Mormonism vs Christianity: What Happens After We Die?

Did you know that Mormonism and Christianity teach vastly different things about what happens after we die? Mormonism teaches that through Jesus's atonement, all people will be saved from death and resurrected into one of several different eternal resting places, sometimes called kingdoms of glory. The kingdom we will receive will depend on the depth of our conversion, expressed by obedience to the Lord's commandments. The celestial kingdom is the very top kingdom. It's compared to the glory of the sun and it is the reward for those who lived a worthy life faithfully devoted to celestial law. These people must keep their covenants and receive the saving ordinances of the gospel.

It's for children who died before reaching an age of accountability. And it's for all those who died without ever having knowledge of the LDS gospel. This celestial glory is further divided up into three tiers. The highest tier being reserved for those who have achieved to the highest degree of godliness and have been married and sealed to their spouse in an LDS temple. As the LDS church website says, to inherit this gift, we must receive the ordinances of salvation, keep the commandments, and repent of our sins. The terrestrial kingdom is a step below that. It's compared to the glory of the moon, and it's reserved for those who rejected the LDS gospel, but then later accepted it in spirit prison.

It's for those who died without the law and for those who are not valiant in their testimony of Jesus. Those who eternally dwell in the terrestrial kingdom will experience the presence of Jesus but will not experience the full presence of heavenly father. According to Joseph Smith, many people here are those who are honorable men of the earth who are blinded by the craftiness of men. The tstial kingdom is the bottom of the three kingdoms and its glory is compared to the glory of the stars. The celestial kingdom is reserved for those who never received the gospel and who never received a testimony of Jesus.

It's for those who lie and those who love lies and it's for adulterers and sorcerers. Those dwelling in the tstial kingdom will forever be separated from the presence of both heavenly father and Jesus. But there is another place, a place that's not a degree of glory. Rather, it's called outer darkness. Outer darkness is for those who once had a sure testimony of Jesus but later rejected that testimony. They will be sent to outer darkness. These people who are called sons of predition will be sent there along with onethird of our spirit siblings, Satan and all the demons. There is no forgiveness for these people.

Now, in contrast to this system, Christians believe something very different. And you're probably familiar, at least on the surface, with what we believe. We believe that there are only two potential eternal resting places for mankind. on the one hand to dwell with all the saints in the presence of God forever colloquially called heaven or to be condemned to the eternal lake of fire called hell. But where does this idea of heaven and hell actually come from? Is this a tradition that's been developed over thousands of years? Is it something that's based off biblical idioms that developed into strict theological dogma later on?

Or is it something that was actually taught by Jesus and the apostles? You're probably familiar with the idea of final judgment. It's this moment when God will bring all of the deeds of mankind into judgment. And this cosmic event is described in detail in the book of Revelation. Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence, earth and sky fled away and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books according to what they had done.

This event is spoken of throughout scripture. Even Jesus references it numerous times throughout his ministry. When the Son of Man comes in glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on his left. Then he will say to those on his left, "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." You have only two groups here, the sheep and the goats.

The sheep head off into eternal life, and the goats head off into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Jesus's teaching here is very consistent with the rest of the Bible, which says there are only two options. The faithful will end up in the new heavens and new earth. We sometimes call that heaven. And those who are wicked will be sent to the eternal lake of fire, sometimes called the second death. So, let's just stop and talk specifically about heaven. Where do we get this idea of heaven? Heaven technically is the spiritual realm that Christians will go to after they die. It's paradise.

In heaven, all believers in Christ will dwell with the Father, awaiting future resurrection. According to Hebrews chapter 9, when Jesus died, he opened up the way for us to be able to dwell with God in this heavenly holy place. Let me explain that. Under the Old Testament Mosaic system, heaven was represented on earth as the holy of holies, the very center room in the tabernacle and the later temple. When Jesus died, that veil separating the most holy place from everything else was torn, representing that Jesus's death had opened the way once for all time for God's people to now dwell with him in his presence.

So when Christians die, they are ushered into this holy place, the very presence of God. In heaven, we're actually awaiting resurrection from the dead, where our spirits and our physical bodies will be reunited. Then comes final judgment. And after final judgment, Christians will be sent to the new heavens and the new earth. John's vision in Revelation depicts this as a physical city, a city that descends from heaven to rest on the earth. This is the place where the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will be with them as their God.

