was, and is,
and is to come, in and through the atoning blood of Christ” (Mosiah 3:18; emphasis added). But how
could that be? How could God retroactively extend the blessings of the Atonement before the purchase
price was paid? Would this not violate the principles of justice? What if the Savior chose not to proceed?
What if no blood were ever shed?
The principle of retroactive credit should not seem foreign to us today. In fact, it is an everyday
occurrence. On a daily basis we buy merchandise with our credit cards and then pay for it after the fruits
have been enjoyed. As we prove dependable and timely in making our payments the amount of our
credit increases. Once we have proven creditworthy, companies will even solicit our credit with fervor.
They know certain people can always be counted on to pay the bill.

How much more so it was with the Savior. Over long eons of time in the premortal realm he proved
faithful and dependable and honorable in every commitment, every responsibility, and every charge.
The scriptures tell us that “from eternity to eternity he is the same” (D&C 76:4). He never deviated from
the mark, never slacked in his performance, never shrank from his word. He kept every command with
exactness; he discharged every duty with precision; he was “not slack concerning his promise” (2 Peter
3:9). His promises were “immutable and unchangeable” (D&C 104:2). As a result, his spiritual credit was
rapidly escalating until it was pure gold, even infinite in value. That is why the laws of justice could
recognize the benefits of the Atonement before the purchase price was ever paid, because his promise,
his pledge, his credit was “good for it,” and everyone who honored their first estate knew it.

In the premortal council the Savior covenanted with the Father to perform the Atonement. John Taylor
wrote, “A covenant was entered into between Him and His Father, in which He agreed to atone for the
sins of the world,” and hence he became known as “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” 1
(Revelation 13:8; see also Moses 7:47). The Gospel of Philip, one of the Nag Hammadi books, suggests
similarly: “It was not only when he appeared that he voluntarily laid down his life, but he voluntarily laid
down his life from the very day the world came into being. Then he came forth in order to take it, since
it had been given as a pledge.” 2 Based on that pledge or covenant we had faith in him. Based on that
covenant the Father could promise remission of sins prior to the atoning sacrifice because he “knew” his
Son would not fail. The issue was not that he could not break his covenant, but rather, that he would
not. In rhetorical fashion, the Savior reminds us of that truth: “Who am I,” he asks, “that have promised
and have not fulfilled?” (D&C 58:31; see also Numbers 23:19). Solomon acknowledged that the Lord
“hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses” (1 Kings
8:56; see also Deuteronomy 7:8). Abraham was yet another witness: “There is nothing that the Lord thy
God shall take in his heart to do but what he will do it” (Abraham 3:17). It should not be surprising that
Nehemiah referred to him as the “God, who keepest covenant” (Nehemiah 9:32). Any question about
the underlying integrity of the Lord’s promises was answered when he declared anciently, “I will never
break my covenant with you” (Judges 2:1; emphasis added).

In A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens addresses the importance of fulfilling promises, as seen in his
portrayal of Scrooge. After a life of parsimony, Scrooge’s heart is finally softened by the spirit of
Christmas. He promises Bob Cratchit a raise; he promises to assist Cratchit’s struggling family—in fact,
he promises to begin that very afternoon. And then this magnificent tribute to Scrooge: “[He] was better
than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more.” 3 In such a spirit the Savior did it all; he kept his word;
he performed an infinite atonement.

Consider for a moment the binding nature of an oath in Old Testament and Book of Mormon times. Now
elevate that to the covenant of God, who is “bound” (D&C 82:10) when he so covenants, and who
“never doth vary from that which he hath said” (Mosiah 2:22). Speaking of the oath and covenant of the
priesthood, the Lord declared, “All those who receive the priesthood, receive this oath and covenant of
my Father, which he cannot break” (D&C 84:40; emphasis added).

If a God “cannot break” a covenant, then why could not the laws of justice recognize the effects of a
covenant prior to its performance? B. H. Roberts believed this to be the case: “The effects of the
Atonement were realized by the ancient saints previous to the coming of Christ to earth and hence
previous to his actually making the Atonement; but that was because the Atonement for man’s sins, the
satisfaction to Justice, had been pre-determined upon [by means of a covenant], and this fact gave
virtue to their faith, repentance and obedience to ordinances of the Gospel.”4

It may have been that such a covenant helped sustain the Savior in the Garden when all his apparent
spiritual and physical energies had been exhausted, when there was “nothing left” to combat the Evil
One and sin itself but the pure covenant to atone. How many such covenants have lifted men to loftier
heights, conferred upon them added strength, and generated new-found reservoirs of resistance when
all else seemed to collapse around them? So it may have been that, in some way, this covenant satisfied
the laws of justice for those who lived before the Atonement was performed, and, in addition, helped to
sustain the Savior in his hour of greatest need.

Notes

Taylor, Mediation and Atonement, 97.

“Gospel of Philip,” 132; emphasis added. The Gospel of Philip is one of the books of the Nag Hammadi
library. These were Christian writings which were first discovered in December 1945 near the Egyptian
town of Nag Hammadi.

Dickens, A Christmas Carol, 151.

Roberts, Seventy’s Course in Theology, Fourth Year, 123, note c.

Why did Jesus have to suffer, bleed, and die?

Posted on March 30, 2012 by LDS Scripture Teachings

The demands of justice

The atonement of Jesus Christ: his suffering, death on the cross, and resurrection made it possible for all
mankind to be resurrected and forgiven of their sins. Occasionally I am asked why Jesus had to die. A
student recently asked why Jesus could not just forgive us as mortals do. Why did he have to die to
bring about our redemption?

To me this question really has two parts. 1) How does the Savior forgive us and 2) what does the
Savior’s death on the cross have to do with us being forgiven of sin?

From the Bible Dictionary we read: (atonement) describes the setting “at one” of those who have been
estranged, and denotes the reconciliation of man to God. Sin is the cause of the estrangement, and
therefore the purpose of atonement is to correct or overcome the consequences of sin. From the time
of Adam to the death of Jesus Christ, true believers were instructed to offer animal sacrifices to the
Lord. These sacrifices were symbolic of the forthcoming death of Jesus Christ, and were done by faith in
him (Moses 5:5-8).

Jesus Christ, as the Only Begotten Son of God and the only sinless person to live on this earth, was the
only one capable of making an atonement for mankind. By his selection and foreordination in the Grand
Council before the world was formed, his divine Sonship, his sinless life, the shedding of his blood in the
garden of Gethsemane, his death on the cross and subsequent bodily resurrection from the grave, he
made a perfect atonement for all mankind. All are covered unconditionally as pertaining to the fall of
Adam. Hence, all shall rise from the dead with immortal bodies, because of Jesus’ atonement. “For as
in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22), and all little children are
innocent at birth. The atonement is conditional, however, so far as each person’s individual sins are
concerned, and touches everyone to the degree that he has faith in Jesus Christ, repents of his sins, and
obeys the gospel…
Sin is lawlessness (1 Jn. 3:4); it is a refusal of men’s part to submit to the law of God (Rom. 8:7). By
transgression man loses control over his own will and becomes the slave to sin (Rom. 7:14), and so
incurs the penalty of spiritual death, which is alienation from God (Rom. 6:23). The atonement of Jesus
Christ redeems all mankind from the fall of Adam and causes all to be answerable for their own manner
of life. This means of atonement is provided by the Father (John 3:16-17), and is offered in the life and
person of his Son, Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 5:19). ( Atonement– Bible Dictionary, p. 617)

The previous excerpt from the Bible Dictionary makes it apparent that to receive forgiveness we are
required to repent of our sins. As to why the Savior had to die, “the means of atonement is provided by
the Father (John 3:16-17)” although a correct answer, usually prompts the students to ask further, “but
why?”

Some gospel questions have what I like to call the short and the long answers. So in short, to answer the
question as to why Jesus Christ must suffer to complete the Atonement:

1. The plan set forth by Heavenly Father required that mankind have agency, or the power to choose (2
Nephi 2:26-27).

2. With agency, Heavenly Father knew that we would, during our mortal journey here on earth, sin.
With sin, or the violation of the laws of God, mankind would incur penalties.

3. For God to take away the penalties of sin would eliminate agency. To have agency we need
1)opposition, 2)laws, 3)knowledge of right and wrong, and 4)the power to choose (2 Nephi 2). Both
agency and penalty must be in place for justice, or order, to be in effect. If there is no penalty for
breaking the law, the law is destroyed (Alma 42:17,21).

If law and punishment did not really exist, “God would cease to be God” (Alma 42:22-23). In other
words, the entire order of the cosmos is destroyed if penalties for violations of heavenly law are waived.
A punishment must be affixed to these violations or law, justice and order are annihilated and God
ceases to be God.

4. The greatest penalty mortals dealt with in scripture was associated with murder. Amulek’s logic as to
why Jesus Christ had to die for the atonement to be complete comes to us from Alma 34. The sacrifice
must be an infinite sacrifice (Alma 34:10), then as if to make certain his hearers understood, he
discussed murder: “Now there is not any man that can sacrifice his own blood which will atone for the
sins of another. Now, if a man murdereth, behold will our law, which is just, take the life of his brother?
I say unto you, Nay. But the law requireth the life of him who hath murdered; therefore there can be
nothing which is short of an infinite atonement which will suffice for the sins of the world” (Alma 34:11-
12 emphasis added).

5. For Jesus Christ to “answer the ends of the law”, he had to pay the ultimate penalty for the worst sin
anyone could ever commit. In the words of Jacob, “Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to
answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none
else can the ends of the law be answered (2 Nephi 2:7 emphasis added). His suffering and death paid
the price for all the sin, suffering, injustice or sickness ever suffered by mankind in totality (Alma 7:11-
13). I cannot comprehend the goodness and supreme mercy of my Savior! I cannot fathom what He
must have suffered to experience and atone for the negative consequences of every single one of
Heavenly Father’s children (D&C 19:15-20), to literally “descend below all things” (D&C 88:6). If we
really understood this, all mortals would praise him every day forever! (D&C 133:52-53)

Why did Jesus Christ have to die? (The more detailed answer)

Several years ago I read the following commentary by Terryl Givens, and it has strengthened my
appreciation for the power of the Book of Mormon in explaining details relating to the Atonement in
ways never before seen. I do not believe that the Bible teaches the Atonement of Jesus Christ and our
relationship to Him as perfectly as the Book of Mormon.

