Good description.

Amen

Amen to you Judah

Hi Wax,
If what the church taught is what you state, then yes it would be cruel and mean. However in my opinnion the church doesn’t teach this, it teaches that we must do our best to follow the commandments, but in the end we are judged by what is in our hearts. Different people in the church like to emphasize “obedience.” But The actual church doctrine is that Christ saves all mortals, but exalts the repentent sinner. This is scriptural, this is taught by our prophets and in our manuals. I think the greatest things we can be obedient to is 1) to love god 2) to love others 3) to repent and strive to do better. There is another scripture that says to endure to the end. That scripture says to me to never give up on repentance and striving to do better. Humans will never reach perfection. It is through Jesus Christ that we may receive perfection in the next life, if our hearts are good and humble and striving – he will make up the difference. This is what I have learned in the LDS faith over my 50+ mortal years.

Christ is key to everything!

As you quoted from “The Articles of Faith”

“Eternity is progressive; perfection is relative; the essential feature of God’s living purpose is its associated power of eternal increase.”
Lecture XXII subparagraph 25

The Atonement is eternal, infinite, and custom tailored to our individual and collective needs.

“It is reasonable to believe, in the absence of direct revelation by which alone absolute knowledge of the matter could be acquired, that, in accordance with God’s plan of eternal progression, advancement from grade to grade within any kingdom, and from kingdom to kingdom, will be provided for. But if the recipients of a lower glory be enabled to advance, surely the intelligences of higher rank will not be stopped in their progress; and thus we may conclude, that degrees and grades will ever characterize the kingdoms of our God. Eternity is progressive; perfection is relative; the essential feature of God’s living purpose is its associated power of eternal increase.”

Lecture XXII subparagraph 25.

Holly,

See the Comment Section on Gramps’ post (Is it possible to progress from one kingdom to
another?) dated Jan. 05, 2011 (the address is https://askgramps.org/is-it-possible-to-progress-from-one-kingdom-to-another). There are many general authorities who adamantly and passionately
claim(ed) (and be it known that their claims are only opinions, not official doctrine) that there is no progression between kingdoms. However, there are many general authorities who spoke (their
statements are also only opinions, not official doctrine) in support of progression from lower kingdoms (telestial and terrestrial) to the celestial kingdom.

One must remember that when we die we go to spirit paradise or spirit prison to await final judgment and resurrection. There is an opportunity in spirit prison for repentance (think of the tens of billions of people who have lived and died without an opportunity to have the Gospel preached to them let alone accept it and live it fully). Without question, a person is much better off repenting and living the Gospel in this life than to wait for the spirit world to start repenting for a variety of reasons I won’t go into here. Are your children lost forever? Here is a quote from J. Reuben Clark that might help:

I am not a strict constructionalist, believing that we seal our eternal progress by what we do here. It is my belief that God will save all of His children that he can: and while, if we live unrighteously here, we shall not go to the other side in the same status, so to speak, as those who lived righteously; nevertheless, THE UNRIGHTEOUS WILL HAVE THEIR CHANCE, AND IN THE EONS OF THE
ETERNITIES THAT ARE TO FOLLOW, THEY, TOO, MAY CLIMB TO THE DESTINIES TO WHICH THEY WHO ARE RIGHTEOUS AND SERVE GOD, HAVE CLIMBED TO THOSE ETERNITIES THAT ARE TO COME. (Church News, p. 3 , 23 April 1960; capitalization added by me.)

Some may take issue with this statement and say it is not official doctrine or wasn’t said in a
general conference, etc. Well, with all due respect to such, the statements like those of Elder McConkie in his “The Seven Deadly Heresies” address/talk aren’t official doctrine and
weren’t said in general conference either.

It seems consistent with both the justice and mercy of God to not have one’s eternal fate sealed merely
by the experiences and choices made in this (for many people, very short) earth life alone. And even then, there are at least opinions by church leaders that progression from one kingdom to the next is possible.

The answer to whether your or anyone else’s wayward children are lost forever if they don’t repent in this life will in the end depend on your children. Wayward children will have to choose to live the laws that govern the celestial kingdom in order to enter the celestial kingdom, dwell therein, and partake of eternal life and exaltation. If wayward children choose not to do this, knowing full well that they are rejecting the greater glory and opportunity made available to them in mortal life and again in the spirit world, then the Father will give them as much as they are willing to accept and they will enter into the telestial or terrestrial kingdom. I am sure EVERY effort will be spent by our Heavenly Father and Mother to steer all of us, Their wayward children, back to them, both in this life and the next. Only when all Their efforts have been exhausted and wayward children still refuse to obey and put forth effort to repent and progress will they (unrepentant/wayward children) be assigned to the lower kingdoms. Where else can they go? The unrepentant would be more miserable living in the celestial kingdom with exalted Heavenly Parents than they would be dwelling in a lower kingdom apart from Them, so there has to be a separate place (kingdom) for them.

In closing, a wise man once told me “there is a lot more hope in the Plan of Salvation than we sometimes allow ourselves to accept and believe”. Don’t give up hope, Holly (or anyone else for that matter). God be with you as you go through this trial in your life.