In this blog series I will explore the concept of grace and the recent move in LDS circles to emphasize grace more in the last five years or so. I think grace and theosis (or deification) are interlinked and if you read the Book of Mormon on the "baptism of fire" and the origional doctrine of the LDS Church in The Lectures on Faith #5 and #7, I think it is clear that true exaltation in LDS Scripture is not a merit-based "covenant path" where you earn access to a "celestial body" (described in D&C 76) by strictly obeying the ideas and policies of certain personalities in religious leadership roles. Instead, one is already graciously gifted a celestial body internally through the "baptism of fire," thus becoming what Paul describes as a new creation. One is being literally grown into a full celestial body in a process of deification, as a spiritual maturing into greater completeness or wholeness, as one imitates the character and attributes of God described in The Lectures on Faith; until one recieves a fulness of glory/pneuma in the resurrection when the mortal is fully swallowd up by the inner pneumatic/celestial body growing within oneself as a Christian.
This would mean that any and all of us who have been baptized and are doing our best to be good Christians (LDS Christian or any other Christian), will be exalted in the Kingdom of celestial bodies.
Why this more Scripture-focused understanding of celestial exaltation is important is because: first, it is more scripturally accurate. Second, it aligns the Latter Day Saint/Christian with the larger Body of Christians, from Protestant Christians (who emphasize grace) to Eastern Orthodox Christians who emphasis theosis, etc.; thus providing a greater sense of identity with the larger Body of Christians in general and having more in common than previously thought. Thirdly, believing in a more correct concept of grace and theosis reduces scrupliosity and unhealthy feelings of shame and inadequacy. In the article Grace, Legalism, and Mental Health, we read:
Using structural equation modeling in a sample of 635 Latter-day Saint university students, this study examined the relationships of grace and legalism with measures of depression, anxiety, perfectionism, scrupulosity, and shame. The data supported our hypotheses that experiencing grace would have a direct positive relationship to mental health, and that an individual’s legalistic beliefs may be related to their mental health because of the way these beliefs influence their ability to experience grace. Legalistic beliefs were related to lower scores on measures of grace, and lower scores on measures of grace correlate with lower scores on measures of mental health. It also appears that, in some instances, legalistic beliefs have a direct association with lower scores on measures of mental health.
This blog series thus has practical value toward reducing suffering and increasing well-being.
