“Thus Hath the Lord Commanded Me”

W. Cleon Skousen

Unless the people repent the Savior is not allowed to deny the demands of justice. This means that the individual will be reduced to the next layer of separation from the Father where the spirit itself begins to feel the most terrible, agonizing pain -- like the torment of a lake of fire and brimstone. Jesus described how terrible this experience will be in the Doctrine and Covenants 19:17-18. And the spirit remains in this state of suffering until all of the intelligences in our part of the universe and all of the victims of his or her evil deeds are satisfied to the uttermost farthing. Only then is the sinner released and considered redeemed from his or her sins. This doctrine of the redemption of the wicked is explained in the Doctrine and Covenants 76:36-38.

It seems highly significant that after all this suffering the Lord describes the wicked as "redeemed." This would imply a total cleansing of that person's sins so that he or she would then be available to serve the Lord in the lowest of God's kingdoms. By rejecting the gospel in both their earth life and later in the spirit world, such individuals have forfeited any possibility of enjoying a place in the upper two kingdoms -- the Celestial and Terrestrial Kingdom. Concerning those who go to the Telestial or lowest kingdom, the Lord says: "And they shall be servants of the Most High; but where God and Christ dwell they cannot come, worlds without ends."3

Treasures from the Book of Mormon

References