I delivered a testimony on April 14, 2019, the transcript of which can be found here. At one point in the testimony, I was told to use the words “covenant path.” This is a relatively new term used in the LDS church, but recently it has been used often enough that I have heard it on numerous occasions, in spite of that fact that my attendance at regularly held meetings has been pretty low. I was surprised that I was told to use those words and even more surprised at the fair amount of derision from the Lord that came with it. I have always understood that God offers covenants to men. To me, at that time, the idea of a "covenant path" was not necessarily a bad thing. The Lord's disapproval of the term got me thinking.
First, I did a search for “covenant path” in the scriptures. You know what I found? Nothing. You won't find the term anywhere in the scriptures. They do not teach about a "covenant path". There are plenty of times when "covenants" are mentioned. God's covenants are an important part of our relationship with God and the application of His gospel.
"9 Know therefore that the LORD the God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;" (Deuteronomy 7)
But the covenants, themselves, do not make up a path. The scriptures speak of a “strait and narrow path”. Is there a difference? What is the “strait and narrow path”? What are covenants? What role do covenants play in the gospel of Jesus Christ? My intent in writing this post is not to downplay the importance of obtaining covenants from God, but to clarify the role of covenants in our progress towards Him.
Covenants are contracts between two parties. We find different kinds of contracts in the scriptures and they are different because the hearts of men can be either good or evil.
One type of covenant found in scripture is one that has an evil intent at its heart. Examples of this type of covenant can be found in Moses 5; Helaman 1, 2, & 6; and 3 Nephi 6 & 7. The parties of these covenants enter into them for their own individual gain with no regard for the well-being of others, even the other contractual party. The devil is the father of these types of covenants, and I will not discuss these any further in this post.
One type of covenant found in scripture is one that has an evil intent at its heart. Examples of this type of covenant can be found in Moses 5; Helaman 1, 2, & 6; and 3 Nephi 6 & 7. The parties of these covenants enter into them for their own individual gain with no regard for the well-being of others, even the other contractual party. The devil is the father of these types of covenants, and I will not discuss these any further in this post.
There are covenants made between two human beings like the covenant made between Abraham and Abimalech in Genesis 21 or the covenant between Jacob and Laban in Genesis 31. These covenants are examples of contracts entered into in order to protect each participant from the potentially injurious actions of the other. Neither participant is sure of the heart of the other and therefore cannot be sure that, at some moment, the other party won’t make a decision that would be detrimental to him. Consequently, a contract is put in place that restricts certain actions, not because the heart of the individual has changed, but simply because the contract requires it.
There are covenants like the one made between David and Jonathan in 1 Samuel 18. This type of contract is based on a love and mutual respect for the other party. The individuals that enter into this type of covenant know that the other party would never do anything to purposefully hurt them, but a solemn promise seals the sentiment.
The two previous types of covenants made by men have parallels in the covenants made by God. He can make a covenant with wicked individuals. This parallels the covenant between Abraham and Abimalech. The covenant offered to Israel in the wilderness is an example of this type of covenant. It was a lesser covenant than what could have been given to Israel because of their unwillingness to sanctify themselves. Even though God’s heart is perfect and can be trusted, the hearts of the Israelites were not and could not. It was extended to Israel by a man (Moses) and it was only offered to Israel because of promises that had been made to righteous individuals in the past (eg. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob). The promised blessings of this type of covenant can only come as the wicked repent.
And then there are covenants that God makes with man that are the result of conformity to God’s word and the obedience that comes as a result of that conformity. These parallel the covenant between David and Jonathan. The hearts of both parties are righteous and can be trusted. The promised blessings are predicated upon laws that we willingly obey because our hearts have conformed to the will of God. Our desires are pure and our obedience to God’s laws are a natural consequence of our righteous desires. We are obedient because we are like Him, not because a contract requires us to be so. This type of covenant is administered by God, Himself. It is given to men by God’s own voice. Examples of this type of covenant can be found in God’s covenants to Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Nephi (Son of Lehi), Nephi (Son of Helaman), and many others. This is the highest form of a covenant relationship with God and reaches its full potential when all of God’s blessings are promised directly to us by the words of His own mouth.
So, when the LDS church admonishes us to “enter into and stay on the covenant path,” what kind of covenants are they talking about? What I am about to say is going to be disturbing to some, but an honest analysis of evidence will prove my point. A quick search of the church’s website will reveal that they are talking about the lower form of God’s covenants to man. Baptism by water, laying on of hands, priesthood ordination, washings, anointings, endowments, sealings—these are temporal ordinances that are administered by men. They are given to individuals who cannot receive the spiritual counterparts from God, directly, because they have not yet sanctified themselves in order to receive them. The temporal ordinances are types and shadows of the administrations of the higher covenant. The blessings of the lower covenant are conditioned upon the “faithfulness” of the individual because men cannot guarantee that the individual will be faithful. Only God can do that.
But let us suppose, for a moment, that there is such a thing as a “covenant path”. Is this the one that we really want to be following? Do we really want to be traveling a path in which we encounter the lower form of God’s covenants to man?
I will suggest, here, that perhaps the reason why the scriptures do not mention a “covenant path” is because the Lord knows how easy it is for man to receive the lower covenant form and assume that he is receiving the higher covenant form. The Israelites did as much. When we make this assumption, we assume that we are sanctified; we assume that we are living higher laws; we assume that we have a higher priesthood; and we assume that we will receive an eternal reward. Everything that we assume makes us comfortable in our unsanctified state and gives us no reason to believe that we actually aren’t becoming like our Savior. Consequently, we don’t repent and we don’t change.
Is there a path? Yes. It is “strait and narrow”. Stay tuned for part two of this post. :)