JOEL - According to our Doctrine and Covenants:
"Behold, now it is called today until the coming of
the Son of Man, and verily it is a day of sacrifice,
and a day for the tithing of my people; for he that is
tithed shall not be burned at his coming.
For after today cometh the burning—this is speaking
after the manner of the Lord—for verily I say,
tomorrow all the proud and they that do wickedly shall
be as stubble; and I will burn them up, for I am the
Lord of Hosts; and I will not spare any that remain in
Babylon." (D&C 64 23-24)
According to the scriptures, it is the wicked and
proud who will burn. There are many good and righteous
people who are not members of the LDS Church who will
not be burned at Christ's second coming. Just
because they have not made the same promises to live
certain gospel principles that LDS have made(including
paying tithing), does not mean that they are proud and
wicked. Notice that God says that it is "a day for the
tithing of MY people", meaning it is those who belong
to His kingdom on earth who are obligated to pay
tithing.
God knows the hearts of those who do not yet belong to
His earthly kingdom and knows that when given a fair
chance they would embrace His true gospel, including
those who don't yet believe in Christ.
Our scriptures also say:
"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;
For I, the Lord, will judge all men according to their
works, according to the desire of their hearts." (D&C
137:7-9)
Because God knows the hearts of all good people, they
will be spared from the burning that will consume the
truly wicked. On the other hand, LDS people who have
been baptized and endowed in the temples, have made
solomn promises to God to obey His
commandments(includinig the payment of tithes). If
they break this contract through their proud and
wicked actions they are more in jeopardy of burning at
Christ's coming than the non-Christian who has not
made those promises.
The payment of tithing alone is not the only thing
that is going to keep a person from burning. There are
of course a lot of other things that a person must do
or not do to keep himself righteous before God. I
think also a point that God is making about tithing is
that a person who is willing to sacrifice worldly
goods is likely to not be the type of proud or wicked
person that would qualify for destruction.
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