Mormons believe that the everyone who dies is taken home to God. Then someone who is considered righteous is received into a state of happiness, called Paradise. It's a state of peace and rest, free from all care and sorrow. However, a wicked person who loves evil and invites the devil into his life is cast out into outer darkness and lives in a very miserable state. Both the righteous and the wicked souls remain in these states until the resurrection. When Jesus Christ comes to earth again, this time so that everyone will see him coming in his red clothing and all his glory, many righteous people will be resurrected. To be resurrected is to have your soul reunited with your body, never again to be separated, and your body will be restored to its proper and perfect frame. Eventually everyone who has died, whether good or evil, will be resurrected.
While the dead wait for the resurrection, they live in the world of spirits which is on the earth. This world of spirits is where Jesus Christ went after he died. Just as he organized his church on the earth during his mortal life, he organized the teaching of his word in the Spirit World while he was there. Those who were taught God's word during their mortal lives go about teaching other people who did not have the proper chance to learn during their mortal lives. Mormons do not believe that a man's chance for salvation necessarily ends when he dies. Children who die before they reach the age of accountability are saved in the Celestial Kingdom of God.
Mormons believe that God requires all who want to be saved (except for unaccountable children) to make and keep covenants with him. This includes receiving certain ordinances like baptism, receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, and the endowment. Mormons vicariously perform these ordinances for our dead family members in the temples that we build. The dead are often interested in our research to find them and in our efforts to get their temple work done.
After the resurrection, we will all be judged according to our works and our desires, including what we did with the word of God that we were taught.
Mormons believe that heaven is divided into three kingdoms: the Celestial, the Terrestrial, and the Telestial Kingdoms. A soul could also go to outer darkness, which is called Hell. Hell is for those people who really love evil and don't want to serve God. The inhabitants of the Telestial Kingdom are those people who will get to live with the influence of the Spirit of God. The Terrestrial Kingdom is for those who will get to be in the presence of Jesus Christ as well as the Spirit. The Celestial Kingdom is the best kingdom, where those who inherit it will get to dwell in the presence of Heavenly Father. All three kingdoms are glorious and beautiful, but the Celestial Kingdom should be our goal.
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
The Purpose of Life
Mormons believe that we all used to live with Heavenly Father (God) before we were born. We didn't have physical bodies back then, but we were spirits. Heavenly Father was the father of our spirits, so we are literally his children. He loved us and wanted us to have a perfect physical body like his. He also wanted us to be as intelligent, wise, good, and happy as he was.
One day God called us together and told us of his plan for us. He said that he would create a place for us to live (earth), away from his presence. He said that there we would have the freedom to choose to do good or to do evil. God would give us laws to help us do good and to avoid evil, and we were supposed to obey them. He said that we would inevitably break those laws and sin, and justice would demand that we get punished for it. However, the punishment for sin was so terrible. It was that we could not come back to live with God. We would have to be apart from him forever, and we would not get to be like God. This would have made us miserable.
However, God said that he would prepare a way to avoid that fate. He said that according to the laws of mercy, someone else who had never sinned could suffer the punishment for our sins for us. This act would be called the Atonement, and it would be performed by someone we would call our savior. Mercy would satisfy the demands of justice in this way, saving us from being cut off from God. We would be able to live with God again and become like him. The Atonement would do for us what we wouldn't be able to do for ourselves: it would save us.
There was one of God's children who said he was willing to be our savior. It was God's firstborn son, Jehovah, today called Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, another of God's children, Lucifer (now known as Satan, the devil), was unhappy with the plan. He wanted us to not be able to choose how to live our lives. He also wanted the glory for himself. Basically, he was rebelling against God's plan. Jesus, however, said that he would submit to Heavenly Father's plan, and he wouldn't take the glory for himself but would give it to Heavenly Father. Satan's rebellious plan was rejected, and he and his followers were cast out of Heaven.
Jesus was chosen as the Savior, and we all shouted for joy because of the plan. We knew that we would be sent to earth to get a physical body that would later be perfected like Heavenly Father's. We would be organized into families. We also would learn the difference between good and evil, sickness and health, pleasure and pain, etc. Christ would come and atone for the sins of the world, making the great Plan of Happiness possible. God would send messengers to teach us about the great plan, about Jesus Christ and the Atonement, and God's word. We would gain knowledge and experience through life's challenges and triumphs, and we would learn to obey God and resist evil. Nevertheless, we would have the freedom to choose evil and suffer the consequences thereof.
