The Rest of the Lord

The scriptures speak in a few places of “the rest of the Lord”.  One of the meanings appears to refer to our life after death when we can return to the presence of God.  Mormon wrote about those righteous who had died in the great Nephite war saying, “Ye need not suppose that the righteous are lost because they are slain; but behold, they do enter into the rest of the Lord their God” (Alma 60:13).  Clearly this refers to their resting place in the presence of God after leaving mortality.  On the other hand. Mormon also spoke to the members of the Church and those that had “obtained a sufficient hope by which ye can enter into the rest of the Lord, from this time henceforth until ye shall rest with him in heaven” (Moroni 7:3).  Here he seems to suggest that the rest of the Lord is something obtained in this life in addition to a final state in the hereafter. 

                Ultimately it seems that the “rest of the Lord” at the core is a state of being cleansed from our sins.  Alma taught of those who had been made “pure and spotless before God” and who “were made pure and entered into the rest of the Lord their God” (Alma 13:12).  The prerequisite for the rest of the Lord is to receive “a remission of sins” and become pure (Alma 13:16).  If we “harden [our] hearts” thus rejecting repentance then, Alma taught, “ye shall not enter into the rest of the Lord” (Alma 12:36).  We must “receive the word with joy” in order to “enter into the rest of the Lord” (Alma 16:17).  Furthermore, receiving a remission of our sins also includes that we “cease from [our] own works” as how on the Sabbath day we rest from our labors.      

                In Hebrews 3-4 Paul wrote about how the ancient Israelites were not able to enter into the rest of the Lord but instead wandered in the wilderness for forty years.  Paul focused on the need to “believe” in order to enter into God’s rest.  He explained the Israelites experience this way: “So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief” (Hebrews 3:19).  On the other hand he wrote that “we which have believed do enter into rest” (Hebrews 4:3).  He encouraged all of us, “Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief” (Hebrews 4:11).  In other words, we must believe and have faith in Jesus Christ or we won’t enter into the rest of the Lord. 

                So putting these together, to enter into the rest of the Lord, whether that be in this life or in the next, we must most importantly become cleansed from our sins and have faith in Jesus Christ.  In other words, it is the first two principles of the gospel that enable us to be sanctified and prepared, in both this life and the next, to find the peace and rest He has to offer us.