Covenants, Ordinances, and the Priesthood

Covenants

According to the scriptures, baptism is essential for salvation (John 3:5, 2 Nephi 9:23-24, Moroni 7:33–34, 2 Nephi 31, 3 Nephi 27:19–21).

This is because Baptism is a covenant (or two way promise) we perform with God: on our side, during Baptism we promise to be Christlike, follow the commandments, and be a witness for Christ (Mosiah 18:8–10, Mosiah 21:35, D&C 20:37, 2 Nephi 31:13–14). In return, God grants us the spirit of Christ, forgiveness and eternal life (Galatians 3:27, Acts 2:38, 2 Nephi 31:17, Mosiah 18:13, Mosiah 26:22-23, Moroni 7:33–34, 3 Nephi 27:19–21). This all aligns with the ideas discussed in The Atonement as a Blood Transfusion – which is that we indeed are saved by Grace, but to access the fullness of said grace, we must endeavor to follow Christ. In other words, Christ opens the door to salvation, but we must walk through it.

Ordinances vs Covenants

Thus, Baptism has two components: firstly, there is the covenant we make to God to follow Christ. This is accompanied with the physical act of going underwater – which we call the “ordinance”. The physical act of going underwater of course doesn’t literally save us – rather, it helps formalize our compact with God.

Since baptism is all about formalizing our agreement with God, it isn’t necessary to baptize children under the age of 8 – since they aren’t capable yet of making covenants, nor do they yet truly need to have their sins washed away since they aren’t capable of committing sin (D&C 68:25–27, Moroni 8:4–24).

Symbolism

In baptism, when we are submerged underwater and then arise out of the water, this represents the spiritual death of our old selves and then being born again as new creatures in Christ. This processing of being buried and raised out of the water also represents the death and resurrection of Christ (Romans 6:3–7, Colossians 2:12), and of course Baptism also represents ceremonially washing ourselves clean of sin.

Since all of this symbolism hinges upon the idea of being buried in water and then arising from water, Baptisms must be performed with immersion (3 Nephi 11:23–26, Mosiah 18:14–16, D&C 20:72–74).

Sacrament

When we take the sacrament – meaning we eat bread and water in the name of Christ – we perform much of the same covenants we make when we are baptized. For example, here is the prayer for blessing the bread:

Moroni 4:3
3 O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who partake of it; that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son, and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him, and keep his commandments which he hath given them, that they may always have his Spirit to be with them. Amen.

As you can see, when we take the sacrament, we again enter into a covenant: we promise to represent and follow Christ, and in return we are promised greater access to his spirit. In a similar fashion to Baptism, this promise is again accompanied by an ordinance – a physical act sealing the promise – which is our eating of the bread.

When we eat the bread, this symbolizes eating of Christ’s flesh, and when we drink of the water, that represents drinking of Christ’s blood (John 6:53–56). This all represents how Christ somewhat transfers his life force to us through the atonement – as discussed in The Atonement as a Blood Transfusion.

Worthiness

Before participating in covenants (Like Baptism or the Sacrament), we must first truly repent of our sins, which requires us to start living worthily (Moroni 6:1–3, 1 Corinthians 11:27–29, Matthew 5:23–24, 3 Nephi 18:28–29, Mormon 9:29, D&C 20:37). I think this is likely because in said covenants we promise to try to act righteously, and so they don’t make sense if at the outset already we already aren’t being righteous. Similarly, I think this is also because the primary goal of covenants is to wash us of our sins, which can’t happen if we haven’t at least made the first steps of repenting for our sins.

Moreover, if we then proceed to break to our covenants by committing sin, then it will be much worse for us than if we had never formed the covenant in the first place (Hebrews 6:4–6, Luke 12:47-48, Hebrews 10:26–27, 2 Peter 2:20–22, Mosiah 2:36–39, Alma 24:30, D&C 54:4-6, 2 Nephi 31:13–14).

Thus, we must endeavor to endure to the end – meaning we should continue following the gospel until death. The scriptures teach that enduring to end is necessary for salvation (2 Nephi 9:23-24, 2 Nephi 31, 3 Nephi 27:16–21, D&C 14:7, Matthew 10:22, Matthew 24:13, Revelation 2:10) – after all, the whole point of the gospel is to help us to become more Christlike so that we can be accounted sons and daughters of God and therefore inherit his kingdom – meaning we must never give up trying to follow the gospel and keep the commandments.

