What Can We Learn from the Visions Recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 76?

My Come Follow Me studies for this week took me to Doctrine and Covenants 76 in a lesson titled “Great Shall Be Their Reward and Eternal Shall Be Their Glory.” The lesson was introduced by the following paragraphs. 

“What will happen to me after I die?” Nearly everyone asks this question in some form or another. For centuries, many Christian traditions, relying on biblical teachings, have taught of heaven and hell, of paradise for the righteous and torment for the wicked. But can the entire human family really be divided so strictly? In February 1832, Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon wondered if there was more to know about the subject (see Doctrine and Covenants 76, section heading).

There certainly was. While Joseph and Sidney were pondering these things, the Lord “touched the eyes of [their] understandings and they were opened” (verse 19). They received a revelation so stunning, so expansive, so illuminating that the Saints simply called it “the Vision.” It threw open heaven’s windows and gave God’s children a mind-stretching view of eternity. The vision revealed that heaven is grander and broader and more inclusive than most people had previously supposed. God is more merciful and just than we can comprehend. And God’s children have an eternal destiny more glorious than we can imagine.

The scripture block includes the following principles: (1) Salvation comes through Jesus Christ, the Son of God (Doctrine and Covenants 76), (2) I can understand God’s will “by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Doctrine and Covenants 76:5-10, 114-18), (3) Exaltation is the highest form of salvation (Doctrine and Covenants 76:39-44, 50-70), and (4) My Heavenly Father wants me to receive eternal life in the celestial kingdom (Doctrine and Covenants 76:50-70, 92-95). This essay will include all four principles.

The first principle is “Salvation comes through Jesus Christ, the Son of God” and is found throughout Doctrine and Covenants 76. This section reveals numerous important truths about our eternal destiny, including the three kingdoms of glory and the plan of salvation. However, it is more accurate to say that this section is about Jesus Christ, who makes possible God’s plan for our salvation and eternal glory.

This section describes the type of people who will inherit the different kingdoms of glory. To state it simply, each of the sons or daughters of Heavenly Father will receive immortality and inherit the kingdom of glory – celestial (verses 50-70, 92-96), terrestrial (verses 71-79, 97), or telestial (81-90, 98-106, 109-12) – that they choose by their choices and actions in mortality. Those people who receive the testimony of Jesus Christ and make and keep the necessary covenants will receive the highest degree of the celestial kingdom and enjoy eternal life (the ability to be married and have spirit children).

The second principle  is “I can understand God’s will ‘by the power of the Holy Spirit’” (Doctrine and Covenants 76:5-10, 114-18). Not all members of the Church easily accepted the revelation in section 76, because it taught that almost everyone would be saved and receive some degree of glory. Brigham Young said: “My traditions were such, that when the Vision came first to me, it was directly contrary and opposed to my former education. I said, Wait a little. I did not reject it; but I could not understand it.” He explained that he had to “think and pray, to read and think, until I knew and fully understood it for myself” (in “The Vision,” in Revelations in Context, 150).

The third principle is “Exaltation is the highest form of salvation” (Doctrine and Covenants 76:39-44, 50-70). Doctrine and Covenants 76:39-44 describe salvation generally. Verses 50-70 describe exaltation, a specific kind of salvation. There is a significant difference between salvation and exaltation. Salvation comes to every single person who received a mortal body through the power of the resurrection. Exaltation is the highest degree of salvation and involves living the kind of life that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live. Jesus Christ makes both salvation and exaltation possible.

The last principle is “My Heavenly Father wants me to receive eternal life in the celestial kingdom” (Doctrine and Covenants 76:50-70, 92-95). Heavenly Father wants all of His children to join Him in the celestial kingdom, but He will not force anyone to go there. He wants us to choose to be with Him because we love Him. Many people wonder if they are good enough to be in the celestial kingdom. Elder J. Devn Cornish of the Seventy spoke on the topic “Am I Good Enough? Will I Make It?” (Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2016, 32-34) at the October 2016 General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

As with my own experience, our members often ask, “Am I good enough as a person?” or “Will I really make it to the celestial kingdom?” Of course, there is no such thing as “being good enough.” None of us could ever “earn” or “deserve” our salvation, but it is normal to wonder if we are acceptable before the Lord, which is how I understand these questions.

Sometimes when we attend church, we become discouraged even by sincere invitations to improve ourselves. We think silently, “I can’t do all these things” or “I will never be as good as all these people.” …

Please, my beloved brothers and sisters, we must stop comparing ourselves to others. We torture ourselves needlessly by competing and comparing. We falsely judge our self-worth by the things we do or don’t have and by the opinions of others. If we must compare, let us compare how we were in the past to how we are today – and even to how we want to be in the future. The only opinion of us that matters is what our Heavenly Father thinks of us. Please sincerely ask Him what He thinks of you. He will love and correct but never discourage us; that is Satan’s trick.

Let me be direct and clear. The answers to the questions “Am I good enough?” and “Will I make it?” are “Yest! You are going to be good enough” and “Yes, you are going to make it as long as you keep repenting and do not rationalize or rebel.” The God of heaven is not a heartless referee looking for any excuse to throw us out of the game. He is our perfectly loving Father, who yearns more than anything else to have all of His children come back home and live with Him as families forever. He truly gave His Only Begotten Son that we might not perish but have everlasting life! Please believe, and please take hope and comfort from, this eternal truth. Our Heavenly Father intends for us to make it! That is His work and His glory.

I love the way President Gordon B. Hinckley used to teach this principle. I heard him say on several occasions, “Brothers and sisters, all the Lord expects of us is to try, but you have to really try!”

“Really trying” means doing the best we can, recognizing where we need to improve, and then trying again. By repeatedly doing this, we come closer and closer to the Lord, we feel His Spirit more and more, and we receive more of His grace, or help.