Doctrine and Covenants 76:15–19

Elder D. Todd Christofferson

“When I say ‘study,’ I mean something more than reading. … I see you sometimes reading a few verses, stopping to ponder them, carefully reading the verses again, and as you think about what they mean, praying for understanding, asking questions in your mind, waiting for spiritual impressions, and writing down the impressions and insights that come so you can remember and learn more. Studying in this way, you may not read a lot of chapters or verses in a half hour, but you will be giving place in your heart for the word of God, and He will be speaking to you” (“When Thou Art Converted,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2004, 11).

Doctrine and Covenants 76:19

President Henry B. Eyring:

“Reading, studying, and pondering are not the same. We read words and we may get ideas. We study and we may discover patterns and connections in scripture. But when we ponder, we invite revelation by the Spirit. Pondering, to me, is the thinking and the praying I do after reading and studying in the scriptures carefully” (“Serve with the Spirit,” Ensign or Liahona,Nov. 2010, 60).

Doctrine and Covenants 76:30–32

President Spencer W. Kimball:

“The sin against the Holy Ghost requires such knowledge that it is manifestly impossible for the rank and file to commit such a sin” (The Miracle of Forgiveness [1969], 123).

The Prophet Joseph Smith:

“What must a man do to commit the unpardonable sin? He must receive the Holy Ghost, have the heavens opened unto him, and know God, and then sin against him. After a man has sinned against the Holy Ghost, there is no repentance for him. He has got to say that the sun does not shine while he sees it; he has got to deny Jesus Christ when the heavens have been opened unto him, and to deny the plan of salvation with his eyes open to the truth of it” (in History of the Church, 6:314).

Doctrine and Covenants 76:35

Elder Bruce R. McConkie:

“Commission of the unpardonable sin consists in crucifying unto oneself the Son of God afresh and putting him to open shame. (Heb. 6:4–8; D. & C. 76:34–35.) … He thereby commits murder by assenting unto the Lord’s death, that is, having a perfect knowledge of the truth he comes out in open rebellion and places himself in a position wherein he would have crucified Christ knowing perfectly the while that he was the Son of God. Christ is thus crucified afresh and put to open shame. (D. & C. 132:27.)” (Mormon Doctrine, 2nd ed. [1966], 816–17).

Doctrine and Covenants 76:44

President Dallin H. Oaks:

“For Latter-day Saints, being ‘saved’ can also mean being saved or delivered from the second death (meaning the final spiritual death) by assurance of a kingdom of glory in the world to come (see 1 Cor. 15:40–42). Just as the Resurrection is universal, we affirm that every person who ever lived upon the face of the earth—except for a very few—is assured of salvation in this sense. …

“The prophet Brigham Young taught that doctrine when he declared that ‘every person who does not sin away the day of grace, and become an angel to the Devil, will be brought forth to inherit a kingdom of glory’ (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young [1997], 288). This meaning of saved ennobles the whole human race through the grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. …

“… In another usage familiar and unique to Latter-day Saints, the words saved and salvationare also used to denote exaltation or eternal life (see Abr. 2:11). This is sometimes referred to as the ‘fulness of salvation’ (Bruce R. McConkie, The Mortal Messiah, 4 vols. [1979–81], 1:242). This salvation requires more than repentance and baptism by appropriate priesthood authority. It also requires the making of sacred covenants, including eternal marriage, in the temples of God, and faithfulness to those covenants by enduring to the end” (“Have You Been Saved?” Ensign, May 1998, 56–57).

Doctrine and Covenants 76:51–53, 69–70

President Dallin H. Oaks:

“The Final Judgment is not just an evaluation of a sum total of good and evil acts—what we have done. It is an acknowledgment of the final effect of our acts and thoughts—what we have become. It is not enough for anyone just to go through the motions. The commandments, ordinances, and covenants of the gospel are not a list of deposits required to be made in some heavenly account. …

“The gospel of Jesus Christ is the plan by which we can become what children of God are supposed to become. This spotless and perfected state will result from a steady succession of covenants, ordinances, and actions, an accumulation of right choices, and from continuing repentance. …

“… I testify with gratitude of the plan of the Father under which, through the Resurrection and Atonement of our Savior, we have the assurance of immortality and the opportunity to become what is necessary for eternal life” (“The Challenge to Become,” Ensign, Nov. 2000, 32, 33, 34).

Doctrine and Covenants 76:67

Elder Bruce R. McConkie:

“Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who so devote themselves to righteousness that they receive the higher ordinances of exaltation become members of the Church of the Firstborn. Baptism is the gate to the Church itself, but celestial marriage is the gate to membership in the Church of the Firstborn, the inner circle of faithful saints who are heirs of exaltation and the fulness of the Father’s kingdom” (Mormon Doctrine, 2nd ed. [1966], 139).