Two Book of Mormon disquisitions (dissertations or formal discourse) on the subject, 2 Nephi 2 and
Alma 41–42, move beyond such abstracting explanations by situating justice in a larger discussion of
moral agency. In the first, Lehi asserts as fundamental dichotomy in the universe between those entities
that have agency (“things that act”) and those that do not (“things acted upon”). (In a subsequent
revelation, Joseph Smith would define the first category as the only true existence: “All truth is
independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act for itself, as all intelligence also; otherwise
there is no existence” [D&C 93:30]). Such agency, to be efficacious, must operate in the presence of
alternatives: “Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one
or the other” (2 Nephi 2:16). But more to the point, genuine moral agency must entail necessary
consequences. If choice is to be more than an empty gesture of the will, more than a mere pantomime
of decision making, there must be an immutable guarantee that any given choice will eventuate in the
natural consequence of that choice. To paraphrase Edmund Husserl, choice must be choice of
something. Christ, Lehi explains, institutes the terms whereby those consequences are assured and
himself stands as the ultimate guarantor of the integrity of such meaningful choice: “Wherefore, the
ends of the law [are those] which the Holy One hath given, unto the inflicting of the punishment which is
affixed, which punishment that is affixed is in opposition to that of the happiness which is affixed” (2
Nephi 2:10).

It is the certainty of such punishment and reward, defined and differentiated by law and freely chosen
by man, that establishes his moral agency: “Wherefore,” Lehi concludes, “men are free according to the
flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty
and eternal life, … or to choose captivity and death” (2 Nephi 2:27). In this view, justice seems to be
another name for the moral order as defined and implemented by “the Holy One.”

Alma is even more explicit in defining justice as a moral order that validates human agency. “The plan of
restoration,” as he calls this principle, “is requisite with the justice of God; for it is requisite that all
things should be restored to their proper order” (Alma 41:2). And how is that order defined? “And if
their works were good in this life, and the desires of their hearts were good, that they should also, at the
last day, be restored unto that which is good. And if their works are evil they shall be restored unto
them for evil” (Alma 41:3-4). Not simply because that is the “fair” or “just” thing for God to do. For God
is also merciful, and if humans can remit a penalty out of compassion or mercy, why cannot God?

Because, as Alma continues, such apparent generosity would undermine the essence of that agency on
which moral freedom depends. Consequences are chosen at the time actions are freely committed. To
choose to indulge a desire is to choose its fruit – bitter or sweet- assuming, as Lehi did, that “men are
instructed sufficiently” to understand what they are choosing (2 Nephi 2:5). So following the exercise of
such agency, “the one [must be] raised to happiness according to his desires of happiness, or good
according to his desires of good; and the other to evil according to his desires of evil” (Alma 41:5). It is a
truth that harks back to Dante’s grim vision of hell in which God is not present as judge or dispenser of
punishments, because choices are allowed, inexorably, to bear their own fruit. In Alma’s Inferno as well,
future states are chosen, not assigned: “For behold,” says Alma, “they are their own judges” (Alma
41:7).

The rationale behind such a moral order is not an omnipotent, impersonal, and cruelly inflexible
absolute called justice, but rather the protection of a necessary framework for human agency, that in
assuring the promise of righteous reward for the righteous must equally guarantee evil (whatever is
“contrary to the nature of God” [Alma 41:11]) to those who demonstrate through their actions their
choice of evil. Given this framework, Alma emphasizes, Corianton’s attribution of punishment to a
vindictive God is misplaced: “And now, there was not means to reclaim men from this fallen state, which
man had brought upon himself because of his own disobedience” (Alma 42:12, emphasis mine).

So, Lehi and Alma agree that human moral autonomy is predicated upon a sacred connection between
desire and reward, choice and consequence. And it is law that articulates and clarifies that connection,
making sin, righteousness, and happiness possible. As Lehi says, “If ye shall say there is no law, ye shall
also say there is no sin. If ye shall say there is no sin, ye shall also say there is no righteousness. And if
there be no righteousness there be no happiness” (2 Nephi 2:13). And Alma asks “how could [man] sin if
there was no law? How could there be a law save there was a punishment” (Alma 42:17).

Within these parameters that Lehi and Alma have framed, no escape from the consequences of law is
possible without destroying the entire moral order of the universe and both the human agency it
grounds and the status of the divine guarantor of the whole system (“God would cease to be God”). As
long as the penalty is executed, law is safeguarded. As long as man chooses to undo the effects of his
decisions and then chooses anew (repentance), agency is safeguarded. So Christ offers himself as
ransom to the demands of law, as the only being capable of paying a cumulative penalty as “eternal as
the life of the soul” (Alma 42:16). The consequence of unrighteous choice unfolds as it must, but the
pain it inflicts is vicariously felt. Therefore, “justice exerciseth all his demands, and also mercy claimeth
all which is her own; and thus, none but the truly penitent are saved” (Alma 42:24). (Terryl Givens, By
the hand of Mormon: the American scripture that launched a new world religion, Oxford University
Press, p. 206-207)

Scriptures to ponder

And now, the plan of mercy could not be brought about except an atonement should be made;
therefore God himself atoneth for the sins of the world, to bring about the plan of mercy, to appease
the demands of justice, that God might be a perfect, just God, and a merciful God also. (Alma 42:15)

And thus God breaketh the bands of death, having gained the victory over death; giving the Son power
to make intercession for the children of men—Having ascended into heaven, having the bowels of
mercy; being filled with compassion towards the children of men; standing betwixt them and justice;
having broken the bands of death, taken upon himself their iniquity and their transgressions, having
redeemed them, and satisfied the demands of justice. (Mosiah 15:8-9.)
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans
6:23)

And now, behold, I will testify unto you of myself that these things are true. Behold, I say unto you, that
I do know that Christ shall come among the children of men, to take upon him the transgressions of his
people, and that he shall atone for the sins of the world; for the Lord God hath spoken it. For it is
expedient that an atonement should be made; for according to the great plan of the Eternal God there
must be an atonement made, or else all mankind must unavoidably perish; yea, all are hardened; yea, all
are fallen and are lost, and must perish except it be through the atonement which it is expedient should
be made. For it is expedient that there should be a great and last sacrifice; yea, not a sacrifice of man,
neither of beast, neither of any manner of fowl; for it shall not be a human sacrifice; but it must be an
infinite and eternal sacrifice. (Alma 34:8-10)

Share this:

Share

Related

The Atonement of Jesus ChristIn "Atonement"

Teaching correct principles: finding, understanding and applying scriptural principles in real lifeIn
"Principles"

Student questions about plural marriageIn "Student questions"

About LDS Scripture Teachings

I write about ways scripture applies in our lives: LDSScriptureTeachings.org

View all posts by LDS Scripture Teachings →

This entry was posted in Atonement, Book of Mormon, Jesus Christ, Student questions and tagged
Atonement of Jesus Christ, LDS seminary, LDS youth. Bookmark the permalink.

← Job: Addressing the problem of evil and suffering

The calling of Isaiah →

8 Responses to Why did Jesus have to suffer, bleed, and die?

Onefour1 says:

August 25, 2015 at 10:25 pm

I love discussions on the atonement of Jesus Christ. I have often pondered and read about it. To me
everything makes perfect sense except I have on thing I am trying to reconcile with myself. On my
mission I heard a talk by Cleon Skousen called, “The Atonement”. His opinion was that the intelligences
of the universe needed to have mercy toward the penitent sinner and the atonement brought that
mercy about. I am not sure of this explanation but it was a good one. But Skousen said that when he was
a little boy he wondered what all the suffering was for. He thought that since Heavenly Father already
has mercy, then why couldn’t he just forgive the sinner. He didn’t understand why all the suffering was
necessary. My one thing is just that. Why couldn’t Heavenly Father have built the principle of
repentance into the Law from the start and simply forgive those who repent? This would have been fair
to anyone since all would have the opportunity to repent. Why then all the suffering if this could have
been done? Perhaps Skousen is right and the atonement needed to satisfy the demands of justice
coming from the rest of the intelligences of the universe and the infinite atonement was to bring about
the bowels of mercy in these intelligences. Somehow I think there is more to it. I feel there is a reason
why the Father could not build repentance into the Law. Do you have any insight into this way of looking
at it? I seek for sound understanding of the atonement and if I could reconcile this question, I feel I
would understand the atonement much, much better.

LDS Scripture Teachings says:

August 26, 2015 at 9:33 am

I believe that this post addresses your question. Perhaps Alma 7:11-12 also sheds some light on your
question. In this scripture, we read that the Savior suffered (in part) that he might know by his own
experience the full and total suffering that mortals have dealt with. This, in turn, would make it so that
he knows what we suffer, and would enable him to fully experience what it means to be human.
Obviously there is much more to this than just what is addressed in Alma 7.

I believe the logic in this post is good- perhaps you could read Givens’ By the hand of Mormon: the
American scripture that launched a new world religion and see this in more depth than I have gone into
here. Another book I would recommend, at least from the perspective of understanding how the
authors of the biblical texts viewed suffering is Bart Ehrman’s work: “God’s problem: How the Bible Fails
to Answer Our Most Important Question — Why We Suffer” – now while I disagree with Mr. Ehrman’s
conclusions, his analysis of the biblical texts makes this worth the read for me.

Reply

Onefour1 says:

August 27, 2015 at 8:49 pm

Thank you for your reply. I will look into your comments.

Reply

Onefour1 says:

September 14, 2016 at 8:57 pm

Upon reading your remarks, I do see the need for eternal law and thus eternal punishment to sustain
our free will and ensure that free will is held inviolate. For without law which defines right or wrong,
there would be no right or wrong. And without punishment in the law, there would be no consequence
or reward for keeping the law and thus there would be no difference in whether you kept the law or
not. Thus making the law of no effect. Thank you for your explanation of this great truth.

In considering the atonement, I feel that the punishment of sin is essential under the broken law. But
when it comes to Jesus, He did no sin and thus there was no just punishment for him since he did no sin.
In fact, I find that his pain, suffering, and death were the greatest of injustices. Certainly he did not
deserve all the pain suffering and death that he bore. No wonder it caused the all the creations of God
to mourn and the earth to groan (Moses 7:56). Surely God the Father would need to recompense the
Christ for this great injustice! And surely he would need to recompense the Christ to extent that he
suffered! I believe that Father did just that! He gave the Christ a just recompense in giving him the right
to forgive all those for whom he suffered for.

