The Perfect Paradox - Chapter 7: And a Mericiful God, Also

“Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy” (Micah 7:18). “In a little wrath [He] hid [His] face from [us] for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will [He] have mercy on [us]” (3 Nephi 22:8).

Of all the blessings God extends, mercy is one for which we intently seek. Properly approached, seeking for mercy is not a quest to temper justice or dodge a penalty. Rather, it is a divinely-guided effort to make amends with our Father whom we've offended. Thus, seeking mercy is a quest to know Christ, His Son, for He is the single Soul who fans the embers of God's compassion and the only avenue through which the demands of His justice are satisfied.

Mercy, however, is not only for the sinner; it consoles saint and sinner alike. Whether or not we think it fair, suffering is the reward of the righteous and it is through much tribulation that we enter the kingdom of God (see Acts 14:22). Thus, like the apostle Paul, we glory in tribulation knowing that in us “Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting” (JST 1 Timothy 1:16; compare Alma 17:11). This invitation to be a pattern of long-suffering unto others heartens us to accept tribulation more readily as Jesus did (see 1 Peter 4:12-16), to pray for ability rather than exits (see Luke 22:44), and to seek for strength in the midst of affliction and safety during the storm, rather than pleading for the storm to calm or the affliction to cease. Calmness and certainty amid trying circumstances is found in our acceptance of tribulation, not in our escape from it. During such times, we are reminded by the prophet Joseph that it is the idea of God’s mercy that gives us the life, energy, and resolve to endure:

It is . . . important that men should have the idea of the existence of the attribute mercy in the Deity, in order to exercise faith in him for life and salvation; for without the idea of the existence of this attribute in the Deity, the spirits of the saints would faint in the midst of the tribulations, afflictions, and persecutions which they have to endure for righteousness’ sake. But when the idea of the existence of this attribute is once established in the mind it gives life and energy to the spirits of the saints, believing that the mercy of God will be poured out upon them in the midst of their afflictions, and that he will compassionate them in their sufferings, and that the mercy of God will lay hold of them and secure them in the arms of his love, so that they will receive a full reward for all their sufferings (Smith J. , The Doctrine and Covenants, 1891, pp. 15, Lecture 4).

During terrible times, and at all times, we have a High Priest who was “touched with the feeling of our infirmities” (Hebrews 4:15). If we suffer, it is well to be reminded that He, in like manner, suffered first and is, thereby, able to succor us according to our infirmities! Elder Jeffrey R. Holland (1997) appropriately writes:

The wounds in [Christ’s] hands, feet, and side are signs that in mortality painful things happen even to the pure and the perfect, signs that tribulation is not evidence that God does not love us. It is a significant and hopeful fact that it is the wounded Christ who comes to our rescue. He who bears the scars of sacrifice, the lesions of love, the emblems of humility and forgiveness is the Captain of our Soul. That evidence of pain in mortality is undoubtedly intended to give courage to others who are also hurt and wounded by life, perhaps even in the house of their friends (p. 259).

Notwithstanding, from least to greatest, all seem to be innately endowed with a desire for mercy and the propensity to escape tribulation. The criminal, conspicuously placed aside his Redeemer, pleaded: “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom” (Luke 23:42). And even the Lord in agony pleaded, “if thou be willing, remove this cup from me”. Wonderfully, He who was shown no mercy is rich in mercy (see Ephesians 2:4) and full of compassion (see Psalms 86:15). As a Balm of Gilead (see Jeremiah 8:22), He exists to bind up the brokenhearted, to comfort all that mourn, to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness (see Isaiah 61:1-3). His mercy endureth forever (see 1 Chronicles 16:34) and His charity never faileth (see 1 Corinthians 13:8) but is forever extended towards those who cleave unto Him as He cleaveth unto them (see Jacob 6:5).[1] Truly, our Lord is merciful and His Father will divide Him a portion with the great because He hath poured out His soul unto death and bare the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors (see Isaiah 53:12).

Suitable to the price He paid, the Lord’s mercy is not extended without consideration for its intended recipients. Often, His mercy is handcrafted and hand-delivered. Always, His mercy is accorded to the innocent, ignorant, and penitent and is uniquely suited “to the conditions of the children of men” (D&C 46:15). Wisely, He counsels us to “listen to the voice of Jesus Christ your Redeemer . . . whose arm of mercy hath atoned for your sins” (D&C 29:1).

But atoning for our sins and tempering the penalty we were otherwise meant to suffer does not adequately explain the full measures of Christ’s mercy. Christ descended below all things (see D&C 88:6) not only to suffer the penalty of sin, mark the path, and lead the way, but also to 1) obtain power to raise men to the dignity of godhood, and 2) gain empathy and compassion for those whom He suffered. Concerning the first of these objectives, President John Taylor (1882) explained that it is through Christ’s stooping[2] that we are raised from inferiority to superiority:

In the economy of God pertaining to the salvation of the human family, we are told in the Scriptures that it was necessary that Christ should descend below all things, that He might be raised above all things . . . . It was further necessary that He should descend below all things, in order that He might raise others above all things; for if He could not raise Himself and be exalted through those principles brought about by the atonement, He could not raise others; He could not do for others what He could not do for Himself, and hence it was necessary for Him to descend below all things . . . that by and through the same power that He obtained His exaltation, they also, through His atonement, expiation and intercession, might be raised to the same power with Him; and, as He was the Son of God, that they might also be the adopted sons of God (pp. 144-145).

Thus, it is because of His mercy that we are called His sons and His daughters and it is because of His grace that we are exalted by that same power whereby He gained His exaltation. Concerning the second of these objectives, the apostle Paul explained:

For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. 