One of the most important of God's laws is to repent. Repentance means changing one's behavior and desires from something evil to something good. It means changing your heart and your life, little by little, day by day. God has said that no unclean thing can enter into the kingdom of heaven. So, we must be clean, purged of sin, in order to be with Heavenly Father again and to be like him. But repentance cannot be done on our own. We need to turn to Jesus Christ. We need his Atonement to make us clean.
The Atonement of Jesus Christ not only saves us from the punishment of our sins, but it gives us power to overcome them and become clean and pure through repentance and adherence to God's word. Jesus Christ performed the Atonement by suffering all of our sorrows, pain, afflictions of every kind, the pain of guilt, and the misery of being separated from God in the Garden of Gethsemane and when he was crucified. He had the power to save himself from death, but he chose to suffer it for us so that he could complete the Atonement that would save us. On the third day after his death, Jesus was resurrected (he got his perfected body back), and the Atonement was complete. Jesus saved us, every one of us who will believe and follow him. Without faith in him, we can't be saved, for there is no other way to salvation.
Because Jesus suffered everything that we have or ever will suffer, he personally knows what we are going through. He is our Savior and our God, and he stands at the right hand of our Heavenly Father. Jesus is the member of the Godhead (made up of Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost) who conducts the affairs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, under the direction of Heavenly Father.
When we pray to our Heavenly Father for help in overcoming our sins and changing our hearts (repenting), God understands how we feel and will help us with our efforts. He wants us to come back to live with him and to be like him. Remember, that's why he sent us to earth and why we chose to come. When we pray for God to intervene in our lives, he will. He can actually change our hearts because of the Atonement, and he can give us more of his spirit to be with us at all times so that when we are tempted to sin, the Spirit can discourage us from sinning and can give us increased wisdom and happiness.
When God asks us to repent, he asks that we do all we can to change our bad habits, to pray for forgiveness and assistance, and to be humble and submissive to God. That is the offering that he requires from us. When we comply, we invite the Atonement to work in our lives. When we show a willingness to serve God instead of ourselves, he in return forgives our sins and we are clean because of the Atonement. That's how Christ washes away our sins. We need this cleansing power in our lives every week, every day. That's why we should repent every day and do our best to keep God's commandments.
Repentance comes naturally when we truly obey God's two greatest commandments: 1) to love God with all our heart, might, mind, and strength, and 2) to love each other as we love ourselves. To love God is to obey his every word, and to invite him into our lives. That's what true faith in God is.
The purpose of life, therefore, is to learn to love and to become more like God. We need to believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior and use his Atonement to help us repent so that we can be clean. Without Jesus's sacrifice, our efforts to change would be in vain. Life is difficult, yes, but God has great things in store for us if we follow Jesus Christ to the best of our ability.
One day God called us together and told us of his plan for us. He said that he would create a place for us to live (earth), away from his presence. He said that there we would have the freedom to choose to do good or to do evil. God would give us laws to help us do good and to avoid evil, and we were supposed to obey them. He said that we would inevitably break those laws and sin, and justice would demand that we get punished for it. However, the punishment for sin was so terrible. It was that we could not come back to live with God. We would have to be apart from him forever, and we would not get to be like God. This would have made us miserable.
However, God said that he would prepare a way to avoid that fate. He said that according to the laws of mercy, someone else who had never sinned could suffer the punishment for our sins for us. This act would be called the Atonement, and it would be performed by someone we would call our savior. Mercy would satisfy the demands of justice in this way, saving us from being cut off from God. We would be able to live with God again and become like him. The Atonement would do for us what we wouldn't be able to do for ourselves: it would save us.
There was one of God's children who said he was willing to be our savior. It was God's firstborn son, Jehovah, today called Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, another of God's children, Lucifer (now known as Satan, the devil), was unhappy with the plan. He wanted us to not be able to choose how to live our lives. He also wanted the glory for himself. Basically, he was rebelling against God's plan. Jesus, however, said that he would submit to Heavenly Father's plan, and he wouldn't take the glory for himself but would give it to Heavenly Father. Satan's rebellious plan was rejected, and he and his followers were cast out of Heaven.
