Added Upon
A term in scripture that means the Lord blesses all of His children in each cycle of existence in their eternal progression. The Lord instructed Abraham that mankind would be tested on Earth; they would be proved to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them. And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon, and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever (Abraham 6:2). “We’re here [in this life] to be added upon and every day there are new opportunities to add. We are eternal. Right now we’re in a place of constant change, filled with beauty and contradiction, challenging and rewarding, with truth and error competing alongside each other.”1 If men and women will receive what is offered now, they will be added upon for ever and ever. In other words, each person moves up the ladder by his or her heed and diligence in this cycle of creation. As they do, they will have so much the advantage in the next cycle. They can choose to move upward and be added upon or choose to remain as they are, worlds without end. Now is part of eternity.2 If “we” are somehow special to God, so is the rest of mankind. His plan is for the advancement of all mankind, to add upon every one who comes to live and die here. Mankind is learning to distinguish between good and evil by the experiences they have. “Even if we think our religious understanding [is] superior to others, the others are also being added upon as well.”3 “I think the purpose of this creation is to be added upon, and I don’t care where you go or what you do… everywhere you look, you are going to be added upon. Even if you live a short, wretched life, you’re still being added upon by the experience that you get down here.”4 Men are not here to “get exalted.” They are here to continue progression that began a long time before their current birth. At the moment, all are being added upon by what they experience here. “At some point, you will have received what you need in this sphere and can move on to the next stage of development.”5 The Lord emphasized this point: Moreover, those who are here on this journey with me will be added upon for evermore if they have faith in me (TSJ 5:16).
Being added upon is the whole purpose of the second estate. The adding upon process and the grace-for-grace process is intended to be an actively unfolding event in the life of every person who has faith unto repentance.6 It is true that all who come here in mortality will be added upon for the experience. But in the truest sense, being added upon involves “faith unto repentance.” Early on, Joseph Smith reiterated a list given by Peter that culminated in making one’s calling and election sure (see JSH 13:5–7), which means the individual has arrived at a certain point in the same journey that the Savior took, along the same path, and He’s inviting you to Come, follow me. It will work for everyone; one’s flaws don’t matter. The Savior has knowledge of how to fix whatever it is that is broken in all of His children, and He has the power and the ability to succor them. What He does not have the power to do is abrogate one’s freedom to choose nor live one’s life for them. “You must choose. He can succor you and He can guide you, but you’re the one that has to live it. You’re the one who has to have faith unto repentance — because repentance means change… The light at some point will become the perfect day… It’s an unfolding process, it’s a dynamic process… Move forward in accordance with the light and the truth that you’re given. And if you do so, the light grows brighter and brighter until the perfect day… when there aren’t any more shadows. When you see as you are seen; when you get it — when finally, it dawns on you — ‘Oh, now I get it.’ You then know what we’re here to do and what the objective of your life is. And that perfect day leads in turn to the final perfect day in which you rejoin Him, in that day where there is no shadow.”7See also FIRST ESTATE.
1 “A Fellow Feeling Futility,” May 14, 2023, blog post.
2 Preserving the Restoration, 320–321.
3 “A Bigger Picture,” June 17, 2016, blog post.
4 Peggy Fletcher Stack, David Noyce, interview, Mormon Land, “A Conversation with Denver Snuffer about the Remnant Movement,” The Salt Lake Tribune, podcast audio, December 22, 2021, www.https://sltrib.com/religion/2021/12/22/mormon-land-conversation.
5 Denver Snuffer Jr., Eighteen Verses, (Salt Lake City, UT: Mill Creek Press, 2007), 283.
6 Unpublished remarks, January 30, 2009, Sandy, UT.
7 Ibid.