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. 

For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted (Hebrews 2:16-18).

He who never heeded temptation comprehends it best and is able to succor and aid us in our difficulties. In all our afflictions, He was afflicted (see D&C 133:53) that He might be the Savior who shows compassion on us. His knowledge and understanding gained through agony was personal and first-hand. Commenting on such, Elder Maxwell (1988) remarks:

Jesus’ daily mortal experiences and His ministry . . . acquainted Him by observation with a sample of human sicknesses, grief, pains, sorrows, and infirmities which are ‘common to man’ (1 Corinthians 10:13). But the agonies of the Atonement were infinite and first-hand! Since not all human sorrow and pain is connected to sin, the full intensiveness of the Atonement involved bearing our pains, infirmities, and sicknesses, as well as our sins. Whatever our sufferings, we can safely cast our ‘care upon him; for he careth for [us]’ (1 Peter 5:7) (p. 51).

The fact that His experiences were first-hand perfected His love and compassion. Concerning the overall experience that enabled His grace, Alma expressed:

And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. 

. . . and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities. 

. . . that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance (Alma 7:11-13).

Although the Spirit knoweth all things, these verses imply that the Son of God took upon himself pains, afflictions, and temptations of every kind and suffered “according to the flesh” to know how to succor His people. “Jesus knew cognitively what He must do,” declares Elder Neal A. Maxwell (1985), “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!” (p. 92). Drawing upon Elder Maxwell’s comments and relating them to Alma’s record, Brother Robert Millet (1997) writes:

This scripture points us to the Messiah’s power to lift us, lighten our burdens, and cradle us midst any care. It highlights the truth that Christ’s empathy was made perfect through his participation in pain—our pain as well as his. Though Jehovah knew all things cognitively, there were some things he could only know experientially, some things he would be required to go through personally to be able to assist us, personally, in our passage through the second estate (p. 33).

That Christ grants power to save us from the grasp of that awful monster is more than we deserve. But for Him to also comfort us in our pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind, whether or not they are self-inflicted or superficially-imposed, is truly noble, divine, and undeserved. Indeed, such love has been known only once (see Ether 12:33-34).

In response to the question whether we could ever answer, for ourselves, the end of the law that demands perfection, it was set forth in the prior chapter that we can only become perfect in Christ—justification is by faith on His name. Such a conclusion is intuitive since no one has the power to erase their past. But now I pose a similar question: Can we ever answer, for ourselves, the end of the law that demands punishment for broken law? In other words, if willing to pay the terrible price, can we personally satisfy justice for violation of God’s laws?

Although the answer to this question is clear, looking to the requirements imposed on those who inherit the least of God’s kingdoms provides support for the answer. Speaking of telestial individuals, Robert Millet and Joseph Fielding McConkie (1986) assert:

None will inhabit [the telestial kingdom] who did not first suffer for their own sins in that part of the spirit prison known to us as hell. Having done so, having ‘paid the uttermost farthing’ (Matthew 5:26), they then come forth clean from sin to the least of the kingdoms of glory, but a kingdom of glory nonetheless (p. 128).

Referring to such candidates “reserved in chains of darkness until the judgment of the great day” (Moses 7:57), Elder Joseph Fielding Smith (1954-1956) likewise stated that they will be “thrust down to hell where they shall suffer the wrath of God until they pay the price of their sinning, if it is possible, by the things which they suffer . . . . This suffering will be a means of cleansing, or purifying, and through it the wicked shall be brought to a condition whereby they may, through the redemption of Jesus Christ, obtain immortality . . . and they shall dwell in the telestial kingdom” (pp. 297-298, Vol. 2).[3] Approaching this concept of “telestial salvation,” Elder Smith’s father, further explained:

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. 

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 (D&C 138:57-59).

Upon quoting these two verses in his April 2003 General Conference address and relating them to a well known quote from Elder Orson F. Whitney,[4] President James E. Faust (2003) remarked:

We remember that the prodigal son wasted his inheritance, and when it was all gone he came back to his father's house. There he was welcomed back into the family, but his inheritance was spent (Luke 15:11–32). Mercy will not rob justice, and the sealing power of faithful parents will only claim wayward children upon the condition of their repentance and Christ's Atonement. Repentant wayward children will enjoy salvation and all the blessings that go with it, but exaltation is much more. It must be fully earned. The question as to who will be exalted must be left to the Lord in His mercy (p. 68).

I intend to return to these verses and President Faust’s comments shortly. However, prior to doing so, reviewing other related scriptures is both appropriate and instructive.

In his remarkable vision contained in Section 138, President Joseph F. Smith recorded that, in connection with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, he saw gathered together in one place a great company of the spirits who had departed this life faithful in the testimony of Jesus. All these, he noted, “had departed the mortal life, firm in the hope of a glorious resurrection . . . and were rejoicing together because the day of their deliverance was at hand.” While this multitude of the dead awaited the hour of their deliverance from the chains of death, President Smith explained that the Son of God appeared, declaring liberty to these captives who looked upon the long absence of their spirits from their bodies as a bondage (see D&C 138:50). “And there he preached to them the everlasting gospel, the doctrine of the resurrection and the redemption . . . from the fall, and from individual sins on conditions of repentance. But unto the wicked he did not go . . . , neither did the rebellious . . . behold his presence, nor look upon his face. Where these were, darkness reigned” (see D&C 138:11-22).