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes and death shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore. For the former things have passed away. Every single person who has ever been saved through faith in Jesus will dwell together in this place where the throne of God and the lamb are the new heavens and new earth. People from every tribe, tongue, and nation will worship God and see his face. The thing that will make the new heavens and earth so glorious is the presence of God. That's the thing that Adam and Eve lost when they were ejected out of the garden. That's what the temple and the tabernacle were ultimately pointing towards this moment in eternity future when the dwelling place of God will once again be with man.

That's our hope because in God's presence, we can experience the fullness of joy. And this isn't some boring reality. I mean, people always picture this as us on clouds playing harps, just bored. That is so far from the truth. God is the source of everything that is good and true and beautiful. You and I were created to be satisfied in him. We will be delighted in beholding his glory. This is why the psalmist writes, "Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise." There's just not a single reference to splitting up of the glories of heaven into three different levels. There's no reference to that.

I mean, the one verse that Latter- Day Saints often point to is where Paul says there are bodies celestial and bodies terrestrial. But in that section, he's just saying that our resurrection body will be more glorious than our earthly body is. He's not talking about degrees of glory at all. Instead, every single Christian will dwell together as God's people in his presence. For us to say that we're separated from the presence of God is in one sense the definition of what hell is. And so when we hear that there's a terrestrial and a celestial kingdom that are glorious but without the presence of God, that doesn't really compute for us in our minds.

If we are not in the celestial kingdom, that's not being saved. That's not eternal life. That is separation from God for eternity. By definition, the two bottom kingdoms would be hell for us. While we're on the subject, let's take a look at what the Bible actually says about the lake of fire. Because heaven is defined by God's presence. It's where God dwells. Hell is defined in a similar way. Hell is where God does not manifest his glorious presence. Paul writes, "Of those under God's judgment, they will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might." Revelation elsewhere tells us, "He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the lamb.

And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. And they have no rest day or night." If you just read the Gospels, you'll find that Jesus regularly warns about the danger of that place where there is weeping and nashing of teeth. In the Old Testament, Isaiah describes the scene a little bit like this. Their worms shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorance to all flesh. The source of everything good and beautiful is God. And so if we're saying that hell is the place where God does not manifest his glorious presence, that means that those dwelling there are cut off from the source, the fountain of everything that is good and beautiful.

Romans 3

Jesus describes the lake of fire as a place designed for the devil and his angels. It's where Satan will inevitably be cast, where he will be tormented day and night forever and ever. So who ends up in hell? All unrepentant sinners who do not receive the gospel. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idoltors, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death. Jesus teaches that many people will end up here. Wide is the road that leads to destruction, but very few people walk the narrow path that leads to salvation.

This is a very real danger for humanity. Paul actually in the book of Romans frames his entire discussion of the gospel as a solution for the problem of God's wrath. The very beginning of the book he says for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. He explains that every single human on earth without exception is under this divine wrath because every single human is a sinner. He makes this sweeping statement in Romans 3. None is righteous. No, not one. No one does good. Not even one. Hell is a danger for us because we are sinners. We are the detestable, the cowardly, the faithless, the liars, the murderers, the sexually immoral that Revelation speaks of.

We are the ones that are deserving of this lake of fire. To say that we are sinners is to say that we are beings who should receive the just judgment of God. This is why you and I need a way to enter into God's presence that isn't dependent on our worthiness or our righteousness. If entrance into the celestial kingdom is dependent on our ability to obey celestial law, then none of us would ever make it. And that's why the gospel is so glorious because God made a way for us unworthy beings to enter into his presence through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. In one of the most famous verses in the Bible, Jesus says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." Jesus presents two options here.

Perishing or eternal life. If we believe in Jesus, we will not perish. We will not experience the second death. We'll have eternal life. Gaining entrance into heaven is not a reward based off someone's baptism or someone's membership at a particular church or someone's ability to keep law. Rather, it is a gift given through the work of Jesus for those who believe in him. This is why the apostle Paul consistently says that it is not through lawkeeping that we are made righteous but rather through faith alone be found in him not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law but that which comes through faith in Christ the righteousness from God that depends on faith that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

So what happens after final judgment? It's serious, but it's very simple. Those who do not place their faith in Christ will be judged for their sins and will spend an eternity separated from God in hell. Those who trust in what Christ has done will dwell with God in his kingdom forever. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.