The Law of the Gospel
Sacrament Meeting Talk August 20, 2023
As I speak today, please imagine yourself to be traveling by bus with friends from a faraway place to your home. I know that travel by bus isn’t always considered to be the most comfortable, and can feel long and tedious… but it isn’t about the speed or comfort of the journey. Let's start with a question…
How often do you review the covenants you have made with the Lord?
Elder M Russell Ballard taught that, “A periodic review of the covenants we have made with the Lord will help us with our priorities and with balance in our lives. This review will help us see where we need to repent and change our lives to ensure that we are worthy of the promises that accompany our covenants and sacred ordinances. Working out our own salvation requires good planning and a deliberate, valiant effort”[1]
In October 2021, President Nelson invited us “to set a regular time to rehearse in [our] mind[s] the covenants [we] have made.” He said, “I plead with you to seek—prayerfully and consistently—to understand temple covenants and ordinances. Spiritual doors will open. You will learn how to part the veil between heaven and earth, how to ask for God’s angels to attend you, and how better to receive direction from heaven. Your diligent efforts to do so will reinforce and strengthen your spiritual foundation.”[2]
This month we have had the opportunity to review our covenants. Last week in sacrament meeting, we learned about the law of sacrifice and the law of consecration from our high councilmen. We were taught that the law of sacrifice is to give our best offering, even a broken heart, and a contrite spirit. It includes repentance and the partaking of the sacrament. We were reminded that our sacrifices should result in drawing us closer to our Savior, Jesus Christ, and make us more holy. We were taught that the law of consecration has at its heart a ministering principle – it fosters love, unity, and gratitude in our hearts toward others. It also helps us align our will with that of our Father in Heaven resulting in a deep connection with God and others. Today I will share a few of the things I love about the law of the gospel.
There are many layers to our covenants, our baptismal covenants give us a firm foundation in gospel living, inviting us to draw closer to Christ through the sacrament, through ministering, through a deeper focus on and greater commitment to our Savior. As we continue to make covenants we gain a deeper understanding and commitment to those principles. As I ponder the covenants I have made and how they have impacted my life, I am awed at the intensity of the potential for heavenly power they invite through strengthening and building relationships with God as well as with others.
I have learned and reviewed so much in preparing this message. I would love to share with you all that I value about the law of the gospel, but I am going to highlight only a few of those things and I pray that the Spirit will move you as well to gain a deeper understanding of this law as [Elder Ballard and] President Nelson have admonished us to do.
RELATIONSHIP
Think of the covenants we make with the Lord as different aspects of building a relationship with Him. As I have done this, I have found that much of what He asks us to do is very similar to what we do as we develop deep friendships in life. Anthony Sweat put it this way…
“Living the gospel means that we have entered a relationship with our Lord. A deep, covenant-committed intimate one at that.”[3]
In a good relationship, there is love, respect, loyalty, joy, service, generosity, togetherness, harmony, forgiveness, mercy, celebration and so much more. Can you see how these same traits are also encouraged by the Lord through the making and keeping of a covenant relationship with Him?
THE DOCTRINE OF CHRIST
In the temple, we covenant to live the Lord‘s gospel. The law of the gospel centers on following our Savior, Jesus Christ, taking His name upon us by covenant, and being born again to become more holy like Christ in our character. The handbook teaches that “Obey[ing] the law of the gospel of Jesus Christ, … is the higher law that He taught while He was on the earth.”[4]
In scripture, Jesus is very clear about what defines his gospel. Nephi calls it the Doctrine of Christ and it can be found in 2 Nephi 31-33. It can be summarized by five things: faith, repentance, baptism, reception of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end by continuing in the covenant.[5]
Last October, President Nelson invited us to overcome the world. If we are to overcome the world, we are “trusting the doctrine of Christ more than the philosophies of men.”[6]
“If we are to accept President Nelson’s invitation to have the doctrine of Christ rooted in the marrow of our bones[7], there are some specific things we must do. In the spirit of faith, we deepen our conversion to the Lord by study, prayer, and faithful living. We invite daily and continual repentance into our hearts, inviting Christlike change. We invite the Holy Ghost to engrave the doctrine of Christ in the “fleshy tables of [our] heart[s]”[8] as deeply and as permanently as it was engraved by Nephi upon the plates of gold.”[9] As we remain continually engaged in faith-filled activities, heartfelt repentance, covenant conviction, and seek guidance through the gift of the Holy Ghost we will be enduring to the end.
