Beliefs > Question & Answer > Heavenly Kingdom

Question

Do you believe that trusting in the Latter-day Saint doctrine is enough to get to Heaven or that you must be born again? I believe you are sincere about your beliefs but you are sincerely wrong. To get to heaven you must be born again. You must admit that you are a sinner and ask Jesus Christ to save you. Please do this and don't just trust in the Latter-day Saints doctrine.

Response

Thank you for your statement. I'm assuming by your comment that you are a born again Christian. I do respect your creed based on the examples of dedication and an earnest desire to promote Christianity. I will point out some things for you to consider, though. You say that we need to ask Jesus to save us. Save us from what? Death? Jesus already did that. This is what the atonement was for. By his grace, salvation from death is a free gift to all mankind. (2 Nephi. 2:4, Isaiah. 55:1) You are correct in stating that we are in a state of sin. The fall of Adam and Eve separated them from the glorious presence of God and brought about death, both physical and spiritual. They were in a condition inferior to God, and anything lower than the kingdom where God dwells is considered a state of sin. We know that in our present physical and mortal circumstances, we cannot dwell in the presence of our Father in Heaven. But you see, Christ died to save us and redeem us from that physical and spiritual death brought upon us by the fall in order to return to God's presence. This is called "intercession" for and on our behalf. The demands for punishment of sin had to be satisfied, though. It is God's law. Someone had to pay the price for sin for us to be redeemed. This is where our Savior's grace comes in. Through his grace, and by the atoning sacrifice, our punishment has been met and we are allowed back into the presence of God, so that we can be judged according to our works here on earth. Everyone will be resurrected and saved from death brought upon us by the fall, and everyone will recognize Jesus Christ as the Savior who gave this gift to the world; not just a select few who say "Save me." This is why it says, "every knee shall bow… and every tongue confess" that Jesus is the Christ; the one who gave us salvation. (Romans 14:11) But not everyone will receive exaltation in God's kingdom. This will be determined by those who are willing to follow Christ and his commandments. We must earn our exaltation by our works on earth. You might ask, "But what about the scripture that says": "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) Does this mean that it doesn't matter what we do in life, God will save who he wants? Absolutely not. Grace is the love, mercy, and condescension of God in making salvation available to all of us. "It is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do." (2Ne.25:23, James 2:20) Paul was trying to teach the people of Ephesus that they could not be saved by some power that was within them or by observing the law of Moses. He pointed out to them the fact that if it were not for the mission of Jesus Christ, if it were not for this great atoning sacrifice, they could not be redeemed. And therefore, it was by the grace of God that they are saved, not by any work on their part, for they were absolutely helpless on their own. What happens after the resurrection, or the glory that we receive will be determined by our works. In 1 Corinthians 15:41-42 it states that, "There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead..." We can't assume a reward is free (like a glorious eternal life) until we are tried, tested and found worthy, just as ancient civilizations were. "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man." (Eccl.12:13) There is not just a Heaven and a Hell. Like it states in Corinthians, there are different degrees of glory that we achieve in the resurrection based on our willingness to live the commandments, according to the light and knowledge we have within us. These three degrees of glory are the Celestial Kingdom, Terrestrial Kingdom and the Telestial Kingdom; the Celestial being the dwelling place of God. (1 Corinthians 15:40) We earn these kingdoms; we just aren't placed there by happenstance. You just can't say "Lord, Lord" and expect to inherit the Kingdom of God. (Matthew 7:21) By saying, "Lord Jesus, I need You as my Savior. Save me from eternal death. Give me God's life. I want to be born again of God. Make me a Christian," do you really expect everything to be perfect? There are certain guidelines that Christ laid down for us to follow. "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." (Mark 16:16) Notice that baptism is a prerequisite for salvation. Now, as we study the principle of baptism, we find the required steps are faith and repentance, which always precede the ordinance of baptism (by one who has the authority) for the remission of sins. As you know, baptism is symbolic of death and burial of "the old man" (as we go under the water) and symbolic of resurrection (a new life) as we come up out of the water. Then we receive the "Gift of the Holy Ghost." At this point we become born again. This was made clear in the Bible when our Savior (even though he was perfect and had no sin) was baptized by John the Baptist as an example for us. In conclusion, in order to be "Born Again" there is more that is required of us than just saying, "I'm a sinner and I commit myself to Christ"; much more than just being baptized and assuming all is well. There is absolutely no guarantee that anyone will ever be born again of the Spirit by merely going through the motions of righteousness. There have been so many people that get baptized with great intentions of commitment and dedication, but soon fall away because they don't have that one thing that is prerequisite to qualify as "born again" of the Spirit; a change of heart. Alma, in the Book of Mormon, addressed this complete change of heart and "born again" process when many people were being baptized. He asked them if they had "spiritually been born of God," received the Lord's image in their countenances, and had the "mighty change" in their hearts which always attends the birth of the Spirit. (Alma 5:14,31) You may want to read 2 Nephi, chapter 2 in the Book of Mormon. The prophet Lehi is speaking to his son Jacob about this very subject. As far as your statement of not just trusting in the Latter-day Saint doctrine, it may be interesting for you to know that we believe that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is not a new church. It is the same one Jesus established, in full detail. It is the restored Church and is referred to as the Latter-day Saints to distinguish it from the Former Day Saints. I hope this has been helpful. Sincerely, Donny Osmond See related multimedia presentations

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