The Priesthood

The Priesthood in the Bible

As I have described above, Baptism is mainly aimed at helping us to be born again and be cleansed of our sins, while the Sacrament promises to grant us greater access to the Spirit of Christ. Beyond this, the scriptures also promise that we can gain access to God’s power through the priesthood, conditional upon us committing to represent Christ. Like Baptism and the Sacrament, the priesthood is also initiated with an outward ceremony: the laying on of hands and anointing with oil. Essentially, in the laying on of hands, a person drops consecrated oil on your head and then lays their hands upon your head to confer the priesthood in the name of Christ.

Interestingly, the New Testament actually talks a lot about the priesthood, even though modern Christianity tends to skip this topic:

Christ needed to grant power to his disciples for them to perform miracles (Matthew 10:1, Luke 9:1–2).
Christ used anointing to grant his disciples the priesthood (John 15:16, Mark 3:14–15).
The apostles used the laying on of hands to call people into positions in the church and grant spiritual gifts (Acts 6:5–6, Acts 13:2–3, 1 Timothy 4:14).
He apostles used ordination to call people into positions in the church (Acts 14:23, Titus 1:5).
Paul mentions how Timothy received the power of the priesthood through the laying on of hands (2 Timothy 1:6).
Ordination was used to set apart new Apostles (Acts 1:21–26).
The laying on of hands was used to set apart new Apostles (Acts 6:6).
Moses used laying on of hands to transfer authority to guide Israel (Numbers 27:18–23, Deuteronomy 34:9).
The laying on of hands is a doctrine of Christ (Hebrews 6:1–2).

The Holy Ghost

Similar to the priesthood, the Bible also teaches that the holy ghost is conferred to people via the laying on of hands (Acts 8:14–17, Acts 19:5–6).

The gift of the Holy Ghost essentially allows us greater access God’s spirit, allowing us to be led and guided by Him (John 14:26–27, 2 Nephi 32:5, D&C 45:57, 2 Nephi 32:5, D&C 11:12–14, 1 Nephi 4:6), to be warned (Acts 16:6–7, D&C 45:57), to find the truth (John 16:13, John 15:26, John 14:16–17, Moroni 10:5, 1 Nephi 10:19), to become humble (Moroni 8:26), and to find comfort (John 14:16–17, Acts 9:31, Alma 17:10).

Chains of Priesthood Conferral

The whole point of consecration and laying on of hands, as outlined in the scriptures above, is that we mortals cannot grant ourselves the priesthood through our own power. Rather, we either need Jesus to directly confer us the priesthood, or we need someone who already has the priesthood to confer it upon us. This forms chains of priesthood conferral, as seen in the Bible.

The apostles received the priest from Christ (John 15:16, Mark 3:14–15).
Paul received the priesthood from the Apostles (Acts 13:2–3).
Timothy received the priesthood from Paul (2 Timothy 1:6).
Titus received the priesthood from Paul (Titus 1:5).
Titus was instructed to ordain further priesthood holders (Titus 1:5).

If this chain is broken, then any claim to priesthood is self-appointed and of man, rather than of God. Here are some scriptures on this:
Hebrews 5:1–6
1 For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins:
…4 And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.
…6 As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

John 15:16
16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

Numbers 16:1–35 – in this story, a group of “men of renown” thought they could take upon themselves the same priesthood authority as Moses, and therefore God destroyed them.

The Loss of the Priesthood

Unfortunately, most Christian denominations have lost the priesthood throughout history, and don’t even claim to possess any form of priesthood. This actually should have been expected, given the many Biblical prophecies about this event (2 Thessalonians 2:3, Amos 8:11–12, 2 Timothy 4:3–4, Acts 20:29–30, Isaiah 24:5, 1 Nephi 13:24–29, 2 Nephi 26:20–22, 2 Nephi 28:3–6, D&C 1:15–16, D&C 112:23–26, Joseph Smith—History 1:19).

Amos 8:11–12
11 ¶ Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord:
12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.
Acts 20:29–30
29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.

The Restoration of the Priesthood

God’s priesthood authority was restored in May 15,1829 when John the Baptist conferred the Aaronic Priesthood to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery (D&C 13:1), and the same year Peter, James, and John conferred the Melchizedek priesthood to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery (D&C 27:12–13). The transferring of authority in the modern church is the same as in the old – via ordination and laying on of hands (D&C 42:11, D&C 20:38–39, D&C 20:60, D&C 84:6–42).

To go into depth, priesthood is divided into two categories: the Aaronic priesthood and the Melchizedek priesthood. The Aaronic priesthood is used to provide ordinances such as baptism, the gift of the holy ghost, and sacrament, while the Melchizedek priesthood grants the power to perform blessings and receive via revelation the mysteries of God (D&C 107:1–20, D&C 84:18–27, Hebrews 7:11–12).