As we “endure in our covenants, we will feel His transforming power and we will become, slowly but surely, more like Him.”[10]
To help illustrate how this works, think of yourself on that bus returning home from far away. To pass the time you keep yourselves entertained by engaging in a memory game of words. With each turn you take, there are more words for you to remember and recite. The idea is to make it to the front of the bus, and each successful recitation earns you a move forward, however, forgetting causes you to move to the back of the bus. Each turn could be compared to an act of faith, repentance, covenant commitment or inspired action through the Holy Ghost. Because we are imperfect people, striving for perfection, we know that we will make mistakes. Like being on the bus, when we fail to live the law of the gospel perfectly, we will need to repent, rededicate our hearts to the Savior, and seek the change that is possible through His atoning sacrifice and love. We give ourselves the grace to move back as much as we rejoice in moving forward. But no matter what, don’t overlook the fact that you all stayed on the bus… no matter where you sat… no matter how you were doing in the game… you were still on the bus and the bus is taking you ever closer to home… to your Father in Heaven. This is enduring to the end. “Trying and slipping and trying again is not mocking God as much as it is honoring Him by using the gift of the Atonement that He and His Son so lovingly provided.”[11] As we stay on the covenant path, living true to the Law of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and no matter what errors, weaknesses, or obstacles obstruct our path, we are still moving ever closer to our Savior, and “we will feel His transforming power …[and] become, slowly but surely, more like Him.”[12]
So, in its simplicity, the law of the gospel consists of faith, repentance, covenant making and keeping, receiving and living IN the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. As we live the gospel we “strive for Christlike character, we … strive to leave behind everything that is unholy, vain, trifling, inappropriate, or rude.”[13]
HIGHER AND HOLIER
President Nelson often uses the phrase “higher and holier.” You may remember hearing him teach:
· A higher and holier way of gratitude
· His disciples live in a higher and holier way
· A higher and holier pattern of service
· Minister in higher and holier spirit-filled ways
· Walk the covenant path each day in a higher and holier way
How does this phrase pertain to the law of the gospel?
“As we live the law of the gospel and are changed through the Atonement of Christ, we begin to live the higher, [holier], celestial teachings of Jesus Christ as taught in the Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount is the Lord’s handbook for living the higher law of His gospel.”
“In the Sermon on the Mount[14], Jesus seeks to lift His listeners to an elevated way of living. He touches on anger, forgiveness, immorality, honesty, resisting evil, loving our enemies, fasting, praying, and seeking first God’s kingdom, among many other things.”[15] He begins His teachings with
· “It hath been said by them of old time…” Then follows it up with…
· “But I say unto you…” and He gives a higher, holier way to live.
“In essence, he is saying, “This is how a telestial person would handle this, here’s how a terrestrial person may, and here’s how a celestial one should.”
For example, the commandment to not commit adultery:
A telestial way is to commit adultery
A terrestrial way is to not commit adultery but still indulge in immoral thoughts and ideas
A celestial way is to keep one’s thoughts and ideas pure, virtuous, and clean.
Another example from the commandment “Thou shalt not kill.”
Telestial people kill
Terrestrial people don’t kill but still become enraged
Celestial people are temperate, do not let anger linger, and instead seek to reconcile offenses with others.
CELESTIAL LAW
We could go through each of the commandments this way, but do you see how Jesus’ law of the gospel invites us to live by a celestial law? I would like to share a few examples of the ten commandments in celestial verbiage that I used when teaching seminary.
I. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, might, mind, and strength.
II. Thou shalt put God first before career, sports, pleasure, occupation, or the pursuit thereof. Thou shalt serve God all thy days.
III. Thou shalt take upon thee the name of thy Savior, Jesus Christ, with deep reverence and appreciation for His sacrifice for thee.
IV. Thou shalt observe the Sabbath day as the holiest of days and thereby increase thy love for the Lord thy God.
V. Honor thy family, every member. Strengthen and support them without judgment or criticism. Love them unconditionally that thy days shall be long upon the earth.
VI. Thou shalt seek the good in others and refrain from anger
VII. Thou shalt guard thy thoughts, words, and actions and keep them virtuous and clean at all times, in all places, and in all things.
VIII. Thou shalt be filled with integrity, consistently acting on what ye know to be right.
IX. Thou shalt deal honestly and uprightly with thy fellowmen in every word that cometh forth from thy mouth and in every action that proceedeth therefrom.
X. Thou shalt rejoice in the success of thy neighbor and exert thy energies toward helping and assisting him.
I would like to invite each of you to ponder the ten commandments, and as a family or individually, take some time to transpose each telestial law to a higher and holier celestial law. As you do, pay close attention to what the Holy Ghost impresses upon your heart. You may even choose to consider the other topics that the Savior addressed in the Sermon on the Mount. This exercise will help you understand the Law of the Gospel more deeply and feel the Holy Ghost lifting you closer to your Father in Heaven.
