We may know we need the power of the temple in our lives—but we don’t always appreciate just how much. We may also wonder how we can access that power.
Whether inside or outside of the temple, the power of God is the priesthood. Its full name is “the Holy Priesthood, after the Order of the Son of God” (Doctrine and Covenants 107:3) because it is that power that enables us to become ordered after, or like, Jesus Christ. Both our unique need for the priesthood power available in the temple and how we access it can be conceptualized by Peter’s remarkable experience walking on water.
Anciently, water and earth were symbols of chaos and order.1 We see these symbols even in the Creation of the world: God brings land from water, symbolizing His power to bring order from chaos.2 When Christ pulls a drowning Peter up out of the water, it is like a mini-Creation: Peter, an earthly being, is brought out of the water, and Christ symbolically brings order from chaos.3
Peter’s experience walking on water is just a small part of what makes that story so incredible. If we zoom out, we see that the full story is a type and shadow of the plan of salvation. Just as we were sent to Earth, Jesus sent His disciples down to the Sea of Galilee, where they would get in a boat and journey to the other side, while Jesus would commune with His Father higher up.4
His disciples struggled during their journey and were battling a deadly storm when Christ came down as a savior for them and helped them get to the other side. As evidence of His divine power, Christ did not come as a mortal would by boat; He came walking on water—the literal embodiment of order overcoming chaos.
Like the Savior’s Apostles on the Sea of Galilee, we too are on a journey back to the promised land, or the presence of God. At times, we may be in the boat struggling to stay afloat, or we may be calmly walking on the water toward Christ while the wind whips and the waves crash around us. Or we may be desperately reaching up from the water, crying out, “Lord, save me.”
No matter where we are, we never need doubt that Christ’s eyes are on us, and that it is He who has the power to restore order and save us from forces that would pull us down. The temple is where we make necessary sacred covenants that bind us to Christ and allow His divine power to flow through us. We can further understand how to access Christ’s power and the role of temple covenants in perhaps a surprising way: through the second law of thermodynamics.
Increased Order, Power, and Potential
The second law of thermodynamics states that things naturally become more chaotic with time unless an external force is applied. We see this law all around us in everyday things: our homes inevitably collect dust and clutter; we must brush our teeth every day to prevent decay. This descent from order to chaos is called entropy.
One reason fighting against entropy matters is that things of higher order have greater potential. This is evident in athletic events: a stadium full of people running around at the same time with random equipment and no rules is chaos. But a stadium full of organized teams can become an incredible source of growth for athletes and entertainment for spectators.
Just as entropy affects temporal things, it also affects the spiritual. Anytime we actively seek God, we combat the spiritual impact of entropy. But as we seek God in His house—the holy temple of the Lord—His perfect, eternal order can bring about the highest order within us, transforming us in unparalleled ways.
To understand how the temple helps us fight spiritual entropy, consider how a weight lifter builds muscle by increasing weight. Most weight lifters use a spotter to help them safely lift heavier weights. A spotter’s job is to support the weight lifter as little as possible, however, or else they rob the weight lifter of the work required to grow.
Our spiritual muscles need to be strengthened, and God is the ultimate spotter. He knows exactly how much weight to remove from our shoulders and how much to leave to let us struggle. During our spiritual infancy, God supports more, giving us time to develop strength over time. But as we mature and make covenants in the temple, we are required to lift more because we have chosen to commit to living higher laws. However, with that, our access to godly power also increases.
While engaging in religious and spiritual practices outside of the temple can help maintain and increase order, the power that comes through binding ourselves to Christ through temple covenants is the only power strong enough to not just keep the effects of spiritual entropy at bay, but to eventually overcome them altogether.
Power to Become
President Dallin H. Oaks has taught that the gospel of Jesus Christ challenges us to become something.5 That becoming requires power beyond our own, power beyond this world, power that is only available in God’s holy house.
Life’s challenge is to become something, but in the temple is the power to become not just something, but everything we can become as children of the Most High God (see Psalm 82:6).