2 Nephi 9:21
21 And he cometh into the world that he may save all men if they will hearken unto his voice; for
behold, he suffereth the pains of all men, yea, the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and
children, who belong to the family of Adam.

Thus Jesus won the right to forgive sin as a recompense for his infinite atonement. But it was a
conditional right to forgive sin. It was conditioned upon repentance For if the sinner is not repentant he
will still break the law and destroy the works of justice. And the works of justice cannot be destroyed
else God would cease to be God.

Alma 42:13

13 Therefore, according to justice, the plan of redemption could not be brought about, only on
conditions of repentance of men in this probationary state, yea, this preparatory state; for except it
were for these conditions, mercy could not take effect except it should destroy the work of justice. Now
the work of justice could not be destroyed; if so, God would cease to be God.

Thus Jesus is the great mediator. The Father could not accomplish this by himself because he could not
lay down his life again as an immortal resurrected being. Thus the Father chose his redeemer from
before the foundation of the world. (1 Peter 1:20).

Doctrine and Covenants 45:3-5

3 Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him—

4 Saying: Father, behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well
pleased; behold the blood of thy Son which was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself
might be glorified;

5 Wherefore, Father, spare these my brethren that believe on my name, that they may come unto me
and have everlasting life.

These are my thoughts on the atonement.

Reply

Pingback: Fifth Day Before Passover – H J Marshall

Heber Frank says:

October 22, 2018 at 11:06 pm

Reading this article makes me believe all the more the teaching of President Brigham Young that every
earth has its own Savior just as Moses 1 says each earth has its own Adam and Eve.

It is clear that when the scriptures talk of the Savior what is said applies to all of them not just Jesus..
They are all in John 17 type perfect unity as One Infinite Savior.

Jesus is a finite being like us, and it makes no sense to believe Jesus is the one Savior for an infinite
number of worlds. Being the Savior of the billions that lived on this earth is a staggering enough.

Reply

LDS Scripture Teachings says:

October 24, 2018 at 3:01 pm

Thanks for sharing. The arithmetic of the Atonement is certainly more than I can grasp.

Reply

Satan in the spirit World

Posted on August 28, 2015 by LDS Scripture Teachings

Heber C. Kimball and Wilford Woodruff’s account of apostolic confrontation with evil spirits in Preston,
England

Satan has power on earth only as individual persons give it to him by succumbing to his temptations
(Teaching of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 187). The agency of human beings is to choose righteousness
through the Holy Spirit of God or to choose selfishness through the flesh by succumbing to Satan’s
temptations (2 Ne. 2:26-29). (Human flesh is not evil, but Satan may tempt humans through their flesh.)
Individuals who repent in this life are nevertheless tempted by Satan until their death; then has no
power over them ever again. Those who die unrepentant are still in Satan’s power in the spirit world
(Alma 34:34-35). All except the sons of perdition will eventually accept Christ and obey him, and thereby
escape the dominion of (D&C 76:110). Thus is the Father’s plan of agency fulfilled. (Encyclopedia of
Mormonism, 1-4 vols., edited by Daniel H. Ludlow (New York: Macmillan, 1992), 380.)

Satan also has influence over the spirits of wicked persons who have passed from mortality by death and
who inhabit the Spirit Prison (sometimes called Hades). The inhabitants of this prison do not yet suffer
cleansing pain, which will later come, but continue to be subject to Satan’s lies and temptations (Alma
40-41). They also have the opportunity to hear the servants of Christ (D&C 138:28-37), and if they did
not have the opportunity on earth, they now may repent unto exaltation. If they did have the
opportunity on earth but did not use it, the spirit prison opportunity again allows them to reject Satan
and his lies and temptations, but with the reward of a lesser glory (D&C 76:71-79). During the
Millennium, Satan will be bound (Rev. 20:2). He will still be on earth, attempting to tempt every person,
as he has since the Fall of Adam, but he will be bound because no one will hearken to his temptations (1
Ne. 22:26). Toward the end of the Millennium, Satan will be loosed (D&C 88:110-115) because people
will again hearken to him. But he will be vanquished and sent from this earth to outer darkness, where
he and his followers, both spirits and resurrected sons of perdition (Satan is Perdition, “the lost one”),
will dwell in the misery and darkness of selfishness and isolation forever. (Encyclopedia of Mormonism,
1-4 vols., edited by Daniel H. Ludlow (New York: Macmillan, 1992), 381.)

Purpose of Spirit World

We may say, then, that the Spirit World, is the place where all of the spirits of men continue to prepare
themselves for their reward according to their works. May it not then be thought of as a place of
education, of training in the principles of truth which bring happiness and joy? But in this educative
process more time is required for some than for others. Consequently, there shall be some who will not
be prepared for the resurrection of the body until at least the thousand years of the millennium have
passed away, because they did not prepare themselves while in mortality. It is also evident that these
persons are still subject to the evil influence of . On the other hand, the righteous are not in this
condition insofar as they have gained the victory over Lucifer here.

The wicked spirits that leave here and go into the spirit world, are they wicked there? Yes. No matter
where they have lived on the face of the earth, all men and women who have died without the keys and
powers of the priesthood, though they might have been honest and sincere and have done everything
they could, are under the influence of the devil, more or less. Are they as much so as others? No. Take
those who were wicked designedly, who knowingly lived without the gospel when it was within their
reach, they are given up to the devil; they become tools to the devil and spirits of the devil. Go to the
time when the gospel came to the earth in the time of Joseph, take the wicked that have opposed this
people and persecuted them to the death, and they are sent to hell. Where are they? They are in the
spirit world, and are just as busy as they possibly can be to do everything they can against the prophet
and the apostles, against Jesus and his kingdom. They are just as wicked and malicious in their actions
against the cause of truth as they were while on the earth. (Brigham Young in Journal of Discourses,
3:369-370.)

Thus we see that there are degrees to which a person may be subject to the influence of Satan’s hosts. It
is also apparent that the eternal principle of free agency is operative in the spirit world. The freedom to
believe and the carrying of traditions and either false or true ideas with one into that life suggests that
there can be meetings and gatherings of other religious organizations as there are here today.
Eventually, however, all shall come to receive the principles which will give to them an inheritance in
one of the kingdoms provided for the resurrected soul. This will, of course, require time and
considerable effort. This idea suggests the principal work of the righteous in the spirit world. The
preaching of the gospel in that sphere lies at the basis of the Latter-day Saints’ concept of salvation for
the dead. The spirit world is the place where those who have not had the opportunity to hear and
receive the gospel will be accorded this privilege in keeping with what God has promised since the world
began. The Lord gave a revelation to President Joseph F. Smith, known as the “Vision of the Redemption
of the Dead,” in which he saw the paradise of the spirit world at the time the Savior organized a
missionary corps to preach the gospel to the dead. In this informative revelation, President Smith said: I
beheld that the faithful elders of this dispensation, when they depart from mortal life, continue their
labors in the preaching of the gospel of repentance and redemption, through the sacrifice of the Only
Begotten Son of God, among those who are in darkness and under the bondage of sin in the great world
of the spirits of the dead. (Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, p. 476.)

Another significant thought was given by President Smith in the “Vision of the Redemption of the Dead”
when he recorded that “the dead who repent will be redeemed, through obedience to the ordinances of
the house of God, and after they have paid the penalty of their transgressions, and are washed clean,
shall receive a reward according to their works, for they are heirs of salvation.” In the educative process
of redeeming mankind there is the element of punishment because of willful disobedience to known
laws of God. The Prophet Joseph Smith defined this punishment: There is no pain so awful as that of
suspense. This is the punishment of the wicked; their doubt, anxiety and suspense Cause weeping,
wailing and gnashing of teeth. (History of the Church, 5:340.)

The great misery of departed spirits in the world of spirits, where they go after death, is to know that
they come short of the glory that others enjoy and that they might have enjoyed themselves, and they
are their own accusers. (Ibid., 5:425.) Since there is a separation of righteous and wicked in the spirit
world, do the repentant dead enjoy the blessings of paradise? President Joseph F. Smith has answered
this question in this manner: In relation to the deliverance of spirits from their prison house, of course,
we believe that can only be done after the gospel has been preached to them in the spirit, and they
have accepted the same, and the work necessary to their redemption by the living be done for them. . . .
It stands to reason that, while the gospel may be preached unto all, the good and the bad, or rather to
those who would repent and to those who would not repent in the spirit world, the same as it is here,
redemption will only come to those who repent and obey. (Ibid., p. 438.) Brother Jedediah M. Grant
visited paradise or the abode of the righteous spirits, those who had accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ.
He saw only loveliness and beauty, happiness and joy, where the Saints of God mingled together in the
accomplishment of the Lord’s purposes. It would appear consistent with what we know of the great
work for the dead that in the spirit world there will be a continuation of the task of gathering
genealogical data. No greater opportunity would be available than in that life to preach the gospel to
one’s progenitors and do genealogical research. Is it not also reasonable that those who will engage in
the labor of salvation there will be those who have been interested in the salvation of the souls of men
here? This is in accord with what has already been presented herein—the same desires, attitudes, etc.,
which we possess here will bring the blessings of opportunity of further labors with their resultant joy
and happiness. (Roy W. Doxey, The Doctrine and Covenants and the Future [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book
Co., 1954], 84.)

