Joseph Smith learned by revelation, for example, that “all who have died without a knowledge of this gospel, who would have received it if they had been permitted to tarry, shall be heirs of the celestial kingdom of God; also all that shall die henceforth without a knowledge of it, who would have received it with all their hearts, shall be heirs of that kingdom.” And then the Lord explained the basis of this principle, the foundation stone upon which the law of justification rests, the very essence of the reason why the Latter-day Saints devote themselves unceasingly to a labor in behalf of their dead:
“For I, the Lord, will judge all men according to their works, according to the desire of their hearts.” (D&C 137:7-9.)
In Alma’s words,
“it is requisite with the justice of God that men should be judged according to their works; and if their works were good in this life, and the desires of their hearts were good, that they should also, at the last day, be restored unto that which is good” (Alma 41:3).