In a shortened version of these same events, Moses recorded:

And the Lord said unto Enoch: Look, and he looked and beheld the Son of Man lifted up on the cross, after the manner of men; 

And he heard a loud voice; and the heavens were veiled; and all the creations of God mourned; and the earth groaned; and the rocks were rent; and the saints arose, and were crowned at the right hand of the Son of Man, with crowns of glory;

And as many of the spirits as were in prison came forth, and stood on the right hand of God; and the remainder were reserved in chains of darkness until the judgment of the great day (see Moses 7:55-57).

From this description of events that transpired at the resurrection of Christ, it is not only observed that resurrected saints came forth, but it is also noted that they were joined by spirits who came forth from prison and stood on the right hand of God. It is further noted that in addition to these two groups that came forth, there were other spirits (i.e., the remainder) who were reserved in chains of darkness until the final judgment. Since the resurrected saints referred to were celestial candidates and since “the remainder” reserved in chains of darkness comprised sons of perdition who must suffer the full penalty of the second death (see D&C 76:31-39, 44-48) and telestial candidates who must likewise suffer “their part in that lake which burneth with fire and brimstone” (see D&C 63:17), then I suggest that the spirits who came forth and stood on the right hand of God were terrestrial candidates, for these spirits came forth from prison. Such a conclusion accords with Isaiah’s record that the “Redeemer was anointed to . . . proclaim liberty to the [righteous] captives, and the opening of the prison to them that were bound” (see Isaiah 61:1; compare D&C 138:42).

It is worthy to note how precise President Smith’s description of the Lord’s ministry in the spirit world accords with the accounts of Enoch and Isaiah. To benefit all the spirits who lay in darkness, Christ organized a missionary force from among the righteous—

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 138:30-34).

These verses confirm that the gospel was taken to all the spirits of men, including the wicked and those who were sometimes disobedient in the days of Noah. But the “sometimes disobedient” who would repent and receive the gospel, were accorded individual attention above that given to the remainder who were reserved in chains of darkness. Such “captives who were bound” were taught all principles of the gospel that were necessary for them to be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. Giving reason as to why these of Noah’s dispensation are eventually resurrected to a terrestrial glory, Joseph Smith taught:

Behold, these are they who died without law; 

And also they who are the spirits of men kept in prison, whom the Son visited, and preached the gospel unto them, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh; 

Who received not the testimony of Jesus in the flesh, but afterwards received it. (D&C 76:72-74).

Notwithstanding their terrestrial status, the mercies of Christ have claim upon them. To Enoch, the Lord said concerning them: “Behold, I will shut them up; a prison have I prepared for them. And That [i.e., Christ] which I have chosen hath pled before my face. Wherefore, he suffereth for their sins; inasmuch as they will repent in the day that my Chosen shall return unto me, and until that day they shall be in torment” (Moses 7:38-39). Thus, when Jesus returned to His Father following His resurrection (see John 20:17), these of the flood who had been bound in that prison prepared for them but who had since repented were released from their torment and came forth to stand on the right hand of God even though their resurrection was to be a future event.

One of the marvels of the scriptures we have today is the transparency that exists between verses penned by prophets spanning the centuries. This transparency is clear evidence that one Author orchestrated every passage written by the prophets. The foregoing verses are a remarkable example of this transparency. From Joseph F. Smith, we learn that the “righteous captives” who looked upon the long absence of their bodies as a bondage were resurrected at the first advent of Christ. This revelation accords with Enoch’s vision wherein he saw that the meridian saints arose and were crowned at the right hand of the Son of Man. From Isaiah, we also learn that at this same time there was an opening of the prison doors for those who were bound (see Isaiah 61:1) which further supports Joseph F. Smith’s testimony that the Lord proclaimed liberty to the captives who were bound. According to Enoch, these “bound captives” who repented were then released from their torment at the ascension of Christ and, thus, came forth and stood on the right hand of God. Finally, Joseph Smith’s account confirms that these bound spirits were the spirits of men kept in prison, who the Son visited, and preached the gospel unto them that they might be judged according to men in the flesh. All scriptures are consistent concerning the remainder—they are reserved in chains of darkness to suffer until judgment day.

My purpose in going through these scriptural accounts is to illustrate that there are essentially three divisions of spirits in the world of the dead:

1) the righteous captives who look upon the absence of their bodies as a bondage;

2) the captives who are bound and who are taught those principles of the gospel that permits them to be judged according to men in the flesh but live according to God in the spirit; and

3) the remainder who are reserved in chains of darkness to suffer until the day of judgment.

Of import, both the “righteous captives” and the “captives who are bound” come forth to stand on the right hand of God as both come forth in the resurrection of the just (see D&C 76:17)—for Christ suffered for their sins. Both are taught faith in God, repentance from sin, baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. And although terrestrial candidates do not receive a celestial glory because they once rejected the prophets and gospel in mortality or did not afterwards accept it with all their hearts (see D&C 137:8), they are, nevertheless, spared from having to suffer the penalty dispensed upon the “remainder who are reserved” in chains of darkness. Thus, the resurrection is tolerable (see D&C 45:54) for these terrestrial souls who sit in “the region and shadow of death” (see D&C 57:10).[5]

I now return to President Faust’s comments and correlate them to these verses to which I have just referred. In so far as has been revealed, and with the exception of those who commit serious transgression after having been sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise (see D&C 132:26), only telestial candidates are reserved in chains of darkness to pay the penalty of their transgressions (see D&C 63:17-18; compare D&C 76:98-107) and are afterwards washed clean by the blood of Christ, for neither celestial nor terrestrial candidates are consigned to suffer the full penalty of their sins (see D&C 88:96-99). And although sons of perdition are consigned to suffer the full penalty of their sins, they are not afterwards washed clean but remain filthy still (see D&C 88:102).[6] Only after they repent and have faith in Christ will those telestial spirits who are under bondage of sin be washed clean and come forth “through obedience to the ordinances of the house of God . . . [to] . . . receive a reward according to their works, for [even] they are heirs of salvation” (D&C 138:57-59). Indeed, the promise is given unto them that they will be servants of the Most High (see D&C 76:112).

