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Before the resurrection and
final judgment, is there an opportunity for individuals who
have died to be redeemed or to improve their eternal
opportunities? Another website section and Sword Series™ essay
discusses the spirit world where such individuals reside. What
can be done for these individuals once they are in a
post-mortal condition and who can help these individuals on
earth?
A Desire to Help Those Who Have Died
There are many Christians who pray for the dead as part of
their worship services—mainly Catholics during the liturgical
celebration. True Christian doctrine takes these prayers to an
entirely new level through temple ordinances. The concept of
helping to redeem the dead demonstrates the faith rendered by
Christians on behalf of those who are caught up in the spirit
world.
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Preaching to the Spirits in Prison
The scriptures make clear that Christ himself visited the
spirit world and commenced the preaching of the gospel to the
dead. John 5:25 states, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The
hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice
of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.” 1 Peter
3:18-19 states, “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins,
the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being
put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By
which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison.”
Doctrine and Covenants 138 records a vision given to the
prophet Joseph F. Smith on the preaching of the gospel to
those in the spirit world. In that vision the prophet saw
Jesus Christ “went not in person among the wicked and the
disobedient who had rejected the truth to teach them” (D&C
138:29), but rather he chose spirits “from among the
righteous” and thus “organized his forces and appointed
messengers, clothed with power and authority, and commissioned
them to go forth and carry the light of the gospel to them
that were in darkness” (D&C 138:30).
The vision goes on to describe the work being done in the
spirit world: These spirits “were taught faith in God,
repentance from sin, vicarious baptism for the remission of
sins, [and] the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of
hands” (D&C 138:33).
Vicariously Helping the Spirits in Prison
This great work of preaching the gospel in the spirit world,
more specifically to those in spirit prison, is on-going and
will continue until the second resurrection. These efforts are
essential and demonstrate the great mercy of our Heavenly
Father in not wanting to lose one soul in the eternities. Just
as many of the righteous spirits are given the opportunity to
preach the gospel in the spirit world, we are given the
opportunity to take part in the work of redeeming the dead
through vicarious ordinances performed on earth in the holy
temple. This principle of vicarious work for the dead was
given to the prophet Joseph Smith by the Lord through
revelation.
Although the concept of vicarious work may seem foreign to
some Christians, the prophet Gordon B. Hinckley offers the
following: “I think that vicarious work for the dead more
nearly approaches the vicarious sacrifice of the Savior
Himself than any other work of which I know. It is given with
love, without hope of compensation, or repayment or anything
of the kind. What a glorious principle” (Gordon B. Hinckley,
“Excerpts from Recent Addresses of President Gordon B.
Hinckley,” Ensign, Jan 1998, 72)
When work is performed for the dead there isn’t an automatic
change, nor does such work usurp one’s moral agency. These
ordinances are performed and available for acceptance by the
spirits in prison for their benefit in same way that the
Atonement of Christ is available to everyone who chooses to
have faith in him and repent. Nothing is compelled. At every
stage of this life and after it, one is free to choose.
The Motivation to Helping Deceased Ancestors
The motivation behind this vicarious work in the temple is a
combination of love of the individuals for whom the work is
being performed and a firm and relentless testimony of the
Savior. Todd Christofferson of the seventy explains the nature
of this testimony of Christ in relation to temple work: “Our
anxiety to redeem the dead, and the time and resources we put
behind that commitment, are, above all, an expression of our
witness concerning Jesus Christ. It constitutes as powerful a
statement as we can make concerning His divine character and
mission. It testifies, first, of Christ’s Resurrection;
second, of the infinite reach of His Atonement; third, that He
is the sole source of salvation; fourth, that He has
established the conditions for salvation; and, fifth, that He
will come again” (D. Todd Christofferson of the Presidency of
the Seventy, “The Redemption of the Dead and the Testimony of
Jesus,” Liahona,, Jan 2001, 10-13).
The Importance of Family History
Christians are encouraged to be diligent about completing
family history to identify ancestors who are in need of temple
ordinances for their eternal progression. In performing these
labors of love, the latter generations are turning their
hearts towards the earlier generations, fulfilling the
prophecy from the Lord, “Behold, I will send you Elijah the
prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the
Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the
children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest
I come and smite the earth with a curse” (Mal. 4:5-6).
Those with a temple recommend are encouraged to frequently
attend the temple to perform the needed ordinances for their
ancestors and others—an act of on-going service that brings
love and inspiration into both the living and the dead. Each
ordinance is done in the spirit and name of Jesus Christ who
said, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth
in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live” (John 11:25).
There is a deep belief that Christ “died for all” (2 Cor.
5:15) and that “He is the propitiation for our sins: and not
for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (1
John 2:2).
For Those Who Think Work for the Dead is Strange
At first glance this concept of actively doing service in the
temple for the dead will be unfamiliar to most—perhaps even
strange. Praying for the dead is one thing, but being
vicariously baptized and confirmed for the dead is an entirely
different matter! However, when one takes the time to ponder
and reflect on it, if you are willing to pray for the dead
during a worship service, why wouldn’t you be willing to do
more if more could be done to help these loved ones? If God
allows us to pray for those who are dead, wouldn’t he allow us
to intercede more fully by doing work on their behalf as
proxies, much like what Christ has done for us? Consider such
scriptures as Obadiah 21 in the Old Testament which states,
“saviours shall come up on mount Zion,” and Hebrews 11:40
which states, “God having provided some better thing for us,
that they without us should not be made perfect.”
One might consider this in a much broader context when
considering that many have and will leave this life without
having been baptized at all—many through no choice of their
own. In some Christian sects those who have passed through
mortality without baptism are left in an unpredictable state
before the resurrection. Such doctrine is not consistent with
the justice and mercy of God. If someone dies without
knowledge of the gospel, and/or the opportunity to be
baptized, would God leave their salvation up in the air?
Since the answer to the aforementioned question is a
resounding no, one must reconcile the following scripture,
“…Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot
enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). If someone dies and
no longer has a body, how can they be baptized? If they can’t
be baptized, they cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Applying the doctrine of some Christian sects to this
scripture would mean that those not baptized will not enter
into the kingdom of God, because some sects do not provide a
way for baptism after death.
Paul puts all doubts to rest when he wrote in his letter to
the Corinthians: “Else what shall they do which are baptized
for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then
baptized for the dead?” (1 Cor. 15:29). Were there baptisms
for the dead performed during the time of Paul? There is no
sure way of knowing, but the scripture leaves open the
possibility. Perhaps baptism for the dead was yet another
restored truth in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
One must also consider scripture from 1 Timothy 2:5 which
reads, “There is one God, and one mediator between God and
men, the man Christ Jesus.” Jesus Christ is the great mediator
between God and men; therefore, the gospel of Jesus Christ can
provide a way for those who have left the earth without an
opportunity to participate in the required ordinances to have
them done by proxy—just as Jesus did for us.
Conclusion
The work of redeeming the dead, a work commenced by the Savior
himself, is a devoted demonstration of the Christian passion
and belief that Christ will come again in his glory and
majesty upon the earth. This work is in preparation of the
second coming for both ourselves, and those who have passed on
before us. The Christian world knows with a surety that “His
grace and promises reach even those who in life do not find
Him. Because of Him, the prisoners shall indeed go free” (D.
Todd Christofferson of the Presidency of the Seventy, “The
Redemption of the Dead and the Testimony of Jesus,” Liahona,
Jan 2001, 10-13).
Doctrinal
Study: Eternal
Families: Redeeming the Dead
Download the
Sword Series™ essay on Redeeming the Dead |
