Making the Case for Marriage Main Article LDS Perspective Expanded Version

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Marriage in the Lord

While many people today see marriage as little more than a social custom, for Latter-day Saints marriage is a profoundly serious commitment. As the church manual Gospel Principles explains, "Our exaltation depends on marriage. We believe that marriage is the most sacred relationship that can exist between a man and a woman. This sacred relationship affects our happiness now and in the eternities" (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1997, ¶ 3).

Blessings from Marriage

God created men and women so they might have joy (see 2 Nephi 2:25), especially joy in marriage. If couples work at retaining the feelings they had for each other when their marriages began, they will find their love and joy growing and deepening over time.

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin (1997) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles expressed his feelings about his own marriage: "The sweet companionship of eternal marriage is one of the greatest blessings God has granted to His children. Certainly, the many years I have shared with my beautiful companion have brought me the deepest joys of my life. From the beginning of time, marital companionship of husband and wife has been fundamental to our Heavenly Father’s great plan of happiness" (¶ 5).

President James E. Faust (1998) emphasized the blessings that come when marital covenants are kept: "Many covenants are indispensable to happiness here and hereafter. Among the most important are the marriage covenants made between husband and wife. From these covenants flow the greatest joys of life" (p. 17).

Elder Boyd K. Packer (1993) expressed similar sentiments when he said that "romance, love, marriage, and parenthood" are "the purest, most beautiful and appealing experiences of life" (p. 21).

In addition to joy in this life, eternal blessings await those who marry in the temple and honor their marital covenants. The Doctrine and Covenants teaches that only a man and a woman who have entered into the new and everlasting covenant of marriage can be exalted (See D&C 131:1-3). If they keep their covenants, they will

inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers, dominions, all heights and depths . . . and shall be of full force when they are out of the world; and they shall pass by the angels, and the gods, which are set there, to their exaltation and glory in all things, as hath been sealed upon their heads, which glory shall be a fullness and a continuation of the seeds forever and ever. . . . Then shall they be gods, because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them. (D&C 132: 19-20)

Qualifying for the Blessings of Marriage

The blessings of marriage promised in temple ceremonies are conditional. The condition is "faithful obedience to the covenants you make in the temple. If you cease to be obedient to those covenants, you lose blessings associated with the covenants. Of course, the repentance process may requalify you for those blessings" (Kofford, 1998, ¶ 41).

Elder Pinnock (1981) has counseled: "We must bring the Savior and his teachings into our homes and hearts. To really succeed, an eternal marriage must be Christ-centered" (¶ 7).

When Promised Blessings Are Delayed

Not everyone who wants to marry is able to reach that goal in this life. However, in the eternities the full blessings of marriage and family life will be available to every faithful person. Elder Dallin H. Oaks (1993) explained:

We know that many worthy and wonderful Latter-day Saints currently lack the ideal opportunities and essential requirements for their progress. Singleness, childlessness, death, and divorce frustrate ideals and postpone the fulfillment of promised blessings. In addition, some women who desire to be full-time mothers and homemakers have been literally compelled to enter the full-time workforce. But these frustrations are only temporary. The Lord has promised that in the eternities no blessing will be denied his sons and daughters who keep the commandments, are true to their covenants, and desire what is right.

Many of the most important deprivations of mortality will be set right in the Millennium, which is the time for fulfilling all that is incomplete in the great plan of happiness for all of our Father’s worthy children. We know that will be true of temple ordinances. I believe it will also be true of family relationships and experiences. (p. 77)

In addition, both partners in a temple marriage don’t always keep their covenants. President Joseph Fielding Smith (1955) provided the following reassuring words for the faithful whose partners are less faithful:

If a man or a woman who has been sealed in the temple for time and eternity should sin and lose the right to receive the exaltation in the celestial kingdom, he or she could not retard the progress of the injured companion who had been faithful. Everyone will be judged according to his [own] works, and there would be no justice in condemning the innocent for the sins of the guilty. (p. 177)

References

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (1997). Family salvation unit eight. Gospel Principles. Salt Lake City, UT: Author.

Faust, J. E. (1998, May). Search me, O God, and know my heart. Ensign, 17-19. Retrieved July 5, 2003, from http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1998.htm/ensign%20may%201998.htm/search%20me%20o%20god%20and%20know%20my%20heart.htm?f=templates$fn=document-frame.htm$3.0$q=$x=$nc=7517

Kofford, C. (1998, June). Marriage in the Lord's way, part one Ensign, 7-12. Retrieved July 5, 2003, from http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1998.htm/ensign%20june%201998.htm/marriage%20in%20the%20lords%20way%20part%20one.htm?f=templates$fn=document-frame.htm$3.0$q=$x=$nc=5029

Oaks, D. H. (1993 , November). The great plan of happiness. Ensign, 75-77. Retrieved July 5, 2003, from http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1993.htm/ensign%20november%201993.htm/the%20great%20plan%20of%20happiness.htm?f=templates$fn=document-frame.htm$3.0$q=$x=$nc=5070

Packer, B. K. (1993, November). For time and all eternity. Ensign, 21-23. Retrieved July 5, 2003, from http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1993.htm/ensign%20november%201993.htm/for%20time%20and%20all%20eternity.htm?f=templates$fn=document-frame.htm$3.0$q=$x=$nc=7046

Pinnock, H. W. (1981, September). Making a marriage work. Ensign, 33-37. Retrieved July 5, 2003, from http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1981.htm/ensign%20september%201981.htm/making%20a%20marriage%20work.htm?f=templates$fn=document-frame.htm$3.0$q=$x=$nc=3279

Smith, J. F. Doctrines of Salvation (comp. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 Vols. [1954-56]).

Wirthlin, J. B. (1997, November). Valued companions. Ensign, 32-34. Retrieved July 5, 2003, from http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1997.htm/ensign%20november%201997.htm/valued%20companions.htm?f=templates$fn=document-frame.htm$3.0$q=$x=$nc=9790