“These Shall Enter into My Rest”

Joseph F. McConkie, Robert L. Millet

From the scriptures and the- prophets come several definitions of entering the rest of God. A person enters the rest of God whenever he gains a witness of the divinity of the work of the Lord, when he comes to that quiet but powerful assurance Mat God’s hand is guiding the prophets and Apostles who preside over his Church and kingdom. It is a settled conviction of the truth, a peace that steadies one in a time of trouble and confusion (see Moroni 7:3; Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, pp. 58, 126).

A person enters into the rest of God when he enters into the personal presence of the Lord (see JST Exodus 34:2) or encounters the fulness of the glory of God (D&C 84:24). The rest of God is also that which one enters when one has lived a faithful life and is received into paradise in the postmortal spirit world (see Alma 40:12; Alma 60:13).

In the ultimate sense, to enter the rest of the Lord is to enter into what some scriptures call the Church of the Firstborn, the Church of the exalted, that organization beyond the veil whose membership is composed of those who have received the promise of eternal life (see D&C 76:54, 67, 94; D&C 88:5; Hebrews 12:22-23).

Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 3

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