Abraham's Covenant

"Zone Conference in Belenzinho was awesome yesterday. The mission president did a training, making us talk about Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, his 12 sons and the importance of Lehi being a member of the House of Israel and how important the Book of Mormon is to all of the missionary work we do. I am pretty much going to study the heck out of the Abrahamic Covenant this week. I never realized how big the responsibility we have is, at least from the "Abraham Angle"."

November 1, 2006

"I have been studying a lot of the Abrahamic Covenant personally and with Elder Jones. I never knew how much went into it. It was always hard to understand for me but I decided it was something important that affected me as a Priesthood holder so I decided, with the help of my handy-dandy Pearl of Great Price Study Manual, to tackle it. Basically, to recieve all the blessings, and it's a huge amount of the Lord's most choice and greatest blessings, the Lord promised to the Father of the Faithful, in this lifetime, we need to recieve the Priesthood or be blessed by it, recieve the Holy Ghost, get married in the Temple and sealed to our families, and be faithful throughout our lives. Then we inherit land, posterity and salvation and exaltation and all the blessings that come with that."

Abraham's Covenant

Abraham first received the gospel by baptism (which is the covenant of salvation). Then he had conferred upon him the higher priesthood, and he entered into celestial marriage (which is the covenant of exaltation), gaining assurance thereby that he would have eternal increase. Finally he received a promise that all of these blessings would be offered to all of his mortal posterity (D&C 132: 29-50; Abr. 2: 6-11). Included in the divine promises to Abraham were the assurances that (1) Christ would come through his lineage, and that (2) Abraham’s posterity would receive certain lands as an eternal inheritance (Gen. 17; Gen. 22: 15-18; Gal. 3; Abr. 2). These promises taken together are called the Abrahamic covenant. It was renewed with Isaac (Gen. 26: 1-4, 24) and again with Jacob (Gen. 28; Gen. 35: 9-13; Gen. 48: 3-4).

The portions of the covenant that pertain to personal salvation and eternal increase are renewed with each individual who receives the ordinance of celestial marriage (see D&C 132: 29-33). Those of non-Israelite lineage, commonly known as gentiles, are adopted into the house of Israel, and become heirs of the covenant and the seed of Abraham, through the ordinances of the gospel (Gal. 3: 26-29).

Being an heir to the Abrahamic covenant does not make one a “chosen person” per se, but does signify that such are chosen to responsibly carry the gospel to all the peoples of the earth. Abraham’s seed have carried out the missionary activity in all the nations since Abraham’s day. (Matt. 3: 9; Abr. 2: 9-11).

To fulfill the covenant God made with Abraham - having particular reference to the fact that the literal seed of his body would be entitled to all of the blessings of the gospel (Abr. 2: 10-11) - a number of specific and particular things must take place in the last days. The gospel must be restored, the priesthood must be conferred again upon man, the keys of the sealing power must be given again to mortals, Israel must be gathered, and the Holy Ghost must be poured out upon the gentiles. All this has already taken place or is in process of fulfillment.

Thanks for the Covenant by Russell M. Nelson