Worthiness to use the Priesthood

The priesthood power is conditional upon our acting in accordance with God’s laws and being Christlike. Consequently, those who misuse the priesthood will lose the power which the priesthood conveys. We see this clearly in D&C 121:34–44:
34 Behold, there are many called, but few are chosen. And why are they not chosen?
35 Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world, and aspire to the honors of men, that they do not learn this one lesson—
36 That the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness.
37 That they may be conferred upon us, it is true; but when we undertake to cover our sins, or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens withdraw themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man.
…39 We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion.
40 Hence many are called, but few are chosen.
41 No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned;
42 By kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile—
43 Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy;
44 That he may know that thy faithfulness is stronger than the cords of death.

Uses of the Priesthood

Baptism – To properly perform a Baptism, one must be a possessor of the Aaronic priesthood (3 Nephi 11:21–27, Mosiah 21:33, Mosiah 18:12–13&17–18, D&C 13:1, D&C 20:72–73, D&C 22:1–2, D&C 84:19–22).

Sacrament – We use the Aaronic priesthood to perform the ordinance of the sacrament – that is, the breaking and blessing of bread and sharing of the water (3 Nephi 18:5, D&C 20:46).

The Holy Ghost – We can use the Melchizedek priesthood to grant the gift of the Holy Ghost to others via the laying on of hands (D&C 20:41, D&C 33:15, Moroni 2, Acts 8:14–17, Acts 19:5–6).

Blessings – We can use the Melchizedek priesthood to give blessings to people or homes. Blessings can basically cover any topic – ranging from health to the purging of demonic influence.

Baptism for the Dead

Since many have never had the opportunity to be baptized, or were baptized without proper authority, our ancestors can be baptized by proxy through baptism of the dead, which Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians 15:29. Baptism for the dead operates like normal baptism except it is performed in temples and require us to use our ancestor’s name rather than our own (described further in D&C 128:1–18 and D&C 124:29–33).

Guides on using the Priesthood

Sacrament – According to my religion, we should perform the Sacrament frequently (3 Nephi 26:13, Moroni 6:6). These chapters describe how to perform the Sacrament (Moroni 4, Moroni 5, D&C 20:75–79), and this verse (D&C 27:2) clarifies that it doesn’t matter exactly what type of thing we eat or drink during the sacrament (which is why we use water nowadays, not wine – since modern wine is much stronger than ancient wine).

Baptism – this scripture explains how to perform a baptism well – D&C 20:73–74:
73 The person who is called of God and has authority from Jesus Christ to baptize, shall go down into the water with the person who has presented himself or herself for baptism, and shall say, calling him or her by name: Having been commissioned of Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
74 Then shall he immerse him or her in the water, and come forth again out of the water.

another good scripture on baptism: 3 Nephi 11:23–26

The Holy Ghost – To confer the holy ghost, one or more Melchizedek priesthood holders lay their hands upon the person’s head. Then one of them calls the person by their full name, states that the ordinance is being performed by the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood which they possess, states that they confer the holy ghost, gives further words of blessing as the Holy Spirit directs, and then they close in Christ’s name.

Blessings

The Melchizedek priesthood can be used to perform blessings upon people and homes. When performing such blessings, it is important that we try our best to attune our words with God’s will – thus we only say blessings which we feel God inspires us to say; in other words, if a blessing is not in accordance with God’s will, then the blessing won’t work, and we probably shouldn’t even try to perform the blessing. Thus, many people report that when they give blessings, they feel like every word they spoke was directly inspired of God.

Blessing your Home – To bless a home, you first start with the oil: Ideally, you should use olive oil, but if that is not available in your area, the most similar oil will do. To bless the oil, you simply address God, tell him that acting under the authority of the Melchizedek priesthood you consecrate the oil for the blessing of homes to cleanse the home of the influence of Satan and fill it with the holy spirit, and close in the name of Christ. So, for example: “Dear Heavenly Father, acting under the authority of the Melchizedek priesthood, which I possess, I consecrate this oil for the blessing of homes, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen” – though of course, this prayer can be modified.

Next, you utter a prayer over your house. To do this, you again tell Heavenly Father that you are acting under the authority of the Melchizedek priesthood using consecrated oil, then you utter your blessing and close in Christ’s name. So, for example: “Dear Heavenly Father, acting under the authority of the Melchizedek priesthood, which I possess, using oil that has been consecrated for the blessing of homes, I bless this home to be cleansed from the influence of demonic entities, so that such entities are banished immediately to never return. I also bless this house to be full of the light of the holy spirit, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen” – though of course this blessing can be modified. Such a prayer should not be overly dramatic or involve raising your voice (D&C 50:32-33) – it should be uttered calmly and respectfully, and feel mild and serene.

