Resurrection

The other night my husband listened for a few minutes to a guy on the radio who was preaching against organized religion. What caught his attention was that he was belittling our LDS doctrine about the resurrection. He didn't see how anyone could believe there is such a thing as "three degrees of glory" instead of just heaven and hell as believed by mainstream Christians. Apparently he hasn't read, or doesn't understand, chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians. It's true that only the celestial and terestrial kingdoms or degrees are mentioned by name, but the resurrection's comparison to the sun, moon, and stars, is very clear.

Celestial = sun
Terrestrial = moon
Telestial = stars.

As I understand it, most churches teach that good people go to heaven, and bad ones to hell. Yet, some believe that what you do here really doesn't matter, because if you confess Christ - say you believe in Him as your Savior - then all is forgiven and you are saved through His grace.

We, too, believe that we are saved through His grace. No matter how "good" we try to be, we haven't the power to save ourselves nor the ability to live a sin-free life, and no unclean person can dwell with God in "heaven." But, to qualify for complete salvation (the Celestial Kingdom where God dwells), it is essential that we have faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior, forsake and repent of our sins, keep His commandments the best we can, be baptized and participate in other ordinances as the Lord has set forth, and be obedient, repentant, and faithful throughout our lives.

Who goes where?

Celestial Kingdom (heaven) = Those who have been taught the true Gospel and live according to its teachings

Terrestial Kingdom = Good people of the earth who live honest, decent lives but don't accept the Gospel
when it is taught to them

Telestial Kingdom = Liars, robbers, sexually immoral people, dishonest, etc., who don't repent and accept the Gospel when they hear it. Also murders (they can repent and accept the Gospel, but they have forfeited their opportunity to go to the Celestial Kingdom).

These "kingdoms or degrees" are degrees of GLORY. In His loving mercy, God designed life after death so that each person will receive whatever degree of happiness and glory he is able to bear. Everyone will be resurrected (saved from death) - that is a free gift. The Atonement of Christ pays for the sins of the truly repentant so that they don't have to suffer in hell. "Hell" is where the unrepentant wicked go after death and before the final judgment and resurrection. Christ's suffering does not relieve them of their punishment, and it is there, before the resurrection, that they pay the awful price for their wickedness. But when everything is taken care of, and the resurrection and final judgment have taken place, everyone except the sons of Perdition will be assigned to a degree of glory where they will live forever. Sons of Perdition are the few who KNOW through the power of the Holy Ghost that Jesus is the Christ - and they have to know it as surely as seeing the sun shine on a clear day - and then deny it. Sons of Perdition are consigned to life forever with Satan.

How do we claim to know these things? Because this Church was restored by Jesus Christ through the Prophet Joseph Smith in these latter days. The original teachings and ordinances are again available to the people of the earth because the Lord re-established them through His living prophet. The Bible is a great gift. We believe it is "the word of God as far as it is translated correctly" (Article of Faith #8). But we also acknowledge that certain doctrines and details were lost or changed through the many translations and revisions it has undergone since the original writings by prophets and apostles of the Lord. It is easy to see how that could happen when you consider how differently the teachings in current Bibles are interpreted by the different churches and individuals of today. There is much confusion and disparity of doctrines among today's Christians. But Christ's Church of this day is led by living prophets, as it was in days of old. The Lord speaks to and inspires those whom he chooses to lead, so there is no confusion nor private interpretation of doctrine as revealed by Him to them.