The Sealing Power
Excerpts
We tend to think of the sealing authority as applying only to certain temple ordinances, but that authority is necessary to make any ordinance valid and binding beyond death. …
The validity that the sealing power gives to priesthood ordinances includes, of course, vicarious ordinances performed in the place designated by the Lord—His temple. … This sealing power is a perfect manifestation of the justice, mercy, and love of God.
With access to the sealing power, our hearts naturally turn to those who have gone before. The latter-day gathering into the covenant crosses through the veil. …
The highest and holiest manifestation of the sealing power is in the eternal union of a man and a woman in marriage and the linking of humankind through all their generations. …
We can see why “marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children” [“The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” Gospel Library]. At the same time, we recognize that in the imperfect present, this is not the reality or even a realistic possibility for some. But we have hope in Christ. …
I testify that the sealing power and authority restored to earth through Joseph Smith are real, that what is thereby bound on earth truly is bound in heaven.