To begin this process of becoming, the first part of the endowment is the initiatory ordinance.6 To initiate is to begin a process or to admit someone into an organization or an order. Through the washing, anointing, and clothing, the initiatory ordinance begins our process of living according to a higher order.
But knowing this isn’t enough. We can know everything there is to know about sunscreen, but if we never apply it, we cannot receive the benefits. On the other hand, we may know very little about sunscreen, but if we are willing to apply it, we can still receive the benefits. Some of us may not understand exactly how temple worship makes us more like God, but if we are willing to apply the doctrine in our own lives, we will still receive all promised blessings. And with time, as we ask, seek, and knock, God will tutor us line upon line.
In the rest of this article, we will explore what we can learn about accessing God’s power from the presentation of the Creation in the endowment ceremony and each of the five covenants. It is my hope that as you understand these aspects of temple worship, you will feel more connected to God’s power and see how living temple covenants increases order and potential in our individual lives.
The Creation
The second part of the temple endowment begins with a presentation of the Creation,7 and the scriptures include three additional accounts. Why so many? Why is God particularly concerned with us understanding the Creation? One possible explanation is that the Creation teaches us about the trajectory of matter that chooses to obey God versus matter that does not.
Prior to the Creation, matter was unorganized and in a state of chaos.8 God’s power changed that. Obedient matter increased in order and so increased in potential.9 The Creation culminated in humans, who have the greatest potential of all of God’s creations.10
And while God’s power brought order and created the world, the Fall of Adam and Eve reintroduced entropy to the world.11 As a result, we are, by our fallen nature, ultimately headed toward chaos and extinction. This would be a dismal prospect—but Adam and Eve were promised a Savior.
Because of this promise, we can have hope in Christ’s power to overcome the effects of the Fall, including entropy. Christ promises that He will save all the works of His hands.12 Only those who follow Satan and refuse to obey divine law move toward ultimate chaos. All the rest will, through Christ, receive a kingdom of glory and order. But more than saving us, Christ offers us godly potential.
The Power of Covenants
After the Fall of Adam and Eve, God gave them coats of skins to cover their nakedness and point them to Christ’s atoning sacrifice.13
With the promise of Christ’s covering, God began showing Adam and Eve the covenant path through the institution of ordinances. Ordinances are outward acts that demonstrate an inward covenant with God. The word “ordinance” comes from the Latin ordinare, which literally means to “put in order.” Any time we participate in priesthood ordinances, the purpose is to order ourselves after (or become like) Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
In the holy temple, members are invited to participate in ordinances and make five sacred covenants. We will now walk through how each covenant brings greater order, and therefore greater potential and power, into our lives. The first covenant, or first step toward ordering ourselves after the Son of God, is to learn obedience.
1. The Law of Obedience
If we are to become as God is, we must learn to be subject to His law. Even God is subject to law.14 What makes Him God is that He has received light and truth unto perfection, there being no darkness in Him.15 His light can chase all darkness out of us when we likewise subject ourselves to the law through obedience.16
From the beginning, Jesus Christ modeled this kind of obedience when He said: “Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever” (Moses 4:2). Subjection to God’s law is the only path that increases order and produces a saint (Mosiah 3:19).
But while order and potential increase through obedience, disobedience has the reverse effect. Disobedience, whether attributable to human frailty, lack of understanding, or rebellion, will always decrease order and reduce potential—until an external force miraculously reverses the effects of entropy. That miraculous force is the power that comes through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
2. The Law of Sacrifice
Because of Christ’s sacrifice, sin is no longer the problem—Christ has overcome the effects of sin (see Alma 42:15). The problem is that when we don’t choose Christ, we don’t rely on the power that comes through His atoning sacrifice. To rely on and access that power means choosing to repent, or sacrifice our sins, to align ourselves with the law (see Alma 42:13). When we repent, we choose to be subject to Christ’s mercy rather than the demands of justice (see 2 Nephi 2:7–10). President Russell M. Nelson taught:
Nothing is more liberating, more ennobling, or more crucial to our individual progression than is a regular, daily focus on repentance. Repentance is not an event; it is a process. . . . When coupled with faith, repentance opens our access to the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. … When we choose to repent, we choose to change! We allow the Savior to transform us into the best version of ourselves. … When we choose to repent, we choose to become more like Jesus Christ.17
Repentance coupled with faith in Jesus Christ opens access to Christ’s atoning power, which will increase our order and, as a result, our potential.
