Lesson 103

Ordinances and Covenants (Part 1)

Introduction

The teaching materials for this doctrinal mastery topic are divided into two parts. In part 1, students will participate in an overview of the doctrinal topic. They will study key statements of doctrine related to our preparation for receiving ordinances and making covenants with God, and the promises He extends to us as we keep those covenants. They will also study Exodus 19:5–6 and Psalm 24:3–4, which are doctrinal mastery passages that help teach these key statements of doctrine.

Note: You could teach the segments of this lesson in a single class session or over the course of several class sessions, dividing class time between Doctrinal Mastery and a regular sequential scripture lesson. If you choose to teach the segments over the course of several class sessions, you may need to briefly review with students what they learned in previous segments before you teach a new segment.

Suggestions for Teaching

Explaining the doctrine using doctrinal mastery passages

One way students master the doctrine is by “explaining each key statement of doctrine clearly, using the associated doctrinal mastery passages” (Doctrinal Mastery Core Document [2018], 2). Ensure that students clearly understand how each doctrinal mastery passage helps teach its associated key statement of doctrine. Doing so will help prepare students to explain the doctrine to others using scriptures to support their explanation.

Understanding the Doctrine

Segment 1 (8 minutes)

Give each student a copy of the following handout, or display the handout questions on the board. Divide students into pairs, and invite each pair to study doctrinal topic 7, “Ordinances and Covenants,” in the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document and to answer the questions on the handout. Ask students to include with their answers the paragraph from the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document that contains the answer to the corresponding question. Invite students to consider marking in their copies of the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document the phrases that answer the questions.

Ordinances and Covenants

1. What is the definition of an ordinance?

2. What makes saving ordinances different from other ordinances?

3. What are some examples of saving ordinances?

4. What are some examples of ordinances that are not saving ordinances?

5. What is the definition of a covenant?

6. What is the relationship between a saving ordinance and a covenant?

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After sufficient time, review the answers to the questions as a class. For your reference, the answers can be found in the following paragraphs: (1) 7.1, (2) 7.2, (3) 7.3–7.5, (4) 7.6, (5) 7.7, (6) 7.8–7.9.

Segment 2 (8 minutes)

Display the following statement by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Invite a student to read the statement aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for the role that covenants play in our purpose in mortality.

“When we talk about covenant keeping, we are talking about the heart and soul of our purpose in mortality” (Jeffrey R. Holland, “Keeping Covenants: A Message for Those Who Will Serve a Mission,” New Era, Jan. 2012, 2).

• Why do you think that covenant keeping could be called the “heart and soul of our purpose in mortality”?

Invite a student to read aloud paragraph 7.7 in the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document. Ask the class to follow along, looking for truths about covenants. Invite students to report what they found.

As students report, emphasize the following key statement of doctrine: God gives the conditions for the covenant, and we agree to do what He asks us to do; God then promises us certain blessings for our obedience. (Invite students to consider marking this key statement of doctrine in their copies of the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document if they have not already done so.)

To provide an illustration of the conditions and blessings that are associated with our covenants, refer students to the picture of the young girl being baptized located at the beginning of doctrinal topic 7 in the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document.

• What do we covenant to do when we are baptized? (Possible answers include the following: We “are willing to take upon [ourselves] the name of [Jesus Christ]” and promise to “always remember him and keep his commandments” [D&C 20:77; see also Moroni 4:3]. We also covenant to “bear one another’s burdens, … to mourn with those that mourn[,] … [to] comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places” [Mosiah 18:8–10].)

• What are some of the blessings that God has promised us for obeying the covenant associated with baptism? (Possible answers include the following: We will “always have his Spirit to be with [us]” [D&C 20:77; Moroni 4:3; see also Mosiah 18:10]; we will receive a “remission of [our] sins” [Articles of Faith 1:4]; and we will inherit “eternal life” [Mosiah 18:9].)

Invite students to ponder how they have experienced the blessings of keeping their baptismal covenant and to record their thoughts in their study journals.

Segment 3 (8 minutes)

Ask students to turn to Exodus 19:5–6. Explain that this is a doctrinal mastery passage in the Old Testament that helps teach the key statement of doctrine identified in paragraph 7.7 of the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document. Invite students to consider marking this passage in a distinctive way so that they can locate it easily.

To help students understand the context of this passage, explain that after the children of Israel left Egypt, they came “into the wilderness” (Exodus 19:1) and camped at the base of Mount Sinai. While there, Moses ascended Mount Sinai, and the Lord revealed to him the terms of the covenant He would make with the children of Israel—including commandments, laws, and ordinances—as well as the blessings they would receive for keeping this covenant. (See Exodus 19–23.)

Invite a student to read Exodus 19:5–6 aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for the blessings that God promised the children of Israel if they would “obey [His] voice … and keep [His] covenant” (verse 5).

• What blessings did God promise the children of Israel if they would obey His voice and keep His covenant? (You may want to explain that the Hebrew word for peculiar as it is used in verse 5 is segullah, which means “special possession or property” [1 Peter 2:9, footnote f].)

Refer students to the phrase “an holy nation” in verse 6, and write the word holiness on the board.

• What does the word holiness mean? (“Spiritual and moral perfection. Holiness indicates purity of a person’s heart and intent” [Guide to the Scriptures, “Holiness,” scriptures.lds.org].)

• How does making and keeping covenants with God help us overcome the world and change our hearts?

Segment 4 (8 minutes)

Display a picture of a temple, such as the following:

• What do temples have to do with ordinances and covenants?

