“Chapter 8: The Abrahamic Covenant,” Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Russell M. Nelson (2023)

“Chapter 8,” Teachings: Russell M. Nelson

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Abraham praying

Chapter 8

The Abrahamic Covenant

Jesus Christ—Jehovah of the Old Testament—made remarkable promises to Abraham. … These divine promises are available to you!

From the Life of Russell M. Nelson

All eight of President Russell M. Nelson’s great-grandparents were faithful disciples of Jesus Christ who sacrificed much to receive the blessings of the restored gospel. However, some of their descendants did not follow their examples. “As a result,” President Nelson said, “I was not raised in a gospel-centered home.

“I adored my parents. They meant the world to me and taught me crucial lessons. I cannot thank them enough for the happy homelife they created for me and my siblings. And yet, even as a boy, I knew I was missing something.”

Young Russell didn’t know it at the time, but he was yearning for the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant. As he sought for what he was missing, he came to love learning about the gospel.

When he was 16 years old, “his heart began to respond to the truths of the gospel and he was baptized along with his siblings.” At his baptism, he entered what he would later describe as “the gate that leads to becoming joint heirs to all the promises given anciently by the Lord to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their posterity.” Still, he yearned for greater blessings.

“As I matured and began to understand the magnificence of Heavenly Father’s plan,” he recalled, “I often said to myself, ‘I don’t want one more Christmas present! I just want to be sealed to my parents.’ That longed-for event did not happen until my parents were past 80, and then it did happen. I cannot fully express the joy that I felt that day, and each day I feel that joy of their sealing and my being sealed to them.”

By that time, he understood what his parents had been missing. He was thrilled to see them and his siblings in the temple, where they were “introduced to all the blessings reserved for the faithful posterity of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” He later said of his parents, “Of all the many great things they had done for all of us through the years, this was the greatest, for it provided the continuity and unity that would perpetuate our family unit into the eternities ahead.”

Teachings of Russell M. Nelson

What is the Abrahamic covenant? And what does it have to do with each of us?

What is the Abrahamic covenant? And what does it have to do with … each of us?

Some 4,000 years ago, Jesus Christ—Jehovah of the Old Testament—made remarkable promises to Abraham.

First, the Savior of the world would come through Abraham’s lineage. This was an extraordinary promise because, at that time, Abraham and Sarah had no posterity and were too old to have children. But God is a God of miracles. The birth of their son, Isaac, was a miracle. …

Second, Abraham was promised an eternal increase! [see Genesis 15:5] …

A third promise the Lord made was that the seed of Abraham would bear the priesthood of God and administer its exalting ordinances. Abraham’s seed would have access to God’s power, the very same power by which this and other worlds were created. This is the power by which the Lord would heal and lift those who are suffering. …

A fourth promise to Abraham was that all the nations of the earth will be blessed through his lineage. …

My dear brothers and sisters, these promises—first given to Abraham and later reaffirmed with his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob (who became “Israel”)—are known as the Abrahamic covenant and are available to all of God’s children. Yes, these divine promises are available to you!

History tells us that despite these promises, many of the house of Israel in biblical days rejected the teachings of the Lord and persecuted the prophets. The Lord was angry and responded to those rebellious ones with a vow, stating, “I will scatter you among the heathen” [Leviticus 26:33].

God did scatter Israel far and wide! But He did so with a promise that one day scattered Israel would be gathered back into the fold of the Lord. And that promised day is today!

We have received, as did they of old, the holy priesthood and the everlasting gospel. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are our ancestors. We are of Israel. We have the right to receive the gospel, blessings of the priesthood, and eternal life. Nations of the earth will be blessed by our efforts and by the labors of our posterity. The literal seed of Abraham and those who are gathered into his family by adoption receive these promised blessings—predicated upon acceptance of the Lord and obedience to his commandments.

Study Questions

How would you explain the promises of the Abrahamic covenant to a child? As President Nelson asked, what does the Abrahamic covenant have to do with each of us?

We enter the covenant path at baptism and more completely in the temple

The plan laid out in the Grand Council in Heaven included the sobering realization that we would all be cut off from God’s presence. However, God promised that He would provide a Savior who would overcome the consequences of the Fall. God told Adam after his baptism:

“Thou art after the order of him who was without beginning of days or end of years, from all eternity to all eternity.