Latter-day Saints are counted, speaking generally, because they show their valor, they show their
integrity and their love, and are willing to obey God whatever the consequences may be; and they are
determined to be true and faithful though death should stare them in the face. These are the ones
whom God will choose to be His rulers. And there is this promise given unto us, that after we have
finished this probation and are faithful to God, then—lay it as a comfort to your hearts, and let it fill you
with joy— Satan will have no more power over us. If you are faithful to the truth, if you keep the
commandments of God all your days, when the time comes for you to pass away from this state of
existence, Satan’s power will have ended. After that he can exercise no dominion over you. You are
emancipated from his thraldom. You will then be ushered into the presence of the holy and the just. You
will dwell in the spirit world Paradise of God, waiting with delightful anticipations the time when your
spirits and your bodies will be reunited, and when you shall dwell together with the holy, the just and
exalted ones in the presence of God and the Lamb, nevermore, as the prophets have said, to depart or
to go out thence. (Brian H. Stuy, ed., Collected Discourses delivered by Wilford Woodruff, his two
counselors, The Twelve Apostles, and others, 5 vols. [Burbank, Calif., and Woodland Hills, Ut.: B.H.S.
Publishing, 1987-1992], 2)

Spirit Prison

Posted on August 29, 2015 by LDS Scripture Teachings

Hell hath both an entrance and an exit

During this hundred years many other great truths not known before, have been declared to the people,
and one of the greatest is that to hell there is an exit as well as an entrance. Hell is no place to which a
vindictive judge sends prisoners to suffer and to be punished principally for his glory; but it is a place
prepared for the teaching, the disciplining of those who failed to learn here upon the earth what they
should have learned. True, we read of everlasting punishment, unending suffering, eternal damnation.
That is a direful expression; but in his mercy the Lord has made plain what those words mean. “Eternal
punishment,” he says, is God’s punishment, for he is eternal; and that condition or state or possibility
will ever exist for the sinner who deserves and really needs such condemnation; but this does not mean
that the individual sufferer or sinner is to be eternally and everlastingly made to endure and suffer. No
man will be kept in hell longer than is necessary to bring him to a fitness for something better. When he
reaches that stage the prison doors will open and there will be rejoicing among the hosts who welcome
him into a better state. The Lord has not abated in the least what he has said in earlier dispensations
concerning the operation of his law and his gospel, but he has made clear unto us his goodness and
mercy through it all, for it is his glory and his work to bring about the immortality and eternal life of
man. (Elder James E. Talmage, Conference Report, April 1930, 97)

You ask, Can a man do any wrong without first being tempted of Satan? All men have their agency, the
spirit of Satan leads to error and darkness and wrong doing. If a man does wrong, it is because he yields
to the spirit of evil, thereby exercising his agency. If he does good, it is in accordance with the spirit that
is of God, and he uses his agency in that as well. Those who overcome evil in this life will be beyond the
power of Satan in the life to come. In other words, Satan’s power ends in this world so far as the
righteous are concerned, for they arise above him and above his influence; and power is not given to
him to tempt them in the spirit world, they having overcome him in this. So far then as the righteous are
concerned, Satan is effectually bound, whether it is in this life or in the life to come. But as mortality is
never free from its own weaknesses there is no perfect safety in this sphere without the presence
continually of the influence of the Holy Spirit. Satan can enter any place where he is invited or permitted
to enter by man. If wicked men enter the house of God or have dominion in it, Satan will have access
there, but where the righteous rule and the righteousness of God prevails, there Satan cannot come, at
least with power. (Joseph F. Smith, From Prophet to Son: Advice of Joseph F. Smith to His Missionary
Sons, compiled by Hyrum M. Smith III and Scott G. Kenney [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1981], 70-
71.)

That part of the spirit world inhabited by wicked spirits who are awaiting the eventual day of their
resurrection is called hell. Between their death and resurrection, these souls of the wicked are cast out
into outer darkness, into the gloomy depression of Sheol, into the Hades of waiting wicked spirits, into
hell. There they suffer the torments of the damned; there they welter in the vengeance of eternal fire;
there is found weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth; there the fiery indignation of the wrath of
God is poured out upon the wicked. (Alma 40:11-14; D. & C. 76:103-106.) (McConkie, Mormon Doctrine,
p. 349.)

Until the death of Christ these two spirit abodes [paradise and hell] were separated by a great gulf, with
the intermingling of their respective inhabitants strictly forbidden (Luke 16:19-31). After our Lord
bridged the gulf between the two (1 Pet. 3:18-21; Moses 7:37-39), the affairs of his kingdom in the spirit
world were so arranged that righteous spirits began teaching the gospel to wicked ones (Bruce R.
McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 762).

Life beyond the grave: The Spirit World

Posted on August 28, 2015 by LDS Scripture Teachings

spirit world
When you are in the spirit world, everything there will appear as natural as things now do. Spirits will be
familiar with spirits in the spirit world—will converse, behold, and exercise every variety of
communication with one another as familiarly and naturally as while here in tabernacles. There, as here,
all things will be natural, and you will understand them as you now understand natural things. You will
there see that those spirits we are speaking of are active; they sleep not. And you will learn that they are
striving with all their might—laboring and toiling diligently as any individual would to accomplish an act
in this world (Discourses of Brigham Young, 380).

As for my going into the immediate presence of God when I die, I do not expect it, but I expect to go into
the world of spirits and associate with my brethren, and preach the Gospel in the spiritual world, and
prepare myself in every necessary way to receive my body again, and then enter through the wall into
the celestial world. I never shall come into the presence of my Father and God until I have received my
resurrected body, neither will any other person. (Heber C. Kimball, Journal of Discourses 3:112-113)

“This world is a very wicked world; and it is a proverb that the ‘world grows weaker and wiser’; if that is
the case, the world grows more wicked and corrupt. In the earlier ages of the world a righteous man,
and a man of God and of intelligence, had a better chance to do good, to be believed and received than
at the present day; but in these days such a man is much opposed and persecuted by most of the
inhabitants of the earth, and he has much sorrow to pass through here. The Lord takes many away even
in infancy, that they may escape the envy of man, and the sorrows and evils of this present world; they
were too pure, too lovely, to live on earth; therefore, if rightly considered, instead of mourning we have
reason to rejoice as they are delivered from evil, and we shall l soon have them again. (Teachings of the
Prophet Joseph Smith, pp. 196-97)

What does taken home to God mean? These words of Alma as I understand them, do not intend to
convey the thought that all spirits go back into the presence of God for an assignment to a place of
peace or a place of punishment and before him receive their individual sentence. “Taken home to God,”
simply means that their mortal existence has come to an end, and they have returned to the world of
spirits, where they are assign-ed to a place according to their works with the just or with the unjust,
there to await the resurrection. “Back to God” is a phrase which finds an equivalent in many other well
known conditions. …In the question of spirits returning to God, Pres. George Q. Cannon has made the
following comment: Alma, when he says that “the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from
this mortal body…are taken home to that God who gave them life,” has the idea doubt-less, in his mind
that our God is omnipresent not in His own personality but through His minister, the Holy Spirit. He does
not intend to convey the idea that they are immediately ushered into the personal presence of God. He
evidently uses that phrase in a qualified sense…. Solomon, makes such a similar statement: “Then shall
the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” (Eccl. 12:7) The
same idea is frequently expressed by the Latter day Saints. (Joseph Fielding Smith Jr., Answers to gospel
questions, 2:85) see Alma 40:11.

The postmortal spirit world is an actual place where spirits reside and “where they converse together
the same as we do on the earth” (TPJS, p. 353). “Life and work and activity all continue in the spirit
world. Men have the same talents and intelligence there which they had in this life. They possess the
same attitudes, inclinations, and feelings there which they had in this life” (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon
Doctrine, p. 762).

“The spirits of all men, as soon as they depart from this mortal body, whether they are good or evil, we
are told in the Book of Mormon, are taken home to that God who gave them life, where there is a
separation, a partial judgment, and 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 expand in wisdom,
where they have respite from all their troubles, and where care and sorrow do not annoy. The wicked,
on the contrary, have no part nor portion in the Spirit of the Lord, and they are cast into outer darkness,
being led captive, because of their own iniquity, by the evil one. And in this space between death and
the resurrection of the body, the two classes of souls remain, in happiness or in misery, until the time
which is appointed of God that the dead shall come forth and be reunited both spirit and body, and be
brought to stand before God, and be judged according to their works. This is the final judgment.”
(Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, p. 448.)

It is a glorious thing, because when a Saint of God passes on, he is assured of eternal life … If we die in
the faith, that’s the same thing as saying that our calling and election has been made sure… (Bruce R.
McConkie, S. Dilworth Young’s Funeral) Also see Alma 40:11-12

When you lay down this tabernacle, where are you going? Into the spiritual world…Where is the spirit
world? It is right here. Do the good and evil spirits go together? Yes they do…. Do they go beyond the
boundaries of the organized earth? No, they do not…. Can you see it with your natural eyes? No. Can
you see spirits in this room? No. Suppose the Lord should touch your eyes that you might see, could you
then see the spirits? Yes, as plainly as you now see bodies (Discourses of Brigham Young, ed. John A.
Widtsoe, pp. 376-81).

Where Is The Spirit World? President Brigham Young declared: When you lay down this tabernacle,
where are you going? Into the spiritual world Where is the spirit world? It is right here. Do they go
beyond the boundaries of the organized earth? No, they do not…. Can you see it with your natural eyes?
No. Can you see spirits in this room? No. Suppose the Lord should touch your eyes that you might see,
could you then see the spirits? Yes, as plainly as you now see bodies. (Discourses of Brigham Young,
pp.376 77)

There are demographics, too, to drive this doctrine: of the approximately 70 billion individuals who, up
to now, have inhabited this planet, probably not more than one percent have really heard the gospel.
Today no more than one-tenth of one percent of the world’s population are members of the Church.
Even so, before the final judgment and resurrection all will have had an adequate opportunity to hear
the gospel of Jesus Christ. This underscores the mercy of God and the justice of God. (See D&C 1:2.)
Infant mortality, which rages in so many parts of the world, is also placed in a reassuring doctrinal
context (see D&C 137:10). (Neal A. Maxwell, But for a Small Moment [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1986],
115.)

Demographers estimate that some 60 to 70 billion people have lived on this planet thus far. How
extensive the work in the spirit world is we do not know, but it too is likely to number in the millions of
converts. (Neal A. Maxwell, Men and Women of Christ [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1991], 91.)

The spirits of the just are exalted to a greater and more glorious work; hence they are blessed in their
departure to the world of spirits. Enveloped in flaming fire, they are not far from us, and know and
understand our thoughts, feelings, and motions, and are often pain¬ed therewith. (Teachings of the
Prophet Joseph Smith, p.325)

“A wonderful work is being accomplished in our temples in favor of the spirits in prison. I believe,
strongly too, that when the Gospel is preached to the spirits in prison, the success attending that
preaching will be far greater than that attending the preaching of our Elders in this life. I believe there
will be very few indeed of those spirits who will not gladly receive the Gospel when it is carried to them.
The circumstances there will be a thousand times more favorable” (Lorenzo Snow, Millennial Star, Jan.
22, 1894, 50).