When all is said and done, and we stand before our Savior on the judgment day we will find that, “the gospel of God is written, … in our lives [and hearts] …. It is … written … with acts and deeds in the book of Life of each believing and obedient person. It is engraved in the flesh and bones and sinews of those who live a celestial law, which is the law of the gospel.”[16]
Bruce R McConkie further taught that this “law of Christ… calls upon [us] to forsake the world and rise above every carnal and evil thing. It calls upon [us] to repent and be baptized and receive the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit of God. It requires that [we] become new creatures of the Holy Ghost. Only those who so live acquire thereby celestial bodies; only such bodies can stand celestial glory, and this glory is found only in a celestial kingdom. Since the final destiny of this earth is to become a celestial globe, it thereby becomes the ultimate and highest heaven for all the faithful who have lived on its surface.”[17]
I pray that we may each take time to consider the invitation of our prophet “to set a regular time to rehearse in [our] mind[s] the covenants [we] have made.”[18] As we do so may spiritual doors open. May we learn how to part the veil between heaven and earth, how to ask for God’s angels to attend us, and how better to receive direction from heaven. As we diligently strive to live a higher and holier law, even the celestial law of the Gospel of Jesus Christ we will not only reinforce and strengthen our spiritual foundations, but we will seek to live His holy teachings with greater conviction and become like Him in His divine character. As we gradually attain the holy attributes of the Son of God, we will one day hear the words, “Blessed are ye…””[19]
It is my testimony that there is great power and blessings in our covenants. I pray that we will always stay on the bus. In the name….
[1] M Russell Ballard, General Conference, Apr. 1987
[2] Russell M Nelson, The Temple and Your Spiritual Foundation, General Conference, October 2021
[3] Anthony Sweat, The Holy Covenants, p. 75
Jesus frequently uses marriage to describe his relationship with his loyal followers. When we join ourselves with Jesus, in the gospel covenant, we become an heir with him and gain access to all his gifts, powers, abilities, and virtues. His goodness becomes our goodness. His purity is our purity. His holiness is our holiness. That is why The gospel is translated and called the good news. The good news is that if we are his covenant people, he will purify, justify, and sanctify us, bringing us to heaven with him, despite our moral weakness.“ – Anthony Sweat, the holy covenant, pages 75–76
[4] General Handbook 27.2
[5] 3 Nephi 27:13–20; Doctrine and Covenants, 33:10–12; 36:9; The doctrine of Christ “encompasses the [whole] law of the gospel. It is the great plan for eternal life.” [Evan A Schmutz, Trusting the Doctrine of Christ, General Conference, April 2023, paragraph 6]
[6] Evan A Schmutz, Trusting the Doctrine of Christ, General Conference, April 2023
[7] “More than anything else, we want our missionaries… to have the doctrine of Christ engraved in their hearts – rooted… in the marrow of their bones.” Russell M Nelson to newly called mission leaders
[8] “Invite the Holy Ghost to engrave the doctrine of Christ in the ‘fleshy tables of our hearts ” [2 Corinthians 3:3; Evan A Schmutz, Trusting the Doctrine of Christ, General Conference, April 2023, paragraph 7]
[9] Evan A Schmutz, Trusting the Doctrine of Christ, General Conference, April 2023
[10] Brad Wilcox, The Law of the Gospel, BYU-Idaho Education Week, July 31, 2015
[11] Brad Wilcox, The Law of the Gospel, BYU-Idaho Education Week, July 31, 2015
[12] Brad Wilcox, The Law of the Gospel, BYU-Idaho Education Week, July 31, 2015
[13] Anthony Sweat, The Holy Covenants, page 79
[14] Matthew 5-7; 3 Nephi 12-14
[15] Brad Wilcox, The Law of the Gospel, BYU-Idaho Education Week, July 31, 2015
[16] Bruce R McConkie, Our Gospel Came Not Unto You In Word Only, General Conference, October 1968
“The revelation is very clear in the statement that all who cannot abide the celestial law, or the law of the Gospel, must abide another kingdom.” [Joseph Fielding Smith, Church History and Modern Revelation Volume 2, pages 130-131]
[17] Bruce R McConkie, The Millennial Messiah, p. 697-698
[18] Russell M Nelson, The Temple and Your Spiritual Foundation, General Conference, October 2021
[19] Anthony Sweat, The Holy Covenants, p. 80
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