Doctrine and Covenants 129-132

<p>Marriage is the foundry for social order, the fountain of virtue, and the foundation for eternal exaltation. Marriage has been divinely designated as an eternal and everlasting covenant (D&amp;C 132:19). Marriage is sanctified when it is cherished and honored in holiness. That union is not merely between husband and wife; it embraces a partnership with God (Matt. 19:6). &ldquo;Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other.&rdquo; Children born of that marital union are &ldquo;an heritage of the Lord&rdquo; (Ps. 127:3). Marriage is but the beginning bud of family life; parenthood is its flower. And that bouquet becomes even more beautiful when graced with grandchildren. Families may become as eternal as the kingdom of God itself.</p>

<p>What does marriage mean to members of the Church? It means that they are receiving in that ordinance the greatest, the crowning blessing, the blessing of eternal lives. Now that&rsquo;s the way the Lord puts it, &ldquo;eternal lives&rdquo; (D&amp;C 132:24) which means not only will the husband and the wife enter into eternal life, but their children who were born under the covenant likewise will be entitled through their faithfulness to eternal lives. And further, that the husband and the wife after the resurrection of the dead will not come to an end. By that the Lord means that they will have a continuation of the seeds forever (D&amp;C 132:19) and the family organization does not come to an end.</p>

<p>In Doctrine and Covenants 132:15–20 the Lord provided three scenarios to illustrate the importance of the proper authority in marriage and the ratifying seal of the Holy Ghost. First, the Lord described a marriage performed by someone who does not have the sealing power: “if a man marry him a wife in the world, and he marry her not by me nor by my word” (D&amp;C 132:15). This kind of marriage serves to legally bind husband and wife to each other while they are in this life but is of no effect in the life to come. Most marriage ceremonies performed outside the temple acknowledge this limitation, usually ending with the phrase “till death do us part.” Even Latter-day Saint bishops who perform marriages outside the temple inform couples that they are “legally and lawfully wedded for the period of [their] mortal lives.”<a href="#_ftn1" id="_ftnref1" title="" class="see-footnote">[1]</a></p> <p>The second scenario describes a situation in which “a man marr[ies] a wife, and make[s] a covenant with her for time and for all eternity” but “that covenant is not by me or by my word, which is my law, and is not sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, through him whom I have anointed and appointed unto this power” (D&amp;C 132:18). In this scenario the marriage is also not in force when the couple leaves this life. Even if the couple aims to create an eternal marriage, without proper authority, the marriage is dissolved at death. In addition, if the individuals in the marriage do not live so that the Holy Spirit can provide His ratifying seal to a marriage, it is also not in force when they are dead. President Joseph Fielding Smith explained, “If one or both of these covenanting persons break that covenant by which they are sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise, then the Spirit withdraws the deal and the guilty party, or parties, stands as if there had been no sealing or promise given. All covenants are based on faithfulness.”<a href="#_ftn2" id="_ftnref2" title="" class="see-footnote">[2]</a></p> <p>These verses (D&amp;C 132:15–20) do not imply a cruel or harsh punishment for those who do not enter into eternal relationships in this life, for whatever reason. But those individuals cannot enter into the same kind of life that God lives. Instead, they serve as ministering angels and assist in the work of salvation in their own way. Joseph Smith taught, “Gods have an ascendancy over the Angels who are ministering servants, in the resurrection some are raised to be angels, others are raised to become Gods.”<a href="#_ftn3" id="_ftnref3" title="" class="see-footnote">[3]</a></p> <div class="footnotes"> <p class="footnote"><a href="#_ftnref1" id="_ftn1" title="" class="footnote-label">[1]</a> <em>General Handbook</em>, 38.3.6.</p> <p class="footnote"><a href="#_ftnref2" id="_ftn2" title="" class="footnote-label">[2]</a> Joseph Fielding Smith, <em>Doctrines of Salvation, </em>1954–56, 2:98.</p> <p class="footnote"><a href="#_ftnref3" id="_ftn3" title="" class="footnote-label">[3]</a> JS History, 1838–1856, volume D-1 [1 August 1842–1 July 1843], p. 1575, JSP. </p> </div>

<p>The final scenario given by the Lord is what occurs “if a man marry a wife by my word, which is my law, and by the new and everlasting covenant, and it is sealed unto them by the Holy Spirit of promise, by him who is anointed, unto whom I have appointed this power and the keys of this priesthood” (D&C 132:19). In this case, a man and a woman are married by one who holds the sealing keys and their union is sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise. The list of blessings promised to those who honor this covenant constitutes one of the longest verses in all of recorded scripture (D&C 132:19) and continues on through several more verses (D&C 132:20–24). It is enough to summarize that those who receive the blessing of eternal marriage become like God and will receive the opportunity of enjoying an endless posterity in the eternities. </p> <p>Family relationships stemming from eternal marriages continue after death, and those who honor their sacred covenants are given the opportunity after their mortal existence to create new family relationships with a posterity that endures forever. This opportunity is not just limited to eternal life. The Lord refers to this as “eternal lives” (D&C 132:24), the chance to experience the kind of life that God and Jesus Christ know and live. President Brigham Young taught in an 1876 discourse: </p> <blockquote> <p>The great and grand secret of salvation, which we should continually seek to understand through our faithfulness, is the continuation of the lives. Those of the Latter-day Saints who will continue to follow after the revelations and commandments of God to do them, who are found to be obedient in all things, continually advancing little by little towards perfection and the knowledge of God, they, when they enter the spirit world and receive their bodies, will be able to advance faster in the things pertaining to the knowledge of the Gods, and will continue onward and upward until they become Gods, even the sons of God. This I say is the great secret of the hereafter, to continue in the lives forever and forever, which is the greatest of all gifts God has ever bestowed upon his children. We all have it within our reach, we can all attain to this perfected and exalted state if we will embrace its principles and practice them in our everyday life.<a href="#_ftn1" id="_ftnref1" title="" class="see-footnote">[1]</a> </p> </blockquote> <div class="footnotes"> <p class="footnote"><a href="#_ftnref1" id="_ftn1" title="" class="footnote-label">[1]</a> Brigham Young, in <em>Journal of Discourses, </em>18:257.</p> </div>