“I expect to meet the same individual that I knew here. I expect to be able to recognize her just as I
could recognize her tomorrow if she were living. I believe I will know just exactly whom she is and what
she is, and I will remember all I knew about and enjoy her association in the spirit as I did in the flesh;
because her identity is fixed and indestructible as the identity of God the Father and Jesus Christ the
Son. They cannot be changed; they are from everlasting to everlasting, eternally the same; so it will be
with us. We will progress and develop and grow in wisdom and understanding, but our identity can
never change.” (Joseph F. Smith speaking at the funeral of Rachel Grant, mother of Heber J. Grant,
Improvement Era, vol. 12, no.7. May 1909, pp. 585-99)
“Sometimes we seem to get the idea that in the spirit world, we will be completely different individuals;
we will suddenly undergo a miraculous change in our character when we die. But nothing could be
further from the truth. We our spirits, do not change at death; we are the same.” (Hartman Rector Jr.
Conference Report, October, 1970 p.74)

In a funeral sermon, Joseph Smith declared that the spirits of righteous people who have died “are not
far from us, and know and understand our thoughts, feelings, and emotions, and are often pained
therewith” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 326).

“Sometimes the veil between this life and the life beyond becomes very thin. Our loved ones who have
passed on are not far from us” (President Ezra Taft Benson, Conference Report, Apr. 1971, p. 18; or
Ensign, June 1971, p. 33).

“Every man born into the world will die. It matters not who he is, nor where he is, whether his birth be
among the rich and the noble, or among the lowly and poor in the world, his days are numbered with
the Lord, and in due time he will reach the end.” (Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, p. 428.)

“We shall turn round and look upon it [the valley of death] and think, when we have crossed it, why this
is the greatest advantage of my whole existence, for I have passed from a state of sorrow, grief,
mourning, woe, misery, pain, anguish and disappointment into a state of existence, where I can enjoy
life to the fullest extent as far as that can be done without a body. My spirit is set free, I thirst no more, I
want to sleep no more, I hunger no more, I tire no more, I run, I walk, I labor, I go, I come, I do this, I do
that, whatever is required of me, nothing like pain or weariness, I am full of life, full of vigor, and I enjoy
the presence of my Heavenly Father.” (Brigham Young, in Journal of Discourses, 17:142.)

“All fear of this death has been removed from the Latter-day Saints. They have no dread of the temporal
death, because they know that as death came upon them by the transgression of Adam, so by the
righteousness of Jesus Christ shall life come unto them, and though they die, they shall live again.
Possessing this knowledge, they have joy even in death, for they know that they shall rise again and shall
meet again beyond the grave. They know that the spirit dies not at all; that it passes through no change,
except the change from imprisonment in this mortal clay to freedom and to the sphere in which it acted
before it came to this earth.” (Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, p. 428.)
“If we say that early death is a calamity, disaster or a tragedy, would it not be saying that mortality is
preferable to earlier entrance into the spirit world and to eventual salvation and exaltation? If mortality
be the perfect state, then death would be a frustration but the Gospel teaches us there is no tragedy in
death, but only in sin.” (Spencer W. Kimball, Tragedy or Destiny, BYU Speeches [Provo, 6 Dec. 1955], p.
3.)

“In the justice of the Father, he is going to give to every man the privilege of hearing the gospel. Not one
soul shall be overlooked or forgotten. This being true, what about the countless thousands who have
died and never heard of Christ, never had an opportunity of repentance and remission of their sins,
never met an elder of the Church holding the authority? Some of our good Christian neighbors will tell
you they are lost forever, that they cannot believe in the grave, for there is no hope beyond. “Would
that be fair? Would it be just? No! The Lord is going to give to every man the opportunity to hear and to
receive eternal life, or a place in his kingdom. We are very fortunate because we have had that privilege
here and have passed from death into life. “The Lord has so arranged his plan of redemption that all
who have died without this opportunity shall be given it in the spirit world. There the elders of the
Church who have died are proclaiming the gospel to the dead. All those who did not have an
opportunity here to receive it, who there repent and receive the gospel, shall be heirs of the celestial
kingdom of God.” (Joseph F. Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 2:132.)

The postmortal spirit world is a place of continued preparation and learning. In this sense, it is an
extension of mortality. Those who have died without an opportunity to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ
will have opportunity to hear and accept it in the spirit world. “The great work in the world of spirits is
the preaching of the gospel to those who are imprisoned by sin and false traditions” (Mormon Doctrine,
p. 762). The faithful elders and sisters who depart this life “continue their labors in the preaching of the
gospel of repentance and redemption…Among those who are in darkness” (D&C 138:57; Smith, p. 461;
see also Salvation of the Dead).

An important LDS doctrine states that Jesus Christ inaugurated the preaching of the gospel and
organized a mission in the spirit world during his ministry there between his death and resurrection. This
is the substance of a revelation recorded as Doctrine and Covenants section 138. Since Jesus’ visit there,
the gospel has been taught vigorously in the spirit world (see Spirit Prison). The relative conditions and
state of mind in the two spheres of the postmortal spirit world are described by the Prophet Joseph
Smith: “The spirits of the just are exalted to a greater and more glorious work; hence they are blessed in
their departure to the world of spirits. Enveloped in flaming fire, they are not far from us, and know and
understand our thoughts, feelings, and motions, and are often pained therewith” (TPJS, p. 326). On the
other hand, “The great misery of departed spirits in the world of spirits, where they go after death, is to
know that they come short of the glory that others enjoy and that they might have enjoyed themselves,
and they are their own accusers” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 310-11).
Jesus Bridged the Gulf Between Paradise and Prison

Posted on July 30, 2018 by LDS Scripture Teachings

And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf (χάσμα – Chasma, gaping opening, or
impassable interval) fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they
pass to us, that would come from thence. (Luke 16:26)

Joseph Fielding Smith said:

President Joseph Fielding Smith

We hear the objection made, from time to time, that Jesus did not come to save the dead, for he most
emphatically declared himself that there was an impassable gulf that separated the righteous spirits
from the wicked. In defense of their position they quote the words in Luke: “And beside all this,
between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot;
neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.”

These words, according to the story, were spoken by Abraham’s spirit to the rich man who raised his
eyes and asked that Lazarus might go touch his lips and relieve his torment. Abraham replied that it
could not be for there was a gulf fixed between them that the spirit of no man could pass. Therefore, say
the objectors to the doctrine of universal salvation, “It is quite evident that the righteous and the wicked
who are dead cannot visit each other, hence there is no salvation for the dead.”

This was true before the days that Jesus atoned for sin, which is plainly shown in the passage from the
Book of Moses previously quoted. And it was at this period this event occurred. However, Christ came
and through his death bridged that gulf, proclaimed liberty to the captives, and the opening of this
prison door to those who sat in darkness and captivity.

From that time forth this gulf is bridged so that the captives, after they have paid the full penalty of their
misdeeds, satisfied justice, and have accepted the gospel of Christ, having the ordinances attended to in
their behalf by their living relatives or friends, receive the passport that entitles them to cross the gulf.
(Doctrines of Salvation, 2:158)
Paradise is not heaven, or the place where God dwells, but a place of departed spirits. Why the belief
should be so general that the thief went to heaven with the Savior is rather strange, since Jesus did not
go there until after his resurrection. This fact he disclosed to Mary at the tomb. From the time his spirit
left his body until he arose from the tomb, Jesus was with the thief in paradise, according to his promise.
There the Savior opened the door for the salvation of the dead. Before that time the unworthy dead
were shut up in prison and were not visited. (Moses 7:38-39; Isaiah 24:22.) We have good reason to
believe that the righteous spirits in paradise did not mingle with the unrighteous spirits before the visit
of our Lord to the spirit world. He declared that there was a gulf fixed that could not be crossed which
separated the righteous from the unrighteous, therefore there was no sound of the voice of prophets
and the Gospel was not declared among the wicked until Christ went into that world before his
resurrection. He it was who opened the prison doors. (Isaiah 42:6-7; 61:1).

President Brigham Young declared that “Jesus was the first man that ever went to preach to the spirits
in prison, holding the keys of the Gospel of salvation to them. Those keys were delivered to him in the
day and hour that he went into the spirit world, and with them he opened the door of salvation to the
spirits in prison.” (Journal of Discourses 4:285.) This is in full accord with the scriptures. President Joseph
F. Smith, in the vision he beheld of the spirit world, confirmed this view [see D&C 138]. In that world
Christ taught the righteous spirits and commissioned them to carry his message and sent them forth
among the unbaptized dead. In this way he fulfilled his promise made to Isaiah that he would preach to
the spirits of the dead and open their prison doors that they might go free. (The Way to Perfection,
p.315-316)

Bruce R. McConkie wrote:

Bruce R. McConkie 1915-1985

The spirit prison is hell, that portion of the spirit world where the wicked dwell. (Moses 7:37-39.) Before
Christ bridged the gulf between paradise and hell – so that the righteous could mingle with the wicked
and preach them the gospel – the wicked in hell were confined to locations which precluded them from
contact with the righteous in paradise. Abraham told the rich man in hell that between him and Lazarus
(who was in paradise) there was a great gulf fixed so that none could go from paradise to hell or from
hell to paradise. (Luke 16:19-31.) Now that the righteous spirits in paradise have been commissioned to
carry the message of salvation to the wicked spirits in hell, there is a certain amount of mingling
together of the good and bad spirits. Repentance opens the prison doors to the spirits in hell; it enables
those bound with the chains of hell to free themselves from darkness, unbelief, ignorance, and sin. As
rapidly as they can overcome these obstacles–gain light, believe truth, acquire intelligence, cast off sin,
and break the chains of hell–they can leave the hell that imprisons them and dwell with the righteous in
the peace of paradise. (Mormon Doctrine, p.755)

By spirit world is meant the abiding place of disembodied spirits, those who have passed from pre-
existence to mortality and have also gone on from this temporal world to another sphere to await the
day of their resurrection, final redemption, and judgment. This world is divided into two parts: paradise
which is the abode of the righteous, and hell which is the abode of the wicked. (Alma 40:11-14.)

Until the death of Christ these two spirit abodes were separated by a great gulf, with the intermingling
of their respective inhabitants strictly forbidden. (Luke 16:19-31.) After our Lord bridged the gulf
between the two (1 Pet. 3:18-21; Moses 7:37-39), the affairs of his kingdom in the spirit world were so
arranged that righteous spirits began teaching the gospel to wicked ones. (Gospel Doctrine, 5th ed., pp.
473-476.)