“Behold, thou art one in me, a son of God; and thus may all become my sons” (Moses 6:67–68).

Adam and Eve accepted the ordinance of baptism and began the process of being one with God. They had entered the covenant path.

When you and I also enter that path, we have a new way of life. We thereby create a relationship with God that allows Him to bless and change us. The covenant path leads us back to Him. If we let God prevail in our lives, that covenant will lead us closer and closer to Him. All covenants are intended to be binding. They create a relationship with everlasting ties.

Adam and Eve, Noah and his wife, Abraham and Sarah, Lehi and Sariah, and all other devoted disciples of Jesus Christ—since the world was created—have made the same covenants with God. They have received the same ordinances that we as members of the Lord’s restored Church today have made: those covenants that we receive at baptism and in the temple.

The Savior invites all to follow Him into the waters of baptism and, in time, to make additional covenants with God in the temple and receive and be faithful to those further essential ordinances. All these are required if we want to be exalted with our families and with God forever.

A marriage covenant made in the temple is tied directly to that Abrahamic covenant. In the temple a couple is introduced to all the blessings reserved for the faithful posterity of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

As did Adam, you and I personally entered the covenant path at baptism. Then we enter it more completely in the temple. The blessings of the Abrahamic covenant are conferred in holy temples.

At baptism we covenant to serve the Lord and keep His commandments [see Doctrine and Covenants 20:37]. When we partake of the sacrament, we renew that covenant and declare our willingness to take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ. Thereby we are adopted as His sons and daughters and are known as brothers and sisters. He is the father of our new life. Ultimately, in the holy temple, we may become joint heirs to the blessings of an eternal family, as once promised to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their posterity [see Galatians 3:29; Doctrine and Covenants 86:8–11]. Thus, celestial marriage is the covenant of exaltation.

Study Question

What promises have you made to God as you have received priesthood ordinances?

Jesus Christ is at the center of the Abrahamic covenant

The Savior’s atoning sacrifice enabled the Father to fulfill His promises made to His children. Because Jesus Christ is “the way, the truth, and the life,” it follows that “no man cometh unto the Father, but by [Him]” (John 14:6). The fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant becomes feasible because of the Atonement of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is at the center of the Abrahamic covenant. …

Those who make sacred covenants and keep them are promised eternal life and exaltation, “the greatest of all the gifts of God” (Doctrine and Covenants 14:7). Jesus Christ is the guarantor of those covenants (see Hebrews 7:22; 8:6). Covenant keepers who love God and allow Him to prevail over all other things in their lives make Him the most powerful influence in their lives.

Study Questions

How is Jesus Christ at the center of the Abrahamic covenant? What can you do to center your life on Him?

Each person who fully embraces the gospel becomes one of God’s covenant children

The gospel net to gather scattered Israel is expansive. There is room for each person who will fully embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ. Each convert becomes one of God’s covenant children, whether by birth or by adoption. Each becomes a full heir to all that God has promised the faithful children of Israel!

Each of us has a divine potential because each is a child of God. Each is equal in His eyes. The implications of this truth are profound. Brothers and sisters, please listen carefully to what I am about to say. God does not love one race more than another. His doctrine on this matter is clear. He invites all to come unto Him, “black and white, bond and free, male and female” [2 Nephi 26:33].

I assure you that your standing before God is not determined by the color of your skin. Favor or disfavor with God is dependent upon your devotion to God and His commandments and not the color of your skin.

We are men and women of God quite precisely because we have made covenants with Him. We are of Abraham. We are children of the covenant—the Abrahamic covenant. Those not directly descended from Abraham who accept the gospel through repentance and baptism become Abraham’s seed by adoption [see Galatians 3:26–29; Abraham 2:10]. Thus, all of Abraham’s promises are theirs also! They, too, become the chosen children of the Lord. Simply stated, all who are willing to make covenants with God and keep them are His covenant people.

Study Question

In what ways might the Abrahamic covenant influence the way you interact with others?