Doctrine and Covenants 76:69

President Russell M. Nelson:

“The perfection that the Savior envisions for us is much more than errorless performance. It is the eternal expectation as expressed by the Lord in his great intercessory prayer to his Father—that we might be made perfect and be able to dwell with them in the eternities ahead [see John 17:23–24]. …

“… Perfection consists in gaining eternal life—the kind of life that God lives. …

“… As begotten children of heavenly parents, we are endowed with the potential to become like them, just as mortal children may become like their mortal parents.

“The Lord restored his church to help us prepare for perfection. …

“The perfect man … is the completed person … the glorified soul! …

“We need not be dismayed if our earnest efforts toward perfection now seem so arduous and endless. Perfection is pending. It can come in full only after the Resurrection and only through the Lord. It awaits all who love him and keep his commandments. It includes thrones, kingdoms, principalities, powers, and dominions [see D&C 132:19]. It is the end for which we are to endure. It is the eternal perfection that God has in store for each of us” (“Perfection Pending,” Ensign, Nov. 1995, 87, 88).

Doctrine and Covenants 76:69–70

President George Albert Smith:

“One of the beautiful things to me in the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that it brings us all to a common level. It is not necessary for a man to be a president of a stake, or a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, in order to attain a high place in the celestial kingdom. The humblest member of the Church, if he keeps the commandments of God, will obtain an exaltation just as much as any other man in the celestial kingdom. The beauty of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that it makes us all equal in as far as we keep the commandments of the Lord. … We have equal opportunities for exaltation” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1933, 25).

Bishop Joseph L. Wirthlin of the Presiding Bishopric testified: “We are all candidates for the celestial kingdom” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1952, 118).

Doctrine and Covenants 76:79

Elder Bruce R. McConkie:

“What does it mean to be valiant in the testimony of Jesus? … “The great cornerstone of valiance in the cause of righteousness is obedience to the whole law of the whole gospel. … “To be valiant in the testimony of Jesus is to believe in Christ and his gospel with unshakable conviction. …

“But this is not all. It is more than believing and knowing. We must be doers of the word and not hearers only. It is more than lip service; it is not simply confessing with the mouth the divine Sonship of the Savior. It is obedience and conformity and personal righteousness. …

“To be valiant in the testimony of Jesus is to … ‘endure to the end.’ (2 Ne. 31:20.) It is to live our religion, to practice what we preach, to keep the commandments” (“Be Valiant in the Fight of Faith," Ensign, Nov. 1974, 35).

Doctrine and Covenants 76:84

Elder Bruce R. McConkie:

“That part of the spirit world inhabited by wicked spirits who are awaiting the eventual day of their resurrection is called hell. Between their death and resurrection, these souls of the wicked are cast out into outer darkness, into the gloomy depression of sheol, into the hades of waiting wicked spirits, into hell. There they suffer the torments of the damned; there they welter in the vengeance of eternal fire; there is found weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth; there the fiery indignation of the wrath of God is poured out upon the wicked. (Alma 40:11–14; D. & C. 76:103–106.) …

“After their resurrection, the great majority of those who have suffered in hell will pass into the telestial kingdom; the balance, cursed as sons of perdition, will be consigned to partake of endless wo with the devil and his angels. …

“Thus, for those who are heirs of some salvation, which includes all except the sons of perdition (D. & C. 76:44), hell has an end” (Mormon Doctrine,2nd ed. [1966], 349, 350, 351; see also Doctrine and Covenants Student Manual, 2nd ed. [Church Educational System manual, 2001], 165–166.)

Doctrine and Covenants 76:85, 106

President Brigham Young:

“When God revealed to Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon that there was a place prepared for all, according to the light they had received and their rejection of evil and practice of good, it was a great trial to many, and some apostatized because God was not going to send to everlasting punishment heathens and infants, but had a place of salvation, in due time, for all, and would bless the honest and virtuous and truthful, whether they ever belonged to any church or not. It was a new doctrine to this generation, and many stumbled at it” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young[1997], 292).

Doctrine and Covenants 76:92–95

Elder Orson Pratt:

“There is quite a difference between being saved in some kingdom, where there is some glory, some happiness, and being saved in the kingdom where our Father resides. …

“Our Father who dwells in yonder heavens, and his Son Jesus Christ, inhabit the highest degree of glory in eternity. They are possessed of all the fulness of glory. They have a fulness of happiness, a fulness of power, a fulness of intelligence, light and truth, and they bear rule over all other kingdoms of inferior glory, of inferior happiness, and of inferior power. … The gospel is intended to exalt the children of men to that same degree of glory, where our Father and where his Son resides” (Deseret News, Nov. 10, 1880, 642).

Doctrine and Covenants 76:113–116

The Prophet Joseph Smith:

“I could explain a hundred fold more than I ever have of the glories of the kingdoms manifested to me in the vision, were I permitted, and were the people prepared to receive them” (in History of the Church, 5:402).