Intro

One of the more worrying beliefs I have seen creeping into the churches is that everyone is going to be saved eventually.

The logic goes: since God created everyone, then he must have a plan to eventually save everyone. Inasmuch as there is sin or temptation, their role must have been deliberately set up by God as a challenge to overcome to make ourselves stronger, rather than something that will divorce us from God forever. But ultimately, God’s intent is not to judge us, but to help us improve, and so surely God must have created a path for all of his creations to reach glory – otherwise he wouldn’t have created us.

If you have read the scriptures, then alarm bells should be going off in your head, of which scriptures I will get to. Ironically, it seems as though atheists understand what the scriptures say better: that God will judge us for our sins and only a certain few will be saved, and it is very confusing to me that it is the religionists who have selectively forgotten the immense body of scriptures talking about eternal condemnation resulting from choosing to lie, cheat, steal, murder, betray, hurt, and ignore.

Philosophy

Before going through the scriptures, to outline my philosophy in brief: I believe that people have inherent personalities that are sometimes good and sometimes bad, but it would be cruel for God to judge people for things they haven’t done yet, so we are granted this life as a probationary state to either prove that we are good or prove that we are bad. Therefore, eternal consequences make sense to me, because if our personalities are truly innate to us, then they will never change, and it is cruel to expect righteous souls to have to live for the eternities in the presence of wicked and vile souls. It actually makes more sense for the punishment to be eternal, because our soul’s natures are eternal – if we our intrinsic personality is evil, then it will eternally be evil – and so to protect the righteous from the wicked requires eternally banishing the wicked from their presence.

The flip side of my belief is that our souls do have somewhat of an ability to change (within limits) while still in this mortal life, but after we die, then the state of our souls becomes fixed. Therefore, in our mortal journey, the great many decisions we make on a day to day basis end up coalescing into a much larger single choice: whether to be righteous or to be wicked. Once we enter the eternal world, that choice is solidified, and so our souls become forever stuck in whatever state they chose to be in during this mortal life – namely, either a state of being good or a state of being bad.

Since we all have free agency, only we can make that choice of whether to be righteous or to be wicked, and once that choice is made, neither we nor God can change it, since in the eternal world to come, our spirits are unchanging. This means that the spirits who chose to be wicked in this mortal life will be wicked in the eternal world, and it will be too late for them to change their nature to stop being wicked.

I suppose you might dispute my view that the souls of humans are inherently unequal – with it therefore being just to separate the more righteous from the less righteous. I guess my response is: please just read Jesus’s parables and my scriptures on the elect discussed in this essay. Also, simply looking around the world should reveal that some people really just are naturally bad while others are not.

Scriptures from Jesus

Few will be Saved

Matthew 7:13–14
13 ¶ Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

Matthew 7:21-23
21 ¶ Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Luke 13:24–27
24 ¶ Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.
25 When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are:
26 Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets.
27 But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.
28 There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.

Jesus’s Parables

The Wheat and the Tares

(Matthew 13:24–30, 36–43) – in this parable, the world is likened to a wheat field with tares planted in it. We humans are the wheat and the tares, with the righteous being the wheat and the unrighteous being the tares, and while the wheat was first sown by the Lord, the tares are then subsequently sown by the devil. The parable then concludes that when the world ends, the tares will be thrown into the fire while the wheat will be brought into the barn, symbolizing how the wicked will be thrown into hell, while the righteous will be taken up into heaven. It also notes that this hasn’t happened yet because you can’t distinguish very well wheat from tares until they mature, and so the Lord must wait until harvest to destroy the Tares lest he also destroy some wheat along with it.

So obviously, if everyone is saved, then this parable doesn’t make sense.

But just as importantly, the parable is essentially noting how while at the present time the wicked look very similar to the righteous, by the time of the harvest, it will be clear that the wicked are inherently different, as they are totally different plants. This implies that humans are *not* all basically the same – some souls are totally different from others, and, well, these souls are corrupt – and it is these souls going to hell.

The Sheep and the Goats

(Matthew 25:31–46) – in this text, the Lord describes how when the world ends, God will gather up all the people of the nations and separate them one from another as a shepherd divides his sheep from his goats. The sheep are described as those who were righteous and did good deeds to others during their lives, while the goats are those who were wicked and refused to help others. Therefore, the sheep will be taken up to inherit the kingdom of God, while the goats will be thrust down into everlasting punishment.

This means of course that universal salvation is false.

