ROY - Will the temple work be done for all the people who
ever lived on earth or everyone who will live on
earth, with the exception of those who died before
becoming accountable?
JOEL - Mostly it will only be done for those who have accepted the gospel in the Spirit World. The scriptures 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;" (D&C 137:7)
All of these people will need temple work done for
them. But right now since we don't know who would
have accepted it, we are asked to search out our own
ancestors and do the work for all of them regardless
of whether we think they would have accepted it or not.
But that will change after the Second coming. During
the Millennium, when the veil has been lifted, we will
be able to receive information about those who have
accepted the Gospel in the spirit world and we will
only need to do the work for them and not for those
who did not accept it.
According to President Joseph Fielding Smith:
"By the time Christ comes we are expected to have done
all that is within our power to do now for our dead.
That does not mean we are going to do all that is to
be done, because it will go on during the millennium.
The great work of the millennium will be the salvation
of the dead, and those who are on the other side will
help us, too, by bringing us information. The
ordinances for the salvation of the dead are mortal
ordinances, because all these ordinances pertain to
this life, and immortal beings cannot perform them.
Those who will be living here then will be in daily
communication with those who have passed through the
resurrection, and they will come with this
information, this knowledge that we do not have and
will give it to those who are in mortality saying,
"Now go into the temples and do this work; when you
get this done, we will bring you other names." And in
that way every soul who is entitled to a place in the
celestial kingdom of God will be ferreted out, and not
one soul shall be overlooked. (Doctrines of Salvation,
Vol. 2)
So during the millennium it will be a little easier in
the sense that we will know in advance exactly who to
do the work for and not waste time on those who never
accept it. But for now we are asked to do it for all
our ancestors.
It is possible that at some future time, perhaps
during the Milennium, that even children who died
before turning 8 will be baptized, to fulfill all
righteousness as Jesus did, and receive temple
endowments. But precisely what the Lord will require
in the form of ordinances, or other requirements, for
spirits who died as infants or children on earth in
order to receive exaltation has not been revealed. It
is certain that we do not currently endow children who
die before accountability nor do we seal them to a
spouse. But this does not mean that the blessings of
these latter ordinances are unavailable to them.
President Joseph Fielding Smith also said:
"The Lord will grant unto these children the privilege
of all the sealing blessings which pertain to
exaltation.
We were all mature spirits before we were born, and
the bodies of little children will grow after
resurrection to the full stature of the spirit, and
all the blessings will be theirs through their
obedience the same as if they had lived to maturity
and received them on the earth.
The Lord is just and will not deprive any person of a
blessing, simply because he died before that blessing
can be received. It would be manifestly unfair to
deprive a little child of the privilege of receiving
all the blessings of exaltation in the world to come
simply because it died in infancy." (Doctrines of
Salvation, Vol. 2)
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