Eternal Progression
“The works of God continue, and worlds and lives abound. Improvement and progression have one eternal round.”
Do we believe in eternal progression...the ability to improve our situation beyond this life without limitation? It's been taught by some church leaders and denied by others. Do we believe that what we do (or don't do) in this life will restrict our ability to progress in the next?
The 76th section of the Doctrine and Covenants tells us that Jesus Christ, …" saves all the works of his hands, except those sons of perdition who deny the Son after the Father has revealed him. Wherefore, he saves ALL except them.” (my emphasis). How could all men ultimately be saved by Christ unless His work continues well beyond this life?
In Matthew, chapter 20, Jesus gave the parable of the workers in the vineyard. Some started early, some came at midday, and some barely showed up before quitting time, and yet the landowner paid them all the same wage. When angrily questioned by those who came early, the landowner replied, “Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?” What was missing in these early laborers' assessment? Only the landowner understood the circumstances of his laborer's lives, and why each arrived when they did.
It has always seemed wise to me to obey early, the reward simply being that you receive the blessings and benefits of obedience sooner, and therefore enjoy them more fully. When someone who takes a little longer (ok, in some cases a LOT longer) finally figures it out, are they penalized going forward for taking more time? It seems to me that the natural consequence of previously living without the available blessings and benefits is punishment enough.
When the Prodigal Son finally returned, his father held nothing back in celebration, stating that, “for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.” (Luke 15). This wayward son suffered miserably, (the natural consequence of his estrangement), but when he returned home, nothing was withheld, and he was restored to all that his father had. What was Christ’s message in this example?
Consider these statements from church leaders:
Neal A. Maxwell: “Repeatedly God has described His course as ‘one eternal round’…. This never-ending, repetitive work involves continuous redemption for his children. ‘One eternal round’ opens our minds to see God’s efforts as consistent and ever-repeating in His love of His children. He uses it consistently to redeem each of his children that have ever or will ever exist. There wasn’t a moment where God’s purpose started or where it will end.”
Boyd K. Packer: "Some years ago I was in Washington, D.C., with President Harold B. Lee. Early one morning he called me to come into his hotel room. He was sitting in his robe reading Gospel Doctrine…and he said, “Listen to this!” “Jesus had not finished his work when his body was slain, neither did he finish it after his resurrection from the dead… And when will he? Not until he has redeemed and saved every son and daughter of our father Adam that have been or ever will be born upon this earth to the end of time, except the sons of perdition..."
J. Reuben Clark: "I am not a strict constructionist, 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…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…”
James E. Talmage: "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…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."
On another occasion, Elder Talmadge added: “To hell, there is an exit as well as an entrance. Hell is no place to which a vindictive judge sends prisoners to suffer and to be punished principally for his glory, but is a place prepared for the teaching, the disciplining of those who failed to learn here upon the earth what they should have learned… No man will be kept in hell longer than is necessary to bring him to a fitness for something better. When he reaches that stage the prison doors will open and there will be rejoicing among the hosts who welcome him into a better state…”
The idea of Hell being a temporary state from which men, once repentant can transcend, has been taught by inspired men for centuries. Consider this statement from St. Sophrony of Essex: "You may be certain that as long as someone is in hell, Christ will remain with them." In Revelation 21, John tells us that the gates of heaven are always open and never shut. Does it seem reasonable that God would condemn his children to a never-ending life of misery because of mistakes made in this brief span of mortality? God never abandons us, in time or eternity. He will be with us through any and all vicissitudes, including what we define as hell. This is His work and His glory, and it is eternal, not limited to men's mortality.
In conclusion, hear the words of the Prophet Joseph Smith as given in the church’s foundational treatise on the apotheosis of man, the King Follett Discourse; “I have a declaration to make as to the provisions which God hath made to suit the conditions of man, made before the foundation of the world… All sin, and all blasphemies, and every transgression, except one (the sin of denying the Holy Ghost)…may be forgiven; and there is salvation for all men, either in this world or the world to come… Hence God hath made a provision that every spirit in the eternal world can be ferreted out and saved unless he has committed that unpardonable sin... God has wrought salvation for all men… (And) if he has been guilty of great sins, he will be punished for them, but when he consents to obey the Gospel, whether here or in the world of spirits, he is saved.”
Our Heavenly Father does not hold a sword over us, waiting for the clock to tick away our opportunity to repent. That is a relic of early, fear-based Christianity. He helps us to learn through His love, and then we move willingly, whether in time or eternity. A continual state of fear does not motivate me. It only drags me down. I do not feel the love of God in it. Understanding and fully accepting the boundless atonement of Jesus Christ, I am now motivated by love, trust, and gratitude. I find this a much more faithful companion to improvement and progression than the fear of loss or punishment.
Eternal Progression...there is hope for all of us.
Marc K. Ensign Paradise, Utah
TOC (February 2022)
