The Law of Sacrifice

In President Nelson’s recent talk he encouraged us to strengthen our spiritual foundation through temple worship. He said this: “He is providing opportunities for each of us to bolster our spiritual foundations more effectively by centering our lives on Him and on the ordinances and covenants of His temple. When you bring your temple recommend, a contrite heart, and a seeking mind to the Lord’s house of learning, He will teach you.” Knowing though that possibilities for temple attendance is particularly limited right now, he continued: “Should distance, health challenges, or other constraints prohibit your temple attendance for a season, I invite you to set a regular time to rehearse in your mind the covenants you have made.” I have struggled recently to be able to attend the temple, mostly because of the difficultly in matching my own schedule with the limited availability at the temple and the strict health requirements that have caused me more than once to cancel my appointment. So I appreciate his encouragement to ponder the covenants of the temple when attendance is not an option. Of course the sacred nature of the covenants we make in the temple make it so they are not to be discussed in detail outside the temple, but the Church does openly teach the general covenants made when receiving one’s endowment at the temple. One of these that I have been pondering today is the law of sacrifice.

               Living according to the law of sacrifice has been required of God’s people from the beginning. We read this in the scriptures of Adam and Eve: “And he gave unto them commandments, that they should worship the Lord their God, and should offer the firstlings of their flocks, for an offering unto the Lord. And Adam was obedient unto the commandments of the Lord.” After Adam had lived this commandment for some time “an angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam, saying: Why dost thou offer sacrifices unto the Lord?” I love Adam’s response: “I know not, save the Lord commanded me.” He knew the Lord’s voice and knew what was required, and he was willing to do it even when he didn’t fully understand. The angel then helped him and us explain why sacrifice is necessary: “And then the angel spake, saying: This thing is a similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father, which is full of grace and truth. Wherefore, thou shalt do all that thou doest in the name of the Son, and thou shalt repent and call upon God in the name of the Son forevermore” (Moses 5:5-8). Therein is the key to living the law of sacrifice anciently and now: it must be done in remembrance of the ultimate sacrifice of the Savior. Our sacrifices today look much different than the ancient animal sacrifices, but the purpose and focus should be the same, centered on Jesus Christ.  

            President Ballard said this about the law of sacrifice: “Its two major purposes are to test and prove us and to assist us in coming unto Christ.” He further explained, “The law of sacrifice provides an opportunity for us to prove to the Lord that we love Him more than any other thing. As a result, the course sometimes becomes difficult since this is the process of perfection that prepares us for the celestial kingdom to ‘dwell in the presence of God and his Christ forever and ever.’” As we learn to give up the things of the world for the Lord we overcome the natural man and start to become more like Him. The temple is a key place for us to learn how to sacrifice as we set aside time and worldly pursuits to be there in His house and serve our ancestors. And the altars where we make covenants remind us of our own small sacrifice and His great eternal sacrifice that makes those covenants possible. The Lord suggests that we are indeed to “observe [our] covenants by sacrifice” (Doctrine and Covenants 97:8). As we strive to give up more and more of the treasures of the world in order to follow the Lord and keep our covenants, He promises that we will be accepted of Him. The law of sacrifice, from Adam until today, helps us covenant with the Savior that we will seek to follow with Him no matter what the cost.