Salvation, although frequently and properly viewed as synonymous with eternal life or exaltation (see D&C 6:13; compare D&C 14:7), is a scriptural expression broad enough to extend to telestial candidates (see D&C 76:88). Concerning these who experience “their part” of that second death, Elder Joseph Fielding Smith (1954-1956) commented:

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 . . . . 

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[7] from their sins without their own individual suffering (pp. 22, Vol 2).

After their suffering, taught Elder Bruce R. McConkie (1985), these telestial candidates --

are saved from the devil because he no longer has power over them; they have paid the penalty for their sins, and these sins no longer weigh them down. After much sorrow and misery they are prepared to live as resurrected beings and find their places in one of the lower kingdoms. They are saved from endless torment, for, according to the law of justice, they have paid the penalty for all their evil deeds, and Satan no longer has any claim upon them (p. 145).

In his vision of the dead recorded in D&C 138, President Joseph F. Smith appears to have seen all those who will be eventually redeemed by the blood of Christ. In verses 12 through 24, he described the redemption of celestial saints. In verses 28 through 34 he addressed the redemption of terrestrial heirs. It is only fitting that his vision should conclude with the redemption of telestial candidates “through obedience to the ordinances of the house of God” (see D&C 138:57-58).

At first, some may consider it a doctrinal stretch to conclude that telestial individuals come forth from darkness through obedience to the ordinances of the house of God. After much pondering and serious consideration, I do not—for two reasons. First, because of the words used to express our Fourth Article of Faith, this generation has become accustomed to thinking that faith and repentance are principles of the gospel and that baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands are ordinances. However, the Wentworth Letter as originally published by Joseph Smith makes no distinction between principles and ordinances. From what has since become the 3rd and 4th Articles of Faith, Joseph Smith originally penned these words:

We believe that through the Atonement of Christ all mankind may be saved by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel. We believe that these ordinances are: 1st, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; 2d, Repentance; 3d, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; 4th, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.[8]

The Prophet’s generic use of the term “ordinances” to include faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and repentance brings broader perspective as to those doctrines that comprise “ordinances of the gospel.” From a practical perspective, the term ordinances is broad enough to comprise all temporal laws such as those enacted by federal and local legislative bodies as well as all eternal laws ordained by God (see D&C 1:15). Second, with few exceptions, the scriptural expression “house of God” refers to the Lord’s temple. However, the expression “house of God” can also be used to describe those belonging to the house of God in contrast to “them that obey not the gospel of God” (see 1 Peter 4:17; compare D&C 112:25-26). Considering that telestial spirits who sit in darkness (see D&C 57:10) and under the bondage of sin are taught the “gospel of repentance and redemption through the sacrifice of the Only Begotten Son of God” (see D&C 138:57), may I suggest that these souls will be saved through faith and repentance—ordinances of the house of God?[9]

Having considered the salvation of telestial candidates, it is now fitting to answer the question posed earlier in this chapter: Does one’s suffering for personal sin fully answer the demands of justice for broken law? In response, Elder Joseph Fielding Smith (1954-1956) began: “It is most natural and just that he who commits the wrong should pay the penalty—atone for his wrongdoing. Therefore, when Adam was the transgressor of the law, justice demanded that he, and none else, should answer for the sin and pay the penalty with his life” (pp. 126, Vol 1). This might suggest that man must pay the price of their sinning if they are to be redeemed. However, Elder Smith (1954-1956) continued:

But Adam, in breaking the law, himself became subject to the curse, and being under the curse could not atone for or undo, what he had done. Neither could his children, for they also were under the curse, and it required one who was not subject to the curse to atone for that original sin. Moreover, since we were all under the curse, we were also powerless to atone for our individual sins.

It, therefore, became necessary for the Father to send his Only Begotten Son, who was free from sin, to atone for our sins as well as for Adam's transgression . . . . He accordingly offered himself a sacrifice for sins . . . thereby redeeming us from the fall, and from our sins, on condition of repentance (pp. 126, Vol 1).

President Marion G. Romney (1982) likewise taught that salvation and freedom from the effects of sin must come through an expedient beyond the individual:

Since we suffer this spiritual death as a result of our own transgressions, we cannot claim deliverance there from as a matter of justice. Neither has any man the power within himself alone to make restitution so complete that he can be wholly cleansed from the effect of his own wrongdoing. If men are to be freed from the results of their own transgressions and brought back into the presence of God, they must be the beneficiaries of some expedient beyond themselves which will free them from the effect of their own sins. For this purpose was the atonement of Jesus Christ conceived and executed. (p. 9).

We cannot forgive ourselves or atone for our sins no matter how low we may stoop. The Lord’s judgments are turned away only because of His Son (see Alma 33:11; compare D&C 45:3-5) and no amount of human suffering will stay the hand of justice. “Man can no more redeem himself than he can create himself,” declared Elder McConkie (1981). “It takes a God to create and to redeem” (p. 236). In short, “God himself must atone for the sins of the world” (McConkie B. R., New Witness, 1985, pp. 111-112). Elder Dallin H. Oaks (2002) confirms that “man cannot earn his own salvation. He cannot be cleansed by personal suffering for his own sins” (p. 75).[10] Forgiveness of sins comes only to those who believe in Christ and repent. “It never has,” said Elder McConkie (1981), “does not now, and never will come to anyone else. It is Christ ‘that cometh to take away the sins of the world, yea, the sins of every man who steadfastly believeth on his name’ (Alma 5:48)” (p. 339).