Thus, although there are two spheres within the one spirit world, there is now some intermingling of the
righteous and the wicked who inhabit those spheres; and when the wicked spirits repent, they leave
their prison-hell and join the righteous in paradise. Hence, we find Joseph Smith saying: “Hades, sheol,
paradise, spirits in prison, are all one: it is a world of spirits. The righteous and the wicked all go to the
same world of spirits until the resurrection.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 310.) (Mormon
Doctrine, p. 762)

Paradise

Posted on August 28, 2015 by LDS Scripture Teachings

Satan has no power over the faithful dead

Satan has power here over us to a certain extent. He can afflict us; he can tempt us; he can annoy us in
many ways. These are the consequences of the fall and for a wise purpose belong to our probation here
in the flesh. But, if we listen to the Lord, if we strive to keep His commandments, if we seek to be
governed by His Spirit, when death comes, Satan’s power ceases. He can no more afflict or torment or
tempt or annoy those who are thus faithful. His power over them ceases forever.
But not so with those who disobey God, who keep not His commandments, who yield to the power and
spirit of Satan. They are his servants; they are under his influence. He takes possession of them when
they pass from this mortal existence, and they experience the torments of hell. (Elder George Q.
Cannon, Sept. 1, 1885, Juvenile Instructor 20:264)

Satan has no power over faithful dead. Satan is bound as soon as the faithful spirit leaves this tabernacle
of clay and goes to the other side of the veil. That spirit is emancipated from the power and thraldom
and attacks of Satan. Satan can only afflict such in this life. He can only afflict those in that life which is
to come who have listened to his persuasions, who have listed to obey him. These are the only ones
over whom he has power after this life.

The Latter-day Saints who have been faithful, the men and the women who have kept the
commandments of God, those who have lived according to the light that they have had, whether it be
much or little, when they leave this state of existence, they are placed in such a position that Satan has
no power over them; he cannot tempt them; he cannot afflict them; he can do nothing to interfere with
their happiness; but the wicked, those who list to obey him, those who give heed to his spirit, will only
be still more completely in his power in the life that is to come. . . .(George Q. Cannon, Gospel Truth:
Discourses and Writings of President George Q. Cannon, selected, arranged, and edited by Jerreld L.
Newquist [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1987], 61.)

“Paradise — the abode of righteous spirits, as they await the day of their resurrection; paradise — a
place of peace and rest where the sorrows and trials of his life have been shuffled off, and where the
saints continue to prepare for a celestial heaven; paradise — not the Lord’s eternal kingdom, but a way
station along the course leading to eternal life, a place where the final preparation is made for that
fulness of joy which comes only when body and spirit are inseparably connected in immortal glory!”
(Bruce R. McConkie, The Mortal Messiah, 4:222.)

According to the prophet Alma, the righteous spirits rest from earthly care and sorrow. Nevertheless,
they are occupied in doing the work of the Lord. President Joseph F. Smith saw in a vision that
immediately after Jesus Christ was crucified, he visited the righteous in the spirit world. He appointed
messengers, gave them power and authority, and commissioned them to “carry the light of the gospel
to them that were in darkness, even to all the spirits of men” (D&C 138:30).

The Church is organized in the spirit world, with each prophet standing at the head of his own
generation (Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 4:209).
“The same Priesthood exists on the other side of the veil. . . . Every Apostle, every Seventy, every Elder,
etc., who has died in the faith as soon as he passes to the other side of the veil, enters into the work of
the ministry” (Wilford Woodruff, Journal of Discourses, 22:333-34)

Family relationships are also important. President Jedediah M. Grant, a counselor to Brigham Young,
saw the spirit world and described to Heber C. Kimball the organization that exists there: “He said that
the people he there saw were organized in family capacities. . . . He said, ‘When I looked at families,
there was a deficiency in some, . . . for I saw families that would not be permitted to come and dwell
together, because they had not honored their calling here’ ” (Heber C. Kimball, in Journal of Discourses,
4:135-36).

A statement regarding conditions in the spirit world among the righteous was given in 1856 by Jedediah
M. Grant, a member of the First Presidency. He had related to President Heber C. Kimball a vision he had
had of the spirit world, which President Kimball subsequently discussed at Grant’s funeral a few days
later on December 4, 1856. Although an unofficial statement, it represents concepts generally held by
Latter-day Saints. A summary follows: Jedediah Grant saw the righteous gathered together in the spirit
world; there were no wicked spirits among them. There were order, government, and organization.
Among the righteous there was no disorder, darkness, or confusion. They were organized into families,
and there was “perfect harmony.” He saw his wife, with whom he conversed, and many other persons
whom he knew. There was “a deficiency in some” families, because some individuals “had not honored
their calling” on earth and therefore were not “permitted to…dwell together.” The buildings were
exceptionally attractive, far exceeding in beauty his opinion of Solomon’s temple. Gardens were more
beautiful than any he had seen on earth, with “flowers of numerous kinds.” After experiencing “the
beauty and glory of the spirit world” among the righteous spirits, he regretted having to return to his
body in mortality (Journal of Discourses 4:135-36).

Romans 8:12-39 Hope For the Saints

Posted on February 27, 2013 by LDS Scripture Teachings

I find the following outline to be helpful when studying Romans 8:12-39

1. Five Characteristics of a Saint – Romans 8:12-17

A. Romans 8:12-13 A Saint Puts to Death the Natural Man

B. Romans 8:14 A Saint is led by the Spirit

C. Romans 8:15-16 Adopted into the House of Israel

D. Romans 8:17 A Joint Heir with Christ

E. Romans 8:17 A Saint Suffers with Christ

2. Five Supports For Suffering Saints – Romans 8:18-30

A. Romans 8:18 Our Future Joys > Present Suffering

B. Romans 8:19-22 Our Fallen World Will Be A Celestial Glory

C. Romans 8:23-25 Our Fallen Bodies Will Eventually Stop Rebelling (Safely Dead)

D. Romans 8:26-27 The Holy Ghost Will Help Us When We Pray

E. Romans 8:28-30 God Works All Things For Our Growth

3. God The Father: Paul Addresses Five Doubts – Romans 8:31-39

A. Romans 8:31 Heavenly Father Fights For Us

B. Romans 8:32 He Gave His Son For Us

C. Romans 8:33 No One Can Accuse His Elect

D. Romans 8:33-34 God Has Justified Us

E. Romans 8:33-39 Nothing Can Separate Us From Heavenly Father’s Love!

Romans 8 teaches the idea that the Saints who follow Jesus Christ will one day inherit “all that the
Father hath” (D&C 84:38). This is a powerful promise! The Prophet Joseph Smith put it this way:

“[You] shall be heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. What is it? To inherit the same power, the
same glory and the same exaltation, until you arrive at the station of a God, and ascend the throne of
eternal power, the same as those who have gone before” 1

Becoming a Saint is a process. In the Book of Mormon we read that “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). Romans 8:12-17 outline these characteristics of the submissive saint. Through their
suffering and yielding their hearts to God, they become “joint heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17).

Romans 8:18-30 To Those That Suffer

Paul eloquently states, “For I reckon that the suffering of this present time are not worthy to be
compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). Paul had a vision of our future
glory. The Revelation of John tells us of the glory the great city that will one day descend to earth:
“(having) twelve gates… (that were) twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of
the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass” (Revelation 21:12-21). If the streets of the heavenly
city are constructed of pure gold, we can only imagine the wonderful construction materials used to
fashion the mansions of the saints.

Orson Pratt put it this way:

A Saint, who is one in deed and in truth, does not look for an immaterial heaven but he expects a
heaven with lands, houses, cities, vegetation, rivers, and animals; with thrones, temples, palaces, kings,
princes, priests, and angels; with food, raiment, musical instruments, etc; all of which are material.
Indeed the saints heaven is a redeemed, glorified celestial material creation, inhabited by glorified
material beings, male and female, organized into families, embracing all the relationships of husbands
and wives, parents and children, where sorrow, crying, pain, and death will be known no more. Or to
speak still more definitely, this earth, when glorified, is the saints eternal heaven. On it they expect to
live, with body parts, and holy passions: on it they expect to move and have their being; to eat, drink,
converse, worship, sing, play on musical instruments, engage in joyful, innocent, social amusements,
visit neighboring towns and neighboring worlds: indeed, matter and its qualities and properties are the
only being or things with which they expect to associate. If they embrace the father, they expect to
embrace a glorified, immortal, spiritual, material personage; if they embrace the Son of God, they
expect to embrace a spiritual being of material flesh and bones, whose image is in the likeness of the
Father; if they enjoy the society of the Holy Ghost, they expect to behold a glorious spiritual personage,
a material body of spirit; if they associate with the spirits of men or angels, they expect to find them
material. 2

To those that struggle with the temptations of the flesh, we are given a promise. We are promised that
if we are faithful, those temptations will no longer afflict us. We will be “safely dead”, outside of the
power of the adversary to try and to tempt us. Elder George Q. Cannon once said:

George Q. Cannon

George Q. Cannon

Satan has power here over us to a certain extent. He can afflict us; he can tempt us; he can annoy us in
many ways. These are the consequences of the fall and for a wise purpose belong to our probation here
in the flesh. But, if we listen to the Lord, if we strive to keep His commandments, if we seek to be
governed by His Spirit, when death comes, Satan’s power ceases. He can no more afflict or torment or
tempt or annoy those who are thus faithful. His power over them ceases forever.
But not so with those who disobey God, who keep not His commandments, who yield to the power and
spirit of Satan. They are his servants; they are under his influence. He takes possession of them when
they pass from this mortal existence, and they experience the torments of hell.

Satan is bound as soon as the faithful spirit leaves this tabernacle of clay and goes to the other side of
the veil. That spirit is emancipated from the power and thraldom and attacks of Satan. Satan can only
afflict such in this life. He can only afflict those in that life which is to come who have listened to his
persuasions, who have listed to obey him. These are the only ones over whom he has power after this
life.” 3

It is so good to know that the evil influences of this fallen world will one day be overruled. Paul
understood this. This is the hope of the saints, and it motivates them to endure the sufferings of this
fallen mortal world.

Romans 8:31-39 Heavenly Father Will Find You

Paul teaches the Roman saints that Heavenly Father will do all he can to save us. “Who shall separate us
from the love of Christ?” Paul implies that no one will. He says, “For I am persuaded, that neither death,
nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God…” (Romans 8:38-39)
Heavenly Father will seek us out.

