WILL MANY OR FEW BE SAVED?

Our Place Beyond the Grave

IN the course of our Lord's last journey from Galilee to Jerusalem, which proved to be His solemn march to Calvary and the tomb, He threaded the towns and villages of the region, teaching and preaching by the way. Multitudes were impressed by His lofty precepts and His simple exposition of plain, every-day religion; and many questions were submitted to Him, some based on curiosity or even less worthy motives, others inspired by genuine interest.

"Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved?" (Luke 13:23.)

The inquiry was and is of great moment. We observe as a striking and significant fact, that while the Lord nowise treated the query as improper, yet He gave no specific or direct answer. Indeed, so far as the record enables us to judge He purposely left the question unanswered; though He gave a most impressive sermon in connection therewith. Note again the question, and part of the response:

"Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able."

As the succeeding verses tell, the instruction was enlarged upon to show that neglect or procrastination in obeying the requirements of salvation may result in dire jeopardy to the soul. Moreover, the people were warned that their Israelitish lineage would not save them; for many who were not of the covenant people would believe and be admitted to the Lord's presence, while unworthy Israelites would be thrust out. So is it that "There are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last." (Verse 30.)

Uplifting and invaluable as this teaching is, it has, nevertheless, but an indirect bearing upon the clean-cut question: Will many or but few be saved? The people to whom Jesus was speaking were incapable of understanding a plain answer to the question, and would have been misled thereby. For, had He said "Few" they would have construed the reply to mean that only a few, and they the Jews, would find a place in "Abraham's bosom," while all the rest would be consigned to sheol. Had the Lord answered "Many" they would have taken His word to mean that the great majority shall attain supreme bliss in the kingdom of heaven, and only a few are to find a place in hell. Either inference is untrue.

Later, on the night of the betrayal, the Lord said to the sorrowful Apostles: "In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so I would have told you." Here we find conclusive refutation of the old and still current superstition, that but two states, conditions, or places—heaven and hell—are established for souls in eternity. Salvation is graded; and every soul shall inherit the condition for which he is prepared.

Paul comprehended this great truth, as appears from his declaration that in the resurrection some souls shall be of the celestial order, comparable in glory to the sun; others shall attain but a terrestrial state, of which the brightness of the moon is typical; while the graded conditions of others shall be as the varying light of the stars. See 1 Cor. 15:41, 42. Here we have two kingdoms of glory distinctively specified—the celestial and the terrestrial, and a third to which no name is given.

Modern revelation is in strict accord with Holy Writ of ancient record, and is explicit in affirming the graded conditions that await the souls of men. As made known in 1832 through the prophet Joseph Smith (see D&C, Sec. 76) there are three main kingdoms or degrees of glory in the hereafter—(1) the Celestial, of which the sun is relatively typical, (2) the Terrestrial, as far below the first as the moon is inferior to the sun in effulgence, and (3) the Telestial, which is the kingdom referred to by Paul but without name.

The Celestial inheritance is for those who have accepted the Gospel of Christ and have rendered valiant service in the cause of righteousness; those who have yielded obedience to all the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.

Into the Terrestrial order shall enter those who have failed to lay hold on the privileges of eternal life while in the flesh; "honorable men of the earth" perhaps, according to human standard, yet blinded "by the craftiness" of false teachers, false philosophy, science falsely so called. These shall inherit glory, but not a fulness thereof.

The Telestial state is provided for those who have rejected the Gospel and testimony of Christ, and who merit condemnation. "These are they who are liars, and sorcerers, and adulterers, and whoremongers, and whosoever loves and makes a lie." Among them shall be varied degrees, even as the stars differ in glory.

Far below this condition is that of the sons of perdition—those who have sinned in full consciousness, those who have shed innocent blood. The comparative few who reach this state of extreme degradation are doomed to dwell "with the devil and his angels in eternity, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched, which is their torment."

Thus, those who attain even the Telestial state are saved from the depths of perdition; while the inheritors of the higher glories are saved from the condition of the less exalted.

Consider anew the question asked of Christ: "Lord, are there few that be saved?"

And the answer revealed in the present age: "But behold, and lo, we saw the glory and the inhabitants of the telestial world, that they were as innumerable as the stars in the firmament of heaven, or as the sand upon the sea shore." (D&C 76:109.)