Saving and Exalting Ordinances

Yesterday I taught a lesson at church to the priesthood holders on the saving ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ and here is the first part of what I taught:

President Eyring stated in the October 2010 General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to the brethren of the church who hold the priesthood: "We have been called to use divine power to serve the children of our Heavenly Father" (Serve with the Spirit). This divine power is given to us by the grace of God to fulfill His purpose. This purpose is "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39). God prepared His Son to carry out this purpose through His Atonement. "Through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel" (Article of Faith 1:3).

Salvation is brought about through the grace of Christ's Atonement and through faith. We are able to choose faith, and live by faith, because of the grace of God. Because of Christ, we may be saved from hell and everlasting punishment to heaven and eternal life. As we have learned from Joseph Smith there are varying degrees of salvation. There is salvation which brings us into heaven and God's presence and there is a degree of salvation which brings up into the celestial kingdom of heaven and God the Father's presence; this degree of salvation is called exaltation. God has given us His laws and ordinances and the authority to perform those ordinances. These ordinances and obedience to their associated laws is required for both salvation and exaltation.

"The first ... ordinances of the Gospel are: ... Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins [and] Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost" Article of Faith 1:4). "An ordinance is a sacred act, such as baptism, that is performed by the authority of the priesthood. The ordinances of baptism, confirmation, Melchizedek Priesthood ordination (for men), the temple endowment, and temple sealing are required for exaltation for all accountable persons. These are called the saving [and exalting] ordinances. As part of each saving [or exalting] ordinance, the recipient makes covenants with God. Performance of a saving [or exalting] ordinance requires authorization from a priesthood leader who holds the appropriate keys or who functions under the direction of a person who holds those keys." (Handbook 2: Administering the Church: Priesthood Ordinances and Blessings)

There are seven components to a saving and exalting ordinance:
1) Keys
2) Authority
3) Ceremony
4) Covenants
5) Witnesses
6) Record
7) Spirit

The person with keys is the one authorized by God to allow His ordinances to be performed. He interviews (or delegates the interview of) the individual to receive the ordinance to find them worthy to receive it. He also verifies that the person performing the ceremony is worthy and that the ceremony is performed properly.

The person who performs the ceremony must have the proper authority to perform the ordinance and be worthy to perform it. Generally, this person must be worthy to enter the temple in order to perform a saving or exalting ordinance.

The ceremony is the signing of the agreement, as you will, and is generally very symbolic. It is a formal act or ritual which God prescribed from the foundation of the world and is required of us in order to be saved. Christ Himself was required to receive them as we see in the New Testament.

Covenants are two-sided agreements. They are the central aspect of the ordinance and the covenants associated with saving and exalting ordinances are agreements made between the person receiving the ordinance and God. God makes the conditions and we agree to abide by His conditions. We know that God will keep His side of the covenant if we keep our side. God will not bless us with the associated blessings if we do not do our part.

Only certain authorized people can be witnesses, just like only those with the authority can perform the ceremony. The need for witnesses is described frequently in the scriptures. One example is in D&C 128:2-3 where it states that there needs to be an eye-witness to bear record.

As just alluded to, a record must be kept. The need for a record is because "out of the books shall your dead be judged, according to their own works" (D&C 128:8). Now there needs to be something said about the phrase - according to their own works. Most people assume that this means - according to what they do - and this is not incorrect, but there is another side that is missing when this is assumed. They are missing the other meaning of the word "works." In the New Testament, works often refer to ordinances; most of the time in reference to the law of Moses. Here they are referring to the saving and exalting ordinances and their associated covenants. I may talk about this more in a future post.

The Spirit of God is always present when the authority of God is put into action. "In the ordinances [of the priesthood], the power of godliness is manifest." (D&C 84:20)


There are three main parts required to be saved: Agreeing to live by God's laws and commandments through covenants, "signing" the agreement through ordinances as God requires, and obedience to your side of the agreement. There needs to be that follow through. If you keep your side of the covenant God must keep His side because He cannot lie. He has stated: "I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise" (D&C 82:10).