Also, it is worth noting that the Lord again acts as though the wicked are a completely different species from the righteous – thus, while good people and bad people might visually look the same, their spirits must be inherently different.

The Ten Virgins

(Matthew 25:1–13) – in this parable, it is only the five virgins who have full lamps that enter heaven, while the foolish virgins who were not prepared are left unable to enter when the time of judgment comes.

Again, the whole point of this parable is to show that not everyone is saved.

The Wedding Feast

(Matthew 22:1–14) In this parable, entering the kingdom of heaven is likened unto attending a wedding feast. As such, the inheritors of the kingdom of God are the ones able to attend the feast, and everyone else either chooses to reject the invitation, or tries to enter but are kicked out. Once again, this parable suggests that only some people will be saved.

The Wise and Foolish Builders

(Matthew 7:24-27) – in this parable, one person builds his house upon a solid foundation and it withstands the storm, thus symbolizing him being saved, while the other person builds his house upon a sandy foundation and it collapses, symbolizing his not being saved. Thus we see that not all will be saved.

The Net

Matthew 13:47–50
47 ¶ Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:
48 Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.
49 So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just,
50 And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

As one can see, this parable again shows that not everyone will be saved. The wording of how “every kind” is gathered also reminds me of the concept that there is something inherently different about certain people’s souls.

The Elect and Heterogeneity of Souls

As one can see in the following scriptures, it appears that not all souls are equal when they enter the earth, with some people being inherently more righteous and therefore constituting the elect, resulting in their being chosen and called by God before they are born. Additionally, some souls are inherently more intelligent than others, and the levels of glory souls receive after death also differs greatly. All of these things seem kind of obvious if you look around the world – some people are psychopaths and that is part of their nature; some people are pedophiles and that is part of their nature; and then others are heroes and honest and charitable and kind. But it is just worth noting all of this to explain why the destinations of souls differ in the afterlife – namely, it would be unfair to force innocent people to live for all eternity with those who are by nature pedophiles and liars.

1 Corinthians 15:40-42 – we learn about how in the resurrection of the dead, some will receive bodies with the glory of the sun, others will receive bodies with the glory of the moon, and yet others with the glory of the stars.

Abraham 3:18–19 – this scripture discusses how souls are eternal, without beginning or end, and some souls are inherently more intelligent while others are inherently less intelligent.

Ephesians 1:4–5 – God chose the saints before the foundation of the world.

2 Timothy 1:9 – Christ called the saints with a holy calling before the world began.

1 Peter 1:2 – The Father had a foreknowledge of the elect.

Romans 8:29-30 – God did foreknow and predestinate the saints.

Jeremiah 1:5 – Jeremiah was ordained a prophet before he was born.

Isaiah 49:1 – Isaiah was called while he was still in the womb.

The Book of Mormon

On Universal Salvation

The Book of Mormon also quite explicitly says that the doctrine of universal salvation is apostasy. Here is one of the most iconic scriptures on the topic:

2 Nephi 28:7-25
7 Yea, and there shall be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die; and it shall be well with us.
8 And there shall also be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry; nevertheless, fear God—he will justify in committing a little sin; yea, lie a little, take the advantage of one because of his words, dig a pit for thy neighbor; there is no harm in this; and do all these things, for tomorrow we die; and if it so be that we are guilty, God will beat us with a few stripes, and at last we shall be saved in the kingdom of God.
…11 Yea, they have all gone out of the way; they have become corrupted.
12 Because of pride, and because of false teachers, and false doctrine, their churches have become corrupted, and their churches are lifted up; because of pride they are puffed up.
…14 They wear stiff necks and high heads; yea, and because of pride, and wickedness, and abominations, and whoredoms, they have all gone astray save it be a few, who are the humble followers of Christ; nevertheless, they are led, that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men.
…21 And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well—and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.
22 And behold, others he flattereth away, and telleth them there is no hell; and he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none—and thus he whispereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful chains, from whence there is no deliverance.
…24 Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion!
25 Wo be unto him that crieth: All is well!

Another important part of the narrative is that of the villain Nehor, who teaches that all men will be saved because all men were created God, and so we need not fear God, and is portrayed as preaching apostasy (Alma 1:2-15). The book then repeatedly rebukes this idea, saying that people with bad works who don’t repent will not inherit the kingdom of God (Alma 5:51-52, Alma 11:37, Alma 12:13–18, Alma 40:25-26). To note, this Nehor is quite prominent because his followers then act as villains in much of the account (here are examples: Alma 2:1–4 – Amlici, a follower of Nehor, seeks to become king and stirs up rebellion, resulting in a civil war; Alma 14:16–20 – Followers of Nehor are among the mob in Ammonihah who burn the believers and their scriptures; Alma 21:4 – A splinter group called the Amalekites who follow Nehor imprison the missionaries; Alma 24:28–29 – The Amalekites and Amulonites, both linked to Nehor’s order, genocide the converted Lamanites, called the Anti-Nephi-Lehies).

