Jesus Christ and His Covenant Path
Who are we, why are we here, and how do we get back home?
​Pre-Mortal Life
"Embracing our divine identity influences where we desire to belong, and our chosen place of belonging leads to who we eventually become" (John C. Pingree, Jr. "Divine Identity, Becoming, and Belonging," BYU-Hawaii Devotional, May 25, 2022).​
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"As spirits, we desired to achieve the eternal life enjoyed by our heavenly parents. At that point we had progressed as far as we could without a mortal experience in a physical body. To provide that experience, God the Father planned to create this earth. In the planned mortal life, we would be soiled by sin as we faced the opposition necessary for our spiritual growth. We would also become subject to physical death. To reclaim us from death and sin, our Heavenly Father’s plan would provide a Savior. His Resurrection would redeem all from death, and His atoning sacrifice would pay the price necessary for all to be cleansed from sin on the conditions prescribed to promote our growth. This Atonement of Jesus Christ is central to the Father’s plan.
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"In the Council in Heaven, all the spirit children of God were introduced to the Father’s plan, including its mortal consequences and trials, its heavenly helps, and its glorious destiny. We saw the end from the beginning. All of the myriads of mortals who have been born on this earth chose the Father’s plan and fought for it in the heavenly contest that followed. Many also made covenants with the Father concerning what they would do in mortality. In ways that have not been revealed, our actions in the spirit world have influenced our circumstances in mortality" (Dallin H. Oaks, "The Great Plan," general conference April 2020).
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Study:
Doctrine and Covenants 138:53-56
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Ponder and Discuss:
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What do you learn about your divine identity?
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What do you learn about why you were sent to earth now?
Mortal Life
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"The purpose of mortal life and the postmortal growth that can follow it is for the offspring of God to become like He is. This is Heavenly Father’s desire for all His children. To achieve this joyful destiny, eternal laws require that we must become purified beings through the Atonement of Jesus Christ so we can dwell in the presence of the Father and the Son and enjoy the blessings of exaltation. As the Book of Mormon teaches, He invites “all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God” (2 Nephi 26:33; see also Alma 5:49).
"The divine plan for us to become what we are destined to become requires us to make choices to reject the evil opposition that tempts mortals to act contrary to God’s commandments and His plan. It also requires that we be subject to other mortal opposition, such as from the sins of others or from some defects of birth. Sometimes our needed growth is achieved better by suffering and adversity than by comfort and tranquility. And none of this mortal opposition could achieve its eternal purpose if divine intervention relieved us from all the adverse consequences of mortality" (Dallin H. Oaks, "The Great Plan," general conference April 2020).
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Study:
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Ponder and Discuss:
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What do the scriptures and the Holy Ghost teach you about why we are here in mortality?
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How does Christ fit into God’s plan for our eternal life?
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How can we access Christ’s power to cleanse and change us?
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How might the House of the Lord fit into His plan for us?
"The plan laid out in the Grand Council in Heaven included the sobering realization that we would all be cut off from God’s presence. However, God promised that He would provide a Savior who would overcome the consequences of the Fall...
"Adam and Eve accepted the ordinance of baptism and began the process of being one with God. They had entered the covenant path.
"When you and I also enter that path, we have a new way of life. We thereby create a relationship with God that allows Him to bless and change us. The covenant path leads us back to Him. If we let God prevail in our lives, that covenant will lead us closer and closer to Him. All covenants are intended to be binding. They create a relationship with everlasting ties.
"Once we make a covenant with God, we leave neutral ground forever. God will not abandon His relationship with those who have forged such a bond with Him. In fact, all those who have made a covenant with God have access to a special kind of love and mercy....
"He will love them. He will continue to work with them and offer them opportunities to change. He will forgive them when they repent. And should they stray, He will help them find their way back to Him...
