From the Baptismal Font to the Presence of God: How Our Covenants Help Us Become Like Him

The purpose of the gospel is not merely to help us become nicer people, attend more meetings, or complete a list of ordinances. Heavenly Father’s purpose is to bring us home to Him—changed, sanctified, and prepared to receive His fulness.

Jesus Christ described that destination when He invited us to become “perfect, even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect” (3 Nephi 12:48). This perfection is not instant flawlessness. It is the gradual process of becoming complete in Christ—receiving His character, His holiness, His love, and eventually the kind of life He and the Father possess.

The Lord revealed that Jesus Christ Himself “received not of the fulness at the first, but continued from grace to grace.” He then promised, “If you keep my commandments you shall receive of his fulness” (Doctrine and Covenants 93:12–20).

That is the purpose of the covenant path. Every ordinance and covenant is connected. Together, they bind us to Jesus Christ and teach us how to become like Him.

Covenants Are More Than Promises

A covenant is a sacred relationship with God, established through priesthood authority. We make promises to Him, He promises blessings to us, and Jesus Christ provides the grace that makes our transformation possible.

Covenants are not simply agreements about what we will do. They are meant to change what we desire and ultimately who we become.

Elder David A. Bednar taught:

“The essence of the Lord’s work is changing, turning, and purifying hearts through gospel covenants and priesthood ordinances.”

He explained that our hearts—our desires, motives, intentions, and affections—determine what we will eventually become. Covenants are therefore not merely religious ceremonies. They are part of the Savior’s process for changing our hearts and preparing us for exaltation. (“Let This House Be Built unto My Name”)

Baptism: Choosing a New Life in Christ

Baptism is the gate through which we enter the covenant path. At baptism, we witness that we are willing to take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ, keep His commandments, serve Him, and follow Him throughout our lives.

Alma described the baptismal covenant as a willingness to:

• Bear one another’s burdens.
• Mourn with those who mourn.
• Comfort those who need comfort.
• Stand as witnesses of God at all times, in all things, and in all places.

See Mosiah 18:8–10.

Taking Christ’s name upon us means that His identity begins to shape ours. We are learning to think, speak, forgive, serve, and love as disciples of Jesus Christ.

Living this covenant daily might mean noticing that a coworker is struggling and taking time to listen. It may mean refusing to participate in gossip, forgiving someone who has hurt us, serving when it is inconvenient, or quietly standing for truth without becoming contentious.

Baptism is not simply something that happened to us when we were eight years old. It is a way of life: “I belong to Jesus Christ, and today I will try to represent Him.”

Receiving the Holy Ghost: Becoming a New Creature

Baptism by water is followed by confirmation and the gift of the Holy Ghost. Together, these ordinances form the gate into the covenant path.

The Holy Ghost does more than give occasional guidance. He reveals truth, strengthens us against temptation, comforts us, and sanctifies us. Through His power, the Atonement of Jesus Christ changes our nature.

The Savior taught:

“Come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost” (3 Nephi 27:20).

To live worthy of the Holy Ghost does not mean we must already be perfect. It means we are sincerely turning toward Christ. When we recognize sin, we repent. When we receive a prompting, we try to act. When we make a mistake, we return rather than hide from God.

Daily companionship with the Holy Ghost requires space to listen. That may include beginning the day with prayer, studying the scriptures, turning off distracting media, responding quickly to spiritual impressions, and reviewing our day with the Lord each evening.

The Holy Ghost helps covenant living move from outward behavior into the deepest parts of our hearts.

The Sacrament: Returning to Christ Every Week

Because we continue to make mistakes, the Lord has given us the sacrament. Each week, we remember the body and blood of Jesus Christ and renew our willingness to take His name upon us, remember Him, and keep His commandments.

In return, we are promised that we may “always have his Spirit” with us (Doctrine and Covenants 20:77–79).

The sacrament teaches us that covenant living is not about never falling. It is about continually returning to Christ.

