April 2005 Ensign - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

62
MESSAGES FROM THE
DOCTRINE &COVENANTS
The Lord has said
that we will be
blessed and will live
in a degree of glory
in the next life
according to the
eternal laws we
obey in mortality.
The Three
Degrees of
Glory
BY ELDER B. RENATO MALDONADO
Area Authority Seventy
South America North Area
More than any other book, the
Doctrine and Covenants helps us
understand the nature of life after
death. The Savior taught, “In my Father’s
house are many mansions” (John 14:2). The
Prophet Joseph Smith explained that “mansions”
may be understood to mean “kingdoms”—those
kingdoms in which we will
dwell in the life after this. He said: “It should
be—‘In my Father’s kingdom are many kingdoms,’
in order that ye may be heirs of God
and joint-heirs with me. . . . There are mansions
for those who obey a celestial law, and
there are other mansions for those who
come short of the law, every man in his own
order.” 1
As scientific knowledge increases, it will
become more evident that there is order in
the universe and that all things are governed
by harmonious and immutable laws. Perfect
order exists in everything in nature from the
nucleus of the atom to the immensity of
space. This is true in spiritual things as well
as temporal; therefore, blessings that are
spiritual are also governed by spiritual laws.
“There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven
. . . , upon which all blessings are predicated—and
when we obtain any blessing
from God, it is by obedience to that law upon
which it is predicated” (D&C 130:20–21).
In other words, there is a relationship between
obedience and blessings. The Lord has
said that we will be blessed and will live in a
degree of glory in the next life according to
the eternal laws we obey in mortality. “For he
who is not able to abide the law of a celestial
kingdom cannot abide a celestial glory” (D&C
88:22). The same holds true for the terrestrial
and telestial kingdoms (see vv. 23–24).
As the Prophet Joseph Smith was laboring
on what we now call the Joseph Smith
Translation of the Bible, he received a vision
later recorded as Doctrine and Covenants
section 76. Included in this revelation is a
comparison of the three degrees of glory:
the celestial, terrestrial, and telestial kingdoms.
Following is a brief description of each.
THE ETERNAL CITY, BY KEITH LARSON