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For those of you who are not full-fledged TR holders — are you concerned about the eternal salvation of your family? Do you feel anxiety or concern that your family may not be together in the eternities? Or if you have no family in the church are you concerned you will attract some form of personal/individual damnation due to your unwillingness to live the gospel as a full TR-holding person? A friend of mine asked me about this — whether my mortality is bothering me since I’m not a full-fledged TR-holder any longer. I would be interested in your answers.
I’d like to hear your answer, too, SD. I’ve actually gone through stages of this. When my crisis of faith began I was concerned. Later, as I became agnostic and nearly atheist, I didn’t care because I didn’t believe those teachings anyway. The truth is at this time I don’t know. I’m not sure I accept all of the teachings of the church regarding salvation and exaltation (more particularly the latter). As scripturally taught, I do believe I am saved (I believe in Jesus Christ, I have been baptized, I accept him as my Savior, etc.). I don’t believe in a hell of fire and brimstone, but I do believe there is a state of being that is hell – and I think that can even occur in the celestial kingdom (if such a place exists). Barring getting crushed by a log truck on my way to work tomorrow, I also believe I still have time to work this out, but it has taken a back burner to more pressing beliefs (like does God really exist, etc.) in the past. perhaps this thread will be of some assistance as I work through this – one of the things I love about this site and my friends here. If I am not saved then I will be with the other 99.9% of those that ever lived. Besides how many true believing Mormons with Temple recommends believe they are going to the Celestial Kingdom? I know when I was TBM I never thought I was good enough. It is only the over the top Mormons who actually believe they are going to make it. The church is set up so you doubt yourself to keep you motivated to keep trying harder to be a good Mormon to attain that celestial glory. It doesn’t seem like an immediate concern to me right now. I’m sure that TB Mormons could quote all kinds of BoM scriptures that say not to procrastinate your day of repentence, but frankly, I don’t see it as an immediate concern right now for me even though I am in my early 50’s now. No. Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
I look around church and it seems like I am doing about as good as most. There might be 5% that do everything they are suppose to and the rest are doing the best they can. If that 5% make up the CK then I think I would be more comfortable with the other 95% in the other kingdoms. I think God will judge us more by how we treat others and honor him then by the commandments the church puts out. I worry more about how I am going to handle the rest of this life than I do the next life at this stage. church0333 wrote:… I worry more about how I am going to handle the rest of this life than I do the next life at this stage.
The end.
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Yes, but not because I have no TR. I believe in a loving Parental God. I believe that relationships matter. I believe that I should do my best, both to be a good person individually and to help others become their own best selves. I believe that we will always be “works in progress.” I believe that everything else will work itself out. No, and it has nothing to do with my TR status. cwald wrote:church0333 wrote:… I worry more about how I am going to handle the rest of this life than I do the next life at this stage.
The end.
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+1
Love this. I would also answer “no” and, like Ray, TR status has nothing to do with concern for salvation. Rather, my lack of concern is fueled by my personal beliefs on the atonement, grace, trials, plan of salvation, etc. All is well in Zion.
:lolno: DarkJedi wrote:The truth is at this time I don’t know.
That’s my answer too.If I felt angst or fear about it, I would probably be motivated to change something or work something out more. But I currently love my kids and see how wonderful they are, and try to teach them how to grow up to be good members of society, with love and service to their neighbors, and find joy in this life. I figure everything else will work itself out in the next life.
Going through my divorce, I was told many things by different people about families and eternal relationships…and mostly, people I respected just all acknowledged that we just don’t know some things about the next life and how families will be in the eternities, we just have a hope and a faith. But actually, we just don’t know some things.
I accept that. Like I said, I focus on who I can become in this life, and the rest will take care of itself. I’m not concerned about it. I certainly don’t believe a TR or a secret handshake will be what is used to determine exaltation or not.
cwald wrote:No.
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I agree. Sometimes I’ve had moments of “what if…” but I don’t believe that way any more. There are too many scriptures and even leader quotes to support a universalistic view of the human family.
The Givens say something about a TR not being a “heavenly hall pass.”
SilentDawning wrote:whether my mortality is bothering me since I’m not a full-fledged TR-holder any longer.
No more than anyone else on this planet.
I’ve heard several stories about people that made sure they have a temple recommend even though they had no ability to actually go to a temple. They still felt the importance behind getting a temple recommend even thought they knew they’d never be attending. I don’t mean to belittle that experience, if it brings peace and comfort into someone’s life then holding a current temple recommend is a very good thing, a positive influence in their life. That said I think we put too much stock into what amounts to a small piece of paper. If you feel like you are “right” with God then what difference is a temple recommend going to make one way or the other?
Great. Now I’ve got this mental image of St. Peter at the pearly gates with a barcode scanner.
I cannot convince myself I need to worry about eternal salvation, I guess I’m not wired that way. I am close to someone that is apostate (as far as the church is concerned) and I don’t have any worries about their standing in the next life. I do naturally lean on what Moroni 7:47 teaches: “whoso is found possessed of [charity] at the last day, it shall be well with him.”
I believe very strongly that our major “test” of mortal life is to learn to gain charity or love and place it at the top of our list of priorities. Strong and specific religious opinions can sometimes get in the way of this objective.
When someone is obviously absent of charity in this life I still don’t worry about their salvation because I believe in eternal progression. I believe everyone learns at their own pace but will always have the opportunity to learn and progress.
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