Ordinances See the separate study on Baptism See the separate study on the Sacrament An Ordinance is a specific performance or action required of God which embodies sacred promises or covenants. Often symbolism and remembrance is involved in ordinances. Entrance and continuation into the Kingdom of God is brought about by obedience to ordinances which brings the blessings of God. The gospel itself is the new and everlasting covenant between God and man. We can enter into that covenant in only one way: through baptism by immersion for the remission of our sins. Without obeying the ordinance, we can neither enter the covenant nor receive its blessings. As we partake of the sacrament, we express our willingness to take the name of Christ upon us, to always remember Him, and to keep His commandments. For this, God extends His covenant that we will always have His Spirit to be with us. ELDER DENNIS B. NEUENSCHWANDER Aug 2001 Ensign It is through the ordinances of the Gospel that the Lord tests the faith of His people. Ordinances become a measure of an individual s progress and open the door to spiritual blessings. They are an outward expression of our inward faith. The Saviour stated His mortal ministry with ordinance of baptism and He finished it by introducing the ordinance of the sacrament. Likewise we commence our personal relationship with the Saviour through the ordinance of baptism and that relationship endures to the end by the saints partaking of the sacrament worthily. An Ordinance is usually recorded. It is making an agreement with the Lord official D&C 52:15-16: Wherefore he that prayeth whose spirit is contrite, the same is accepted of me if he obey mine ordinances. He that speaketh, whose spirit is contrite, whose language is meek and edifieth the same is of God if he obey mine ordinances. D&C 1:14-16: And the day cometh that they who will not hear the voice of the Lord, neither the voice of His servants, neither give heed to the words of the prophets and apostles, shall be cut off from among the people. For they have strayed from mine ordinances and have broken mine everlasting covenant. They seek not the Lord to establish His righteousness. D&C 64:5: And the keys of the mysteries of the kingdom shall not be taken from my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., through the means I have appointed, while he liveth, inasmuch as he obeyeth mine ordinances. D&C 77:14: What are we to understand by the little book which was eaten by John, as mentioned in the 10th chapter of Revelation? A. We are to understand that it was a mission, 1
and an ordinance, for him to gather the tribes of Israel; behold, this is Elias, who, as it is written, must come and restore all things. D&C 84:19-22: And this greater priesthood administereth the gospel and holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God. Therefore, in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest. And without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood, the power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh; for without this no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and live. D&C 88:139-140: And he shall be received by the ordinance of the washing of feet, for unto this end was the ordinance of the washing of feet instituted. And again, the ordinance of washing feet is to be administered by the president, or presiding elder of the church. D&C 121:18-19: And those who swear falsely against my servants, that they might bring them into bondage and death Wo unto them; because they have offended my little ones they shall be severed from the ordinances of mine house. D&C 124:33-34: For verily I say unto you, that after you have had sufficient time to build a house to me, wherein the ordinance of baptizing for the dead belongeth, and for which the same was instituted from before the foundation of the world, your baptisms for your dead cannot be acceptable unto me; For therein are the keys of the holy priesthood ordained, that you may receive honor and glory. D&C 124: 39-40: Therefore, verily I say unto you, that your anointing s, and your washings, and your baptisms for the dead, and your solemn assemblies, and your memorials for your sacrifices by the sons of Levi, and for your oracles in your most holy places wherein you receive conversations, and your statutes and judgments, for the beginning of the revelations and foundation of Zion, and for the glory, honor, and endowment of all her municipals, are ordained by the ordinance of my holy house, which my people are always commanded to build unto my holy name. And verily I say unto you, let this house be built unto my name, that I may reveal mine ordinances therein unto my people; D&C 128:8: Now, the nature of this ordinance (baptism for the dead) consists in the power of the priesthood, by the revelation of Jesus Christ, wherein it is granted that whatsoever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Or, in other words, taking a different view of the translation, whatsoever you record on earth shall be recorded in heaven, and whatsoever you do not record on earth shall not be recorded in heaven; for out of the books shall your dead be judged, according to their own works, whether they themselves have attended to the ordinances in their own propria persona, or by the means of their own agents, according to the ordinance which God has prepared for their salvation from before the foundation of the world, according to the records which they have kept concerning their dead. D&C 136:4: And this shall be our covenant that we will walk in all the ordinances of the Lord. 2
