Question
Gramps,
If a person was voluntarily excommunicated for adultery but repents with full restoration of blessings, having been faithful for over 30 years, including remarriage in the temple, is there any doctrine or conditions which would prevent that person from inheriting the Celestial Kingdom, including the right to live with the new sealed spouse (and other loved ones)?
Janet
Answer
Janet,
Thank you for taking a moment to ask this question. Let’s review scriptures and prophetic words that are relevant to what you have asked:
1. “Repentance is sometimes a painful process, but it leads to forgiveness and lasting peace. Through the prophet Isaiah, the Lord said, “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18). In this dispensation the Lord has promised, “He who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more” (Doctrine and Covenants 58:42).”
2. Isaiah 1:18, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”
3. Doctrine and Covenants 58:42, “Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more.”
4. “Repentance is an act of faith in Jesus Christ —an acknowledgment of the power of His Atonement. We can be forgiven only on His terms. As we gratefully recognize His Atonement and His power to cleanse us from sin, we are able to “exercise [our] faith unto repentance” (Alma 34:17)”
5. Alma 34:17, “Therefore may God grant unto you, my brethren, that ye may begin to exercise your faith unto repentance, that ye begin to call upon his holy name, that he would have mercy upon you;”
6. “Jesus Christ promised us: ‘It shall come to pass that every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am; And that I am the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world’ (D&C 93:1–2).”
7. Excellent testimony and confirming words:
“A young man bore this testimony: ‘I think of all the pain I caused my parents —and myself —by not realizing that sin does not bring happiness. After high school I moved out and started drinking, smoking, and using drugs. I thought I was having a good time, but now I know I was really quite miserable.
“‘Then one day I stopped and thought, “What if my parents could see me now? What would they think?”
“‘It was then that I started to turn my life around. … I would never have made it without some good new friends and an understanding bishop —and without the help of the Holy Ghost. But with their help I was able to repent. And now I see how unhappy I was. I testify that repentance and righteous living bring happiness. And I know from experience that the Lord is always there to help us change our lives, if we only let him’” (quoted by Jay A. Parry in “Miracles Today?” Ensign, Jan. 1978, 56).
As we repent of our sins, we come closer to the true path. When we are on the true course leading to the celestial kingdom, we understand that all the laws of God are important. We become more like Jesus Christ and view sin as He does. We cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance (see D&C 1:31). In other words, we cannot stand any form of sin. This is our goal. Although we are not perfect, we must remember our goal and work to attain it.”
8. And my favorite verses of scripture, Doctrine and Covenants 45:3-5, “Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him— Saying: Father, behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased; behold the blood of thy Son which was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified; Wherefore, Father, spare these my brethren that believe on my name, that they may come unto me and have everlasting life.”
It appears from these verses of scriptures and thoughts from our manuals that the Lord’s grace is as he has specified it to be — enduring, loving, charity, bounteous, forgiving, and infinite without end. The scriptures are clear, that if we have done all we can, confessed and forsook our sins, we have every reason to trust in God that the blessings of living with the Father and receiving all he hath can be ours, nothing would prevent it if we have indeed forsaken and confessed our sin.
Gramps
