An article about this subject is posted at
The first paragraph contains the statement:
However, although the Bible is mostly silent on this matter, latter-day revelation and modern prophets have made it clear that animals will be in heaven and that all living things will be saved by Jesus Christ. Simply stated, God saves all that he creates!
Most animal lovers would enjoy seeing the picture that heads the article. But one must consider the source of the article to be able to evaluate if what the article says about the subject is true. The article is from the Meridian Magazine, “Latter-day Saints Shaping Their World.” A side column is headed “Join Mormons worldwide to stand true in a changing world.” That much information should be enough to alert any discerning reader that from a Biblical standpoint, the information in the article will not be in line with what the Bible itself teaches.
The article begins with the statement:
Recently, I saw several of my friends on social media comforted by a news article reporting that the Catholic Pope believes animals will be saved in heaven.
When determining the truth or falsity of a Bible doctrine as taught by a particular “teaching authority,” we must compare the doctrine to the teaching of the Bible itself. The Bible is divinely inspired. No human teaching authorities can lay claim to being divinely inspired. The Bible is the only valid teaching authority available to us today.
Almost every church, denomination, religion, Sunday school teacher and even Bible believing pastor is mistaken about what the Bible teaches about heaven.
First of all, not everyone is going to heaven. Only those who have truly believed in the Lord Jesus Christ will be there. Furthermore, those that will be in heaven must be saved, that is, must be born again, while they are “down here.” To be saved, we must believe that Jesus Christ arose bodily from the dead on the Third Day. We must confess Jesus Christ as our Lord (Romans 10:9, 10). We must believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God (1 John 5:10, 11, 12). This means we must believe in the deity of Jesus Christ, that He was God in human flesh (Colossians 2:9). We must be holy in our walk or our life as Christians, for without holiness, no man shall see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14).
Second of all, Jesus told us plainly that there are few who will be saved, and that many who think they are saved will learn to their horror and chagrin too late that they are not saved:
Mat 7:13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
Mat 7:14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
Notice the last clause: “and few there be that find it.” A number of other Bible passages emphasize and confirm this truth (Matthew 20:16; Isaiah 24:6; Jeremiah 5:1; Ezekiel 22:30; Ezekiel 33:31; Mark 10:24, 25; Luke 9:26; Luke 13:23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30; Luke 18:8; 1 Peter 4:18; 1 John 2:3, 4).
Jesus further warned:
Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
When it comes time to enter heaven, it will be far more pleasant to hear the encouraging words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21) than to hear the divine sentence of judgment, “I never knew you.”
Third of all–and this is where most do not get it right–heaven is not our final eternal destination. It is true that believers who die now during this age enter heaven immediately upon death (Luke 23:43), just as Jesus promised the dying thief who on his cross believed in Jesus Christ. By the way, that statement of Jesus from the cross alerts us to the truth that we continue in conscious existence immediately after death, a Bible fact that many false cults like the Jehovah Witnesses and some denominations like the Seventh Day Adventists get wrong.
But though it is true now that those who die with true faith in Jesus Christ go immediately to be with Christ in heaven (Philippians 1:23), that is not where we will spend eternity. Jesus Christ plainly taught otherwise:
Mat 5:5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Note carefully that the promised inheritance is eternal (Hebrews 9:15).
Many mistakenly believe that the earth will be destroyed, perhaps in a great conflagration, then God will create a new heaven and a new earth from scratch. This idea is based upon a mistaken interpretation of 2 Peter 3:12, 13. If that were the case, then God would be contradicting major provisions of both the Abrahamic and the Davidic Covenants. Rather, the Bible clearly states that the earth “abideth forever” (Ecclesiastes 1:4). This statement in Ecclesiastes is confirmed by other statements in Scripture (Psalm 89:36, 37; Psalm 104:5; Psalm 148:6) which affirm that God has established the earth forever and forever (Psalm 148:6).
The Bible also declares that there will be flesh and blood human beings living on this earth forever and forever (Psalm 72:5). They will be the subjects of God’s eternal kingdom on this earth. Those who have truly believed on Christ will be the inheritors of God’s eternal kingdom on this earth (Matthew 25:34; 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10; 1 Corinthians 15:50; Galatians 5:21).
Jesus Christ will rule over this kingdom upon this earth forever and forever, not merely for 1000 years, as most Bible teachers and pastors mistakenly suggest. Somehow, they forgot what was said in Luke 1:31, 32, 33,
Luk 1:31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
Luk 1:32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
Luk 1:33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
Notice the statement: “of his kingdom there shall be no end,” which clearly defines the preceding “for ever” as meant in its eternal sense, as other passages in the Bible confirm (2 Samuel 7:13, 16; 1 Kings 11:39; 1 Chronicles 17:14; Psalm 72:5; Isaiah 9:7; Daniel 2:44; 7:14, 27; Micah 4:7; 2 Peter 1:11; Revelation 11:15).
Will there be animals in this eternal earthly kingdom of heaven? Most certainly there will be (Isaiah 65:25). The animals will be at that time restored from the conditions of the Fall, and live peacefully. Until then, Paul informs us that the whole creation groans and awaits that future time of restoration (Romans 8:22 and context).
But there is no valid evidence in the Bible to support the affirmation of some that animals, such as our beloved pets, will experience resurrection and be in heaven with us.