Necessity for Justice

One of the reasons why not all will be saved is because for there to be a divine law defining what is right and wrong, there must also be a divine punishment for breaking said law. This passage explains this in more detail:

Alma 42:13-22
13 …Now the work of justice could not be destroyed; if so, God would cease to be God.
…16 Now, repentance could not come unto men except there were a punishment, which also was eternal as the life of the soul should be, affixed opposite to the plan of happiness, which was as eternal also as the life of the soul.
17 Now, how could a man repent except he should sin? How could he sin if there was no law? How could there be a law save there was a punishment?
18 Now, there was a punishment affixed, and a just law given, which brought remorse of conscience unto man.
19 Now, if there was no law given—if a man murdered he should die—would he be afraid he would die if he should murder?
20 And also, if there was no law given against sin men would not be afraid to sin.
21 And if there was no law given, if men sinned what could justice do, or mercy either, for they would have no claim upon the creature?
22 But there is a law given, and a punishment affixed, and a repentance granted; which repentance, mercy claimeth; otherwise, justice claimeth the creature and executeth the law, and the law inflicteth the punishment; if not so, the works of justice would be destroyed, and God would cease to be God.

* another related scripture here is 2 Nephi 9:25

We cannot Procrastinating Repentance until after death

The book of Mormon also repeatedly tells us that we cannot procrastinate our repentance until after we die because then it will be too late.

To start off, Jesus is quoted in 3 Nephi 27:17 as perfectly explicitly saying that if you are cast off into hell after judgement, that you can never return back to heaven:

17 And he that endureth not unto the end, the same is he that is also hewn down and cast into the fire, from whence they can no more return, because of the justice of the Father.

Here is a more detailed section on *we cannot procrastinate repenting until after death* – Alma 34:32-35
32 For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.
33 And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed.
34 Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for 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.
35 For behold, if ye have procrastinated the day of your repentance even until death, behold, ye have become subjected to the spirit of the devil, and he doth seal you his; therefore, the Spirit of the Lord hath withdrawn from you, and hath no place in you, and the devil hath all power over you; and this is the final state of the wicked.

As you can see, this passage briefly discusses how one reason why can’t procrastinate our repentance is because the spirit possessing our bodies when we die will be present with us in the eternal world, suggesting that the nature of our spirits is somewhat fixed after death and so we must repent before death. You will see this idea brought up again in later parts of this essay.

Another relevant passage is Alma 41:2-14, which tells us that when God restores everything to its rightful place during the time of the resurrection, then part of this restoration involves restoring misery unto those whose hearts desired evil and happiness to those whose hearts were good. As such, we can’t expect that we can suddenly change after we die to follow God because the time for us to change is up until we die (see verse 6), and after we die all that happens is that we are restored to our natural state – meaning that if our natural state on earth is evil, then we will be restored also as evil in the life to come – and from here on, these final restored states are endless (verse 4).

Filthy shall stay filthy still

The following scriptures prove that the state of our souls after death is fixed, and so if we are wicked we can no longer change to become righteous, and therefore we no longer have any opportunity to change our course to instead go to heaven:

1 Nephi 15:33
33 Wherefore, if they should die in their wickedness they must be cast off also, as to the things which are spiritual, which are pertaining to righteousness; wherefore, they must be brought to stand before God, to be judged of their works; and if their works have been filthiness they must needs be filthy; and if they be filthy it must needs be that they cannot dwell in the kingdom of God; if so, the kingdom of God must be filthy also.

Mormon 9:14
14 And then cometh the judgment of the Holy One upon them; and then cometh the time that he that is filthy shall be filthy still; and he that is righteous shall be righteous still; he that is happy shall be happy still; and he that is unhappy shall be unhappy still.

Similarly, in 2 Nephi 9:16,27,38, we see that after death, if we are righteous we will stay righteous still, and if we are filthy we will stay filthy still (verse 26). Thus, we live in a state of probation (verse 27), and if we die in our sins then we will remain in our sins (verse 38) in a state that is described as “everlasting” (verse 16).

