The Divine Gift of Repentance (Part 4)

This is the fourth post I devote to a translation of certain portions of the October 1, 2011 General Conference address, The Divine Gift of Repentance, given by Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Elder Christofferson:

With repentance we can steadily improve in our capacity to live the celestial law, for we recognize that “he who is not able to abide the law of a celestial kingdom cannot abide a celestial glory.” (D&C 88:22)

Translation:

The clear implication of Christofferson’s assessment of repentance, apparently synonymous with steady improvement, is that through our own efforts (perhaps aided from time to time by Jesus) we can eventually learn and master celestial law, the law to which the perfected children of God conform in eternity in his full presence and glory.

However, the apostle is again emphasizing the concept that our choice for Christ during our pre-resurrection sojourn in mortality and the postmortem spirit world is a real, substantive, enduring choice.

Do we, in fact, slowly, methodically, and systematically acquire through our own efforts and practice perfect holiness and righteousness?

This seems to be the conclusion of pop-culture and legalistic influences in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

What does the Lord mean where he teaches the Prophet Joseph that “he who is not able to abide the law of a celestial kingdom [the celestial heaven], cannot abide a celestial glory”?

Does Christ mean that we must practice righteousness until we become just like he is, and that he will help us until we get everything right?

Those who espouse this view in the church necessarily condemn all of us who seek Christ to become like Sisyphus of Greek mythology, who is sentenced to an afterlife of hard labor (except that the hill up whose slope we push the boulder of practice and effort rises to an infinite height), and assure us that Jesus will help us push our boulder up an interminable slope until we arrive at our desired destination.

If, in fact, we can “steadily improve” in our ability to attain perfection, then how long will we require to incrementally do so?

How long will we incrementally practice and labor in pursuit of an infinite perfection?

When do we reach the top of the hill?

Does the hill even have a summit?

See the problem?

How much time, practice, and help do we think we need to become as holy, righteous, and perfect as Jesus Christ?

Do we believe that we have anything to do with that hoped-for outcome, or that we can contribute anything at all to such a divine task?

Do we overcome the Fall?

Do we overcome sin?

Do we raise ourselves from the dead?

Do we elevate ourselves to ineffable, infinite realms of eternal glory?

What is it, exactly, that we think we do relative to the divine perfection and holiness of heaven?

Is our acquisition of perfection really best described as a process?

And, returning back to the original question, how do we obtain the ability to perfectly comply with “the law of a celestial kingdom”?

The answer comes from the same section of the Doctrine & Covenants that Elder Christofferson quotes:

For notwithstanding they die, they also shall rise again, a spiritual body.

They who are of a celestial spirit shall receive the same body which was a natural body; even ye shall receive your bodies, and your glory shall be that glory by which your bodies are quickened.

Ye who are quickened by a portion of the celestial glory shall then receive of the same, even a fulness. (D&C 88:27-29)

So how do acquire the skill and talent to abide by “the law of a celestial kingdom”?

We acquire this windfall from “that glory by which [our] bodies are quickened,” for we must be “quickened by a portion of the celestial glory,” which quickening confers upon us a “fulness” of the marvelous grace of Jesus.

Does this sound more like an internal, ongoing process, or an external, metaphysical transformation?

Does the Lord misuse the verb to quicken?

Many of us in the restored church of Christ seem to think so. We are more comfortable with the verb “to improve” (or “to steadily improve”) to describe the mechanism by which we will ultimately find the perfection Jesus offers.

Non-Mormon Christians generally understand that their desired elevation to heaven in the presence of God has nothing whatsoever to do with their effort and innate goodness.

We Latter-day Saints generally do not come anywhere near that clarity in our own thinking.

Which view is more correct?

For a more comprehensive discussion of our desired acquisition of the righteousness available to us in Christ, see Chapter 8: Saved by Grace and Chapter 11: The Commandments of the Perfect Day in the book Redeeming Grace in the Canon of the Restoration (Amazon CreateSpace and Kindle).

