Don't Count on It

This all revolves around “God Loves Me” thinking. God has standards for the blessings he provides and far too many people think that these standards don't apply to them or their situation.

Trying to Force God

It is like most Christians play a game of “chicken” with God. They will challenge God not to give in to their demands for salvation or blessing and they think the Lord will flinch first (because he loves so much) and you will get happy salvation without guilt or shame and God slinks off into a corner like a beaten dog and leaves you alone. It is a victory for the natural man, one would think.

My response to nearly every “Jesus Loves Me so…” statement is “don't count on it”.

Repentance After Death

There are some statements that have been made that say people can sin in life and put off repentance for later. That might be true, but the scriptural record doesn't read as if that will work. Perhaps the first indications of the new, more loving Jesus many decades ago focused on this, ignoring “eat, drink, and be merry” warnings.

In a statement, don't count on it. You will be the same person after this life as you were during life. It sounds like a “lock-in” and your unrepentant self if just stuck that way. Don't count on repenting later, it just isn't worth the risk of losing exaltation!

Exaltation without Getting Married in Mortality

You can get sealed to a person, get divorced later (after some really good effort), and keep the blessings of your sealing. Or be sealed after death to the guy you divorced in life. Otherwise, you might not be in luck toward exaltation.

I have to say that the current criteria for marriage partners these days are getting in the way of many potential marriages. Your personal attitudes about politics or body-weight or love or a lot of things should not get in the way in considering a spouse. The vast majority of men and women who want exaltation and a partner toward reaching this could get one if they abandoned most of society's standards this way. I don't think that avoidance (“No good guys out there”) is going to make God happy or grant you some exception.

A person's ability to "walk away" from exaltation is magnified by persistence in remaining unmarried. It is taking a big gamble that you can live up to the standard without the assistance of a companion. Too many people (mostly women) don't take the Lord's commandment to marry and "replenish" seriously, listen to voices (perhaps even apostolic ones) that promise this can be remedied later, and so just take the less-troublesome path of marriage/family avoidance (I call it what it is).

It may all turn out alright if you go it alone, but don't count on it. Single people don't enjoy some responsibility-free "Get to Exaltation" pass. I'll bet the farm that heavenly angels are all single people and you are setting yourself up for that job, not really godhood.

Sorry, marrying in the Lord's way, even if you chance a divorce later, is likely viewed as more obedient to God's purposes for you than never marrying at all, justifications notwithstanding.