In connection herewith, it is well to be reminded of the Savior’s kind rebuke when Peter declined the Lord’s offer to wash his feet: “Jesus answered him, ‘If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me’” (John 13:8). Like Peter, we cannot reserve such washing unto ourselves. Christ must wash us if we are to have place in His kingdom. Thus, Elder George Q. Cannon taught that telestial candidates who eventually have faith in Christ and repent will be cleansed:

Those who are unfaithful, those who will listen to Satan, who will lend a willing ear to his blandishments and to his allurements, when they go from this state of existence, they go into a condition where they are subject to his power. They will dwell in darkness, and according to their sins their punishment will be. Some will be consigned to ‘outer darkness’ where there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth . . . . They will remain in that condition according to the enormity of their offenses, until punishment will be meted out to them sufficiently to bring them to a condition that they will receive the Gospel of salvation. That Gospel which is taught to us will be taught to them, and they will have an opportunity of obeying it in their damned condition and through repentance will receive salvation.[11]

Why is it that our suffering cannot satisfy justice? The reason is because the Savior’s suffering for sin is vastly different from ours. Our suffering for sin satisfies a stipulation of repentance and avails us of the Lord’s mercy but does nothing to satisfy the demands of justice for broken law. “The suffering that impels [us] towards repentance,” Elder Oaks teaches, “is [our] own suffering. But the suffering that satisfies the demands of justice for [us] is the suffering of our Savior and Redeemer.”[12] Christ alone answered the ends of the law and no one else can adequately answer either end. Redemption comes through “this Redeemer” and none other (see 1 Nephi 10:6). Salvation in and of any degree comes “through the triumph and the glory of the Lamb” (see D&C 76:39). Thus, every person must ultimately avail themselves of the mercies of the Holy Messiah or forever remain in an unsaved condition. Such will be the condition of those sons of perdition who personally suffer the penalty of their sins but whose suffering neither satisfies the demands of justice nor avails them of Christ’s mercy. They will be “filthy still” and, in the words of Amulek, it will be as if no atonement is made for them (see Alma 11:41).

Notwithstanding Christ’s answer to the ends of the law, punishment continues to be a necessary condition of repentance for Alma taught that “repentance could not come unto men except there were a punishment” (Alma 42:16). In connection herewith, another relevant question arises: If repentance comes because of a punishment, who is punished—us or the Lord?[13] At the end of the day, the answer to this question is that both are punished for our personal sins—Christ was punished for them to satisfy justice and we must likewise be punished for them to avail ourselves of His mercy. It can be no other way. Although He declared that He suffered for all “that they might not suffer if they would repent,” (D&C 19:16-17) this does not mean that if we repent we get to walk away unscathed from the effects of our personal sins. Personal suffering “is a very important part of repentance,” expressed President Spencer W. Kimball. “One has not begun to repent,” he continued, “until he has suffered intensely for his sins . . . . If a person hasn’t suffered, he hasn’t repented . . . . He has got to go through a change in his system whereby he suffers and then forgiveness is a possibility.”[14]

When it comes to our personal sins, mercy only tempers justice and the punishment affixed; mercy does not cancel the punishment entirely. To eliminate the punishment for sin entirely would rob the penitent sinner of a much needed impetus to conform their life to God’s. Elder Oaks states: “The object of God’s laws is to save the sinner, not simply to punish him . . . . The repentant transgressor must be changed and the conditions of repentance, including confession and personal suffering, are essential to accomplish that change. To exempt a transgressor from those conditions would deprive him of the change necessary for his salvation. That would be neither just nor merciful.”[15] Therefore, in His mercy, God permits us to suffer a punishment to invoke a divine change and avoid making a mockery of Him who shows compassion on us.

Since we must suffer for personal sin, what suffering must we experience and how long must it last to invoke the necessary change? In answer, scriptures teach that the Savior’s suffered both body and spirit “even more than man can suffer, except it be unto death” (Mosiah 3:7). As mortals, we are not able to suffer the cruelty of the cross without submitting to death. More so, we are less able to suffer the agony of body and spirit that caused God to tremble because of pain and to bleed at every pore (see D&C 19:18) long before the first nail was driven. Indeed, it is not possible for us to resist “unto blood, striving against sin” (Hebrews 12:4) as Christ did.

Thus, although the Savior’s suffering is admittedly unique, we must nevertheless suffer in some small measure as He did if we are to emulate Him and more fully appreciate why His mercy is not extended without consideration for its cost. Certainly, our suffering is not to consist of being stripped, beaten, and fastened to a cross. Rather, as Christ’s agony was punctuated by spiritual anguish, we must likewise suffer a type of what He suffered. Of that suffering there is little revealed.[16] However, “[t]here is no pain so awful as the pain of suspense,”[17] and “[t]hose who have done wrong always have that wrong gnawing at them.”[18] This condition, Joseph Smith taught, “is the condemnation of the wicked; their doubt and anxiety and suspense causes weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth.”[19] “Hence, the saying: They shall go into the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. The torment of disappointment in the mind of man is as exquisite as a lake burning with fire and brimstone. I say, so is the torment of man.”[20]

In mortality, this form of spiritual suffering can be “tasted” by us in the least degree when the Lord withdraws His Spirit (see D&C 19:20) or, more appropriately, when we withdraw ourselves from the Spirit of the Lord that it has no place in us (see Mosiah 2:36). So long as the Light of Christ continues to strive with us and entice us in any measure, our personal suffering for sin will hopefully nudge us towards God. But the Lord has reminded us that His “Spirit shall not always strive with man” (D&C 1:33).[21] If the time comes that we become so entrenched in sin that we fully withdraw from the Light of Christ, our day of grace will have passed, both temporally and spiritually (see Mormon 2:15),[22] the “spirit of repentance” will depart[23] and Satan will seal us his and have all power over us (see Alma 34:33-35).[24] On that day, our sorrowing will avail us nothing (see Mormon 2:13) as there is a vast difference between the godly sorrow that “worketh repentance” (see Alma 42:29) and the sorrowing of the damned that “worketh death” (see 2 Corinthians 7:10).