"Because of our covenant with God, He will never tire in His efforts to help us, and we will never exhaust His merciful patience with us. Each of us has a special place in God’s heart. He has high hopes for us" (Russell M. Nelson, "The Everlasting Covenant," Liahona, October 2022).​​​
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Ponder and Discuss:
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What are you learning about what Heavenly Father wants for you?
"The Atonement of Jesus Christ...made resurrection a reality for all and made eternal life possible for those who repent of their sins and receive and keep essential ordinances and covenants." (Russell M. Nelson, "Drawing the Power of Jesus Christ Into Our Lives," general conference, April 2017).
Study:
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Ponder:
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What do you learn about what God's power can do for you as you make and keep covenants with Him?
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"Making and keeping covenants actually makes life easier! Each person who makes covenants in baptismal fonts and in temples—and keeps them—has increased access to the power of Jesus Christ. Please ponder that stunning truth!
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"The reward for keeping covenants with God is heavenly power—power that strengthens us to withstand our trials, temptations, and heartaches better. This power eases our way. Those who live the higher laws of Jesus Christ have access to His higher power. Thus, covenant keepers are entitled to a special kind of rest that comes to them through their covenantal relationship with God...
"Those who keep their covenants with God will become a strain of sin-resistant souls! Those who keep their covenants will have the strength to resist the constant influence of the world" (Russell M. Nelson, "Overcome the World and Find Rest," general conference, October 2022).
What is a priesthood ordinance?
"An ordinance is a sacred act performed by the authority of the priesthood. Ordinances have always been part of the gospel of Jesus Christ (see Genesis 1:28; Moses 6:64–65).
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"In many ordinances, individuals make covenants with God.
"Ordinances have symbolic meaning that point individuals to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. In the ordinances that include covenants, the symbolism helps individuals understand the promises they make and the blessings they receive through their faithfulness.
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"Each ordinance allows individuals to receive rich spiritual blessings. The Lord revealed, 'In the ordinances [of the priesthood], the power of godliness is manifest' (Doctrine and Covenants 84:20). Ordinances of salvation and exaltation are essential for eternal life" (General Handbook, 3.5.2).
President Russell M. Nelson compared ordinances to a medicine capsule and covenants to the medicine inside. The capsule helps deliver the medicine where it's needed most. Similarly, the ordinance helps embed the covenant deep into our hearts and minds. The symbolism and teachings of the ordinance can help us understand and internalize the covenant we are making and the covenant the Lord is making with us (adapted from Russell M. Nelson, General Authority Leadership Training Meeting, October 2019).
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What role do covenants play in our life?​
"Before the earth was created, God established covenants as the mechanism by which we, His children, could unite ourselves to Him. Based on eternal, unchanging law, He specified the nonnegotiable conditions whereby we are transformed, saved, and exalted" (Dale G. Renlund, "Accessing God's Power through Covenants," general conference, April 2023).
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"Covenant promises and blessings would not be possible without our Savior, Jesus Christ. He invites us to look to Him, come unto Him, learn of Him, and bind ourselves to Him through the covenants and ordinances of His restored gospel.
"Covenants and ordinances are the building blocks that enable us to build our lives upon the “rock of our Redeemer" and His Atonement. Precisely because faithfully honoring sacred covenants binds us securely to the Savior, He becomes the ultimate source of spiritual direction and strength in our lives...
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"Another grand promise and blessing of binding ourselves to the Savior through covenants is that we are not, and never need be, alone. We can press forward joyfully in our daily lives with heavenly help. Through the Savior’s Atonement and our covenants, we receive strength to do and become what we simply could not do and become relying only on our limited mortal capacity" (David A. Bednar, "Bound to the Savior through Covenants," For the Strength of Youth, February 2022).
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“When Jacob traveled from Beersheba toward Haran, he had a dream in which he saw himself on the earth at the foot of a ladder that reached to heaven where the Lord stood above it. He beheld angels ascending and descending thereon, and Jacob realized that the covenants he made with the Lord there were the rungs on the ladder that he himself would have to climb in order to obtain the promised blessings—blessings that would entitle him to enter heaven and associate with the Lord” (Marion G. Romney, “Temples—The Gates to Heaven,” Ensign, Mar. 1971).