The Divine Gift of Repentance (Part 3)

This is the third post I devote to a translation of certain portions of the October 1, 2011 General Conference address, The Divine Gift of Repentance, given by Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Elder Christofferson:

Second, repentance means striving to change. It would mock the Savior’s suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross for us to expect that He should transform us into angelic beings with no real effort on our part. Rather, we seek His grace to complement and reward our most diligent efforts (see 2 Nephi 25:23).

Translation:

Where Elder Christofferson speaks of “striving to change,” “real effort on our part,” and “our most diligent efforts,” he is referring to the genuine, meaningful nature of our choice to come to Christ.

In other words, if the principal purpose of our lives is to demonstrate to God what we want, then our choice for the righteousness available to us in Christ must be a real choice, not a passing fancy. We must choose Christ differently from the way we choose an entrée from a lunch menu.

The apostle is implicitly criticizing any soteriological system that proclaims that our choice for Christ is complete once we respond to an altar call, or offer a rote prayer, or argues that once we are born again and forgiven, we are irrevocably saved (once saved, always saved).

Jesus compares the substantive choice to come to him with constructing a tower. We begin at the foundation, and continue until we finish the project (Luke 14:28-30).

Latter-day Saints understand this parable to simply mean that we continue (JST Luke 14:31), that we endure to the end.

Once we are aware of the Lord and what he requires of us, we come to him, and we do so for the rest of our lives. We endure in faith on his name until our time of testing is over, and we do not allow any worldly or other distraction to prevent us from following him.

We endure, not in perfect obedience, but in faith.

We continue, not in perfect contractual performance, but in discipleship.

Consequently, our choice to come to Christ must be a life-changing matter of substance, severity, and significance.

However, no matter how we excel on the scale of the restricted, relevant range of mortal goodness and holiness, we do not and cannot approach the infinite, perfect goodness and holiness required to dwell in the fullness of the presence of God.

Our spiritual strivings during our fallen, mortal lives demonstrate the genuineness of our choice for Christ, but do not and cannot elevate us to heaven. In fact, what we do has no power at all to elevate us to a divine stature and standing.

As fallen beings, we move toward Christ, but we cannot move upward—not even a little bit—precisely because we are fallen beings. This is why the Lord must condescend to come down to us. We cannot go up to him.

Elder Christofferson is emphasizing the importance and weight of the choice to come to Christ where he observes that “we seek His grace to complement and reward our most diligent efforts.”

In reality, however, “our most diligent efforts” are not the foundation upon which the Lord adds his grace, whether to “complement” what we do, or to “reward” what we do.

In reality, the Lord’s grace is the only thing that can elevate us to a divine stature and standing. His grace must stand alone, without addition, without external assistance, without anything we do, for he alone acquires the power through atonement to raise us up to salvation, and he must do so through grace.

I used to wonder whether the Apostle Paul, after his departure from this life, ever felt any regret over some of the things he wrote that were “hard to be understood” (2 Peter 3:16), given the way many misinterpret his words.

Now I wonder the same thing about the ancient Prophet Nephi, who is the author of the verse to which Elder Christofferson refers:

For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do (2 Nephi 25:23).

This passage is the most misinterpreted verse in the entire canon of the Restoration.

We Latter-day Saints routinely use it to defend the notion that what we do, even “all we can do,” directly contributes to our own salvation and perfection, and that Jesus simply makes up the difference, or helps us over eons of time to eventually close the infinite gap separating us from the divine righteousness and holiness of heaven.

This flawed interpretation permanently fractures the inherent doctrinal agreement on redeeming grace between the Book of Mormon and the New Testament, particularly the Book of Romans.

This flawed interpretation unavoidably places Nephi in conflict with Paul over the relationship between what we do as fallen, mortal beings and what Jesus does through his redeeming grace.

Paul writes:

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Paul understands that, in the plan of salvation, we must be saved by grace because we must be saved by Christ. The only thing we can do, even all we can do, is come to Christ “through faith” so that he can save us “by grace.”

