Repentance: Like a Door Upon its Hinges

These posts on Repentance are best read in order beginning with Repentance: Introduction. At the bottom of each post is a link to the next post. This is another postscript on repentance.

"If we go on "lusting after the groveling things of this life which perish with the handling we shall surely remain fixed with a very limited amount of knowledge, and like a door upon its hinges, move to and fro from one year to another without any visible advancement or improvement" (Brigham Young).

I am reminded of the story of four lifelong friends, one of whom was terminal. He was wealthy, however, and curious. He proposed to friends, a plan to see if he could take some of his money with him. He told his friends, one a doctor, another a businessman and the third a lawyer, that he would give each of them $250,000 cash to put in his coffin at his viewing, to see if he could take the money with him.

The man died about three months later, and at his viewing each of his friends tucked an envelope, unseen, in the coffin.

Several weeks later the three were at lunch and the doctor said. "I must confess something. In my envelope I put in only $200,000 and kept $50,000," he said sheepishly.

"I'm glad you confessed that," said the businessman, I only put in $150,000 and kept $100,000."

They both looked at the lawyer, waiting for him to say something. "Don't look at me," he said. "I did exactly as he asked. I wrote out a check for the full $250,000!" 😂😂😂

But what of our life here? How much of our earthly lives really goes with us into the next life, the eternities? How much of our previous existence did we bring with us? Is our life here, as Brigham said, like a door upon its hinges, swinging to and fro, but going nowhere? 

What can we take with us? I know of only two revelations that addresse this subject directly, many others indirectly.

The first revelation says:

"Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection. 

And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come" (D&C 130:18-19).

This raises a few questions:

1. What is meant by 'principle of intelligence'?

2. What kind of 'knowledge and intelligence'?

3. What will be the advantage?

There are two qualifiers:

1. One must gain this knowledge and intelligence in this life.

2) It must be obtained by our diligence and by our obedience, also in this life.

This assumes there is knowledge and intelligence, that if obtained, will rise with us in the resurrection. But is there an implication that perhaps  other types of knowledge may not rise with us in the resurrection? 

The second revelation says:

That "same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world" (Alma 34:34). I would say that that includes gifts of the Spirit that we have been given, including His grace that we have received prior to death.

Other revelations indicate that we also take with us the word of God; whatever glory we have received in this life; wisdom, but not the wisdom of men; understanding; charity or the pure love of Christ; the desires of our hearts; and the fruits of our repentance. 

See That Same Spirit.

Before we explore these revelations further, let's look first at what we will not be able to take.

1. Things: like money, cars, phones, computers, clothes, jewelry, glasses, hearing aids, books, collections, family photos, artwork, favorite furniture, Facebook, scriptures, family histories, recipes, glasses, hearing aids, earthly rewards, musical instruments, and no vain things of the world. No AI, internet, no mobile phones, no technology. 

"Seek not after riches nor the vain things of this world; for behold, you cannot carry them with you" (Alma 39:14 emphasis added). 

2. Skills and expertise: there will be no need for any of the many skills we have spent the most part of our lives learning and developing. For example, there will be no doctors, even heart surgeons; no lawyers; no businessmen and women; no artistic skills; no bakers, athletes or politicians; no conference talks or ecclesiastical skills; no scientists, professors or consultants; no royalty, presidents or dictators; no professional clergy; no rewards for being hard workers, for amassing fortunes or for being famous; no athletic skills, comedians or actors; no real estate agents or brokers; no billionaires, power brokers, legislators, governors, journalists; no artificial intelligence data centers.

On the whole, none of the activities that man does that center around his physical needs, livelihood and devices will be available. We leave behind what has sustained us for this life on earth, all those things and activities that are for this life only. Those things and activities that have taken the bulk of our time here. A friend visited us from Greece several years ago. Something he said really stuck with me. He said, "I have lived a good life, and have no regrets." Which probably found its way into his obituary.

The Pharisee did the same, looking at his clutch of good deeds as being enough to keep him in the game, but for the rest of his life only. They could only justify him during his life here. But that was his error. For the rest of his life here, maybe. But what about for the length and breadth of eternity? 