Why is baptism not enough?
​"We embark upon the path at the gate of baptism and then 'press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men [the two great commandments] … to the end.' In the course of the covenant path (which, by the way, extends beyond mortality), we receive all the ordinances and covenants pertaining to salvation and exaltation" (D. Todd Christofferson, "Why the Covenant Path," general conference, April 2021).
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​"By making and keeping temple covenants, we learn more about the Lord’s purposes and receive a fulness of the Holy Ghost. We receive direction for our lives. We mature in our discipleship so that we do not remain perpetual, unknowing children. Rather, we live with an eternal perspective and are more motivated to serve God and others. We receive increased capacity to fulfill our purposes in mortality. We are protected from evil, and we gain greater power to resist temptation and to repent when we stumble. When we falter, the memory of our covenants with God helps us return to the path. By connecting to God’s power, we become our own pororoca, able to go against the flow of the world, throughout our lives and into the eternities. Ultimately, our destinies are changed because the covenant path leads to exaltation and eternal life" (Dale G. Renlund, "Accessing God's Power through Covenants," general conference, April 2023).
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Ponder
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How have you changed as you make and keep covenants with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ?
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"Covenants are inherent in each of the ordinances of salvation and exaltation this restored Church administers. The ordinance of baptism and its associated covenants are requirements for entrance into the celestial kingdom. The ordinances and associated covenants of the temple are requirements for exaltation in the celestial kingdom, which is eternal life, 'the greatest of all the gifts of God.' That is the focus of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" (Dallin H. Oaks, "Covenants and Responsibilities," general conference, April 2024).
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Ponder and Discuss:
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What are covenants and what is their role in our purpose on earth?​
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“The Savior and His doctrine are the very heart of the temple. Everything taught in the temple, through instruction and through the Spirit, increases our understanding of Jesus Christ. … As we keep our covenants, He endows us with His healing, strengthening power” (Russell M. Nelson, “The Temple and Your Spiritual Foundation,” general conference, October 2021).
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“We do not come to the temple to hide from or escape the evils of the world. Rather, we come to the temple to conquer the world of evil. As we invite into our lives the ‘power of godliness’ by receiving priesthood ordinances and making and keeping sacred covenants, we are blessed with strength beyond our own to overcome the temptations and challenges of mortality and to do and become good” (David A. Bednar, “Let This House Be Built unto My Name,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2020, 86).
“Holy ordinances are central in the Savior’s gospel and in the process of coming unto Him and seeking spiritual rebirth. Ordinances are sacred acts that have spiritual purpose, eternal significance, and are related to God’s laws and statutes. All saving ordinances and the ordinance of the sacrament must be authorized by one who holds the requisite priesthood keys.
“The ordinances of salvation and exaltation administered in the Lord’s restored Church are far more than rituals or symbolic performances. Rather, they constitute authorized channels through which the blessings and powers of heaven can flow into our individual lives” (David A. Bednar, “Always Retain a Remission of Your Sins,” Ensign, May 2016).
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Study and Ponder:
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What do you think the Lord meant when He said that He would lay His hand upon Edward Partridge by the hand of Sidney Rigdon? ​
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What does that tell you about how the Lord looks at the ordinances of the priesthood? And how is that significant to you?
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​"Every woman and every man who makes covenants with God and keeps those covenants, and who participates worthily in priesthood ordinances, has direct access to the power of God" (Russell M. Nelson, "Spiritual Treasures," Liahona, November 2019).
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Ponder and discuss:
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What are ordinances of salvation and exaltation?
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What is the connection between ordinances and covenants?
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How do the priesthood ordinances teach us about Jesus Christ?
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Learning Activity:
Think about some of the priesthood ordinances you are familiar with. How can you see Jesus Christ symbolically at the center of each of the ordinances? What do those symbols teach you about the covenants you have made with Him?