Following this prayer, you would dab olive oil on your doors, windows, and other major entry points. Since this is symbolic, you don’t need to cover *every single* entryway. Basically, you either drop a drop of oil on these places, or dip your finger in the oil and smudge these places with your finger. If using your finger, in my view, you should not paint symbols with the oil (even a cross) because you don’t want to resemble witchcraft (unfortunately witchcraft has evolved to use the cross); rather you should just make a simple roundish smudge with your finger.

Finally, you seal your anointing of the house with another prayer. Here is an example: “Dear Heavenly Father, acting under the authority of the Melchizedek priesthood, I seal this blessing upon this house that the house may be cleansed of demonic entities and filled with the Spirt, in the name of Jesus Christ amen” – though again, such prayers can be modified.

Blessing a Person – here are the steps to blessing a person:

You consecrate oil in the same fashion as consecrated oil for a house – for example, “Dear Heavenly Father, acting under the authority of the Melchizedek priesthood, which I possess, I consecrate this oil for the blessing and anointing of the sick and afflicted, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen”, though of course this prayer can be modified.
You put a drop of consecrated oil on the person’s head.
You place your hands lightly on the person’s head and call the person by his or her full name.
You state that you are acting under the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood.
You state that you anoint with oil that has been consecrated for the blessing the sick and afflicted.
You then close in the name of Jesus Christ.

So, for example, “[person’s name], acting under the authority of the Melchizedek priesthood, which I possess, I anoint you with oil that has been consecrated for the blessing of the sick and afflicted, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.” – though of course this can be modified.

After this, you seal the blessing as thus:

One or more Melchizedek priesthood holders lay their hands upon the person’s head.
You call the person by his or her full name.
You state that you are sealing the anointing by the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood.
You give words of blessing as guided by the Spirit.
You close in the name of Jesus Christ.

So, for example, “[Person’s name], I am sealing this anointing by the authority of the Melchizedek priesthood, which I possess. I bless you to get better from your illness and to come up to full strength so that you can help perform God’s work. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.” – though of course this can be modified.

At the time of writing, this page offered very good tutorials on conveying the spirit, which I used to help write the above discourse: Priesthood Ordinances and Blessings – Africa West.

Discussion

Beyond allowing us to perform miracles and gain greater access to God’s spirit, I believe there are a few other noteworthy effects of the priesthood:

On an organizational level, the priesthood changes the dynamics of religion by 1) making it so that people can’t appoint themselves to be spiritual leaders to seek fame, and 2) forbidding priests from making money from their congregations (which the Book of Mormon discusses and I discuss in 7 Essential Principles from Mormonism). Both of these take away the incentive for preachers to modify the gospel to make it more popular – thus while nondenominational churches have been venturing into apostasy beliefs that we can commit whatever sin we want because we are saved by grace (which I have disproven in The Dark Side of Organized Religion and The Atonement as a Blood Transfusion and Four Steps to Salvation) – Mormons have done a better job at warning members to repent, obey the commandments, come unto Christ, and endure to the end. This has had a measurable impact on the lives of Mormons – making them have lower divorce rates, happier, healthier, and more successful lives, and lower rates of criminality and other sorts of deviant behavior (as discussed in Statistics for Atheists and Mormons don’t switch religions unless they become atheist).

Moreover, on an individual level, the ideas behind the priesthood teach that God can actively guide our lives and grant us spiritual power if we try to be faithful. This changes how we live our lives, motivating us to always seek God’s will for important decisions and maintain worthiness.

On the other hand, the Mormon church has also used the priesthood to justify a rather complex and hierarchal bureaucracy. Yes, such a hierarchy is largely necessary, however it still has unfortunately led some to be motivated by ambition for higher callings, thus making them care more about what man thinks of them than God. Moreover, some spiritual leaders have used the ideas of the priesthood to claim that every single one of their decisions is divinely inspired – thus leading to arrogance and unreasonableness. The pride of having a high calling has even led some members to neglect being Christlike in their personal lives – instead treating loved ones with cruelty – because they think they are already good with God because of their service in church.

If you have read my website, you will see that I am very passionate about how the idea that we don’t need to follow the commandments because grace covers everything is false (as I keep on saying, yes we are saved by Grace, but we still need to try to follow Christ because that is how we gain access to grace). The fact that Mormons teach repentance is what I see as the truly special thing about the Mormon movement – much more special than even the priesthood or our sacred texts. Unfortunately, to some extent I have seen this idea of “priesthood and divine authority” start to subvert the doctrine of repentance and overcoming the flesh, in that Mormons start to think that it is their priesthood and sacred ordinances which save them; in reality, the ordinances don’t themselves save us, rather they are just a very important tool in helping us to change our character, overcome the natural man, and become more like Christ.