Second Death

The Book of Mormon describes this state of permanently staying wicked and divorced from God after death as being the second death. Here are a few relevant passages:

Alma 12:12-18 – in this scripture, we learn that it will be awful for us if we are found lacking during the final judgement, and we will be condemned by our own words, thoughts, and works. This results in a “second death, which is a spiritual death; then is a time that whosoever dieth in his sins, as to a temporal death, shall also die a spiritual death; yea, he shall die as to things pertaining unto righteousness” (verse 16). This death is everlasting (verse 17), and will subject people to the will and captivity of Satan (verse 17). After this second death, it is too late for souls because “they shall be as though there had been no redemption made; for they cannot be redeemed according to God’s justice; and they cannot die, seeing there is no more corruption” (verse 18).

Alma 12:24-32 – in this scripture, we learn about how this life is a probationary state and a time to prepare to meet God and prepare for the eternities after the resurrection of the dead (verse 24). As such, if we are not prepared, then we will endure the second death, which is “an everlasting death as to things pertaining unto righteousness”, and this has to be case, because otherwise the works of justice would be destroyed which are an element of the supreme goodness of God (verse 32).

Helaman 14:18-19 – we are exhorted to repent, because those who die the second death are “cut off again as to things pertaining to righteousness.”

Jacob 3:11 – in the second death, we become angels to the devil.

Alma 40:26 – the wicked are “cast out” and “die as to things pertaining to things of righteousness”.

As you can see, these scriptures repeat the idea of being cut off or dying as to things pertaining to righteousness. This is part of the larger point of how the state of our souls is fixed after death, and so if we die as wicked people, then we will never again be able to return to those things which are righteous or be able to dwell in the kingdom of righteousness, since it is too late for us to change to become righteous.

Children of the Devil

Beyond simply having the state of our souls fixed after the second death, the scriptures actually take an even more extreme position by saying that we become subject, captive to, and servants of the devil if we are condemned in the final judgement (1 Nephi 14:3–7, Mosiah 16:3-5, Alma 12:11, Alma 12:17, Alma 34:35, Alma 40:13-14, 2 Nephi 2:27-29, 2 Timothy 2:26).

I think that people ignore this because they have this sense of entitlement that they must be saved. But as I have shown in this essay, this is not the case: we are not entitled to be saved if we don’t follow the scriptures, and if we live wicked lives, God isn’t going to want us to be in his kingdom.

I think one of the reasons why people feel so entitled is because they are repeatedly told that they are children of God. And yes, this is true. However, there are also important qualifications to this idea. Namely:

• We only truly become sons and daughters of God if we are righteous and born again: John 1:12, Revelation 21:7, Romans 8:14–17, Galatians 4:5–7, Matthew 5:44–45, 2 Corinthians 6:17–18, 1 John 3:1–10, Mosiah 5:7–9, Moses 6:56-67
• Sinners actually are the children of the devil: 1 John 3:10, John 8:44, Ephesians 2:2–3, Alma 5:41–42

Conclusions

Hopefully this essay proves that there are multiple destinations in heaven for our souls, depending on our natures and our actions on earth. New age ideas like to imagine that every soul has a different path and eventually everyone will return back to God. However, the scriptures present a very different story for the journey of our souls: this life is a time of probation – meaning a time of testing before judgement. If we fail the test, then we will endure “the second death”, in which we reach a state where it is impossible to change your character to become righteous.

I know this is a hard doctrine to accept, and it sounds mean, but from a different perspective, this doctrine actually helps us love others more. You see, if we thought everyone already was going to be saved, then there would be no incentive to try to convert others or do good.

Regarding the issue of our souls having different natures, the main tragedy to me is that there are people who have *good* souls, who still will probably become corrupted by the enemy and will be delivered into captivity in his kingdom. Thus, I feel a great urgency to try to help these people as much as possible avoid the awful fate that awaits them if they do not repent. As for those who are truly evil, they just aren’t as important as this great number of people who are not inherently evil who are in peril of not being saved.

Also, if there is no punishment for our sins, then there must not either be a divine law for us to follow, and if there is no divine law, then there indeed must not be any such thing as righteousness or sin. This is exactly what Satan wants us to believe: that there is no such thing as right or wrong and we should therefore “do what thou wilt”. Therefore, I urge you, my dear reader, to not deny the justice of a God who judges in righteousness. God is not cruel – all he wants is for us to be kind to one another, to work in truth and light, and for us to join his camp to do good.