Heavenly Father Knows MeAnother way to look at these verses is to understand that there are times
when we are the hands of the Lord, seeking out his lost sheep. There are many times when we will be
prompted by the Spirit to seek out the lost, to lift up the hands that hang down. A great video that
teaches this concept is Heavenly Father Knows Me. The young lady in this story had felt alone, but as
she continued to press forward, came to the realization that Heavenly Father is aware of us, that he is
near and will always reach out to us.

President Ezra Taft Benson taught:

President BensonNow we are here. Our memories are veiled. We are showing God and ourselves what
we can do. Nothing is going to startle us more when we pass through the veil to the other side than to
realize how well we know our Father and how familiar His face is to us.

God loves us. He is watching us. He wants us to succeed. We will know some day that He has not left
one thing undone for the eternal welfare of each of us. If we only knew it, heavenly hosts are pulling for
us—friends in heaven that we cannot now remember who yearn for our victory. This is our day to show
what we can do—what life and sacrifice we can daily, hourly, instantly make for God. If we give our all,
we will get His all from the greatest of all. 4

The following story illustrates the love Heavenly Father has coupled with the determination he has to
seek us out and reclaim us. This story is the account of Arthur Parker, a young man who, at the age of
six, lost his way along the plains as he traveled with his parents in a handcart company. I love this story!

Arthur Parker’s Rescue

Arthur Parker walked and walked and walked. Even though he was only six years old, he sometimes
helped his mother and father pull their loaded handcart. When everybody stopped to rest, he liked to
explore. He wandered around to see other people, the prairie grass, a stream, or a grove of trees.

Arthur had one brother and two sisters: Max, 12; Martha Ann, 10; and Ada, 1. The Parkers had sailed
from England to America that spring. Now they were traveling west with the McArthur Handcart
Company. As Max helped his parents pull the handcart, Martha Ann walked behind, taking care of
Arthur and Ada.

But one day Arthur’s father became ill. Martha Ann took his place helping to pull the handcart and sent
Arthur to walk with a group of other children in the company. When Arthur sat down to rest beside the
trail and fell asleep, the other children didn’t notice. The company moved on without him.

By the time Arthur’s family discovered that he was missing, it was too late and too dark to go looking for
him. That night, the cloudy sky burst open. Thunder and lightning raged, and many tents blew over.
Water ran across the ground in streams as people huddled in wet clothes. All night long, the Parkers
worried about Arthur, lost out in the stormy darkness. They hoped somebody would bring him to their
tent, but no one did.

The next morning, search parties went back along the trail to look for Arthur. The handcarts stayed
camped all day so the searchers could continue looking. Where was the little boy? Was he hurt in the
thunderstorm?

After searching for two days, the company could not wait any longer. They had more than a thousand
miles left to go.

Arthur’s parents didn’t give up hope. They decided that Brother Parker would go farther back along the
trail to look for Arthur, while Sister Parker and the other children would stay with the company and pull
the handcart.

Before Brother Parker left, his wife pinned a bright red shawl around his shoulders. If he found Arthur
dead, he would wrap him in the shawl. But if he found Arthur alive, he would wear the shawl on his
shoulders or hold it in his hand to signal that Arthur was all right.

The worried father retraced the trail—calling Arthur’s name, searching everywhere he could, and
praying. He walked and searched for 10 miles, determined not to leave without finding his son.

Meanwhile, the handcart company moved ahead. Two days went by. Sister Parker kept looking back
anxiously, hoping to see her husband and son catching up with them.

At last, Brother Parker came to a mail-and-trading station. He asked if anyone had seen a lost six-year-
old boy. Someone said that a boy had been found! He was being cared for by a farmer and his wife.
Arthur’s father went to the farmhouse and found his son. How glad they were to see each other!

Arthur told his father that he had spent the first night under some trees, which protected him from the
rainstorm. Then he had wandered until he came to the farmhouse. Brother Parker figured out that
Arthur had walked about nine miles!
The handcart company was now 60 miles past where Arthur had disappeared. Arthur had been missing
for four days, and his mother had hardly slept at all since then. She kept watching the trail behind her,
looking for her husband, hoping he would be waving the red shawl.

A few days later, as the sun was setting, she suddenly spotted the red shawl waving in the distance.
Arthur was alive! Captain McArthur sent a wagon back to meet the father and son. Everyone in the
company rejoiced to see Arthur, but no one felt as happy as his mother. Completely exhausted, she slept
soundly for the first time in days. 5

Notes:

1. Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 347.

2. Orson Pratt, Millennial Star, Vol. 28, p. 722, November 17, 1866.

3. George Q. Cannon, Sept. 1, 1885, Juvenile Instructor 20:264 see also Gospel Truth: Discourses and
Writings of President George Q. Cannon, selected, arranged, and edited by Jerreld L. Newquist [Salt Lake
City: Deseret Book Co., 1987], 61.

4. President Ezra Taft Benson, Jesus Christ – Gifts and Expectations, Ensign December, 1988.

5. William G. Hartley, “Where’s Arthur?,” Friend, May 2004, 5. Based on the experiences of Arthur
Parker; taken from historical sources.

Romans 3:21-31 – Paul & Justification

Posted on February 23, 2013 by LDS Scripture Teachings

In Romans 3:21-8:39 Paul spends time teaching the Romans what a Christian is like, comparing the New
Covenant with the Old, comparing Adam to Jesus, and illustrating how Heavenly Father is an active
participant in our lives. The next few posts will deal with Romans 3:21-8:39. The following outline breaks
down Romans 3:21-31:

Romans 3:21-31 The New Testament or Covenant

1. 3:21 The two witnesses to this covenant

2. 3:22-24 The absolute necessity of Jesus Christ

3. 3:25-26 How the New Covenant works in our lives

4. 3:27-28 The relationship of works to the New Covenant

5. 3:29-30 Who qualifies for the Atonement of Jesus Christ

6. 3:31 concluding statement

Propitiation – Romans 3:25

To be a propitiation – ἱλαστήριον hilastērion. This word occurs in another verse in the New Testament:
Hebrews 9:5 – “and over it (the ark) the cherubim of glory shadowing the mercy-seat. It is used here to
denote the lid or cover of the ark of the covenant. It was made of gold, and over it were the cherubim.

Ark of the CovenantOn the Day of Atonement in Old Testament times, the blood of a bullock offered
was to be sprinkled “upon the mercy-seat,” and “before the mercy-seat,” “seven times,” (Leviticus
16:14-15). 1 This sprinkling or offering of blood was called making “an atonement for the holy place
because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel,” (Leviticus 16:16). It was from this mercy-seat that
the Lord forgave Israel, or expressed himself as reconciled (re-con-silio – to sit again with) to the house
of Israel. The atonement was made, the blood was sprinkled, and the reconciliation was put into effect.
The name was given to that cover of the ark, because it was the place from which Jehovah declared
himself reconciled to his people.

Paul uses this word to emphasize the fact that Jesus Christ’s atonement brings us back into the presence
of the Father. The Son performs the atonement, this propitiation, or merciful offering, that puts all of
Heavenly Father’s children in a position whereby they can be brought back into his presence.
Justification – Romans 3:24-28

Here Paul teaches us how the gift of the Atonement of Jesus Christ operates in our lives. He states,
“Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus… we conclude that a
man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law (of Moses)” (Romans 3:24-28).

In its theological sense, justification is a forensic, or purely legal, term. It describes what God declares
about the believer, not what He does to change the believer. In fact, justification effects no actual
change whatsoever in the sinner’s nature or character. Justification is a divine judicial edict. It changes
our status only, but it carries ramifications that guarantee other changes will follow. Forensic decrees
like this are fairly common in everyday life.

Justification is more than simple pardon; pardon alone would still leave the sinner without merit before
God. So when God justifies He imputes divine righteousness to the sinner (Romans 4:22-25). Christ’s
own infinite merit thus becomes the ground on which the believer stands before God (Romans 5:19; 1
Corinthians 1:30; Philippians 3:9). So justification elevates the believer to a realm of full acceptance and
divine privilege in Jesus Christ.

Elder D. Todd Christofferson put it this way:

Elder D. Todd ChristoffersonChrist removes our condemnation without removing the law. We are
pardoned and placed in a condition of righteousness with Him. We become, like Him, without sin. We
are sustained and protected by the law, by justice. We are, in a word, justified. 2

How often does the Lord justify his children? All the time. In Doctrine and Covenants 31:4-5 the Lord
tells Thomas B. Marsh, “You shall declare the things which have been revealed to my servant, Joseph
Smith, Jun. You shall begin to preach from this time forth, yea, to reap in the field which is white already
to be burned. Therefore, thrust in your sickle with all your soul, and your sins are forgiven you…”

In Doctrine and Covenants 62:3 speaking to the elders in the last days, the Lord said, “ye are blessed, for
the testimony which ye have borne is recorded in heaven for the angels to look upon; and they rejoice
over you, and your sins are forgiven you.”
In the Doctrine and Covenants 50:36 we read, “And behold, verily I say unto you, blessed are you who
are now hearing these words of mine from the mouth of my servant, for your sins are forgiven you.”

Clearly there are many times in our lives when the Lord reaches out to justify us. For example, when we
are testifying of him, listening to his servants, reaching out to help those in need, or serving his children,
the atonement is operative in our lives – cleansing us from the sins of the world, changing us, improving
our nature. While this sanctification process is long, justification – being made “just” is something God
declares effective in the lives of humble saints often. Think of the ordinances of the gospel – for
example, the sacrament. In this this ordinance we receive the grace of the Lord and with this, the power
of his forgiveness. We become, because of the power of the atonement, justified. Elder Bruce R.
McConkie put it this way:

Elder Bruce R. McConkie

Elder Bruce R. McConkie

Baptism is for the remission of sins; it is the ordinance, ordained of God, to cleanse a human soul.
Baptism is in water and of the Spirit and is preceded by repentance. The actual cleansing of the soul
comes when the Holy Ghost is received. The Holy Ghost is a sanctifier whose divine commission is to
burn dross and evil out of a human soul as though by fire, thus giving rise to the expression baptism of
fire, which is the baptism of the Spirit. Forgiveness is assured when the contrite soul receives the Holy
Spirit, because the Spirit will not dwell in an unclean tabernacle.