As children of the covenant, we know who we are and what God expects of us

Some of us are the literal seed of Abraham; others are gathered into his family by adoption. The Lord makes no distinction. Together we receive these promised blessings—if we seek the Lord and obey His commandments. But if we don’t, we lose the blessings of the covenant. To assist us, His Church provides patriarchal blessings to give each recipient a vision for his or her future as well as a connection with the past, even a declaration of lineage back to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. …

When we realize that we are children of the covenant, we know who we are and what God expects of us. His law is written in our hearts. He is our God and we are His people. Committed children of the covenant remain steadfast, even in the midst of adversity. When that doctrine is deeply implanted in our hearts, even the sting of death is soothed and our spiritual stamina is strengthened.

You can lay claim to all the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant, destined to be fulfilled in these latter days. Blessings and responsibilities once extended to other nations (see Galatians 3:7–9, 14, 27, 29) have now been given to us (see Doctrine and Covenants 110:12). Patriarchal blessings reveal our linkage to the great patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We are the seed of Abraham through whom all the nations of the earth will be blessed. That identity merits our precious priority, which in turn brings to us the blessings of heaven.

Study Questions

How has your patriarchal blessing helped you understand who you are and what God expects of you?

The Lord has renewed the Abrahamic covenant, and we get to participate in it!

This everlasting covenant was restored as part of the great Restoration of the gospel in its fulness. Think of it! …

In the closing text of the Old Testament, we read of Malachi’s promise that Elijah will “turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers” (Malachi 4:6). In ancient Israel, such reference to the fathers would have included fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This promise is clarified when we read the different version of this verse Moroni quoted to the Prophet Joseph Smith: “He [Elijah] shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers” (Joseph Smith—History 1:39). Those fathers surely include Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (See Doctrine and Covenants 27:9–10.) …

Because the Melchizedek Priesthood has been restored, covenant-keeping women and men have access to “all the spiritual blessings” of the gospel (Doctrine and Covenants 107:18; emphasis added).

A week after the dedication of the Kirtland Temple in 1836, under the direction of the Lord, Elijah appeared. His purpose? “To turn … the children to the fathers” (Doctrine and Covenants 110:15). Elias also appeared. His purpose? To commit to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery “the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham, saying that in us and our seed all generations after us should be blessed” (Doctrine and Covenants 110:12). Thus, the Master conferred upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery priesthood authority and the right to convey the unique blessings of the Abrahamic covenant to others.

Let me invite you to turn to 1 Nephi chapter 15, which is all about the gathering of Israel. I would like you to read the whole chapter when you can, but I am only going to pick out verse 18:

“Wherefore, our father [Lehi] hath not spoken of our seed alone, but also of all the house of Israel, pointing to the covenant which should be fulfilled in the latter days; which covenant the Lord made to our father Abraham, saying: In thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.”

Underline it, memorize it, comprehend it, along with the date of this revelation. What is the date? 592–600 BC! So, you must understand that 600 years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem—600 years before the Savior was born—the prophets knew that this covenant would be fulfilled in the latter days.

Now here we are [today]. All the prophets who have written about this foretold of this day. You and I get to participate in it! We are not spectators as everyone else was. We get to participate. It is so exciting I can hardly wait to jump out of bed every morning!

Study Question

What blessings have you received because of the renewal of the Abrahamic covenant? How can you help fulfill that covenant?

Invitations and Promises

These divine promises are available to you!

Receive and be faithful to essential ordinances and covenants

As did Adam, you and I personally entered the covenant path at baptism. Then we enter it more completely in the temple.

You can lay claim to all the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant

You can lay claim to all the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant, destined to be fulfilled in these latter days. Blessings and responsibilities once extended to other nations (see Galatians 3:7–9, 14, 27, 29) have now been given to us (see Doctrine and Covenants 110:12). Patriarchal blessings reveal our linkage to the great patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We are the seed of Abraham through whom all the nations of the earth will be blessed. That identity merits our precious priority, which in turn brings to us the blessings of heaven.

Videos

Related Talks

“The Everlasting Covenant” (Liahona, October 2022; text of a talk President Nelson gave in March 2022)

“Thanks for the Covenant” (Brigham Young University devotional, November 22, 1988)