Theology of the Third Estate

 
  To Choose Life or Choose Death

   

Joseph Smith said that the "damnation of Hell" was "to go with that society who have not obeyed his commands" (TPJS P. 158). While certainly accurate, that definition does not really help us to understand the process which will lead to our damnation, since all of us have disobeyed various commandments at one time or another.

Joseph F. Smith provided a more complete definition:

"It is being barred, or denied privileges of progression, because of failure to comply with law. All who fail to enter into the celestial kingdom are damned, stopped in their progressing, but they will enter into some other glory which they are entitled to receive." (Doctrines of Salvation 2:227).

There are two aspects of this particular definition which are extremely important. The first is that it places the concept of damnation after the Judgement. In other words, final and irrevocable damnation does not occur until the whole purpose of the world has been completed, and our Judgement is Just.

The second point is that damnation is correlated with a lack of progression. Even though many will be sent to degrees of glory, there is only one in wich Eternal Progression is possible. To fall short of that capability s damnation. To be eternally cut off from progression is Eternal Damnation. This concept of damnation allows us to more fully comprehend our own temporal damnation, which haunts our present and repented past. Eternal damnation is an end result of a precess of temporal damnation, a reversible path which temporarily blocks our progress and which can result in the permanent loss of privilege.

To my knowledge, the only scriptural definition of damnation is found in D&C 93:31-32:

D&C 93:31 "Behold, here is the agency of man, and here is the condemnation of man; because that which was from the beginning is plainly manifest unto them, and they receive not the light. 32 And every man whose spirit receiveth not the light is under condemnation."

As we have discussed before, the principle of Agency is absolutely critical to the Plan of Salvation. There is no exaltation without our agency. Damnation is the other side of the two edged sword. While agency is the means of our exaltation, it is also the means of our damnation. Thus verse 31 states "here is the agency of man, and here is the condemnation of man" (D&C 93:31).

The early literature of the Christian church emphasized a text which proclaimed the doctrine of the Two Ways - the Way of Life, and the Way of Death. Those texts are no more than a dramatic depiction of the real task of earth life. We are always walking a path on this earth, and it either leads to Eternal Life or Eternal Damnation. While it might be satisfying to see the two as diametrically opposed, one leading forward and another back, it is not so in reality. In the real operation of Agency, every act places us at a figurative fork in the road, where the paths of exaltation and damnation continually loom before us. Both begin right where we are, right now, although they end in very different places.

To better understand the nature of the road to damnation, it is instructive to take a closer look at the path to exaltation. At the beginning of the path is the Light of Christ:

D&C 84:45 For the word of the Lord is truth, and whatsoever is truth is light, and whatsoever is light is Spirit, even the Spirit of Jesus Christ. 46 And the Spirit giveth light to every man that cometh into the world; and the Spirit enlighteneth every man through the world, that hearkeneth to the voice of the Spirit.

All men are given the gift of the Spirit of Christ, or the Light of Christ. This infusion of Eternal Truth is given as a measuring stick against which we may measure the actions of our agency. The word "light" is an apt description, for it lets us "see" our way.

As we make correct choices, we add to our knowledge of the things of God, and our "light" becomes stronger. We are given our knowledge "line upon line, precept upon precept":

"For intelligence cleaveth unto intelligence; wisdom receiveth wisdom; truth embraceth truth; virtue loveth virtue; light cleaveth unto light . . ." (D&C 88:40).

As we move along the path of exaltation, our light grows greater. Our knowledge of Eternal Truth becomes greater, and we are more and more sensitive to the promptings of the Spirit. This process continues until:

D&C 88:67 ". . . your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you; and that body which is filled with light comprehendeth all things."

At this point, we are well on the road to exaltation. Just as any earthly journey is composed of all of the miles between our origin and our destination, so our eternal journey is composed of the incremental steps along the way. To the degree that we are adding light upon light, we are progressing. To do otherwise is damnation. When we actually add darkness upon darkness, we are walking the path of damnation.

The process of damnation is so familiar to us that we seldom recognize it. It is not only easy to overlook, it is easy to deny. Therein is its danger. Therein is our greatest familiarity. One of the agents of our damnation might simply be termed "lethargy." Our lack of desire to do better opens us to the choices of doing worse. The scriptures warn against such lethargy through one of the stories of the casting out of devils:

Matthew 12:43-45 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. 44 Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth [it] empty, swept, and garnished. 45 Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last [state] of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.

To understand this scripture as it relates to our own damnation, we need to place ourselves in the role of the main character. In verse 43 we have just been made clean. Our "devil" has been cast out, whether it truly be a devil, or any sin of which we have repented. At this point we have taken a step toward exaltation.

Verse 44 personifies our repented sin. In the personified text, sin returns to us, and finds the house clean and swept. In other words, we have not replaced the sin with a virtue. It is part of human nature to be more susceptible to a temptation after it has had a hold on us. A simple example is the relationship of recovering alcoholics to alcohol. Where a single drink would not necessarily lead just anyone down a spiraling path to addiction, a single drink has the real possibility of doing so to a recovering alcoholic. After many years of abstinence the yearning may cease, but for a long time, it waits in the cleanly swept house.