3. The Law of the Gospel
Given the crucial relationship between repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, the law of the gospel logically follows. Simply put, the gospel is the good news of the redemptive power of Jesus Christ (see Moses 5:11). We live the law of the gospel by exercising faith in Jesus Christ, repenting daily, making covenants with God, and enduring to the end by keeping covenants and striving to live the two great commandments: to love God first and then our neighbor.18
Every religious and spiritual act we do as we live the gospel increases our order and potential. For example, just as God spoke and the world was,19 when we study the words of God and His prophets through daily scripture study, it can have the same organizing impact in our own lives.
Another example is prayer. According to the Bible Dictionary, “Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other.”20 When we pray as Jesus did in Gethsemane and submissively say, “Not my will but Thine be done,” that act orders us after God and reverses the effects of entropy.
And when we partake of the sacrament, just as physical bread and water slow down the effects of entropy on our physical body, those sacred emblems can reverse the effects of spiritual entropy.
The law of the gospel is designed to unite us as Saints seeking to live after the manner of godliness. The law of chastity is designed specifically to unite a husband and wife who together use the power of godliness to create life according to divine law.
4. The Law of Chastity
The law of chastity is particularly interesting in the context of the second law of thermodynamics and bringing order from chaos. In his April 2024 conference address, President Nelson said:
Few things will complicate your life more quickly than violating this divine law. For those who have made covenants with God, immorality is one of the quickest ways to lose your testimony. Many of the adversary’s most relentless temptations involve violations of moral purity. The power to create life is the one privilege of godhood that Heavenly Father allows His mortal children to exercise. Thus, God set clear guidelines for the use of this living, divine power.21
When we use our God-given creative power outside the bounds God has set, we use the gift He has given us in direct opposition to the plan of salvation. This increases chaos and diminishes order and potential.
When we begin fighting against God with the very power He has entrusted to us, it becomes difficult to maintain a testimony of the precise truths we are denying. And when we fight against God and His laws, it becomes difficult not to see Him as the enemy and His laws as hindrances to happiness rather than what they truly are—the only path to godhood.
God’s definition of marriage between a man and a woman is essential because only that type of marriage yields an increase, both now and in the eternities. God does not condone actions that will ultimately diminish our potential for eternal increase because His greatest desire is for us to become like Him. Defining marriage as between a man and a woman is an eternal law of divine progression through creation.
So, the law of the gospel unites us as Saints and the law of chastity unites husbands and wives, but the law of consecration is designed to unite us with God and all of His kingdom.
5. The Law of Consecration
Living the law of consecration is not about giving perfectly. It is about giving all in spite of how imperfect or insufficient our offering may seem.
In John chapter 6, we read of the Savior feeding 5,000 people with “five barley loaves and two fishes.” This was a meager offering among so many, but the lad who provided the food willingly gave all he had and then trusted in the Savior’s ability to magnify his offering. Similarly, our offerings may seem like nothing compared with what is needed to build up and sustain God’s kingdom. But in the feeding of the 5,000, it is clear that Christ does not need what we think would be “enough.” Christ merely needs a willing offering.
The temple provides the celestial light we need to see that our consecrated efforts and offerings become more in Christ’s hands than they could ever be in ours. When we witness our efforts and offerings becoming infused with Christ’s power, we begin to understand that His power flows through us to bring light and order to the world.