Noting the mortal conditions and sorrowing of the damned, the prophet Mormon provided us with this dramatic description of the last generation of wicked Nephites who spent their final days in spiritually-darkened aggravation:

For behold, the Spirit of the Lord hath already ceased to strive with their fathers; and they are without Christ and God in the world; and they are driven about as chaff before the wind.

They were once a delightsome people, and they had Christ for their shepherd; yea, they were led even by God the Father.

But now, behold, they are led about by Satan, even as chaff is driven before the wind, or as a vessel is tossed about upon the waves, without sail or anchor, or without anything wherewith to steer her; and even as she is, so are they (Mormon 5:16-18).

King Benjamin likewise described the eternal state of such hopeless individuals: “Therefore if that man repenteth not and remaineth and dieth an enemy to God, the demands of divine justice do awaken his immortal soul to a lively sense of his own guilt, which doth cause him to shrink from the presence of the Lord, and doth fill his breast with guilt, and pain, and anguish, which is like an unquenchable fire, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever” (Mosiah 2:38). Those ordained unto this condemnation “go away into everlasting punishment, which is endless punishment, which is eternal punishment, to reign with the devil and his angels in eternity, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched, which is their torment—And the end thereof, neither the place thereof, nor their torment, no man knows . . . except . . . them who are made partakers thereof” (D&C 76:44-48).

In contrast to the sorrowing of these damned souls, Alma’s conversion experience provides us with a powerful example of the sorrowing that worketh repentance. Describing the spiritual anguish he endured, Alma recorded:

But I was racked with eternal torment, for my soul was harrowed up to the greatest degree and racked with all my sins. 

Yea, I did remember all my sins and iniquities, for which I was tormented with the pains of hell; yea, I saw that I had rebelled against my God, and that I had not kept his holy commandments. 

Yea, and I had [spiritually] murdered many of his children, or rather led them away unto destruction; yea, and in fine so great had been my iniquities, that the very thought of coming into the presence of my God did rack my soul with inexpressible horror. 

Oh, thought I, that I could be banished and become extinct both soul and body, that I might not be brought to stand in the presence of my God, to be judged of my deeds. 

And now, for three days and for three nights was I racked, even with the pains of a damned soul (Alma 36:12-16).

Elsewhere, Alma described his anguish as “wading through much tribulation [and] repenting nigh unto death” (see Mosiah 27:28). Such genuine suffering caused Alma to become physically ill and “for the space of three days and three nights [he] could not open [his] mouth, neither had [he] the use of [his] limbs” (Alma 36:10).

Although Alma’s description of his suffering is remarkably similar to the sorrowing of the damned described by King Benjamin, his sorrowing did not stem from a hopeless fear of punishment or from an inability to “take happiness in sin” (see Mormon 2:13). Rather, his sorrow caused his sins and iniquities to trouble him with that trouble which brought him down to repentance (see Alma 42:29) and instilled in him a proper sense of guilt before God. This sorrowing, when applied in our lives, will “impart unto us meekness and lowliness of mind; it will cause our hearts to be broken and our spirits to be contrite.”[25] This is the sorrowing and suffering we must experience notwithstanding the arms of God’s mercy that are continually outstretched towards us.

A final and interesting element of Alma’s conversion is that he experienced “eternal torment” for three days. This begs the question: “How long does eternal torment really last?” Apparently, it can last for as little as three days. Hence, just because God’s punishment is eternal punishment, it does not follow that a person who is consigned thereto must endure it eternally. From modern revelation, we read:

And surely every man must repent or suffer, for I, God, am endless . . . .
Nevertheless, it is not written that there shall be no end to this torment, but it is written endless torment. 

Again, it is written eternal damnation; wherefore it is more express than other scriptures, that it might work upon the hearts of the children of men, altogether for my name’s glory (D&C 19:4, 6-7).

Thus, from one vantage point, it appears that endless and eternal reflect qualitative attributes of God and refer to a type of His punishments which are inflicted for whatever length of time is necessary to effect a divine change in a penitent heart. Noting the penitent disposition of Alma and the fact that he suffered eternal torment for only three days, we must concede that what he suffered was this qualitative punishment from God not necessarily connected to any particular period of time—he suffered God’s torments for three days.

However, from another perspective, eternal, endless, and everlasting appear to refer to an indeterminate length of time that one will be consigned to suffer in a state of damnation, for we also read of those who remain “filthy still” and who “go away into everlasting punishment, which is endless punishment, which is eternal punishment . . . where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched, which is their torment—And the end thereof, neither the place thereof, nor their torment, no man knows” (D&C 76:44-45) except those ordained unto this condemnation. Where God is, such individuals cannot dwell (see D&C 29:27-29), but they must “dwell with the devil, and angels of his, [w]hile eternity goes and eternity comes.”[26] Approaching this concept rationally, Joseph Smith taught “that everything which had a beginning must have an ending; and consequently if the punishment of man commenced in the next world, it must, according to . . . logic have an end.”[27] Thus, while there is a limit to the time one must experience the godly sorrow that worketh repentance, the length of time that those who remain “filthy still” must suffer has not been fully revealed.