So are we with any of our sins. To the degree we once embraced a sin, it leaves a void in our souls where it once comfortably fit. If we yield to temptation even once, it is so simple for it to take up at least as firm a hold as it previously had.

Verse 45, however, describes a more common occurrence. Instead of returning to the sin at a previous level, we embrace it even me tightly. Those of us who have ever dieted know this phenomenon. We will eschew ice cream for instance. We may do well for a while, but the real desires for ice cream stay with us. When we do decide to have some ice cream, it is very easy to mentally say "well, as long as I'm breaking my diet . . ." The end of that process is a gooey banana split in a pig trough.

By far the most popular form of damnation is the selective rejection of the light. In Joseph Smith's words, "when God offers a blessing, or knowledge to man, and he refuses to receive it, he will be damned." (TPJS p. 322). Although it seems inconceivable that we would reject a blessing or gift of knowledge which comes from God, we do so frequently. The scriptures also call this kicking against the pricks. The "pricks" are the flashes of light given us by the Holy Ghost. All too frequently we not only kick against them, but godown screaming as well. This is the excuse making stage. This is where we find that humanity's greatest developed skill is rationalization. Our excuses assuage with intellect the pain of the soul. None are exempt.

It is really simple to locate the area where you have the most work to do, and where the possible spiritual gain will be the greatest. Find the principle, the action, the desire, for which you make the most excuses. Just like the walls of a fortress hint of the armies within, so do the myriad of excuses we proffer give us a hint of the "pricks" they are concealing.

I was once at a youth fireside where I explained this concept. As we were talking, one of the young men asked "does that mean my bowling on Sunday?" He then proceeded to offer a number of reasons why he really had to bowl on Sunday. None of the rest of us were as convinced by his arguments as he was. It didn't matter. I was clear where the Holy Ghost was "pricking" him the hardest, and obvious what he was doing to kick against those pricks.

It is painful to discover these well-hedged "pricks". They are our favorite sins. I say favorite, because we fight so hard against having to give them up. In many cases they are small, but in being small they no less dam up our progress. They are part of what keeps at least one foot on the road to temporal damnation.

Both lethargy and the selective rejection of the light are common excursions along the path to temporal damnation. They are equally as common as our tastes of redemption which come from repenting. They are the daily stuff of our struggle with Agency.

They both become dangerous as they form repetitive cycles. When our lethargy causes us to re-embrace a sin, and to do so to a greater extent, we are moving rapidly toward damnation. When our favorite sins become more serious, and the hedges we build around them so strong as to prevent us from seeing the Light offered by the Holy Ghost, we are moving even faster toward darkness rather than light.

Laman and Lemuel rocked back and forth between righteousness and rebellion, until they came to a point where Nephi tells them:

1 Nephi 17:45 "Ye are swift to do iniquity but slow to remember the Lord your God. Ye have seen an angel, and he spake unto you; yea, ye have heard his voice from time to time; and he hath spoken unto you in a still small voice, but ye were past feeling, that ye could not feel his words . . ."

A heart past feeling is one where the walls around the Light are so high that the Light cannot be seen. The walls are so thick that the pricks are no longer felt. There is no itch calling for repentance, and therefore the likelihood of repentance is low; "Their hearts are corrupt, and full of wickedness and abominations; and they love darkness rather than light. . ." (D&C 10:21).

When one's soul is so full of darkness as to love the darkness more than light, it becomes painful to be in the presence of light. There are at least two common reactions of people who have traveled so far along the path of damnation. Alma describes this process of hardening the heart:

Alma 10:6 "Nevertheless, I did harden my heart, for I was called many times and I would not hear; therefore I knew concerning these things, yet I would not know; therefore I went on rebelling against God. . ."

Rebellion against the light is a natural outcome of embracing darkness. When we are no longer comfortable with the light, we frequently begin to fight against it - to attempt to deny it to others so that they will embrace the darkness with us.

The path of exaltation and the path of damnation both lie constantly before us. Neither is forced upon us.

2 Nephi 2:27 "Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself."

The good news for all of us is that there is always a way back. Alma proclaimed that his heart was past feeling, and that he was in a state of open rebellion, yet he found his way back to the path of exaltation. The nature of our Agency places us in the precarious position of choosing between the two. The key is to listen to the "pricks".

Mosiah 3:18-19 "For behold he judgeth, and his judgment is just; and the infant perisheth not that dieth in his infancy; but men drink damnation to their own souls except they humble themselves and become as little children, and believe that salvation was, and is, and is to come, in and through the atoning blood of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent. 19 For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father."

The great key to this scripture is the unless in verse 19. Unless we yield to the enticings, unless we hedge up a wall around the light, unless our hearts become past feeling. The way of damnation is before us, but we are also guaranteed that the way to exaltation also lies before us at all times. We are also guaranteed that the Light can be there to guide us, if only we are willing to see it.

       
      by Brant Gardner. Copyright 1998