Jesus was chosen as the Savior, and we all shouted for joy because of the plan. We knew that we would be sent to earth to get a physical body that would later be perfected like Heavenly Father's. We would be organized into families. We also would learn the difference between good and evil, sickness and health, pleasure and pain, etc. Christ would come and atone for the sins of the world, making the great Plan of Happiness possible. God would send messengers to teach us about the great plan, about Jesus Christ and the Atonement, and God's word. We would gain knowledge and experience through life's challenges and triumphs, and we would learn to obey God and resist evil. Nevertheless, we would have the freedom to choose evil and suffer the consequences thereof.
One of the most important of God's laws is to repent. Repentance means changing one's behavior and desires from something evil to something good. It means changing your heart and your life, little by little, day by day. God has said that no unclean thing can enter into the kingdom of heaven. So, we must be clean, purged of sin, in order to be with Heavenly Father again and to be like him. But repentance cannot be done on our own. We need to turn to Jesus Christ. We need his Atonement to make us clean.
The Atonement of Jesus Christ not only saves us from the punishment of our sins, but it gives us power to overcome them and become clean and pure through repentance and adherence to God's word. Jesus Christ performed the Atonement by suffering all of our sorrows, pain, afflictions of every kind, the pain of guilt, and the misery of being separated from God in the Garden of Gethsemane and when he was crucified. He had the power to save himself from death, but he chose to suffer it for us so that he could complete the Atonement that would save us. On the third day after his death, Jesus was resurrected (he got his perfected body back), and the Atonement was complete. Jesus saved us, every one of us who will believe and follow him. Without faith in him, we can't be saved, for there is no other way to salvation.
Because Jesus suffered everything that we have or ever will suffer, he personally knows what we are going through. He is our Savior and our God, and he stands at the right hand of our Heavenly Father. Jesus is the member of the Godhead (made up of Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost) who conducts the affairs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, under the direction of Heavenly Father.
When we pray to our Heavenly Father for help in overcoming our sins and changing our hearts (repenting), God understands how we feel and will help us with our efforts. He wants us to come back to live with him and to be like him. Remember, that's why he sent us to earth and why we chose to come. When we pray for God to intervene in our lives, he will. He can actually change our hearts because of the Atonement, and he can give us more of his spirit to be with us at all times so that when we are tempted to sin, the Spirit can discourage us from sinning and can give us increased wisdom and happiness.
When God asks us to repent, he asks that we do all we can to change our bad habits, to pray for forgiveness and assistance, and to be humble and submissive to God. That is the offering that he requires from us. When we comply, we invite the Atonement to work in our lives. When we show a willingness to serve God instead of ourselves, he in return forgives our sins and we are clean because of the Atonement. That's how Christ washes away our sins. We need this cleansing power in our lives every week, every day. That's why we should repent every day and do our best to keep God's commandments.
Repentance comes naturally when we truly obey God's two greatest commandments: 1) to love God with all our heart, might, mind, and strength, and 2) to love each other as we love ourselves. To love God is to obey his every word, and to invite him into our lives. That's what true faith in God is.
The purpose of life, therefore, is to learn to love and to become more like God. We need to believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior and use his Atonement to help us repent so that we can be clean. Without Jesus's sacrifice, our efforts to change would be in vain. Life is difficult, yes, but God has great things in store for us if we follow Jesus Christ to the best of our ability.
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Mormon Standards: What and Why?
Mormons, or members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, believe that God expects us to lead moral lives. We are expected to live our lives as closely to the way that Jesus lived his as we can. That means that we should be kind and honest, help other people, and be good examples.
You may have noticed that most Mormons don't swear, but use clean language. They also don't typically wear sleeveless clothing or short shorts or skirts. We believe that God made the human body and that it is special to Him. Therefore, we regard our bodies as sacred, like our beautiful temples. For this reason, we feel that we need to be modest in the way that we clothe ourselves. Besides, many members wear special underwear (called "garments") that are approximately knee-length and that have sleeves. Our clothing should cover those garments.
