Doctrines of Salvation

Chapter 2

The Degrees of Glory Kingdoms of Glory

REASONABLE TO BELIEVE IN DEGREES OF GLORY. A place is prepared for every man where he shall be rewarded according to his works. For this reason Paul taught that there was a glory of the sun, a glory of the moon, and a glory of the stars, and as the stars differed in magnitude, so is it in the resurrection of the dead. 1 However, every man must repent, for every knee must bend and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ. None is exempt from this mandate which will finally be declared. 2

Quite generally the idea has been taught that man is either to be saved in the kingdom of God or cast into hell. He is either in the presence of God, or else in the presence of the devil. No other place is provided where a man could go who is unworthy of the presence of the Lord and yet not worthy of the condemnation with Lucifer.

Is such a thought consistent? With serious reflection, can we believe that our Eternal Father, who is all-wise and just, has arranged salvation and damnation on any such foundation as this? Let us look at this question in the spirit of common sense. All of the principles of the gospel are reasonable. It was the Lord himself who declared that in his Father's house were many mansions. 3

ALL SAVED EXCEPT SONS OF PERDITION. It is a very pleasing and consoling thing to know that the Lord will save all of his children, excepting the very few who wilfully rebel against him. When his children have paid the penalty of their transgressions, they shall come forth from the clutches of the second death to receive a place somewhere in the great heavenly kingdoms, which are prepared for them with their several glories and degrees of salvation. 4

It is the purpose of the Almighty to save all mankind, and all will enter into his kingdoms in some degree of glory, except sons of perdition who sin beyond the power of repentance and redemption, and therefore cannot receive forgiveness of sins. All the rest shall be saved, but not all with the same degree of glory or exaltation. 5 Every man will be judged according to his works, his opportunities for receiving the truth, and the intent of his heart.

CELESTIAL SALVATION. Those who keep the full law and obey all the commandments of God are heirs of full salvation in the celestial kingdom, the glory of which the sun is spoken of as being typical. These overcome all things and receive a fulness of the blessings, power, and glory of the Father. 6 All who have died without a knowledge of the gospel, or the opportunity to receive it, who would have accepted it had the opportunity been presented to them while living, are also heirs of this kingdom. 7

TERRESTRIAL SALVATION. Into the next, or terrestrial, shall enter all those who die without law; "they who are the spirits of men kept in prison, whom the Son visited, and preached the gospel unto them, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh; Who received not the testimony of Jesus in the flesh, but afterwards received it"; "honorable men of the earth, who were blinded by the craftiness of men"; those who were not willing to receive a fulness of his glory; and those who were not valiant in the testimony of Jesus: "wherefore, they obtain not the crown over the kingdom of our God." 8

TELESTIAL SALVATION. 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. 9

In both the terrestrial and the telestial glories the inhabitants thereof will be limited in their powers, opportunities, and progression, because, like the sons of perdition, "they were not willing to enjoy that which they might have received." 10

TELESTIAL DAMNATION. All who have been filthy and who would not receive the truth and have not had the testimony of Jesus Christ, must suffer the torments of the damned until they are purged from their iniquity, for the blood of Jesus Christ will not cleanse them from their sins without their own individual suffering.

Nevertheless they shall come out of the prison eventually. These are the rest of the dead, spoken of by John, who do not live during the millennial reign, but afterwards; and these are assigned to a kingdom known as the telestial kingdom, and they are denied the privilege of dwelling with the Father and the Son, "worlds without end." The Lord will do for them the best he can under the circumstances, but since they have denied his power and have dwelt in iniquity, they cannot receive the blessings of the kingdom of God. 11

GOSPEL TRUTHS TAUGHT IN ALL KINGDOMS. Will those in the other kingdoms besides the celestial, have the gospel taught to them?

Yes, all truth is gospel truth; and every soul eventually must become acquainted with the plan of salvation, at least as far as it is possible for him to do. We read that every knee must bow and every tongue confess Jesus Christ as the Son of God. This being true, then every soul must know something about him.

