Salvation by Grace

More than once in my life as a missionary, someone has come to me wondering what we "Mormons" think you have to do to get into Heaven.

Having always grown up knowing about the Spirit World (paradise and prison), I always thought that that was a bit of a funny question. As explained in my last post, our heaven or hell clearly depends on how we feel we lived up to what we knew in this life: are we guilty or satisfied?

I realize now, that the real misconception is not the qualifications of being saved at all! What people don't understand is how we as Latter-day Saints view salvation over all. Let me explain:

In John 14, the Lord says: "In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you."

Through modern revelation we have learned a little bit more about what Jesus Christ meant. There are in fact more than two (heaven and hell) possible eternal destinations. There are Kingdoms of Glory. Each is a perfectly just reward for those who inherit it. (I shall expound on this later).  

For instance, if I tried hard to follow my Savior 74/100 days and you did 80/100, would it make sense for me to go to hell (endless torment) and you to go to heaven? No. Would it make sense for us to receive the same eternal reward? Of course not! I believe in a perfect God, in fact, a perfectly just One.

*Please understand this: "There is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that He may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise"(2 Nephi 2:8).

We are saved by the Grace of God, there is no doubt about it.  Why then do our actions matter?  Because it is through our actions that we witness our faith in the Holy Messiah, the One who saves us all.

"Even so faith, if it hath not works is dead, being alone...I will shew you my faith by my works"
(James 2:17-18).

Feel free to read more here!