Nephi understands the same thing.

Nephi writes to persuade us to “believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God.”

Is this not faith?

Do we not begin our spiritual journey with faith, and continue with it until the very end?

Nephi writes that “it is by grace that we are saved.”

Does he therefore not recognize that salvation itself must be a “gift of God” obtained “not of [ourselves]” because the Son of God must procure it for us?

What is “all we can do” as fallen, mortal beings?

Does Nephi really use the unduly esoteric phrase “all we can do” to describe our best efforts, or our doing our “all,” since our best and our all contribute directly to our salvation?

Of course not.

The phrase “all we can do” is a description of the only option available for fallen (and free) humanity if we want the righteousness available to us in Christ.

According to Nephi, “all we can do” is “believe in Christ,” and “be reconciled to God.”

Both Nephi and Paul understand that what we do in the plan of salvation is choose (and demonstrate our choice for the Son of God by exercising real, living faith in him), and what Jesus does is save us by grace, which is how he must save us, for only he can save us—that is, rescue us from the punishments decreed against us at the Fall, deliver us from the sins we commit as fallen, mortal beings, and elevate us to a condition of divine holiness and righteousness.

Consequently, 2 Nephi 25:23 and Ephesians 2:8-9 are equivalent declarations, not contradictory claims.

One reason that, in over 30 years of attending various worship services in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I have never heard Ephesians 2:8-9 quoted from the pulpit is that we must conscientiously ignore and conspicuously misplace passages like Ephesians 2:8-9 because we routinely and consistently misinterpret 2 Nephi 25:23.

Someday soon, someone of understanding and authority is going to stand at a Latter-day Saint pulpit, and correctly and precisely preach the doctrine of redeeming grace.

The sign certifying the truthfulness of this future sermon of consequence will be the inclusion of 2 Nephi 25:23 and Ephesians 2:8-9, quoted together (in part fulfilling the prophecy of 1 Nephi 13:40) and properly paired as one—one doctrine of grace, the most beautiful, comforting doctrine of all the doctrines of Christianity.

Our choice to follow Christ is a serious, enduring choice.

Even more serious and enduring is the Lord’s merciful promise to save us by grace.

For a more comprehensive discussion of the interaction between what we do and what Christ does in the plan of salvation, see Chapter 4: Distinguishing the Cause from the Conditions and Chapter 8: Saved by Grace in the book Redeeming Grace in the Canon of the Restoration (Amazon CreateSpace and Kindle).

Untimely Death of Andrew Breitbart

Like many others, particularly conservatives, I was greatly saddened to learn of the untimely death of Andrew Breitbart, who fought against what he saw as the stranglehold of the Left on the so-called mainstream media.

I am reminded of a passage from Isaiah:

Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us? (Isaiah 29:15).

Andrew saw, and knew, and brought some light.

God bless and Godspeed, and thank you, Jesus, for redemption, reconciliation, and resurrection.

The Divine Gift of Repentance (Part 2)

This is the second post I devote to a translation of certain portions of the October 1, 2011 General Conference address, The Divine Gift of Repentance, given by Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Elder Christofferson:

Repentance exists as an option only because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It is His infinite sacrifice that “bringeth about means unto men that they may have faith unto repentance”(Alma 34:15). Repentance is the necessary condition, and the grace of Christ is the power by which “mercy can satisfy the demands of justice” (Alma 34:16).

Translation:

There is no question that repentance, one of the conditions of mercy in the gospel, exists as the direct result of the “atonement of Jesus Christ,” which allows him to provide to the world the attainable standards of salvation by which informed individuals with sufficient capacity are to come to him.

Keep in mind, however, that the atonement of Christ also creates spiritual safety nets that protect, in one way or another, all of God’s children who are born on this earth. In last week’s post, I mention several of the special provisions of mercy that Jesus provides for those who die as little children, those who die without law, the unrepentant who do not take up the sword against Christ, and the unrepentant who do, in fact, take up the sword against Christ.