But matters which have been held in reserve for the faithful and which have been kept hid from the world by divine decree since before the foundation of the earth, need not be known after the resurrection any more than before, to those who are not entitled to receive them. For instance, there will be covenants and obligations required of these who enter into the exaltation which in no way will apply to those who do not enter into the exaltation, for they do not receive the fulness. In every kingdom the inhabitants must know that they have been redeemed from death, and have received such blessings as are granted them, through the mercy of Jesus Christ. 12

THE CELESTIAL KINGDOM

THE CELESTIAL IS THE KINGDOM OF GOD. The celestial kingdom is the kingdom spoken of in the scriptures as the kingdom of God, which men are commanded to seek first in preference to all else. 13 It is the place where those who enter receive eternal life, in addition to immortality. Immortality is the gift to live forever given to all men. Eternal life is life in the presence of the Father and the Son and is the kind of life which they possess. It is of the celestial kingdom the Lord was speaking when he said: "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." 14

NATURE OF EXALTATION IN CELESTIAL KINGDOM. Comparatively few of the children of men will find the salvation which is found in the celestial kingdom, or in other words the exaltation which will make of them heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ-even sons of God. Those who gain this exaltation receive the fulness of the power, might, and dominion of that kingdom. They overcome all things. They are crowned as priests and kings and become like Jesus Christ. While this doctrine is taught in the Bible, the majority of mankind have lost sight of it, and it has become one of the peculiar teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Paul taught: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.... The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together." 15

John also taught that those who have kept the commandments of the Lord in the full are sons of God, and when Christ comes they shall be like him. "And," said John, "every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure." 16

This celestial kingdom is governed by immutable law. It is only through obedience to the principles of the gospel and the laws which pertain to this kingdom that its blessings are obtained. Since the majority of men refuse to take the course in righteousness, or enter the strait gate into the narrow way, which would make them heirs in the household of God, it will be a select few who receive these crowning blessings. 17

SALVATION COMES TO THOSE WHO OVERCOME ALL THINGS. We are preaching the gospel of salvation in the celestial kingdom. I think it would be better if we would get into the habit of speaking more of exaltation than of salvation. According to the scriptures which are given to us, salvation means for a man to rise above his enemies, to conquer them. This does not mean enemies in the flesh, individuals, but it does mean sin, transgression of the law; and as a man overcomes he is saved. 18

Through the atonement of Jesus Christ, every soul shall receive the resurrection; no matter when he lived or how, the resurrection will come to every individual. Even those who have lived upon the earth who shall be classed as sons of perdition shall receive their bodies, and the body and spirit shall be inseparably connected. This is a doctrine which seems to bother some. All others receiving the resurrection will find their places in one of these three great kingdoms.

But in order to enter into the celestial kingdom, which is the kingdom of exaltation, and the kingdom spoken of in the scriptures as the kingdom of God, one must accept and abide in the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, adhering to the teachings, receiving the ordinances, and being true to the covenants which appertain to that salvation....

The Prophet says a man may enter into the terrestrial or the telestial kingdom who has not been baptized with water and who has not in this life received these ordinances, but he can never enter into the celestial kingdom without complying with these eternal laws. 19

Each kingdom, of course, is governed by laws. We have nothing to do with the laws of the telestial or terrestrial kingdoms, so far as the preaching of the gospel is concerned. Our mission is to preach the salvation of the kingdom of God, where he and Christ dwell, which is the celestial kingdom. And all of the principles of the gospel which have been given unto us pertain to the celestial kingdom.

