Sin alienates us from God
E-mail story
It's easy. Send a link to the story you were just reading to a friend. Just fill out the form on this page and we'll send it along.
Your name and e-mail address are transmitted to the recipient. Otherwise, it is considered private information; see Privacy policy.
"Wherefore, I, the Lord God, caused that he should be cast out from the Garden of Eden, from my presence, because of his transgression, wherein he became spiritually dead, which is the first death, even that same death which is the last death, which is spiritual, which shall be pronounced upon the wicked then I shall say: Depart, ye cursed." (D&C 29:41.)
Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve spoke in the April 1992 general conference of spiritual death, which he said is "defined as a state of spiritual alienation from God." (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 2:217.) Elder Nelson said, ". . . one can be very much alive physically but dead spiritually."
"Spiritual death is more likely when goals are unbalanced toward things physical. Paul explained this concept to the Romans: `If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.' (Rom. 8:13.)
"If physical death should strike before moral wrongs have been made right, opportunity for repentance will have been forfeited. Thus, `the [real] sting of death is sin.' (1 Cor. 15:56.)
"Even the Savior cannot save us in our sins. He will redeem us from our sins, but only upon condition of our repentance. We are responsible for our own spiritual survival or death." (See Rom. 8:13-14; Hel. 14:18; D&C 29:41-45.)
