"O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" (1 Cor. 15:55.)
At the October 1971 general conference, President Spencer W. Kimball said that there is no victory in the grave, for death is replaced with life. Immortality is a free gift for all men through the atoning ransom paid by the Son of God.
"But, Paul says, 'The sting of death is sin,' meaning that if men die in their sins, they will suffer the prescribed penalty and gain a lesser glory in the realms ahead.' (1 Cor. 15:56.)
" 'But thanks be to God,' the ancient apostle continues, 'which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.' (1 Cor. 15:57.)
"If we are true and faithful, we shall rise, not alone in immortality but unto eternal life. Immortality is to live forever in an assigned kingdom. Eternal life is to gain exaltation in the highest heaven and live in the family unit.
"And so Paul exhorts the Saints:
" 'Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
" 'Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.' (1 Cor. 15:58; 16:13.)
"We have an eternal hope in Christ," President Kimball continued. "We know this life is given us to prepare for eternity, 'and that same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there, only it will be coupled with eternal glory, which glory we do not now enjoy.' (D&C 130:2.)
"We believe, and it is our testimony, and we proclaim it to the world 'that there shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent.' " (Mosiah 3:17.)
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