Mormons don't drink alcohol, coffee, or tea, and they don't smoke or chew. This is because we believe that we shouldn't do anything harmful to our bodies. It goes along with the whole "our bodies are sacred" thing. And who doesn't want to be healthy? Healthiness promotes happiness. We also believe that Joseph Smith received a revelation from God, called the Word of Wisdom, that gave some general as well as some specific guidelines about what we should and should not do to be healthy. That's where we get the "no coffee, tea, or tobacco" rule. Personally, I love having the Word of Wisdom. I live it, and I don't find it restrictive. Instead, I find that it keeps me free from addiction and free to spend my money on other things.
As far as entertainment goes, Mormons try to pick entertainment that is consistent with our values. We're not supposed to watch R rated movies, and many PG-13 ones probably aren't clean enough for many Mormons. That's why you'll find that many Mormons, of all ages, love Disney movies and the like. When I was at BYU, we very often had parties where we would watch a Disney movie, or at least something PG or G. The purpose of our media standards is to help keep our minds clean, and to keep our actions clean thereby. We don't want to do anything that offends God. God knows our thoughts and intentions, so we don't even want to think anything that offends God.
Mormons don't have sexual relations before marriage. We believe that God has commanded us not to. Sexual sins are the third worst kind of sin, after denying the Holy Ghost and murdering. Of course God forgives these sins, but they are so perilous to commit. One reason is that studies show that children do better in families with a married mother and father who love and trust each other. Another reason is that it can be hard to repent of a sexual sin. Mormons also believe that abortion and same-sex marriage/relations are unnatural and wrong.
The purpose of our standards is to help us live as Jesus Christ lived. We believe that keeping God's commandments will make us happy while we live and after we die. We believe that through our faith in Jesus Christ, as we let the Atonement of Jesus Christ work in our lives to help us change our bad habits, we will become better people and will be able to live in God's presence again someday. That's why we have such high standards.
You may have noticed that most Mormons don't swear, but use clean language. They also don't typically wear sleeveless clothing or short shorts or skirts. We believe that God made the human body and that it is special to Him. Therefore, we regard our bodies as sacred, like our beautiful temples. For this reason, we feel that we need to be modest in the way that we clothe ourselves. Besides, many members wear special underwear (called "garments") that are approximately knee-length and that have sleeves. Our clothing should cover those garments.
Mormons don't drink alcohol, coffee, or tea, and they don't smoke or chew. This is because we believe that we shouldn't do anything harmful to our bodies. It goes along with the whole "our bodies are sacred" thing. And who doesn't want to be healthy? Healthiness promotes happiness. We also believe that Joseph Smith received a revelation from God, called the Word of Wisdom, that gave some general as well as some specific guidelines about what we should and should not do to be healthy. That's where we get the "no coffee, tea, or tobacco" rule. Personally, I love having the Word of Wisdom. I live it, and I don't find it restrictive. Instead, I find that it keeps me free from addiction and free to spend my money on other things.
As far as entertainment goes, Mormons try to pick entertainment that is consistent with our values. We're not supposed to watch R rated movies, and many PG-13 ones probably aren't clean enough for many Mormons. That's why you'll find that many Mormons, of all ages, love Disney movies and the like. When I was at BYU, we very often had parties where we would watch a Disney movie, or at least something PG or G. The purpose of our media standards is to help keep our minds clean, and to keep our actions clean thereby. We don't want to do anything that offends God. God knows our thoughts and intentions, so we don't even want to think anything that offends God.
Mormons don't have sexual relations before marriage. We believe that God has commanded us not to. Sexual sins are the third worst kind of sin, after denying the Holy Ghost and murdering. Of course God forgives these sins, but they are so perilous to commit. One reason is that studies show that children do better in families with a married mother and father who love and trust each other. Another reason is that it can be hard to repent of a sexual sin. Mormons also believe that abortion and same-sex marriage/relations are unnatural and wrong.
The purpose of our standards is to help us live as Jesus Christ lived. We believe that keeping God's commandments will make us happy while we live and after we die. We believe that through our faith in Jesus Christ, as we let the Atonement of Jesus Christ work in our lives to help us change our bad habits, we will become better people and will be able to live in God's presence again someday. That's why we have such high standards.
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