But "...everything that is in the world, whether it be ordained of men, by thrones, or principalities, or powers, or things of name, whatsoever they may be, that are not by me or by my word, saith the Lord, shall be thrown down, and shall not remain after men are dead, neither in nor after the resurrection, saith the Lord your God" (D&C 132:... emphasis added).

Not even praiseworthy human values will go with us because human values are created by humans to make their lives better or to justify their lives here.

I like this from Hugh Nibley: "No one supposes for one moment that in heaven the angels are speculating, that they are building railroads and factories, taking advantage one of another, gathering up the substance there is in heaven to aggrandize themselves, and that they live on the same principle that we are in the habit of doing. . . . No sectarian Christian in the world believes this; they believe that the inhabitants of heaven live as a family, that their faith, interests and pursuits have one end in view—the glory of God and their own salvation, that they may receive more and more. . . . We all believe this, and suppose we go to work and imitate them as far as we can." 

And that 'family' may not include members of our closest family, since each has a right to make his or her own choices about what they will take with them, if anything, except their same spirits.

All the things that are passing away today are the very essence of "the economy," but they will be missing in Zion. They are already obsolescent; every one of them is make-work of a temporary and artificial nature for which an artificial demand must be created, and upon which we have spent the bulk of our time on while on this earth.

But there will be teachers* of the Gospel of Christ, and spirits to teach, those which are under the bondage of sin when they die. But not history, language, math, or computer science teachers.

*Teachers to those "who died in their sins, without a knowledge of the truth, or in transgression, having rejected the prophets" (D&C 138:32).

That leaves us with just us, and what we know or don't know. It leaves us with our choices of Good or Evil and the consequences of those choices. Under the bondage of sin here, then under bondage of sin there. Same for rebellion, not believing Christ and His words, having hard hearts, etc.

Persons who most increase in intelligence attain the greatest oneness with God. The more they acquire his divine attributes, the more powerful they become with God and with humanity. Jesus’ words, “I seek not my own will but the will of the Father who has sent me” (John 5:30), express his oneness with God as a God—the same oneness with God all may grow into (cf. Isaiah 56:3–5; Matthew 12:50; John 17:19–23; 3 Nephi 11:11). 

The difference between God, angels, and men isn’t so much in appearance as it is in divine power and intelligence. 

You cannot teach what you do not know. You take your ignorance with you! 

I love that we can take with us our hope, and also the amount of His righteousness we have obtained here.

"All these had departed the mortal life, firm in the hope of a glorious resurrection, through the grace of God the Father and his Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ" (D&C 138:14).

"And so it is on the other hand. If he hath repented of his sins, and desired righteousness until the end of his days, even so he shall be rewarded unto righteousness" (Alma 41:6).

But not restored from sin to happiness.

"For that which ye do send out shall return unto you again" (Alma 41:15).

The Devil has the mastery of the earth: he has corrupted it, and has corrupted the children of men. He has led them in evil until they are almost entirely ruined, and are so far from God that they neither know Him nor his influence, and have almost lost sight of everything that pertains to eternity. This darkness is more prevalent, more dense, among the people of Christendom, than it is among the heathen. They have lost sight of all that is great and glorious—of all principles that pertain to life eternal.fn

Are we here to seek knowledge or to seek the credits that will get us ahead in the world? Remember that Christ taught they shall have their reward.

What of the glorious benefits and promises for the gospel given the Saints in these latter days? Can we say of ourselves that "inasmuch as they sought wisdom they might be instructed; . . . and inasmuch as they were humble they might be made strong, and blessed from on high, and receive knowledge from time to time" (D&C 1:26, 28)?

The same spirit...

For our lives maybe. Do we approach this life with the attitude that once it's over, we will worry about the next life, if there is one?

Although God gave humanity the freedom to choose good or evil in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:16-17), once a person chooses he isn’t free to decide the consequences. So it is with the consequences of what we prepare to take with us. Do we take more intelligence (light and truth--both definitions of His words), with us or do we take nothing because we have wasted the days of our probation?