Now, of course, if a man enters into one of the others because of disobedience, he will yet have to acknowledge Christ; he will have to believe in him as being the Son of God; he will have to bend the knee; for every knee must bow, and every tongue eventually must confess that Jesus is the Christ; that will be required of all, not merely those who are willing to keep the commandments and thereby receive exaltation. 20

THIS EARTH TO BECOME CELESTIAL. This earth is going to become a celestial body and is going to be a fit abode for celestial beings only; the others will have to go somewhere else, where they belong. This earth will be reserved for those who are entitled to exaltation, and they are the meek, spoken of by our Savior, who shall inherit the earth. When the Lord said the meek shall inherit the earth, he had reference to those who are willing to keep the commandments of the Lord in righteousness and thus receive exaltation. 21

MANY CELESTIAL EARTHS. This earth on which we dwell, like many that have gone before, is destined to become a celestial sphere and the righteous shall inherit it forever, "For, for this intent was it made and created," and after it has filled the measure of its mortal creation, it shall be crowned with glory, even with the presence of God the Father. Like man, the earth also shall die, but it also shall be quickened again, and shall abide the power by which it is quickened, to continue throughout eternity as the celestial abode of man. 22

THE TERRESTRIAL AND TELESTIAL KINGDOMS

JUDGMENT ACCORDING TO WORKS. Do you think that all are going to receive the gospel and come into the Church? No. There will be a great multitude, so great that you cannot count them, who will not receive the ordinances of the house of the Lord which would place them in the celestial kingdom and give them the blessings of exaltation. These will take their places in the terrestrial and telestial worlds, where they will be denied many blessings and privileges that are held in reserve for the faithful. 23

Not all of the Lord's children are worthy of celestial glory, and many are forced to suffer his wrath because of their transgressions, and this causes the Father and the whole heavens to have sorrow and to weep. 24 The Lord works in accordance with natural law. Man must be redeemed according to law, and his reward must be based on the law of justice. Because of this, the Lord will not give unto men that which they do not merit, but shall reward all men according to their works. 25

While all men shall be saved, except the few sons of perdition who wilfully reject the truth, yet our place and station will depend upon our integrity and willingness to obey the commandments of the Lord. Every man will be placed just where he belongs, according to his works. Justice will be meted out to all, and every man will find his level according to that which he was willing to receive. 26

CHURCH MEMBERS MAY GO TO ANY KINGDOM. We have our agency and many, very, very many members of this Church, when they come to the judgment and are judged according to their works, are going to be consigned to the telestial kingdom; others to the terrestrial kingdom; because that is the law that they have willed to obey; and we are going to get our reward according to the law that we obey. 27

A man who has accepted the testimony of Jesus in the flesh may inherit any of the three kingdoms, according to the degree of faithfulness he has shown in keeping the commandments of the Lord. If he keeps the full law, he shall be entitled to enter the celestial kingdom.

If he is willing to abide by only a portion of the law, and rejects the covenants which govern in the celestial kingdom, notwithstanding he is honest, virtuous, and truthful, he shall be assigned to the terrestrial kingdom where other honorable men shall be found.

If he enters into the Church, but rejects the light, and lives a life of disobedience and corruption, he may be assigned to the telestial kingdom and obtain such blessing's as he is willing to receive, because he was not willing to enjoy that which he might have received. 28

THOSE WHO ARE NOT VALIANT. "These are they who are not valiant in the testimony of Jesus; wherefore, they obtain not the crown over the kingdom of our God." 29 These enter into the terrestrial glory.

Who are they? All who refuse to receive the fulness of the truth, or abide by the principles and ordinances of the everlasting gospel. They may have received a testimony; they may be able to testify that they know that Jesus is the Christ; but in their lives they have refused to accept ordinances which are essential to entrance into the celestial kingdom. They have refused to live the gospel, when they knew it to be true; or have been blinded by tradition; or for other cause have not been willing to walk in the light.

In this class we could properly place those who refuse to take upon them the name of Christ, 30 even though they belong to the Church; and those who are not willing when called to go forth and preach to a perverse world "Jesus Christ, and him crucified." 31

They may live clean lives; they may be honest, industrious, good citizens, and all that; but they are not willing to assume any portion of the labor which devolves upon members of the Church, in carrying on the great work of redemption of mankind.

