Our Covenant-Based Relationship with the Lord

Authority

A priest in the Aaronic Priesthood (or any Melchizedek Priesthood holder) may perform the ordinance upon approval of the local priesthood leader. He offers the scripturally prescribed baptismal prayer and then completely immerses the baptism recipient in the water.

Covenants We Make with God

We covenant to:

• Come into the fold of God.

• Take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ.

• Stand as a witness for Jesus Christ.

• Always keep the commandments.

• Bear one another’s burdens.

• Manifest a determination to serve God unto the end.

• Manifest by works that we have repented of our sins.

• Prepare to receive the Holy Ghost for the complete remission of sins.

See 2 Nephi 31:17–21 ; Mosiah 18:8–10 ; D&C 20:37 ; Articles of Faith 1:4.

Blessings Promised

1. We qualify for membership in Christ’s Church.

2. If we are worthy, the Lord promises to:

   • Pour out His Spirit upon us.

   • Redeem us from our sins.

   • Raise us up in the First Resurrection.

   • Give us eternal life.

Authority

A Melchizedek Priesthood holder, authorized by the local priesthood leader, may confer the gift of the Holy Ghost by prayer and the laying on of hands.

Covenants We Make with God

In order to qualify for the gift of the Holy Ghost we must fulfill the covenants of baptism, continue in humility and faith, and otherwise be worthy of the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost (see Articles of Faith 1:4).

Blessings Promised

1. We are confirmed as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

2. We receive the right or privilege to enjoy the continual companionship of the Holy Ghost. We can receive inspiration, divine manifestations, spiritual gifts, and direction from the Holy Ghost continually. We also receive blessings by receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost as the Holy Ghost bears witness of Jesus Christ and of divine truths, provides spiritual guidance and warnings, and enables us to discern right and wrong.

3. We are sanctified or cleansed by the power of the Holy Ghost and are born of God as we continue faithfully. Through this baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost, individual hearts and desires are cleansed and spirits are made pure. Receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost is the culmination of the process of repentance and baptism (see 2 Nephi 31:13, 17 ; 3 Nephi 27:20 ).

4. We know the gift of the Holy Ghost is the key to all of the spiritual gifts found in the Church, including the gifts of prophecy and revelation, healing, speaking in tongues, and translating and interpreting tongues.

Authority

A priest in the Aaronic Priesthood (or any Melchizedek Priesthood holder) may administer the sacrament upon approval of the local priesthood leader. Sacramental prayers are revealed in the scriptures.

Covenants We Make with God

We covenant to:

• Renew our baptismal covenants.

• Recommit to take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ, always remember Him, and keep His commandments. Partaking of the sacrament is a time for personal introspection, repentance, and rededication.

See 3 Nephi 18:28–29 ; Moroni 4–5 ; D&C 20:75–79 ; 27:2 ; 46:4 .

Blessings Promised

1. The Lord forgives sins we repent of.

2. The Lord promises that we may always have His Spirit to be with us.

Authority

A Melchizedek Priesthood holder with the authority to do so may ordain worthy male members to the Melchizedek Priesthood by prayer and the laying on of hands.

Covenants We Make with God

Priesthood holders covenant to:

• Receive in good faith and with honest intent both the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthoods (see D&C 84:33 ).

• Magnify callings by fulfilling all responsibilities associated with the priesthood offices they are called to.

• Teach the word of God and labor with all their might to advance the Lord’s purposes (see Jacob 1:19 ).

• Obtain a knowledge of the gospel (see D&C 107:31 ).

• Give service by comforting and strengthening the Saints of God (see Mosiah 18:8–9 ).

• Be obedient and “give diligent heed to the words of eternal life” ( D&C 84:43 ).

• Listen to and follow revelation from the Lord. “Live by every word that proceedeth forth from the mouth of God” ( v. 44 ).

See also Elder Carlos E. Asay, in Conference Report, Oct. 1985, 56–58; or Ensign, Nov. 1985, 43–44 .