The issue in this post concerns the notion that “repentance is the necessary condition, and the grace of Christ is the power by which ‘mercy can satisfy the demands of justice.’”

At first glance, we may conclude from this statement that there is no mercy for any of us without repentance, since “repentance is the necessary condition” for mercy to do its wonderful work.

This interpretation, however, is deeply flawed.

Elder Christofferson is speaking of the case of informed individuals with sufficient capacity who choose to come to Christ, and is referring to their receipt of a fullness of the mercy and grace of Jesus, the gift of eternal life.

This case, however, represents a part of the whole of salvation, not its entirety.

Is repentance truly “necessary” in the overall plan of salvation for mercy to heal and bless, to one degree or another, fallen humanity?

No.

Those in the restored church of Christ (and perhaps some in Christianity at large) who find yourselves hyperventilating or convulsing in disbelief and outrage at the audacity of the idea that the grace of Jesus confers mercy on members of the human family without their repentance (or allegedly perfect compliance with all the laws of God), please stop for moment.

Breathe.

Calm down.

Think.

The angrier you are with this proposition, the more likely you are also shackled to the misinterpretations and distortions of the gospel of legalism, which stands in stark contrast to the gospel of Christ.

Let us start by asking a fundamental question: In the plan of salvation, how is the perfect, consuming, holy justice of heaven satisfied, and pacified in its condemnation of fallen humanity?

Do we, through repentance or any other act we perform in our fallen condition, contribute directly in any way to satisfy divine justice, acquire divine mercy, release ourselves from the twin judgments of the Fall, or elevate ourselves to any of the heavens?

The crown jewel of the canon of the Restoration with regard to the competing claims of mercy and justice is Alma 42 in the Book of Mormon, and we find the answer there:

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).

So how is divine justice satisfied?

Do we satisfy it?

Does what we do satisfy it?

No.

God the Son “atoneth for the sins of the world, to bring about the plan of mercy, to appease the demands of justice …”

Only the atonement of a sinless proxy can satisfy divine justice. Nothing fallen mortals can do will satisfy divine justice, which is why Jesus alone bears the full brunt of divine justice. Only he can.

We do well to remember who does what in the plan of salvation. Jesus makes intercession alone to provide a “plan of mercy” to fallen humanity. We do not.

Why not?

Why can we not directly contribute in some way to our own salvation?

One reason is that we are fallen.

Aaron teaches that “since man had fallen he could not merit anything of himself …” (Alma 22:14). Alma recognizes that, apart from Christ, there is “no means to reclaim men from this fallen state …” (Alma 42:12). Mormon understands that “all things which are good cometh of Christ; otherwise men were fallen, and there could no good thing come unto them” (Moroni 7:24).

Got that?

Nothing good comes to us in eternity or during the time of our fallen condition except through Christ.

And, of course, Paul observes in Romans that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), and, consequently, that we must rely entirely on “his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus …” (Romans 3:24).

If we attempt to participate directly in our own salvation, we not only unavoidably and inescapably taint it, but also utterly ruin it. Salvation based 99% on Jesus and 1% on us is no salvation at all.

If Christ is the one who directly satisfies divine justice, then can he not define the parameters of the blessings of his own intercession, independent of the divine importance and eternal value we mistakenly seek to assign to our own actions?

Yes.

The Lord does just that, because he must not only make complete, perfect intercession, but also dispense the blessings of that intercession based on a meaningful framework of conditions. If he makes atonement without conveying conditions, divine justice will be offended, having been robbed by divine mercy:

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 (Alma 42:13).

(That Jesus through atonement can satisfy the divine, lethal justice of heaven, and refashion it as attainable conditions of mercy friendly to fallen, mortal beings is a testament to the astonishing power and infinite utility of the sacrifice of the Son of God on our behalf.)

Please remember that Jesus by atonement satisfies divine justice, not the tandem of our repentance and his grace.