We have known members of the Church who have gone out in the world and have mingled with those not of our faith, and these members were ashamed to have it known that they were Latter-day Saints. Such persons certainly are not valiant in the testimony of Jesus. The Lord has said: "Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels." 32

SALVATION OF THOSE WITHOUT THE GOSPEL LAW. Through the mission of Jesus Christ a law has been given, the law of the gospel, and that law is binding upon all those who hear it, who come in contact with it; and provision has been made so that those who are without the law or who have not heard the name of Christ, who are ignorant of the plan of salvation, because the gospel has never reached them in any form, shall not be under the same restrictions and condemnation as will those who have received that law. And they who are without the law, Christ redeems through his blood, and does not require of them that which he requires of me and of you. 33

EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW; EVERY TONGUE CONFESS. I want to call attention to something that is stated frequently in the scriptures, and I think very often misunderstood, and that is the statement that, "every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess." 34 I wonder how many of us have an idea that if a knee bows and a tongue confesses, that is a sign of forgiveness of sin and freedom from sin, and that the candidate is prepared for exaltation? If you do, you make a mistake. It does not mean that at all.

The time will come when "every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess," and yet the vast majority of mankind will go into the telestial kingdom eternally. Let me read these verses: "The time shall come when all shall see the salvation of the Lord; when every nation, kindred, tongue, and people shall see eye to eye and shall confess before God that his judgments are just."

It is a wonderful thing when men reach the stage when they will be willing to confess that the judgments against them are just, and they will bow the knee and will understand "eye to eye." But see what this prophet says further: "And then shall the wicked be cast out, and they shall have cause to howl, and weep, and wail, and gnash their teeth; and this because they would not hearken unto the voice of the Lord; therefore the Lord redeemeth them not." And yet they confess.

"For they are carnal and devilish, and the devil has power over them; yea, even that old serpent that did beguile our first parents, which was the cause of their fall; which was the cause of all mankind becoming carnal, sensual, devilish, knowing evil from good, subjecting themselves to the devil.

"Thus all mankind were lost; and behold, they would have been endlessly lost were it not that God redeemed his people from their lost and fallen state." 35

So do not get an idea that because they bow the knee and confess with the tongue, or as it reads in the other scriptures, see eye to eye, that this is going to exalt them in the celestial kingdom of God, because they are going to be judged according to their works and receive their dominion according to the plan that has been appointed and prepared according to the justice, and tempered by the mercy, of the Lord. 36

NO PROGRESSION FROM KINGDOM TO KINGDOM

NO ADVANCEMENT FROM LOWER TO HIGHER. It has been asked if it is possible for one who inherits the telestial glory to advance in time to the celestial glory?

The answer to this question is, No!

The scriptures are clear on this point. Speaking of those who go to the telestial kingdom, the revelation says: "And they shall be servants of the Most High; but where God and Christ dwell they cannot come, worlds without end." 37

Notwithstanding this statement, those who do not comprehend the word of the Lord argue that while this is true, that they cannot go where God is "worlds without end," yet in time they will get where God was, but he will have gone on to other heights.

This is false reasoning, illogical, and creates mischief in making people think they may procrastinate their repentance, but in course of time they will reach exaltation in celestial glory.

KINGDOMS PROGRESS IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS. Now let us see how faulty this reasoning is. If in time those who enter the telestial glory may progress till they reach the stage in which the celestial is in now-then they are in celestial glory, are they not, even if the celestial has advanced? That being the case (I state this for the argument only, for it is not true), then they partake of all the blessings which are now celestial. That means that they become gods, have exaltation, gain the fulness of the Father, and receive a continuation of the "seeds forever." The Lord, however, has said that these blessings, which are celestial blessings, they may never have; they are barred forever!

