Damnation

“He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved,” the resurrected Christ declared to his disciples, “but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:16). Damnation is the opposite of salvation and eternal increase; it is having one’s spiritual progress halted and the partaking of God’s glory, presence, and the fulness of eternal life blocked. As used in a variety of ways in the scriptures, damnation is experienced in various levels and durations. It is sometimes used synonymously with hell, as in those “damned souls” (Mormon 9:4) who “blaspheme against the Holy Ghost” (Mark 3:29). In contrast with those who “received the testimony of Jesus, and believed on his name and were baptized” (D&C 76:51) and those “who are honorable men of the earth, who were blinded by the craftiness of men” (D&C 76:75) who come forth in the first resurrection, there are those “that have done evil” (John 5:29)—“they who are liars, and sorcerers, and adulterers, and whoremongers” (D&C 76:103)—who come forth in the last resurrection, “the resurrection of damnation” (John 5:29). In the ultimate sense, anyone “who is not able to abide the law of a celestial kingdom cannot abide a celestial glory” (D&C 88:22); such individuals experience damnation in that they do not inherit exaltation. Thus, their rewards, powers, privileges, and glories are limited, incomplete, and fixed (D&C 76:112); in other words, they are damned.

In a sense, when individuals deprive themselves through unworthiness and an unwillingness to repent, they experience damnation in that their spiritual progress is stopped and their blessings are forfeited. For this reason the apostle Paul taught that one who partakes of the sacrament unworthily “eateth and drinketh damnation to himself” (1 Corinthians 11:29; see also 3 Nephi 18:28–29). Likewise, the Lord revealed to Joseph Smith in this dispensation that “he that doeth not anything until he is commanded, . . . the same is damned” (D&C 58:29). Thus, escaping the effects of damnation, whether in mortal life or in eternity, requires faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance of sin, and obedience to the commandments, principles, and ordinances of the gospel.

BLT