The mistake of conflating his intercession with our repentance is, in part, related to the wording of the important phrase “conditions of repentance.” This phrase is not, as many in the church believe, restricted to the principle of repentance, but rather is shorthand for the entirety of the attainable standards of salvation of the gospel, including all of the merciful spiritual safety nets the Lord deploys therein.

In other words, the “conditions of repentance” are the conditions of mercy embodied in the gospel.

If we Latter-day Saints believe that the repentance of men and women is indeed a necessary component for mercy—even the slightest manifestation of mercy—to “take effect,” then how do we explain the bulk of D&C 76, which describes an afterlife blessed in nearly all cases by the kind work of mercy, conferred in many instances without the precondition of repentance?

Little children have claim without repentance to the mercy of Jesus because he has made a special provision for them in the overall set of conditions of mercy comprising the “conditions of repentance” of the gospel.

Similarly, those who die without law have claim without repentance to some measure of mercy because the Lord has made a special provision for them.

So do those who die as unrepentant sinners, for the plan of salvation is a “plan of mercy” (Alma 42:15), not a plan of mercy and justice, and certainly not a plan of justice (God forbid).

We must not mistake the conditions of mercy for its singular Cause, and we must not misguidedly attempt to restrict the mercy of Christ where he makes special provision for members of the human family whose circumstances are different from those attending the children of Adam and Eve who know God and have the capacity to choose him in the blessed name of his Holy Son, or where the Lord demonstrates mitigating mercy in the punishments he inflicts on the unrepentant.

Non-Mormon Christians, please at least keep your mind open to the possibilities of the reach and effect of the marvelous grace of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, for it brings more blessings than you think it does, and you ought to be glad.

What does the Book of Mormon Prophet Amulek mean, where he teaches that “mercy can satisfy the demands of justice” (Alma 34:16), which is the phrase Elder Christofferson quotes?

Amulek does not mean that mercy (divine mercy) per se can satisfy the demands of justice (divine justice).

Why not?

If divine mercy could satisfy divine justice, then the intercession of Christ would be unnecessary, for God would simply forgive all of us with prejudice, rescind the awful consequences of the Fall and its aftermath of sin, and do whatever else he wanted to with us contrary to the divine law to which he himself conforms in eternity.

That is the alleged upside.

(Such a confused act by an oblivious God calls to mind Gilda Radner’s famous SNL line, “Never mind.”)

The downside, however, is rather bleak, for by allowing one divine principle to circumvent another, “God would cease to be God” (Alma 42:13).

Mercy cannot satisfy justice, which the essence of the intractable problem facing the Almighty with regard to his fallen children in Alma 42.

Moreover, mercy and justice cannot negotiate an acceptable settlement between themselves, for both constructs must achieve their fullest, divine expression. There can be no watered-down compromise, no alleged balance, no mutually acceptable set of concessions, for heaven is not a legislative chamber, and God is not a politician.

So what does Amulek mean?

He writes that the “Son of God” offers himself as an “infinite and eternal” (Alma 34:14) sacrifice to “bring about the bowels of mercy, which overpowereth justice, and bringeth about means unto men that they may have faith unto repentance” (Alma 34:15).

What, or rather, who “overpowereth justice” (that is, completely satisfies its demands)?

Who is the embodiment of divine mercy?

Who acquires the power by virtue of his sinless intercession to permanently stand between us and the perfect, holy justice of heaven, and bear the infinite, holy wrath of Almighty God?

Who brings mercy, and blesses the world according to the generous and kind framework of his gospel?

Praise God for the blessed atonement of his Son, and the expansive spectrum of salvation he brings to a fallen world, redemption that he makes available to all the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, whether their opportunity to come to Jesus finds them during their mortal lives, or in the pre-resurrection sojourn of the spirit world.

By atonement, and by the giving of attainable conditions, Christ, the embodiment of divine mercy and personification of divine love, completely satisfies the perfect justice of heaven, for only he can.

He provides the blessings of his atonement through grace, to one degree or another, according to his own conditions of mercy, to all members of the human family.

