The Saving Power of Temple Covenants.

"There is every reason to believe that the wayward children of righteous parents will, in the end, receive salvation. Amid the anguishe experiences of wandering children, abuse, addiction, and every other conceivable heartache, the words of the prophets are clear and unequivocal. From the teachings of Joseph Smith through the teachings of the prophets of our day, the message of hope is this: temple covenants save families. A statement by Elder Orson F. Whitney, called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on the same day as David O. McKay and a member of that quorum from 1906 until his death in 1931, contains the essence of the promise:

The Prophet Joseph Smith declared—and he never taught more comforting doctrine—that the eternal sealings of faithful parents and the divine promises made to them for valiant service in the Cause of Truth, would save not only themselves, but likewise their posterity. Though some of the sheep may wander, the eye of the Shepherd is upon them, and sooner or later they will feel the tentacles of Divine Providence reaching out after them and drawing them back to the fold. Either in this life or the life to come, they will return. They will have to pay their debt to justice; they will suffer for their sins; and may tread a thorny path; but if it leads them at last, like the penitent Prodigal, to a loving and forgiving father’s heart and home, the painful experience will not have been in vain. Pray for your careless and disobedient children; hold on to them with your faith. Hope on, trust on, till you see the salvation of God" (1929, p. 110).

"Elder Whitney’s remarks appear to be based on the following quote found in Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith: “When a seal [the everlasting covenant] is put upon the father and mother, it secures their posterity, so that they cannot be lost, but will be saved by virtue of the covenant of their father and mother” (1976, p. 321). President Henry B. Eyring reaffirmed Elder Whitney’s testimony in the October 2009 general conference:

The story of the prodigal son gives us all hope. The prodigal remembered home, as will your children. They will feel your love drawing them back to you. Elder Orson F. Whitney, in a general conference of 1929, gave a remarkable promise, which I know is true, to the faithful parents who honor the temple sealing to their children: “Though some of the sheep may wander, the eye of the Shepherd is upon them, and sooner or later they will feel the tentacles of Divine Providence reaching out after them and drawing them back to the fold” (2009, p. 72).

"Speaking of families in which children are born under the new and everlasting covenant of marriage, President Joseph Fielding Smith said:

Being heirs [to the kingdom, through the sealing ordinance] they have claims upon the blessings of the gospel beyond what those not so born are entitled to receive. They may receive a greater guidance, a greater protection, a greater inspiration from the Spirit of the Lord; and then there is no power that can take them away from their parents. . . . Those born under the covenant, throughout all eternity, are the children of their parents. Nothing except the unpardonable sin, or sin unto death, can break this tie" (Smith, J. F., as cited in McConkie, 1955, p. 90).

"President Boyd K. Packer emphasized the binding power of the sealing ordinance in a 2008 Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting:

Now, sometimes there are those that are lost. We have the promise of the prophets that they are not lost permanently, that if they are sealed in the temple ordinances and if the covenants are kept [by the parents], in due time, after all the correction that’s necessary to be given, that they will not be lost" (2008, p. 9).

References

Pehrson, K. L., & Cook, R., & Madsen, N. L., (2016). They cannot be lost: Temple covenants save families. In Hawkins, A. J., & Dollahite, D. C., & Draper, T. W., (Eds.), Success marriages and families – proclamation principles and research perspectives. pp. 169-176. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University

#waywardchild #prodigalson