We should come to the sacrament with more than our bodies. We can bring Him our sins, resentment, pride, discouragement, weakness, and wounded relationships. We can ask:

• Where did I resist the Lord this week?
• Whom do I need to forgive?
• Whom do I need to ask for forgiveness?
• What is Christ inviting me to become next?

The sacrament becomes a weekly moment of realignment in which we place our lives back into the Savior’s hands.

Priesthood Service: Learning to Act in Christ’s Name

For men who receive the Melchizedek Priesthood, the oath and covenant of the priesthood adds a sacred responsibility to receive the Lord, magnify their callings, and serve with His power and character. The promised destination is extraordinary: “All that my Father hath shall be given unto him” (Doctrine and Covenants 84:33–40).

Priesthood is not permission to control others. It is a commission to serve as Christ would serve—with persuasion, patience, gentleness, meekness, love, and kindness.

The blessings and power of the priesthood are available to both women and men through the ordinances and covenants of the gospel. All covenant-keeping disciples participate in God’s work and receive divine power through their relationship with Jesus Christ.

The Temple Endowment: Giving Our Whole Soul to God

In the temple endowment, the plan of salvation is taught, and we receive instruction concerning our return to God’s presence. We also covenant to live five interconnected laws: obedience, sacrifice, the gospel of Jesus Christ, chastity, and consecration. (About the Temple Endowment)

These are not five unrelated requirements. Together, they describe a life that is gradually being placed entirely into God’s hands.

The Law of Obedience

Obedience teaches us to trust God’s wisdom above our own limited understanding.

Daily obedience is choosing honesty when dishonesty would be easier. It is keeping the Sabbath holy, speaking truthfully, controlling our temper, honoring prophetic counsel, and obeying even when no one else will know.

Obedience is not blind submission. It is the willing response of someone who has learned that God can see what we cannot.

The Law of Sacrifice

Sacrifice means supporting the Lord’s work and approaching Him with a broken heart and contrite spirit.

Daily sacrifice may mean surrendering our pride so we can apologize, giving up personal time to help a child, accepting a calling, paying tithes and offerings, ministering to someone who feels forgotten, or abandoning a habit that draws us away from God.

Sacrifice teaches us to place eternal things above temporary comfort.

The Law of the Gospel of Jesus Christ

The law of the gospel includes exercising faith in Christ, repenting daily, making and keeping covenants, enduring to the end, and loving God and our neighbor.

Living the gospel means that faith and repentance become our daily pattern. We trust Christ enough to act, recognize where we have fallen short, seek forgiveness, make necessary changes, and continue forward.

Enduring to the end does not mean merely surviving until death. It means continuing to become a disciple of Jesus Christ throughout our lives.

The Law of Chastity

The law of chastity protects the sacred powers of creation and the covenant of marriage. It requires sexual relations to be reserved for a legal marriage between a man and a woman according to God’s law.

Daily chastity includes more than avoiding physical immorality. It includes faithfulness in our thoughts, media choices, conversations, online activity, emotional relationships, and treatment of other people.

Within marriage, it means nurturing trust, tenderness, loyalty, respect, and selfless love. Chastity teaches us to see bodies and relationships as sacred rather than as objects for selfish gratification.

The Law of Consecration

Consecration means dedicating our time, talents, resources, and everything the Lord has given us to building His kingdom.

Consecration does not mean that every moment must be spent in a Church meeting. It means that our whole life belongs to God.

We can consecrate our profession by treating people with compassion and integrity. We can consecrate our home by making it a place of peace. We can consecrate our abilities by using them to lift others. We can consecrate our money through generosity, our suffering by allowing it to deepen our compassion, and our ordinary responsibilities by performing them with love.

The question of consecration is not merely, “How much must I give?” It is, “Lord, how would You have me use everything You have given me?”

Temple Marriage: Learning the Divine Pattern of Eternal Love

The sealing covenant is the crowning ordinance of the covenant path. A man and woman are sealed to each other and enter a covenant relationship that includes God.