The grace of Christ refers, not to the power of his reconciliation and atonement, but to the free transfer of the blessings of that reconciliation and atonement to us. Grace is not the ultimate source of mercy, but the unmerited delivery of mercy in its many forms to us.

For those who are aware of God and have the capacity to choose for themselves, Jesus requires attainable repentance (one of several conditions) in order to bless them with a fullness of his redeeming grace, the gift of eternal life.

In the plan of mercy, Jesus brings about the redemption of a fallen world, and he does so with zealous enthusiasm, benevolent longsuffering, and transcendent compassion.

In the plan of mercy, we demonstrate to God what we want through the exercise of the agency (free will) that accrues to us by virtue of the Fall.

Jesus saves.

We choose.

We could not hope for a better arrangement.

For a more comprehensive discussion of the instrumentality of the Son in allowing the perfect expressions of divine justice and divine mercy in God’s plan of salvation, see Appendix 2: An Exposition of Alma Chapter 42 in the book Redeeming Grace in the Canon of the Restoration (Amazon CreateSpace and Kindle).

The Divine Gift of Repentance (Part 1)

I devote the inaugural post on this site to a translation of certain portions of the October 1, 2011 General Conference address, The Divine Gift of Repentance, given by Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which translation will likely require several posts.

Elder Christofferson:

Only repentance leads to the sunlit uplands of a better life. And, of course, only through repentance do we gain access to the atoning grace of Jesus Christ and salvation.

Translation:

For the members of the human family who either know or should know what God expects of them, and possess the capacity to choose, the only way to come to Jesus to receive a fullness of his grace and his salvation is through the attainable standards of the gospel of Christ, one of which standards is repentance.

Repentance, however, is not the absolute gatekeeper of grace, and not the only way we access the redeeming grace of Jesus and the spectrum of salvation that he freely offers to the world.

For Latter-day Saints, the redeeming grace of Jesus is magnificently more expansive and far-reaching than the grace of so-called traditional Christianity, which saves the believers (regardless of the manner by which they attain that blessed status), and essentially consigns everyone else to an endless hell of eternal suffering.

Consider how the following individuals benefit from the redeeming grace of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World:

1. Those who die as little children.
2. Those who die without law.
3. The unrepentant who choose to ignore the invitation to come to Christ, and embrace the wickedness of the world, but do not raise the sword against him with their eyes open.
4. The wicked who make themselves like the fallen Lucifer and his angels, rebel openly and knowingly against God and his Christ, and raise insurrection and the sword against heaven.

We have no direct indication in the canon of the Restoration (King James Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine & Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price) that anyone in the above list must repent to be blessed by the grace of Jesus. Does this mean that these unfortunate souls are forever barred from some measure of the blessings of his intercessory grace?

The answer from the canon of the Restoration is clearly no.

Non-Mormon Christians generally entertain some disagreement over how and whether divine grace applies to those in the above list, but Latter-day Saints should not.

Little children who die as such, and therefore do not repent, are the miraculous recipients of the gift of eternal life through the grace of Jesus.

Abinadi (Mosiah 15:25), Mormon (Moroni 8:8, 11-12, 19-20), and the Prophet Joseph (D&C 137:10) declare as much, and the Lord, during his earthly ministry, suggests (Matthew 19:13-15) and confirms (JST Matthew 18:11, JST Matthew 19:13) the same.

Those who die without law—that is, live and die without sufficient knowledge of the salvation brought to the world through the redemption of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God—are delivered from the punishment of hell, raised in the resurrection of the just, and, if they do not wish to pursue a fullness of the salvation of Christ, elevated to the terrestrial heaven by the grace of Christ, even if they do nothing after their death during their sojourn in the transitory spirit world.

Jacob (2 Nephi 9:23-26), Abinadi (Mosiah 15:24), Mormon (Moroni 8:22), and the Prophet Joseph (D&C 76:71-72) declare as much, and the Lord, during his earthly ministry, suggests the same (Luke 12:48). Even Paul implies that the intercessory grace of Jesus mitigates in some manner any condemnation that might come to those who are unaware of what he expects of them during their mortal lives (Romans 4:15, Romans 5:13, Romans 7:8).