The sacrament of the Lord’s Supper is the ordinance, ordained of God, in which baptized saints are
privileged, repeatedly and often, to renew the covenant of baptism. Those who partake worthily of the
sacramental emblems, by so doing, covenant on their part to remember the body of the Son of God who
was crucified for them; to take upon them his name, as they did in the waters of baptism; and to
“always remember him and keep his commandments which he has given them; that they may always
have his Spirit to be with them.” (D&C 20:77.) Thus those who partake worthily of the sacrament—and
the same repentance and contrition and desires for righteousness should precede the partaking of the
sacrament as precede baptism—all such receive the companionship of the Holy Spirit. Because the Spirit
will not dwell in an unclean tabernacle, they thus receive a remission of their sins through the
sacramental ordinance. Through this ordinance the Lord puts a seal of approval upon them; they are
renewed in spirit and become new creatures of the Holy Ghost, even as they did at baptism; they put off
the old man of sin and put on Christ whose children they then are.
There are also numerous other sacred occasions when the saints may get in tune with and receive the
sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit in their lives. The receipt of this heaven-sent boon always attests
that the recipient has forsaken the world and is no longer encumbered by its wicked ways. One of these
occasions may attend a proper anointing and blessing of the sick. “Is any sick among you?” James asks.
“Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name
of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have
committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for
another, that ye may be healed.” (James 5:14-16.) If the Spirit of the Lord rests upon one who is being
blessed by the elders, in connection with this or any other ordinance, it automatically follows that the
one blessed receives a remission of his sins; otherwise the Spirit would not be present. We do not want
for occasions upon which sins may be remitted. Our problem is one of so living that we are worthy to
have the companionship of the Spirit in our lives. 3

Notes:

1. Day of Atonement: The Day of Atonement was the 10th day of the 7th month. The directions for its
observance are given in Lev. 16; 23:26–32; cf. Num. 29:7–11; Ex. 30:10. The day was kept as a national
fast. The high priest, clothed in white linen, took a bullock as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering
for himself and his house; and two he-goats as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering for the
congregation of Israel. He presented the bullock and the two goats before the door of the tabernacle.
He then cast lots upon the two goats. One was to be for the Lord for a sin offering. The other was for
Azazel (the completely separate one, the evil spirit regarded as dwelling in the desert), to be sent away
alive into the wilderness. He then killed the bullock, his own sin offering, and, taking a censer full of live
coals from off the brazen altar with two handfuls of incense into the Holy of Holies, cast the incense on
the coals there, so that the cloud of smoke might cover the mercy seat and, as it were, hide him from
God. He then took of the blood of the bullock and sprinkled it once on the east part of the mercy seat
(as an atonement for the priesthood), and seven times before the mercy seat (as an atonement for the
Holy of Holies itself). Then he killed the goat, the congregation’s sin offering, and sprinkled its blood in
the same manner, with corresponding objects. Similar sprinklings were made with the blood of both
animals (bullock and goat) on the altar of incense (Lev. 16:15; Ex. 30:10) to make an atonement for the
Holy Place. No one besides the high priest was allowed to be present in the tabernacle while these acts
of atonement were going on. Lastly, an atonement was made for the altar of burnt offering in a similar
manner. The goat for Azazel was then brought before the altar of burnt offering. Over it the high priest
confessed all the sins of the people of Israel, after which it was sent by the hand of a man into the
wilderness to bear away their iniquities into a solitary land. This ceremony signified the sending away of
the sins of the people now expiated to the Evil One to convince him that they could no more be brought
up in judgment against the people before God. Then the high priest took off his linen garments, bathed,
put on his official garments, and offered the burnt offerings of two rams for himself and his people.

In Heb. 9:6–28 a contrast is drawn between the work of the high priest on the Day of Atonement, and
the work of Christ, the great High Priest, who offered once for all the perfect sacrifice of himself. The
sacrifices provided an annual “remembrance” of sin (Heb. 10:3–4), while the sacrifice of Christ removes
the sin and leads to the complete sanctification of the believer (9:12, 14, 26; 10:10–18).

2. Elder D. Todd Christofferson, Justification and Sanctification, Ensign, June 2001, p. 18.

3. Elder Bruce R. McConkie, A New Witness for the Articles of Faith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co.,
1985], 239.

Share this:

Romans 6:1-7:6 Saved by Grace, Changed by Grace

Posted on February 25, 2013 by LDS Scripture Teachings

Romans 6:1-7:6 can be outlined as follows:

I. Romans 6:1-7:6 Two Key Ideas: To be dead to sin (justification), to be alive in Christ (sanctification).

1. Romans 6:1-11 The new life of a Christian, symbolism of our baptism

a. Romans 6:1-3 Baptism as a symbol

b. Romans 6:4-7 Become dead to sin= justification

c. Romans 6:8-11 Our new life in Christ = becoming converted= sanctification

2. Romans 6:12-7:6 Living under the New Covenant as compared to the Old Covenant

a. Romans 6:12-14 We are free to choose liberty or death

b. Romans 6:15-23 You are the servant of whom you choose to obey

c. Romans 7:1-6 The Law of Moses is fulfilled in Jesus Christ

To understand this block of scripture as well as much of what Paul is teaching in Romans, it is good to
have an understanding of grace, justification and sanctification. The following helps us to come to a
greater understanding of the idea of sanctification:

Sanctification

Sanctification is a process, not an event. Church members are in a covenant relationship with God.
Justification and sanctification are gifts from God because of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It is
important that we don’t get the idea that justification and sanctification are a reward we earn when we
change our behavior by exercising our will power. That would be like a man thinking that by disciplined
eating and exercising he could earn the resurrection. We’re not justified or sanctified through exercising
will power. We’re justified and sanctified by “yielding [our] hearts unto God” (Helaman 3:35).

I liken the idea of sanctification to the process our bodies make when we begin to work out for the first
time. The changes we desire take time, but once we begin, the processes that are necessary for these
changes to take place are taking effect. The results we want may be months or even years away, but we
have begun the process. A friend of mine once shared a conversation he had with a Christian of another
faith who asked him if he was saved by grace. His response was, “Yes! I have been saved by grace! Have
you been changed by grace?”

What a great question! We are saved by grace when we accept Jesus’ atonement, and we are changed
by grace (sanctification) as we follow in his ways, emulating his perfect example. It is not enough that
we are cleansed from sin. We must be cleansed for a purpose (see Elder Oaks, The Challenge to Become,
Ensign, October 2000). We must become more than we currently are! There are a few verses in Romans
6 where Paul illustrates both justification and sanctification. In verse 8 and 11 we read the following:

“Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him… Likewise reckon ye also
yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” In other
words, being dead to sin (justification) puts us in a position whereby the grace of Jesus Christ can change
us (sanctification) where we live with him, or are “alive unto God through Christ our Lord”. Paul is
illustrating both concepts in Romans 6:8 & 11.

What if I am repeatedly struggling?

Elder Neil L. Andersen

Elder Neil L. Andersen

Sometimes in our repentance, in our daily efforts to become more Christlike, we find ourselves
repeatedly struggling with the same difficulties. As if we were climbing a tree-covered mountain, at
times we don’t see our progress until we get closer to the top and look back from the high ridges. Don’t
be discouraged. If you are striving and working to repent, you are in the process of repenting. As we
improve, we see life more clearly and feel the Holy Ghost working more strongly within us. 1

As we move along the gospel path, we will continue to find that we are changing. This changing of our
natures, this process, is sanctification. As we experience justification events in our lives- reading the
scriptures, receiving revelation, taking the sacrament, experiencing the guidance of the Holy Ghost in
our lives, we become more holy, losing our disposition to do evil. This is what it means to be sanctified.
Our hearts change, and we find that we are more and more like our Savior because we have
experienced what it means to listen to His voice and follow in His ways.

The Parable of the Canning Jars

The way that sanctification and justification work in our lives is illustrated in the following parable by
Bob George:
Canning PeachesThe process of canning is an excellent illustration of the two parts of the gospel. Let’s
say that you are going to preserve some peaches. What is first thing you have to do? Sterilize the jars.
Why the process of sterilization? So that the contents of the jars (the peaches) will be preserved from
spoiling.

Imagine a husband coming home and finding his wife boiling jars in the kitchen.

“What are you doing, honey?”

“Sterilizing jars.”

“Why are you doing that?” the husband asks.

“I just like clean jars,” she answers.

The husband is clearly at a loss. “What are you going to do next?” he asks.

“Keep them clean!”

This story doesn’t make much sense, does it? You have never seen anyone decorate his kitchen with a
sterile jar collection. No, the only reason to sterilize jars is because you intend to put something in
them. We would never expect to find a person involved in only half the process of canning, just
cleansing jars. But we have done this exact thing with the gospel! We have separated God’s
sterilization process… from His filling process- Christ coming to live in us…

The Christian world, to a large extent, has been guilty of teaching half a gospel- that is, the cross of
Christ which brought us forgiveness of sins. But by separating forgiveness of sins from the message of
receiving the life of Christ, we have not only missed out on experiencing life, but we have lost sight of
the purpose of forgiveness in the first place…

As a matter of fact, there is one final part of the canning process. After sterilizing the jars and filling
them with fruit, the jars are sealed. Sealing keeps the good things inside and the bad things that would
spoil the contents outside. 2

sock_monkeysThe story of Brittany on Mormon Messages (see God will lift us up) teaches us the idea
that as we come to focus more on others, we become more like Jesus. Paul states that “to whom ye
yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of
obedience unto righteousness…” In other words, as we come to live the life Jesus has in store for us, we
become his servants. We yield our hearts to him. It is interesting to go through Romans 6 to see how
many times Paul emphasizes this concept of yielding ourselves to the Lord and of being his servants. This
yielding of our hearts to God changes us in significant ways.

“But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of
doctrine which was delivered you” (Romans 6:17). Brittany is a great example of a teenager, who though
struggling with adversity, took the bitterness of mortality head on without being bitter. She chose to
serve the light rather than the darkness. May we strengthen each other in this resolve, ever looking to
Christ for direction, love and strength to carry on!

Notes:

1. Elder Neil L. Andersen from “Repent . . . That I May Heal You” General Conference October 2009.

2. Classic Christianity: Life’s Too Short to Miss the Real Thing, Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers,
1989, 59-60.