The Law of Obedience

Close your eyes and bring your attention to your body. Whether you are sitting, standing, or laying down, make sure your body feels relaxed and supported. Relax the muscles in your face, jaw, neck, and shoulders.

Take a few deep breaths. As you breath in, imagine drawing peace, calm, humility, and openness into your body and mind. As you breath out, imagine expelling tension, negativity, pride, and stress from your body and mind.

In this state of calm and receptiveness, take a moment to say a brief prayer that your mind will be guided to any revelation the Lord has for you today as you ponder.

As your breathing returns to normal, turn your thoughts and attention to the temple endowment covenants. As I share teachings the Law of Obedience, allow your thoughts and the Spirit to guide you. Don’t worry about focusing on every statement or question I share.

The Law of Obedience

The first of the five laws participants covenant to obey during the temple endowment ceremony is the Law of Obedience, which is the promise to strive to keep Heavenly Father’s commandments. (General Handbook, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Section 27.2.)

What is obedience?

What is obedience, exactly? Professor Anthony Sweat looks to the etymology to help understand this covenant. Ponder the words that he defines after I read this passage. He writes:

“The root word for obedience suggests submission, not flawlessness. Being faithful derives from deep loyalty, not absolute purity. The etymology of “keeping” something (like commandments) originates from words like desire, look out for, and persist as much as putting into practice. Simply put, to be obedient means we submit to be loyal and persist in trying to follow Christ.” (Anthony Sweat, The Holy Covenants: Living Our Sacred Temple Promises, Deseret Book, pg. 59.)

This attitude of obedience, or desire to align ourselves with the will of the Lord, stands in stark contrast to today’s culture, which is all about “living your truth” and “you do you.”

Christian theologian George MacDonald identified the “one principle of hell” as the attitude that, quote, “I am my own. I am my own king and my own subject. I am the centre from which go out my thoughts; I am the object and end of my thoughts; back upon me as the alpha and omega of life, my thoughts return. My own glory is, and ought to be, my chief care; my ambition, to gather the regards of men to the one centre, myself. My pleasure is my pleasure. . . . My judgment is the faultless rule of things. My right is--what I desire. The more I am all in all to myself, the greater I am. The less I acknowledge debt or obligation to another; the more I close my eyes to the fact that I did not make myself; the more self-sufficing I feel or imagine myself--the greater I am. I will be free with the freedom that consists in doing whatever I am inclined to do, from whatever quarter may come the inclination. To do my own will so long as I feel anything to be my will, is to be free, is to live. ”(George MacDonald, “Kingship,” Unspoken Sermons: Third Series (1889).)

Why do you think the author of this quote identified this attitude as the one principle of hell? Do you agree? How does it contrast with obedience?

Why Obedience

As I read a few scripture passages on obedience, ponder the words and consider why obedience is important.

Abraham 3 teaches us that before the world was created, “there stood one among them that was like unto God, and he said unto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell;

And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;” (Abraham 3:24-25.)

Before His crucifixion, Christ begged his disciples: “If ye love me, keep my commandments. . . . He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” (John 14:15, 21.)

Psalm 19 reads “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.” (Psalm 19:7-8.)

In D&C 82, the Lord said “I give unto you a new commandment, that you may understand my will concerning you; Or, in other words, I give unto you directions how you may act before me, that it may turn to you for your salvation. 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 82:8-10.)

Elder Holland once said that “Obedience is not only the first law of heaven. Obedience is the first law of everything. Everything that I know that matters requires that initial commitment to obey the word and the will of the Lord.” (Holland, visit to the Philippines.)

James E. Faust explained that “Obedience leads to true freedom. The more we obey revealed truth, the more we become liberated. . . . Just as order gave life and beauty to the earth when it was dark and void, so it does to us. Obedience helps us develop the full potential our Heavenly Father desires for us in becoming celestial beings worthy someday to live in His presence.” (James E. Faust, “Obedience, the Path to Freedom,” General Conference, April 1999.)

How has obedience lead to “true freedom” in your life? How has order lead to “life and beauty” in your life?

In a 1998 conference talk, Elder Staheli quoted Ezra Taft Benson saying “When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power.” (Ezra Taft Benson quoted in Donald L. Staheli, “Obedience—Life’s Great Challenge,” General Conference, April 1998.) Elder Staheli then challenged us to ask ourselves: “If I continue to travel the road I am currently following, where will it lead me and what will happen to my family?”

Obedience to What?

So, what are we to be obedient to?

The scriptures teach us that JESUS IS THE LAW. (3 Nephi 15:9.) What is the difference between viewing Christ as the law instead of viewing sets of instructions as the law, such as the ten commandments, His sermon on the mount, or the word of wisdom? Why is that an important distinction?

Because Christ is the law, it is important to study the instructions and commandments he has given to us—we cannot obey if we don’t know our instructions. Where can you find the commandments that the Lord has given to the church and to you right now?

To wrap up our pondering the law of obedience, think about anything that stood out to you while you were pondering. Did you learn anything new? Were you prompted to act or to make any changes? How do you feel about your efforts to live the law of obedience? Consider asking the Lord at some point how He feels about your efforts as well.

When you are ready, take a final deep breath. As you open your eyes and return to your surroundings, take a few minutes to write down any thoughts, questions, or promptings that came to mind while you were pondering. And if necessary, make a plan to act on those things.