Question: You answered, to a recent question about grace/works that: "people could just confess Christ as their personal Savior, but then go about doing all sorts of evil, commandment-breaking deeds and still inherit the same place in Christ’s kingdom as those who spent a lifetime doing righteousness." I remember I used to think of the above situation in relation to claiming "Jesus is Lord", but I now realise that someone who does claim Christ as their Saviour, but continues to sin, really never submitted to Jesus in the first place and therefore is not saved anyway. I also used to consider it unfair that one person may faithfully follow God's commandments all their life and gain a place in heaven, but also, a murderer who had been wicked all his life, could turn to God at the moment of death and receive the same heavenly reward. I know now that what I think is unimportant - God is the ultimate judge and He is perfect and just, so who am I to argue? I have learned to be grateful that I've had the privilege of serving Him all my life, which the late-penitent has not had. I understand that you believe that people have the opportunity to hear the gospel after death - does that apply to everyone, or only to Mormons who were not faithful in their earthly life? Having accepted the gospel when preached after death, is there a different place in heaven for those who had the opportunity to belong to the LDS church in life, compared with those who belonged to another Christian denomination? Or who may have professed to be atheist/agnostic?
Response: I have known many people in my life who were very sincere about their Christianity and their love for the Savior, but who because of their weakness and being overcome by the temptations of the world committed grievous sins, for which they felt terrible even though they loved Christ and wished they had done better. Theirs was not a casual acceptance initially, but a real commitment. Later however, as I’m sure you have seen, because of their own personal weakness they stumbled.
Later you went on in your letter to say "God is the ultimate judge and He is perfect and just, so who am I to argue". Isn’t it a blessing, Eileen, and even a privilege to have been able to avoid the anxiety filled experience that others have been plagued with. But more importantly, isn't it wonderful that we have the atoning sacrifice of our Savior that enables us to become free from the bondage of sinful acts that plague every single one of us here on earth, even though our intentions are righteous. We all make errors in our lives but, as you said, "God is the ultimate judge and He is perfect and just". You also asked about our belief that people have the opportunity to hear the gospel after they die (see 1st Peter 3:18-19, 1st Peter 4:6, and 1st Corinthians 5:29). You asked "Does that apply to everyone or only to Mormon’s who are not faithful in their earthly life"? The answer is: It applies to all of those who have never had the opportunity in their mortal experience to hear and understand the gospel of Jesus Christ. Those of us who do have the opportunity to hear and understand the gospel of Jesus Christ, but who choose to reject it by living the ways of the world, we will not have an additional opportunity when we arrive in the spirit world.
You also asked "if having accepted the gospel when preached after death, is there a different place in heaven for those who had the opportunity to belong to the LDS church in life, compared to those who have belonged to another Christian denomination, or those who profess to be atheist/agnostic". The answer is: No. All of us when we have the opportunity here and understand the gospel of Jesus Christ in its fullness will absolutely be of the same mind, faith, and commitment and our place in our Heavenly Fathers kingdom will be equal. There is a parable which relates to that, found in Matthew 20: 1-16.
I hope this answers your questions.
(Thought from Bev: accepting Christ as your personal Savior, and asking for forgiveness, does not mean that you will never sin again. We would have become 'perfect'. I am just wondering if you have never once, since you accepted Christ, committed any kind of sin? You have never done anything wrong since? I commend you if this is the case. If we feel that we only need to ask forgiveness one time and that's it for eternity, we are not making full use of Christ's atonement. No one is perfect, we all sin every day and fall short. We NEED to know that Christ will forgive us as we strive and fall and strive again to become like Him... Bev)