Many Christians do not accept the existence of multiple, pleasant eternal destinations and states of being won by the grace of Christ for us after this life (Catholics, in their doctrine of Purgatory, at least recognize this possibility).

Jesus, however, implies this comforting prospect where he tells his disciples that “in [his] Father’s house are many mansions” (John 14:2). Paul similarly alludes to several divisions in heaven, and the reality of one branch of the postmortem spirit world, where he writes of being “caught up to the third heaven” (2 Corinthians 12:2) and “caught up into paradise” (2 Corinthians 12:4). These references are not applicable to the temporal cosmos, but to unseen, transcendent spiritual realities hidden, for the most part, from mortal eyes.

Paul even distinguishes among different types of resurrection (the mechanism by which we gain access to, and metaphysical transformation in, the heavens prepared by Christ), and therefore implies the actuality of different heavens in his description of the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:40-42).

To argue that God through his Son makes use of a one-size-fits-all damnation demonstrates a remarkable lack of understanding of the principle of mercy. The mercy and grace we receive from Jesus is not a callous, take-it-or-leave-it proposition, as so many preach, both in Christianity at large, and in the restored church of Christ.

Moreover, the stark bifurcation of a glorious heaven of endless happiness and bliss for the elect on the one hand, and a horrific hell of endless torment and misery for everyone else on the other, with no possibility of anything in between, does not satisfy in the least the divine principle of mercy.

Those who appraise the salvation of Jesus in this manner make of God a heartless sales manager who scrupulously maintains an eternal winners and losers board for his unfortunate subordinates.

The astonishing grace of Jesus does more than we think it does.

Infinitely more.

The angel who announces the birth of the Savior to lowly shepherds declares: “I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people” (Luke 2:10).

How is this news good and glad to the multitudes of the earth (many of whom never know the name of Jesus during their mortal lives), who are presumably cast into an endless hell?

Are the tidings of the Lord’s birth not good and glad to all people because every last one of us will be subject to the mercy of the divine Son of God, who comes to bring hope, forbearance, and blessing to all the inhabitants of the earth?

Would we not expect to find elements of mercy in all of his subsequent rewards and punishments?

Is your unbelieving neighbor really destined to suffer the same eternal state as the beast and false prophet of Revelation 20, the individuals who raise the sword with their eyes open against Christ?

Would you feel the same way about this doctrine if you found yourself in your neighbor’s shoes?

The unrepentant who do not take up the sword against Christ suffer their punishment in hell, but are released from it in the last resurrection, and miraculously and mercifully raised up in telestial glory to a heaven of the same name, all through the grace of Jesus.

The Prophet Joseph (D&C 76:89, 98-112) declares as much.

I do not expect Christians outside the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to accept this doctrine from the teachings available to the world in the New Testament, but I do expect Christians generally to remember the nature and person of Jesus of Nazareth, contemplate the possible extent of the glorious spectrum of the marvelous salvation that he alone brings to a fallen world, and consider the implication of the resurrection Paul compares to the “glory of the stars” (1 Corinthians 15:41).

Last of all, even the unrepentant who take up the sword against Christ receive a measure of his grace by virtue of their eventual resurrection, which the Lord plainly views as his final gift to them (D&C 88:32-33).

Jesus was born, lived, and made atonement through his suffering and death so that all of us would be subject to him and his merciful redeeming grace, which he dispenses with remarkable latitude and liberality on the sons and daughters of every kindred, tongue, and people of this earth.

The question is not if will be blessed by the redeeming grace of Jesus, but rather, how much.

For a more comprehensive discussion of the magnanimous blessings of the redeeming grace of Jesus, see Chapter 7: Spiritual Safety Nets of the Atonement and Chapter 8: Saved by Grace in the book Redeeming Grace in the Canon of the Restoration (Amazon CreateSpace and Kindle).