D&C 138:58: The dead who repent will be redeemed, through obedience to the ordinances of the house of God. Alma 13:7-8: This high priesthood being after the order of his Son, which order was from the foundation of the world; or in other words, being without beginning of days or end of years, being prepared from eternity to all eternity, according to his foreknowledge of all things Now they were ordained after this manner being called with a holy calling, and ordained with a holy ordinance, and taking upon them the high priesthood of the holy order, which calling, and ordinance, and high priesthood, is without beginning or end. Alma 13:15-16: And it was this same Melchizedek to whom Abraham paid tithes; yea, even our father Abraham paid tithes of one-tenth part of all he possessed. Now these ordinances were given after this manner, that thereby the people might look forward on the Son of God, it being a type of his order. Ordinances under the Law of Moses 2 Nephi 25:30: And, inasmuch as it shall be expedient, ye must keep the performances and ordinances of God until the law shall be fulfilled which was given unto Moses. Alma 30:3: Yea and the people did observe to keep the commandments of the Lord; and they were strict in observing the ordinances of God, according to the law of Moses; for they were taught to keep the law of Moses until it should be fulfilled. 4 Nephi 1:12: And they did not walk any more after the performances and ordinances of the law of Moses; but they did walk after the commandments which they had received from their Lord and their God. Exodus 18:20: And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do. Leviticus 18:3-4: After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances. Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the Lord your God. Isaiah 24:5: The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Ezekiel 11:19-20: And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh: That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. Tithing is an ordinance 3
3 Nephi 24:7-10, 14: Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of Hosts. But ye say: Wherein shall we return? Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say: Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.ye are cursed with a curse, for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in my house; and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it..ye have said: It is vain to serve God, and what doth it profit that we have kept his ordinances. Worthiness is essential Mormon 9:29: See that ye are not baptized unworthily; see that ye partake not of the sacrament of Christ unworthily; but see that ye do all things in worthiness, and do it in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God. Notes taken from other studies: Those holding the keys of the Priesthood of the church have an obligation to protect the sacredness of the ordinance of the sacrament. Their decision in this reflects how they personally feel about the emblems of the Lord s sacrifice and how sacred they regard the sacrament. However it is also true that missions have had number goals and many have been baptized to satisfy numbers without being properly prepared or worthy. In such cases those involved in these flog baptisms are actually taking the name of God in vain and are therefore breaking a commandment themselves. Baptisms are done in the sacred name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost and when they are performed for the wrong reason in any degree of unrighteousness then it is using their names in an inappropriate way. Quotes ELDER DENNIS B. NEUENSCHWANDER Aug 2001 Ensign Sacred ordinances and the divine authority to administer them did not begin with the Restoration of the gospel and the founding of the modern Church in 1830. The sacred ordinances of the gospel as requirements for salvation and exaltation were instituted from before the foundation of the world. They have always been an immutable part of the gospel. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught: Ordinances instituted in the heavens before the foundation of the world, in the priesthood, for the salvation of men, are not to be altered or changed. All must be saved on the same principles. If this were not the case, salvation would indeed be an arbitrary matter and would be restricted to those few who may have been fortunate enough to have heard of, and believed in, Jesus Christ. It is this principle of consistent and unalterable requirements that gives true meaning to the performance of vicarious ordinances in the temple. The Prophet wrote 4
that baptism for the dead and the recording of such baptisms conform to the ordinance and preparation that the Lord ordained and prepared before the foundation of the world, for the salvation of the dead who should die without a knowledge of the gospel. The gospel itself is the new and everlasting covenant between God and man. We can enter into that covenant in only one way: through baptism by immersion for the remission of our sins. Without obeying the ordinance, we can neither enter the covenant nor receive its blessings. God is the only one who can extend forgiveness of sins and bestow the blessings of membership in His kingdom that comes through baptism. The ordinances of baptism and the sacrament are bound together inseparably. Through baptism we receive a remission of our sins. Through the sacrament we retain a remission of sins. By participating in baptism and the sacrament, we agree, or covenant, that we are willing to take the name of Christ upon us, to keep His commandments, and to always remember Him. In both instances, based upon our obedience to the ordinances, God extends the promise, or covenant, that we would have His Spirit to be with us. Understanding the nature of the covenant and living in accordance with its requirements give life and meaning to the ordinance itself. 5