Recently I had the opportunity to perform the endowment ordinance for a deceased relative. As I was participating on behalf of this ancestor my mind was drawn to the covenants made and how they define who we are as a people. I also took note of the blessings and power that come to us as we keep those covenants in our lives.
In “Accessing God’s Power Through Covenants“, Elder Dale G. Renlund helps us better understand the blessings and power that keeping covenants provides for us. “By making and keeping temple covenants, we learn more about the Lord’s purposes and receive a fulness of the Holy Ghost.”
What is a Covenant?
“A covenant is a sacred agreement between God and a person or group of people. God sets specific conditions, and He promises to bless us as we obey those conditions” (Covenant, Doctrinal Study). Elder Renlund elaborates on this definition, “A covenant is a pledge that we should prepare for, clearly understand, and absolutely honor. Making a covenant with God is different than casually making a promise.”
Priesthood authority is required to make a covenant with God. There is a binding between the covenant maker and God. This binding allows us to receive blessings and utilize God’s power when we keep the covenant.
Note that God is the one that sets the terms of the covenant. Man does not have the ability, nor the omniscience, to create such a binding. There is no negotiation of the terms either. We are free to choose to accept God’s covenants or not, but we are not free to alter them in any way.
What Does It Mean to Covenant?
A covenant has “the connecting strength to lift us above the pull of the natural flow.” When we make a covenant we must make it “only when we intend to commit ourselves quite exceptionally to fulfilling it.”
A covenant, therefore, is a commitment. We commit to doing our best to fulfill the conditions God has set. We strive to be the best we can be and live according to the laws God has established.
In return, God promises blessings commensurate with our obedience. He also commits to giving us the power to overcome the world. This power enables us to commit more to abide by our covenants and draws us closer to God and Christ.
When we keep our covenants we can gain inner peace. We have assurances from the Holy Ghost that we are on the right track. And when we are on the right track, we receive help from the Holy Ghost in our trials.
What Covenants Do We Make in this Life?
For the grand majority of God’s children, there are seven covenants that we can make. Only one of these covenants is made outside the temple when we live on this earth. All others are made in the House of the Lord. Five of these covenants are made during the endowment ceremony. The covenants we can make on this earth are:
- Baptism – “We witness that we are willing to take on ourselves the name of Jesus Christ.”
- Law of Obedience – “To strive to keep the commandments of God”
- Law of Sacrifice – “To repent with a broken heart and a contrite spirit”
- Law of the Gospel of Jesus Christ – “Live the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” This covenant means we will make and keep all covenants God has asked of us. It also means we will live our lives after the manner of Jesus Christ and by heeding the counsel of living prophets, seers, and revelators.
- Law of Chastity – We covenant to only have sexual relations with our spouses to whom we have been legally married (see the 7th covenant in this list)
- Law of Consecration – “To dedicate ourselves and everything the Lord blesses us with to build up His Church”
- New and Everlasting Covenant of Marriage – The sealing of ourselves to our spouses for time and all eternity. To commit ourselves to another and to love them and work in harmony to bring to pass God’s work and glory (see Moses 1:39)
I want to make one thing clear here. I have listed seven covenants that God has asked us to make in this life. For some of God’s children, it may not be possible to make any of these covenants in this life. That does NOT mean that those individuals will not be able to inherit Celestial Glory. It just means that they weren’t afforded the opportunity in this life. I fully believe that God intends to make it possible for all of us to make and keep the covenants needed to attain Celestial Glory. Whether that be in this life or the next. He wouldn’t be a merciful God otherwise.
Why Do We Need Access to God’s Power?
I stated above that making and keeping covenants grants us access to God’s power. But, why do we need that power? Aren’t we capable as mortals of doing all we need to do?
One reason we need that power is because there is another being who is more powerful than we are. He does not want us to follow God, nor make covenants. If we are left to our own devices and not able to access the strengthening power of God, we would be almost completely defenseless against this entity and his persuasions. He has lost his chance to gain Celestial Glory and has made it his goal to stop as many of God’s children as he can from attaining it also.
Satan is not the only reason we need God’s power on this earth. God’s power is a reassurance that we can make it. For me, it is like when I’m playing soccer. When playing there are moments when I get an adrenaline surge that allows me to push through tough periods. There is an elation when I play a great ball or score a goal. There is a power in the playing that lifts me up and makes me feel better about myself.
In that same way, God’s power can lift us up. “Our covenants give us power to stay on the covenant path because our relationship with Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father is changed. We are connected to Them by a covenantal bond.”
What Else Do We Gain By Making and Keeping Covenants?
There are other blessings besides accessing God’s power that we gain by making and keeping covenants. Some of these include:
- Learning more about God’s purposes
- Receiving a fullness of the Holy Ghost
- Receiving direction in our lives
- Maturing in our discipleship
- Living with an eternal perspective
- Increased capacity to fulfill our purposes in mortality
- Protection from evil
- Greater power to resist temptation
- Greater power to repent
- Strength to withstand mortality’s trials and heartaches
I have seen these blessings in my life. I have found that my understanding of God and His plan has increased when I keep my covenants. I receive insights as I study His word in ways that I did not receive before making my covenants.
Covenant as a Bond
I think there is something special in the description of a covenant as a bond with God. In chemistry, a covalent bond is the sharing of electrons between two atoms. This bonding allows the atoms to combine into greater substances. The bonding is also very hard to break and can only be done through the use of a lot of energy.
The classic example in chemistry class is dropping a piece of potassium into water. When this occurs the potassium steals the oxygen electrons from the hydrogen and forms a new bond. We see the reaction as a tiny explosion.
In the same way, covenanting with God creates a covalent bond between Him and us. If we keep our covenants, no amount of energy can break that bond. However, when we break our covenants we allow an energy in that will break the bond. We can repair the bond through repentance, but repentance is not a simple process and can take time depending on what we’ve done to break our bond with God.
Being a Covenant People
God has always made covenants with His people. It has been that way from Adam down to the present time. Sometimes, He has made individual covenants with people such as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Those are special covenants designed to further God’s plan. However, every one of us can make personal covenants with God and become one of His covenant people.
As a covenant people, we strive to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ and help others live in a manner to become a part of God’s covenant people. We do our best to keep the covenants we have made and repent when we fall short. We receive God’s power and blessings and use that power and those blessings to help others.
Being a covenant people shows our commitment to God and His plan. We commit to living according to His designs and not the desires of the natural man (see Mosiah 3:19). We make ourselves available to God so that He can utilize us as He sees fit.
Conclusion
A covenant people make and keep sacred promises with God. God sets the conditions and terms and we, as we keep the covenants, receive blessings and access to God’s power. Making and keeping covenants allows us to stay on the path to Celestial Glory such that we can live in God’s presence.
Tips for Teaching
When teaching about covenants and being a covenant people, you may want to consider:
- Defining what a covenant is and discussing why God sets the terms of the covenant.
- Ask about the covenants the class members have made and what those covenants mean to them.
- What does it mean to be a covenant people? How do we show our commitment to God by keeping our covenants?
Whether By Mine Own Voice 
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