D&C 132:18-28

132:18-25 - I listened to a really interesting general conference talk on the way to work today that gave an interesting perspective on the whole temporal vs eternal perspective. It was funny because it’s an older one, from 1971 called “Ignorance is Expensive,” and when the speaker started by talking about a neighbor who died and he asked the cousin “how much did he leave behind?” And the answer was “all of it.” It was pretty profound and I immediately thought about what we talked about in this section about what is eternal. It occurred to me that the true indication of what’s important is what we take with us. If we are indeed eternal beings, then what stays with us eternally is what matters, and the authority that governs the eternities is the true Supreme Being. The IM makes a chart explaining the covenant of eternal marriage and what it means, the explanation is lengthy but informative. The IM begins saying, “The revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants include all of the laws necessary for exaltation. If we keep the law revealed in section 132 and all the other laws, such as faith, repentance, baptism, and receiving the Holy Ghost, we can be exalted. Celestial marriage is a covenant, a contract between the two marriage partners and the Lord. Covenants have ‘if-then’ clauses: if we keep certain commandments, then the Lord promises us certain blessings. Verses 19-22 form such a clause.

1. If a couple- are married in accordance with the Lord’s law… then they will- ‘inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers, dominions, all heights and depths.’
2. If a couple- are married by one who has the keys of the priesthood… then they will- ‘pass by the angels’ to their exaltation.
3. If a couple- Have their marriage sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise… then they will- Be gods for all eternity
4. If a couple- abide in the covenant… then they will- have a ‘continuation of the lives.’

Some members of the Church mistakenly believe that marriage in the temple fulfills the requirements of the covenant. But marriage in the temple fulfills only the first two parts of the covenant. Having one’s marriage sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise requires a lifelong commitment to righteousness. Elder Bruce R. McConkie taught that… “those married in the temple can never under any circumstances gain exaltation unless they keep the commandments of God and abide in the covenant of marriage which they have taken upon themselves.’” The term “continuation of the lives” is interesting, the IM quotes Elder Bruce R. McConkie teaching that this term means an “eternal ‘increase’ ‘a continuation of the seeds,’ a ‘continuation of the lives.’” And quotes President Joseph Fielding Smith explaining that “the terms ‘deaths’ mentioned here has reference to the cutting off of all those who reject this eternal covenant of marriage and therefore they are denied the power of exaltation and the continuation of posterity.”

132:26-28 - Verse 26 is pretty long and confusing, reading it over again it seems to say that if a man and a woman are married “according to my word and they are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise,” they will come forth in the first resurrection even if they “commit any sin or transgression… all manner of blasphemies.” It sounds like no matter what you do, you’ll be saved if you are sealed in the temple. The IM quotes President Harold B. Lee as teaching, “Some folks have the mistaken notion that if somehow, by hook or crook, they can get into the House of the Lord and be married they are assured of exaltation regardless of what they do, and they’ll quote the 132 section, the 26^th verse. But that isn’t what the Lord means. The Lord does assure an exaltation to those who make mistakes, if they repent.” President Joseph Fielding Smith taught “Verse 26, in Section 132, is the most abused passage in any scripture. The Lord has never promised any soul that he may be taken into exaltation without the spirit of repentance. While repentance is not stated in this passage, yet it is, and must be, implied. It is strange to me that everyone knows about verse 26, but it seems that they have never read or heard of Matthew 12:31-32, where the Lord tells us the same thing in substance as we find in verse 26, section 132… So we must conclude that those spoken of in verse 26 are those who, having sinned, have fully repented and are willing to pay the price of their sinning, else the blessings of exaltation will not follow. Repentance is absolutely necessary for the forgiveness, and the person having sinned must be cleansed.” The IM says “The key phrase is ‘and they are sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise.’ This sealing is related to having one’s calling and election made sure.” It doesn’t make any sense that the Lord would tell us to be righteous, unless we are sealed in the temple, then we can do whatever we want, that is totally wrong and contrary to all the other teachings the Lord has given us. Interestingly, the IM’s quote of Elder Bruce R. McConkie gives some insight into why celestial marriage is important. I know that it will probably seem obvious to everyone else, but I’ve never put these two elements together. “Eternal life does not and cannot exist for a man or woman alone, because in its very nature it consists of the continuation of the family unit in eternity.” We cannot have children alone, therefore to have eternal increase we must have a partner, I never put that together before right now. There’s a really interesting explanation about the phrase “Innocent blood” in the IM saying, ‘Innocent blood has a more specific meaning in this verse than it does in normal usage. Ultimately, as Elder Bruce R. McConkie pointed out, the only truly innocent blood is that of the Savior: ‘The innocent blood is that of Christ; and those who commit blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, which is the unpardonable sin, thereby ‘crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.’ They are, in other words, people who would have crucified Christ, having the while a perfect knowledge that he was the Son of God.”