President Russell M. Nelson taught:

“A temple marriage is not only between husband and wife; it embraces a partnership with God.”

See “Celestial Marriage”.

Marriage is intended to become a school of godliness. Within it, we learn patience, fidelity, sacrifice, forgiveness, unity, creation, service, and covenant love.

A sealing ordinance is not a guarantee that a marriage will automatically become celestial. The covenant must be lived and ultimately sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise. A couple cannot simply kneel at an altar once; they must continue choosing the covenant and each other.

Living the sealing covenant daily may look like:

• Praying together even when life is busy.
• Speaking with kindness during disagreement.
• Being completely faithful in thought and action.
• Sharing responsibilities rather than keeping score.
• Repenting quickly instead of defending pride.
• Counseling together before making major decisions.
• Helping each other become what God sees in them.
• Teaching children to know and love Jesus Christ.
• Creating a home in which the Spirit can dwell.

The promise of eternal marriage is not merely that a husband and wife can remain together. It is that, through Christ, they can become the kind of husband and wife who belong in an eternal union.

Those who are not presently married or sealed can still live their covenants wholeheartedly. The Lord knows every faithful desire and every circumstance. No eternal blessing will be withheld from those who faithfully follow Jesus Christ.

We Cannot Simply Go Through the Motions

It is possible to be baptized without truly taking Christ’s name into our hearts. We can partake of the sacrament without remembering Him. We can attend the temple without allowing its covenants to govern our homes, relationships, schedules, and desires.

Ordinances give us access to divine power, but covenant living requires our hearts.

The Lord said that through priesthood ordinances “the power of godliness is manifest.” He connected those ordinances with being sanctified, entering His rest, and ultimately beholding the face of God (Doctrine and Covenants 84:19–24).

That power is not found merely in completing ceremonies. It is manifested as the Savior changes us through the covenants those ceremonies represent.

A Simple Daily Pattern of Covenant Living

Covenant living can become part of the rhythm of an ordinary day.

In the morning: Give the day to God. Ask Him whose burden you can help carry and what He wants you to learn or become.

Throughout the day: Remember Christ’s name. Act with integrity, listen for the Holy Ghost, protect purity, treat people as children of God, and use your abilities to bless others.

In your home: Practice patience, forgive freely, serve without keeping score, teach truth, and make your marriage and family relationships a priority.

In the evening: Review the day with God. Express gratitude, acknowledge failures, repent, and make needed repairs.

On the Sabbath: Bring your whole soul to the sacrament. Remember Christ’s sacrifice and deliberately renew your commitment to follow Him.

Small covenant choices, repeated over time, become a Christlike character.

It Is All Possible Because of Jesus Christ

We do not earn God’s fulness by accumulating enough righteous actions. Covenants do not replace grace; they connect us more completely to the Savior and His grace.

Our efforts demonstrate faith and willingness, but Jesus Christ provides the cleansing, healing, strength, and transformation. Moroni taught:

“Come unto Christ, and be perfected in him.”

As we deny ourselves of ungodliness and love God with all our might, mind, and strength, His grace is sufficient to make us holy (Moroni 10:32–33).

Elder Dale G. Renlund summarized the promised transformation:

“You are transformed and become perfected in Jesus Christ.”

See “Accessing God’s Power through Covenants”.

That is how all our covenants are connected.

Baptism places us in Christ’s family. The Holy Ghost begins sanctifying our hearts. The sacrament helps us return to Christ again and again. Temple covenants teach us to obey, sacrifice, live the gospel, remain pure, and consecrate our whole souls. Eternal marriage teaches us to love as God loves and prepares us for eternal family life.

Through this lifelong covenant relationship, Jesus Christ does more than forgive what we have done. He changes what we desire and what we are capable of becoming.

Little by little, grace for grace, we become more like Him—until, through His merits and mercy, we are prepared to enter the presence of God and receive of His fulness.