Blessings Promised

Worthy priesthood holders receive these promises:

1. Be “sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing of their bodies” ( D&C 84:33 ).

2. “Become the sons of Moses and of Aaron and the seed of Abraham” ( v. 34 ).

3. Become members of “the church and kingdom, and the elect of God” ( v. 34 ).

4. Receive the Father’s kingdom and “all that my Father hath shall be given unto him” ( v. 38 ).

5. Receive of the Father’s fulness and glory and become “gods, even the sons of God” ( D&C 76:58 ).

6. Are warned that anyone who rejects this covenant and “altogether turneth therefrom, shall not have forgiveness of sins in this world nor in the world to come” ( D&C 84:41 ).

   President Marion G. Romney of the First Presidency made the following comment about D&C 84:41 : “I don’t think he is talking here necessarily about the unpardonable sin, but I am saying that those of us who receive this priesthood and understand what it is about and fail to magnify our callings will lose something we cannot recover hereafter” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1974, 116; or Ensign, May 1974, 80 ).

Authority

The temple endowment is a gift of spiritual power and blessing from above. It consists of a course of instruction, receiving saving ordinances, and making covenants administered by authorized officiators only in dedicated temples (see D&C 95:8 ; 97:14 ; 109:13–15 ).

The temple endowment is seen as the continuation and culmination of the covenants made at baptism. Temple covenants include “tests by which our willingness and fitness for righteousness may be known” (John A. Widtsoe, Program of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 178).

Covenants We Make with God

We covenant to:

“Observe the law of strict virtue and chastity, to be charitable, benevolent, tolerant and pure; to devote both talent and material means to the spread of truth and the uplifting of the race; to maintain devotion to the cause of truth; and to seek in every way to contribute to the great preparation that the earth may be made ready to receive her King,—the Lord Jesus Christ” (James E. Talmage, House of the Lord, 84).

Blessings Promised

1. “With the taking of each covenant and the assuming of each obligation a promised blessing is pronounced, contingent upon the faithful observance of the conditions” (Talmage, House of the Lord, 84).

2. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that the endowment was designed to give us “a comprehensive view of our condition and true relation to God” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 324), “to prepare the disciples for their missions unto the world” (p. 274), to prevent us from being “overcome by these evils” (p. 259), and to enable us “to secure the fullness of those blessings which have been prepared for the Church of the Firstborn” (p. 237).

3. President Gordon B. Hinckley in the dedicatory prayer of the Vernal Utah Temple said, “We pray that Thou wilt visit it, and may Thy Holy Spirit dwell here to sanctify it and make it holy unto all who enter its portals” (“We Thank Thee for This Sacred Structure,” Church News, 8 Nov. 1997, 4). Through the temple endowment, we may seek “a fulness of the Holy Ghost” ( D&C 109:15 ). Temple ordinances are seen as a means for receiving inspiration and instruction through the Holy Spirit and for preparing to return to God’s presence.

Authority

A temple officiator who has the sealing power of the priesthood invokes covenants intended to be efficacious for time and for all eternity. Celestial marriage involves a ceremony performed in a holy temple (see D&C 131:1–3 ; 132:18–19 ).

Covenants We Make with God

Couples who promise to abide the law of celestial marriage:

• Covenant in pure love to remain faithful to each other and to God through all eternity.

• Covenant to confine their intimate affections and sexual relations to each other.

• Commit to live in ways that contribute to happy and successful family life.

• Covenant “to ‘be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth’ ( Gen. 1:28 ). A primary purpose of temple marriage in this life is to grow and mature in sharing God’s creative work in raising a family in righteousness. Parents enter into a partnership with God by participating in the procreation of mortal bodies, which house the spirit children of God” (in Ludlow, Encyclopedia of Mormonism , 2:859 ).

Blessings Promised

1. Husbands and wives will receive eternal life in the world to come, the glory of the celestial kingdom (see D&C 88:4 ; Moses 6:59 ).

2. They shall become gods with all power and “shall inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers” ( D&C 132:19 ).

3. They shall obtain exaltation in the highest degree of the celestial glory (see D&C 131:1–4 ).

4. They will come to know God the Father and Jesus Christ (see D&C 132:48–50 ).