As we help bring that order to the world through consecration, we will also free ourselves from the downward pull of entropy and instead join Christ’s upward trajectory.
Patience in the Process
When we see others living contrary to temple covenants, struggling with eternal truths, or making mistakes, it can be confusing and painful. A lesson Elder Matthew S. Holland learned during an experience with his father, President Jeffrey R. Holland, may be helpful to us.
While driving home from the Grand Canyon at dusk, the father-son duo came to a fork in the road. Knowing they didn’t have much time before the roads became dark and dangerous, they both prayed and felt inspired to go left. But 10 minutes later, they arrived at a dead end and had to turn around.
President Holland then said to his son, “The Lord has taught us an important lesson today. Because we were prompted to take the road to the left, we quickly discovered which one was the right one.”
We know God will never prompt someone to sin. But when we or those we love are on wrong roads, we can trust that God teaches in and through the detours. More powerful than panicking or casting judgment is our ability to extend Christlike love to those who wander. We may have the best of intentions as we try to get people back on the covenant path, but anyone who has returned knows that the desire to return comes through personal experiences with the Spirit and Christ. Nothing else has the power to restore a heart to divine order.
While others may seem lost at times, no one is lost to the Lord. If we focus on Christ’s pure love, those who have strayed may one day remember what heaven feels like and turn homeward, as did the prodigal son, to find their Heavenly Father running with open arms to welcome them home (see Luke 15:11–20).
Power to Overcome
During life’s journey, we are all pulled down by the forces of entropy. I don’t know how far down Peter was dragged into the depths that day on the Sea of Galilee, but I do know that even if he had been fully submerged, Christ had the power to overcome the chaos and raise him back up.
In our own personal journeys back to the presence of God, may we seek this Jesus and be persuaded of His power to overcome the spiritual effects of entropy. May we turn to Him to bring peace in our storms. May we trust Him to reach the heart of the wandering prodigal and to truly order each of us after Him, the Son of God. Then, when He comes again, we will be like Him, having escaped the downward trajectory of a fallen world by choosing to reach out to Christ and ascend on His covenant path.
Editor’s note: This article first appeared in the July/August issue of LDS Living magazine with the title “Becoming Ordered After the Son of God.”
More articles for you:
▶ What happened when I wore jeans and sneakers to the temple
▶ 6 temple stats that might surprise you
▶ How to feel at home in the house of the Lord
A fresh perspective on the temple
Notes
1. See https://ldssymbols.com/water/; https://ldssymbols.com/four/; Abraham 4:9, 11, 12, 14–18; Galatians 6:7–9; Doctrine and Covenants 6:33; Ecclesiastes 3:1.
2. See Abraham 4:9.
3. Abraham 5:7.
4. See Matthew 14:23.
5. Dallin H. Oaks, “The Challenge to Become,” Ensign, November 2000, 32.
6. See General Handbook: Serving in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 27.2, ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
7. See General Handbook, 27.2.
8. See Moses 2:2.
9. See Abraham 4:18, Doctrine and Covenants 93:28, Doctrine and Covenants 88:6–13, and Moses 2:14.
10. Psalm 82:6.
11. See 2 Nephi 2:22.
12. See Doctrine and Covenants 76:36–43.
13. See Moses 4:27; see Annette Dennis, “Put Ye on Jesus Christ,” Liahona, May 2024.
14. See Doctrine and Covenants 88:13.
15. 1 John 1:15 and Doctrine and Covenants 88:67, Doctrine and Covenants 50:24.
16. Doctrine and Covenants 50:24–25.
17. Russell M. Nelson, “We Can Do Better and Be Better,” Ensign, May 2019, 67
18. General Handbook, 1.2.1: Living the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
19. see Genesis 1:1–7 and Moses 2:2–6
20. Bible Dictionary, “Prayer”.
21. Russell M. Nelson, “Think Celestial,” Liahona, November 2023, 117; see also David A. Bednar, “We Believe in Being Chaste,” Ensign, May 2013, 41.
