Exaltation (Latter Day Saints)

Exaltation or Eternal Life is a belief among members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) that mankind can return to live in God's presence and continue as families. Exaltation is believed to be what God desires for all humankind. The Church teaches that through exaltation believers may become joint-heirs with Jesus Christ as stated in Romans 8:12 and Revelation 21:7. The objective of adherents is to strive for purity and righteousness and to become one with Jesus as Jesus is one with the Father (God). A verse in the canonized scripture, Doctrine and Covenants, states that those who are exalted will become gods, and a 1925 statement from the church's highest governing body said that "All men and women are in the similitude of the universal Father and Mother ... [and are] capable, by experience through ages and aeons, of evolving into a God."

According to LDS beliefs, certain ordinances, such as baptism, are required of all those who hope to obtain exaltation. For those who have lived and died throughout history without having performed these ordinances, it is believed that exaltation will be available through LDS Church vicarious temple work. LDS doctrine teaches that all individuals will have an equitable and fair opportunity to hear the 'fullness of the gospel' as taught in this life, or in the life to come, and will subsequently have the opportunity to either accept the message of Jesus Christ and His gospel or reject it.

Some ordinances are performed in LDS temples (all ordinances done vicariously on behalf of deceased persons; endowment and sealings for living persons). Latter-day Saints are taught that they can become kings and queens in God's kingdom through performing ordinances such as the endowment, and by doing their best to be faithful to the covenants that the ordinances represent. Celestial marriage, or sealing, is also part of the requirement for being exalted.

Members of the LDS Church perform ordinances vicariously on behalf of those who have died without the opportunity of hearing the LDS gospel. They feel obligated to perform ordinances so that all may have an equal opportunity to receive the blessings of the celestial kingdom if they choose to do so by their faith in Jesus Christ as their redeemer. It is their belief that those who have died without such ordinances need them to progress beyond this life.

...
Wikipedia