Immortality, Salvation, Exaltation, & Eternal Life

At times, we may be uncertain as to what a gospel speaker or writer intended to communicate given their particular use of one of the following terms: immortality, salvation, exaltation, or eternal life. A brief review of these terms may be helpful here.

Immortality is a condition of not being subject to physical death. While we mortals will yet experience this death, we have the promise that at a future time our spirit will be reunited with our body in the resurrection. This blessing is an unconditional gift to every soul who will ever live upon this earth as a result of Christ’s atonement. Once resurrected, none of God’s spirit children will ever face a physical death again. Such a statement may cause some confusion since the scriptures speak of a “second death” (D&C 76:37). However, only the sons of perdition will experience this “spiritual death” retaining their resurrected bodies in hell but being separated from any contact with a member of the Godhead.

Salvation is a state wherein an individual is free of Satan's temptation. Salvation is the conditional gift resulting from Christ’s atonement that applies to all of the inhabitants of this earth who are not judged to be sons of perdition. Thus salvation comes in many degrees and spans the celestial, terrestrial, and telestial worlds of the future based upon the faithfulness with which any individual adheres to the gospel of Jesus Christ. While it is proper to use the term salvation as a synonym for exaltation or eternal life, such a use could be confusing for at least the following reason. All who inherit exaltation or eternal life will be saved or have salvation, but not all of those who enjoy salvation will be exalted or have eternal life. Thus, there will be those who inherit the celestial kingdom who will have salvation but not exaltation. All of those who inherit some degree of the terrestrial or telestial kingdoms will be the recipients of some quality of salvation also.

Exaltation and eternal life are synonymous terms. Eternal is one of Elohim’s names (Moses 7:35) and thus eternal life refers to the quality of life our Father in Heaven lives i.e., possessing the power to have “an increase” (D&C 131:4). This is the end to which the following verses have reference. “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3). “For behold, this is my work and my glory--to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39).

To exalt is “to raise in status, dignity, power, honor, wealth, etc.” (New World Dictionary). In the LDS Church, exaltation is used to signify an individual’s future condition to be that which warrants the highest degree of the celestial kingdom (D&C 131:1-4). The Lord revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith what John the Baptist recorded concerning His, the Lord’s, role as the creator of worlds and His earthly preparations to be our savior. Having quoted these verses, He continued, “I give unto you these sayings that you may understand and know how to worship, and know what you worship, that you may come unto the Father in my name, and in due time receive of his fulness” (D&C 93:19). To “receive of his fulness” is to inherit eternal life or be exalted.