• What are saving ordinances that can be received only in the temple? (The endowment and the marriage sealing. [Students may need to review paragraph 7.5 in the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document to answer this question.])

To help students understand why temple ordinances and covenants are so important, read or display the following statement from True to the Faith:

“The principal purpose of temples is to provide the ordinances necessary for our exaltation in the celestial kingdom. Temple ordinances lead to the greatest blessings available through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. …

“One ordinance we receive in the temple is the endowment. The word endowment means ‘gift,’ and the temple endowment truly is a gift from God. The ordinance consists of a series of instructions and includes covenants we make to live righteously and comply with the requirements of the gospel. The endowment helps us focus on the Savior, His role in our Heavenly Father’s plan, and our commitment to follow Him.

“Another temple ordinance is celestial marriage, in which husband and wife are sealed to one another for eternity. A sealing performed in the temple continues forever if the husband and wife are faithful to the covenants they make” (“Temples,” True to the Faith: A Gospel Reference [2004], 170–71).

• Why are temple ordinances and covenants important?

• What does this statement help us to understand about the ordinances performed in the temple?

Invite a student to read aloud paragraph 7.9 in the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document. Ask the class to follow along, looking for what we can do to prepare ourselves to make covenants in the temple. Invite students to report what they found.

As students report, emphasize the following key statement of doctrine: We prepare to participate in ordinances and make covenants in the temple by living the standards of worthiness the Lord has set. Invite students to consider marking this key statement of doctrine in their copies of the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document if they have not already done so.

• What are some of the standards of worthiness that the Lord has set in order for us to enter the temple? (Make sure students understand that the Lord’s standards of worthiness are described in the questions that are asked during a temple recommend interview. Some of these standards are covered in For the Strength of Youth [booklet, 2011].)

Display or provide students with copies of the following statement by President Russell M. Nelson. Invite a student to read it aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for specific standards of worthiness that a person must comply with in order to receive a temple recommend.

“Each person applying for a [temple] recommend will be interviewed by a judge in Israel—the bishop—and by a stake president. … Their interviews will assess several vital issues. They will ask if we obey the law of tithing, if we keep the Word of Wisdom, and if we sustain the authorities of the Church. They will ask if we are honest, if we are morally clean, and if we honor the power of procreation as a sacred trust from our Creator” (Russell M. Nelson, “Personal Preparation for Temple Blessings,” Ensign, May 2001, 33).

Segment 5 (8 minutes)

Invite students to turn to Psalm 24:3–4. Explain that this is a doctrinal mastery passage that helps teach the key statement of doctrine identified in paragraph 7.9 of the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document. Invite students to consider marking this passage in a distinctive way so that they can locate it easily.

To help students understand the context of this passage, explain that the writer of this psalm used the phrases “the hill of the Lord” and “his holy place” (verse 3) to refer to the temple and the presence of the Lord.

Invite a student to read Psalm 24:3–4 aloud. Ask the class to follow along, looking for what is required in order to worship in the temple and stand in God’s presence.

• What is required in order to worship in the temple and stand in God’s presence?

• What do you think it means to have “clean hands, and a pure heart” (verse 4)?

• How does having clean hands and a pure heart impact your temple worship?

• How do you think that having clean hands and a pure heart can prepare you to make covenants with God in the temple?

Invite a student to read aloud the last two sentences of paragraph 7.9 in the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document. Ask the class to follow along, looking for why it is important for us to be worthy to enter the temple.

• Why is it important for us to be worthy to enter the temple?

Testify of the importance of ordinances and covenants in God’s plan. Invite students to ponder what they can do now to be worthy and prepared to make covenants with God in the temple.

Supplemental Teaching Ideas

Video presentation—“Standing in Holy Places”

To help students understand the key statement of doctrine we prepare to participate in ordinances and make covenants in the temple by living the standards of worthiness the Lord has set, consider showing the the video “Standing in Holy Places” (5:35), available on LDS.org. As students watch the video, ask them to look for ways in which the young woman in the video prepared herself to worthily enter the temple. After the video, invite students to report what they found.

The importance of ordinances and covenants

To further emphasize the importance of ordinances and covenants, consider sharing the following statements at appropriate points in the lesson:

President Boyd K. Packer (1924–2015) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained that ordinances and covenants are necessary for exaltation:

“Ordinances and covenants become our credentials for admission into [God’s] presence. To worthily receive them is the quest of a lifetime; to keep them thereafter is the challenge of mortality” (Boyd K. Packer, “Covenants,” Ensign, May 1987, 24).

President Russell M. Nelson explained that the greatest accomplishment we can achieve in this life is faithfully obeying covenants made with God:

“The greatest compliment that can be earned here in this life is to be known as a covenant keeper. The rewards for a covenant keeper will be realized both here and hereafter” (Russell M. Nelson, “Covenants,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2011, 88).

Psalm 24:3–4. What does it mean to have clean hands and a pure heart?

If students stuggle to understand what it means to have “clean hands, and a pure heart” (Psalm 24:4), consider inviting a student to read the following statement by Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles:

“Let me suggest that hands are made clean through the process of putting off the natural man and by overcoming sin and the evil influences in our lives through the Savior’s Atonement. Hearts are purified as we receive His strengthening power to do good and become better. All of our worthy desires and good works, as necessary as they are, can never produce clean hands and a pure heart. It is the Atonement of Jesus Christ that provides both a cleansing and redeeming power that helps us to overcome sin and a sanctifying and strengthening power that helps us to become better than we ever could by relying only upon our own strength. The infinite Atonement is for both the sinner and for the saint in each of us” (David A. Bednar, “Clean Hands and a Pure Heart,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2007, 82).