In connection herewith, we might wonder whether such condemned individuals will ever enjoy their damned condition? In reply, three relevant points come to mind. First, Mormon taught that it would be more miserable for a sinful person “to dwell with a holy and just God [i.e., in the very best of physical surroundings], under a consciousness of your filthiness before him, than ye would to dwell with the damned souls in hell” (Mormon 9:4). I guess what this teaches us is that true happiness will not come as the result of our physical surroundings but, more so, as the result of uniting ourselves with those who most closely approximate our own spirituality or lack thereof. I think this is even the case in mortality.

Second, I might suggest that we have all met or associated with those who suffer from the emotional virus known as pervasive negative anticipation—the habit of thinking that everything is going to turn out for the worst. These individuals thrive on being in a constant state of despair. They see the pitfalls of every situation and find little meaning in life except to seek for opportunities to lament all the trials that plague them. Of such individuals, we begin to think that they “enjoy” their conditions despite their sufferings and sorrows. Interestingly, the scriptures conclude that even those consigned to a state of “never-ending” sorrow will “enjoy that which they are willing to receive, because they were not willing to enjoy that which they might have received” (D&C 88:32). Like the apostate Nephites of old, those who will be unable to find happiness in sin may, nevertheless, enjoy that which has been allotted to them because they know that hoping for anything else would only be wishful thinking.

And finally, Alma taught that “wickedness never was happiness” (see Alma 41:10). Hence, despite the fact that one may “enjoy” that which he is willing to receive, I think it is safe to conclude that true joy and happiness will not be experienced by those who remain filthy still. Conversely, those who rely wholly upon the merits of Jesus Christ will avail themselves of His mercy and find a joy that never ends.

WORKS CITED

Faust, J. E. (2003, April 6). Dear Are the Sheep That Have Wandered. Conference Report.

Holland, J. R. (1997). Christ and the New Covenant: The Messianic Message of the Book of Mormon. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company.

Maxwell, N. A. (1985, April 7). Conference Report.

Maxwell, N. A. (1988). Not My Own Will, But Thine. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft.

McConkie, B. R. (1981). The Promised Messiah: The first coming of Christ. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company.

McConkie, B. R. (1985). A New Witness for the Articles of Faith. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company.

Millet, R. L. (1997). Alive in Christ: The Miracle of Spiritual Rebirth. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company.

Millet, R. L., & McConkie, J. F. (1986). The Life Beyond. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft.

Oaks, D. H. (2002). With Full Purpose of Heart. Salt Lake City, UT, United States: Deseret Book Company.

Romney, M. G. (1982, April 3). Conference Report.

Smith, J. (1891). The Doctrine and Covenants. Salt Lake City: George Q. Cannon & Sons, Co., Printers and Publishers.

Smith, J. F. (1954-1956). Doctrines of Salvation (Vol. 3). (B. R. McConkie, Ed.) Salt Lake City, UT, United States: Bookcraft.

Taylor, J. (1882). Mediation and Atonement. Salt Lake City: Deseret New Company.

ENDNOTES

[1] Compare 1 Nephi 1:20 and Mosiah 29:20. 

[2] We often view the condescension of God as a past event—an event that occurred when He took upon Himself the form of man. Notwithstanding, in D&C 38:18, the Lord declared: “And I hold forth and deign (i.e., stoop) to give unto you the greater riches.” In His efforts to lift us, God is forever stooping. 

[3] Joseph Smith (1948-1950) also taught: “So long as a man will not give heed to the commandments, he must abide without salvation. If a man has knowledge, he can be saved; although, if he has been guilty of great sins, he will be punished for them. But when he consents to obey the gospel, whether here or in the world of spirits, he is saved” (pp. 314, Vol. 6). 

[4] The following quote given by Elder Orson F. Whitney (1929) was derived from some discourses as recorded in the William Clayton and Joseph Smith diaries: “The Prophet Joseph Smith declared—and he never taught more comforting doctrine—that the eternal sealings of faithful parents and the divine promises made to them for valiant service in the Cause of Truth, would save not only themselves, but likewise their posterity. Though some of the sheep may wander, the eye of the Shepherd is upon them, and sooner or later they will feel the tentacles of Divine Providence reaching out after them and drawing them back to the fold. Either in this life or the life to come, they will return. They will have to pay their debt to justice; they will suffer for their sins; and may tread a thorny path; but if it leads them at last, like the penitent Prodigal, to a loving and forgiving father’s heart and home, the painful experience will not have been in vain. Pray for your careless and disobedient children; hold on to them with your faith. Hope on, trust on, till you see the salvation of God” (p. 110). 

After referencing this quote in his April 1992 General Conference address, Elder Boyd K. Packer (1992) stated: “We cannot overemphasize the value of temple marriage, the binding ties of the sealing ordinance, and the standards of worthiness required of them. When parents keep the covenants they have made at the altar of the temple, their children will be forever bound to them. President Brigham Young said: ‘Let the father and mother, who are members of this Church and Kingdom, take a righteous course, and strive with all their might never to do a wrong, but to do good all their lives; if they have one child or one hundred children, if they conduct themselves towards them as they should, binding them to the Lord by their faith and prayers, I care not where those children go, they are bound up to their parents by an everlasting tie, and no power of earth or hell can separate them from their parents in eternity; they will return again to the fountain from whence they sprang. (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, comp. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols., 2:90–91)’” (p. 94). 

When Elder Packer gave his remarks, a sigh of relief settled over the parents of wayward children believing that their wayward children were unconditionally safe in the arms of their temple covenants. However, coming to this conclusion flies in the face of what the scriptures teach concerning agency, personal responsibility and individual salvation. Thus, several clarifications of the foregoing quotes are worthwhile. 

