The Path of Exaltation
We can become as God is. It was in the formation of this world to accomplish this in as many people as would pursue it. This is exaltation.
It is pursued through the works of Jesus Christ, who came to this world to mark the path, lead the way, and open the door to it.
Being Redeemed versus Being Cleansed
All will be sinless and clean, either through the atonement made by Jesus Christ or through paying the price themselves. At the time of resurrection, all will be clean of their sins to stand before God.
There are rewards for our actions in life, which are telestial, terrestrial, and celestial, which includes the Godhood of exaltation. These are not directly tied to sin, but to our diligence in obeying Christ and taking advantage of his atonement as needed. As sin will be cleansed, it cannot be the sole criteria of your and my particular reward. Repentance through Christ brings a “forgetting” of repented sin - a expunging of it from the record upon which we are judged. We take advantage of this “forgetting” through Christ alone as we repent.
If we do not repent in this life, if we do not take advantage of the repentance “package”, the sins that we did in life, although paid for in the spirit world by the cleansing fires and not through Christ, will be assessed in the final judgement, for Christ only forgets sins which HE forgives through redemption. For those who take the responsibility alone to pay for sins, they have not the power to cause Christ to forget such. In being punished for sins in the fires of hell, one has not done that “mighty change” in repentance through Christ, so one's actions done in life through an unchanged heart become the evidence in judgement.
Salvation versus Exaltation
Most everyone is “saved”. You will be resurrected into the body you worked for in life, perfected to no more die or be sick or damaged. You will be sinless and can sin no more. You will go to a place more wondrous than you experienced or even conceived of in life. You will be the height of the person that you sought to become in life. Most joyously, you will not be left in hell forever. In short, you will be saved.
Exaltation is another thing entirely, a pursuit most pointed and set by Christ, who earned this exaltation through his perfect journey and life. Christ will bring us to exaltation as we follow him and keep his commandment, especially the commandment to REPENT, which includes this progressive “change of heart”.