Footnote: Judging Others

I think many have a residual aversion to the idea of being “judged”. This probably is because of the many bullies populating the world who are always waiting to jump at the opportunity to convince you that you are worthless, and I too have had my fair share of people trying to convince me I will not be saved because of this and that.

And yes, I am mad at these people too, but to react and think that nobody is ever judged is the wrong conclusion. The problem is that these people seek to put themselves above others, or punish people for petty grievances, or simply lack empathy – not that there really is no such thing as consequences in the heavens for your actions on earth. Or in other words, it seems most people hold others to much higher standards than themselves (see also Matthew 7:3–5 and Luke 6:41–42) and want to embarrass others when they think other people think too highly of themselves (but that is God’s job, not our own), and these behaviors are wrong – but that doesn’t mean there aren’t heavenly standards God wants us to follow.

The scriptures should hopefully clarify this better. To start off, famously Jesus tells us to forgive others and not judge them:

Matthew 5:43–46, Luke 6:27–29 – we should love their enemies and bless those who curse us, rather than seeking personal payback.
Matthew 7:1-2, Luke 6:37-38 – we are judged with the same measure by which we judge others.
Matthew 18:22 – we should forgive others 70 times 7 times.

However, just because we must forgive everyone doesn’t mean God will always forgive unrepentant sinners. In fact, the opposite – the scriptures say that we don’t need to seek vengeance against others because vengeance belongs to God (Romans 12:19, Hebrews 10:30, Deuteronomy 32:35). Funnily enough, Romans 12:20 even say that we can bring further condemnation on our enemies by doing good to them, since then God will punish them even more (1 Peter 3:16 also has a similar message).

Moreover, loving others does not mean we should have tolerance for their sin (“hate the sin, love the sinner”). Rather, the Bible teaches us to exhort all around us to abandon wickedness (James 5:20, Galatians 6:1, 2 Timothy 4:2, Matthew 28:19–20, Isaiah 58:1, 2 Timothy 2:24–26, Alma 29:9, Proverbs 24:11, D&C 88:81), because when we love someone we desire their eternal salvation (Proverbs 27:5–6, Mosiah 28:3, Hebrews 12:6-8, Revelation 3:19, Romans 12:9). In fact, we are taught that if we don’t warn others then their sins will be answered upon our own heads (Ezekiel 3:17-19, Ezekiel 33:8-9, Acts 20:26-27, Jacob 1:19, Mosiah 2:27-28, Proverbs 27:5-6). Remember, even Jesus sometimes needed to speak bluntly against sin and hypocrisy (Matthew 23:27, Matthew 21:12–13).

It also is a mistake to think that not judging others means we should only care about really bad sins. As discussed in Matthew 5:18-20, we should teach others to follow even the least of the commandments and not break these least of the commandments ourselves. Then, in the rest of the chapter, Jesus contrasts the old law of the Israelites with his own law, showing how it is stricter. For example, he says that: not only should we not commit adultery, but also we shouldn’t entertain lust in our heart (verse 27–28); not only should we not kill others, but also we shouldn’t get angry with them without a cause (verse 21-22); and not only should we love our neighbors, but also we should love our enemies (verse 43-46). This discussion of how even small sins matter also reminds me of how in Luke 16:10, we are told “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much”, in Matthew 12:36–37 we are warned that we will give an account for every idle word we speak, and in Matthew 5:48 we are told be perfect.

If you are still confused, Jesus’s parables also discuss his approach to sin: in Matthew 9:11–13, we learn how Jesus visits with sinners because “They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick”, and since “I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Similarly, in Luke 15:4-7, we learn how Jesus will leave the flock of ninety and nine sheep to help the one that goes astray, because “joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance”. From these scriptures, we learn that on one hand, we shouldn’t ignore sin and pretend it doesn’t exist – after all, we should actually be searching out the sinners to help them – but neither should we condemn people so harshly that we decide to not even try to help them stop sinning.

In conclusion, here is a practical guide from the scriptures on how to deal with wrongdoing. In Luke 17:3, we learn that we should rebuke people who trespass against us, but still forgive them if they repent. Matthew 18:15-16 then clarifies that when we are to confront those who trespass against us, at first we should do so in secret (presumably to avoid any sort of public humiliation), and only if they reject us should we take multiple witnesses to confront them in a more public manner. In 2 Timothy 2:24–26, we also see that it is necessary to instruct those who go against God peradventure they repent, but in doing so we should be gentle and meek, and Doctrine and Covenants 121:43 also reaffirms this, saying “Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy;”