First, each of the written accounts from which Elder Whitney gained his understanding of this doctrine refer to the “sealing powers” in context of having one’s callings and election made sure. No reference is made to the marriage ordinance that exists between a husband and wife. Thus, we cannot conclude that the “eternal sealings” noted by Elder Whitney refers only to temple marriage. The “eternal sealings” of the temple is a reference to those ordinances which seal a man and wife up unto eternal life, or Second Anointings. Thus, temple marriage alone is insufficient to bind the children to parents. Second, when the Church historian amalgamated the entries from the William Clayton diary and Joseph Smith Diary kept by Willard Richards, to create the version of the August 13, 1843 discourse from which Orson F. Whitney derived his understanding of this doctrine, the passage that the blessings conferred by the ordinance of sealing parents was unconditional, thereby, suggesting that the children of parents who receive the fullness of the priesthood can never fall. However, another, and probably more accurate, account of this discourse contains the following clarification: “A measure of this sealing is to confirm upon their head[,] in common with Elijah[,] the doctrine of election or the covenant with Abraham—which when a [f]ather and mother of a family have entered into[,] their children[,] who have not transgressed[,] are secured by the seal wherewith the [p]arents have been sealed” (see Howard and Martha Coray Notebook, Smith, Joseph, Words of Joseph Smith, 241). 

Based on the foregoing, I think that it is scripturally-sound to conclude that the “eternal sealings” of parents (i.e., Second Anointings) indeed, will secure their children who have not transgressed the new and everlasting covenant of the gospel or who have repented of such transgressions before the night of darkness . . . wherein no work can be performed. 

[5] Compare Poetic Version of D&C 76 wherein Joseph Smith refers to these terrestrial spirits as “The heathen of ages who never had hope, And those of the region and shadow of death” (Smith J. , Times and Seasons, 1843, p. 83). 

[6] Compare Mormon 9:14; 2 Nephi 9:16; and D&C 88:35. 

[7] Note that Elder Smith spells out that it is the blood of Christ that will cleanse such individuals and not their personal suffering. 

[8] As republished in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 1-4 vols., edited by Daniel H. Ludlow, New York: Macmillan, 1992, 1754. 

[9] The conclusion to be drawn from this suggestion is that even telestial candidates must repent, have faith, and be redeemed through the sacrifice of the Only Begotten Son or else remain “filthy still” and face a certain and complete second death. It is worthy to note that the LDS Bible Dictionary explains that the “gospel by baptism” is the “covenant of salvation” where as celestial marriage is the “covenant of exaltation” (see under heading Abraham, Covenant of, 602). Although it is generally accepted and taught that baptism is a celestial ordinance, this might suggest that baptism has broader application. For example, referring to those of the terrestrial kingdom, the Poetic Version of D&C 76 contains this passage: “To the spirits in prison the Savior once preach’d, And taught them the gospel, with powers afresh; And then were the living baptiz’d for their dead, That they might be judg’d as if men in the flesh” (Smith, Joseph, Times and Seasons, Volume IV, Nauvoo, Illinois, 1 February 1843, 83). If baptism is a celestial and terrestrial ordinance, then it is just possible that it is also an ordinance that also extends to telestial beings as they are “redeemed through obedience to the ordinances of the house of God . . . and are washed clean . . . for they are heirs of salvation” (D&C 138:58-59). The aggregate of the gospel supports this suggestion. As far as has been revealed, baptism by water (which the prophet Joseph declared as but half a baptism and good for nothing if not accompanied by baptism of the Holy Ghost) is generally thought of as a prerequisite to enjoy the blessings of the Holy Ghost. If those of the telestial “receive of the Holy Spirit through the ministration of the terrestrial” (see D&C 76:86), mustn’t they first be washed clean and receive a remission of sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost? Although “Holy Spirit” often refers to the Light of Christ, its usage in this case appears to be a reference to the Holy Ghost as the prophet Joseph replaces “Holy Spirit” with “Comforter” in the Poetic Version of this verse (see Smith, Joseph, Times and Seasons, Volume IV, Nauvoo, Illinois, 1 February 1843, 84).

[10] In The Broken Heart, Elder Bruce C. Hafen (1989) provides his own insights concerning one’s inability to adequately suffer for personal sin and, thereby, satisfy the demands of justice: “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” (pp. 7-8). 

[11] Cannon, Gospel Truth, Volume 1, 78-79. 

[12] Oaks, The Lord's Way, 222-223. 

[13] Elder Dallin H. Oaks also addresses this question (see Oaks, With Full Purpose of Heart, 122). 

[14] Kimball, The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, 88, 99. 

[15] Oaks, With Full Purpose of Heart, 126. 

[16] See D&C 76:44-49; compare Mosiah 2:38. 

[17] Smith, Joseph, Encyclopedia of Joseph Smith’s Teachings, 136. 

[18] Ibid, 138. 

[19] Ibid, 136. 

[20] Smith, Joseph, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 357. 

[21] Compare 2 Nephi 26:11. 

[22] Compare Mormon 3:2-3. 

[23] See Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness, 117-132. 

[24] Compare Mormon 5:16-18; Ether 15:19; Moroni 8:28, 9:20; and Mormon 2:26. 

[25] Pratt, Orson, Orson Pratt: Writings of an Apostle, 31. 

[26] Smith, Joseph, Times and Seasons, Volume IV, Nauvoo, Illinois, 1 February 1843, 83. 

[27] Smith, Joseph, The Words of Joseph Smith, 33.