What are the three degrees of glory?

50. And again we bear record—for we saw and heard, and this is the testimony of the gospel of Christ concerning them who shall come forth in the resurrection of the just— 51. They are they who received the testimony of Jesus, and believed on his name and were baptized after the manner of his burial, being buried in the water in his name, and this according to the commandment which he has given— 52. That by keeping the commandments they might be washed and cleansed from all their sins, and receive the Holy Spirit by the laying on of the hands of him who is ordained and sealed unto this power; 53. And who overcome by faith, and are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, which the Father sheds forth upon all those who are just and true. 54. They are they who are the church of the Firstborn. 55. They are they into whose hands the Father has given all things— 56. They are they who are priests and kings, who have received of his fulness, and of his glory; 57. And are priests of the Most High, after the order of Melchizedek, which was after the order of Enoch, which was after the order of the Only Begotten Son. 58. Wherefore, as it is written, they are gods, even the sons of God— 59. Wherefore, all things are theirs, whether life or death, or things present, or things to come, all are theirs and they are Christ's, and Christ is God's. 60. And they shall overcome all things. 61. Wherefore, let no man glory in man, but rather let him glory in God, who shall subdue all enemies under his feet. 62. These shall dwell in the presence of God and his Christ forever and ever. 63. These are they whom he shall bring with him, when he shall come in the clouds of heaven to reign on the earth over his people. 64. These are they who shall have part in the first resurrection. 65. These are they who shall come forth in the resurrection of the just. 66. These are they who are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly place, the holiest of all. 67. These are they who have come to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of Enoch, and of the Firstborn. 68. These are they whose names are written in heaven, where God and Christ are the judge of all. 69. These are they who are just men made perfect through Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, who wrought out this perfect atonement through the shedding of his own blood. 70. These are they whose bodies are celestial, whose glory is that of the sun, even the glory of God, the highest of all, whose glory the sun of the firmament is written of as being typical.

71. And again, we saw the terrestrial world, and behold and lo, these are they who are of the terrestrial, whose glory differs from that of the church of the Firstborn who have received the fulness of the Father, even as that of the moon differs from the sun in the firmament. 72. Behold, these are they who died without law; 73. And also they who are the spirits of men kept in prison, whom the Son visited, and preached the gospel unto them, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh; 74. Who received not the testimony of Jesus in the flesh, but afterwards received it. 75. These are they who are honorable men of the earth, who were blinded by the craftiness of men. 76. These are they who receive of his glory, but not of his fulness. 77. These are they who receive of the presence of the Son, but not of the fulness of the Father. 78. Wherefore, they are bodies terrestrial, and not bodies celestial, and differ in glory as the moon differs from the sun. 79. These are they who are not valiant in the testimony of Jesus; wherefore, they obtain not the crown over the kingdom of our God. 80. And now this is the end of the vision which we saw of the terrestrial, that the Lord commanded us to write while we were yet in the Spirit.

81. And again, we saw the glory of the telestial, which glory is that of the lesser, even as the glory of the stars differs from that of the glory of the moon in the firmament. 82. These are they who received not the gospel of Christ, neither the testimony of Jesus. 83. These are they who deny not the Holy Spirit. 84. These are they who are thrust down to hell. 85. These are they who shall not be redeemed from the devil until the last resurrection, until the Lord, even Christ the Lamb, shall have finished his work. 86. These are they who receive not of his fulness in the eternal world, but of the Holy Spirit through the ministration of the terrestrial; 87. And the terrestrial through the ministration of the celestial. 88. And also the telestial receive it of the administering of angels who are appointed to minister for them, or who are appointed to be ministering spirits for them; for they shall be heirs of salvation. 89. And thus we saw, in the heavenly vision, the glory of the telestial, which surpasses all understanding;

98. And the glory of the telestial is one, even as the glory of the stars is one; for as one star differs from another star in glory, even so differs one from another in glory in the telestial world; 99. For these are they who are of Paul, and of Apollos, and of Cephas. 100. These are they who say they are some of one and some of another—some of Christ and some of John, and some of Moses, and some of Elias, and some of Esaias, and some of Isaiah, and some of Enoch; 101. But received not the gospel, neither the testimony of Jesus, neither the prophets, neither the everlasting covenant. 102. Last of all, these all are they who will not be gathered with the saints, to be caught up unto the church of the Firstborn, and received into the cloud. 103. These are they who are liars, and sorcerers, and adulterers, and whoremongers, and whosoever loves and makes a lie. 104. These are they who suffer the wrath of God on earth. 105. These are they who suffer the vengeance of eternal fire. 106. These are they who are cast down to hell and suffer the wrath of Almighty God, until the fulness of times, when Christ shall have subdued all enemies under his feet, and shall have perfected his work;

1. In the celestial glory there are three heavens or degrees; 2. And in order to obtain the highest, a man must enter into this order of the priesthood [meaning the new and everlasting covenant of marriage]; 3. And if he does not, he cannot obtain it. 4. He may enter into the other, but that is the end of his kingdom; he cannot have an increase.

40. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. 41. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. 42. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:

89. And thus we saw, in the heavenly vision, the glory of the telestial, which surpasses all understanding; 90. And no man knows it except him to whom God has revealed it. 91. And thus we saw the glory of the terrestrial which excels in all things the glory of the telestial, even in glory, and in power, and in might, and in dominion. 92. And thus we saw the glory of the celestial, which excels in all things—where God, even the Father, reigns upon his throne forever and ever;

The author provides this description of the three degrees of glory:

The Apostle Paul describes the three degrees of glory, likening them to the glories of the sun, moon, and stars. He names the highest “celestial” and the second “terrestrial.” He does not name the lowest, but a revelation to Joseph Smith added its name: “telestial.” Another revelation also describes the nature of the persons to be assigned to each of these kingdoms of glory. Those who do not choose “to abide the law of a celestial kingdom” will inherit another kingdom of glory, lesser than the celestial but suited to the laws they have chosen and can comfortably “abide.” That word abide , so common in the scriptures, means a secure placement.

There are three kingdoms of glory: the celestial kingdom, the terrestrial kingdom, and the telestial kingdom. The glory we inherit will depend on the depth of our conversion, expressed by our obedience to the Lord’s commandments. It will depend on the manner in which we have “received the testimony of Jesus.”2