The celestial and terrestrial and telestial glories, I have heard compared to the wheels on a train. The second and third may, and will, reach the place where the first was, but the first will have moved on and will still be just the same distance in advance of them. This illustration is not true! The wheels do not run on the same track, and do not go in the same direction. The terrestrial and the telestial are limited in their powers of advancement, worlds without end.

LIMITATION ON CELESTIAL PROGRESSION. In section 131, the Lord has said, through the Prophet Joseph Smith: "In the celestial glory there are three heavens or degrees; And in order to obtain the highest, a man must enter into this order of the priesthood [meaning the new and everlasting covenant of marriage]; And if he does not, he cannot obtain it. He may enter into the other, but that is the end of his kingdom; he cannot have an increase." 38 So, we see, even in the celestial, some are barred and cannot go on to exaltation.

Further light is thrown on this in section 132: "For these angels did not abide my law; therefore, they cannot be enlarged, but remain separately and singly, without exaltation, in their saved condition, to all eternity, and from henceforth are not gods, but are angels of God forever and ever." 39 These angels, spoken of here, include those who enter the celestial kingdom but do not gain the highest glory in that kingdom.

In this same section the Lord says: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye abide my law ye cannot attain to this glory. For strait is the gate, and narrow the way that leadeth unto the exaltation and continuation of the lives, and few there be that find it, because ye receive me not in the world neither do ye know me. But if ye receive me in the world, then shall ye know me, and shall receive your exaltation; that where I am ye shall be also.

"This is eternal lives-to know the only wise and true God, and Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent. I am he. Receive ye, therefore, my law. Broad is the gate, and wide the way that leadeth to the deaths; and many there are that go in thereat, because they receive me not, neither do they abide in my law." 40

Now, if a man is deprived of the "continuation of the lives" for ever-and not to have these blessings is referred to as leading to the deaths, or the lack of the continuation of the lives, or increase-then he cannot "worlds without end" reach the celestial glory; for the celestial glory is "the continuation of the lives" or increase eternally; it is to be gods, even the sons of God.

DIFFERENCES IN KIND OF RESURRECTED BODIES. In section 88 of the Doctrine and Covenants, we are taught that there is a difference in the kinds of resurrection. Some will be raised with celestial bodies; some with terrestrial bodies, and some with telestial bodies; and yet others will be raised with bodies without any qualification or power of glory, and these will be sons of perdition. Read verses 17-33. Paul bears witness of this in the following words:

"But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body to they come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.

"All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.... So also is the resurrection of the dead." 41

If a man will enter into life, then he must abide in the law of the gospel, keeping all of the commandments to the end of his mortal life. This is the doctrine of the Prophet Joseph Smith. "I . . . spoke to the people," he says, "showing them that to get salvation we must not only do some things, but everything which God has commanded. Men may preach and practice everything except those things which God commands us to do, and will be damned at last. We may tithe mint and rue, and all manner of herbs, and still not obey the commandments of God." 42

Notes

^ 1. 1 Cor. 15:39-42; Rev. 20:12-15.

^ 2. Isa. 45:23; Rom. 14:10-11; Phil. 2:9-11; D. & C. 76:110; 88:104.

^ 3. Millennial Star, vol. 91, p. 675; John 14:2.

^ 4. Era, vol. 19, p. 428; D. & C. 63:17-18; 76:81-85.

^ 5. D. & C. 76:30-49; Heb. 6:4-8.

^ 6. D. & C. 76:50-70, 92-96; 84:38; 88:107.

^ 7. Era, vol. 20, pp. 360-361; Joseph Fielding Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 107.

^ 8. Era, vol. 19, pp. 428-429; D. & C. 76:71-80.

^ 9. Era, vol. 20, pp. 360-361; D. & C. 76:81-90, 98-113.

^ 10. Era, vol. 19, p. 429; D. & C. 88:32.

^ 11. Church News, Feb. 20, 1932, p. 8; Rev. 20:5; D. & C. 19:4, 15-19; 29:17.