Is the Way to Eternal Life the same as the Covenant Path?

 

My hope in every post is to honour the Doctrine that brings us to the promise of Eternal Life & also bring attention to any teachings that might be making changes to this most foundational doctrine.

People I admire have done the sincere work of explaining how the Covenant Path & the Doctrine of Christ are exactly the same doctrine, and I appreciate their insights, yet, I'd also like to add this to the conversation; I'd like us to also consider how these doctrines are not the same.

The scriptures warn us that changes to the true doctrine are unwelcome. These are against Christ.  So, even though much of the Doctrine of Christ is referenced in these definitions of the Covenant Path, I believe these small changes should be discerned and righteously judged. Also, at the end of this article, I'll have pointed out the astronomically devastating problem these little changes have created.  I feel overwhelming sorrow about it.

But for now, with the best goodwill and intent to be un-biased, let's try to sincerely consider the similarities and differences in the definitions of the Doctrine of Christ and the Covenant Path.  My hope is that you'll have everything you need to discern this topic for yourself, and rely on no one but God to help you come to your conclusion.

 

Many names for this Doctrine

This saving doctrine goes by many names in scripture. You'll see my growing list below!

Since Jesus has so many names and titles in scripture, all giving us an enriched understanding of who He is, it makes sense to me that His doctrine will as well.

This list was built by looking at what the scriptures were teaching about coming to the promise of Eternal Life, and confirming reference to the Doctrine when using any given name/title.

So, I'm more than happy to welcome more names for the Way to Christ when they are teaching the same process to come unto Christ.  

In this post, I'll put this term, "The Covenant Path" through a similar test to the other 50+, and ask,

"Is the scriptural Doctrine on the Way to Eternal Life the same as the Covenant Path?"

If you watch these videos on The Way to Christ and His promise of Eternal Life, you'll see the similarity & consistency of the message throughout scripture. It may be helpful to consider those first.  I'm convinced through the many, many testimonies in scripture that there truly is one Way to Him, and I see how He wants us to come unto Him in this one Way, and all who have ever come to Him have come through this one Way.

 

Understanding this Covenant Path Comparison

The Covenant Path was a term used infrequently before 2018, but it has become very common since Russell M Nelson's first talk as Prophet of the Church. I've gathered six definitions of the Covenant Path, and made six diagrams to compare them to the scripturally consistent Way to Eternal Life. The Covenant Path is not a new doctrine though, just a new term used to reference the common teaching on how to receive Exaltation and a forever family.

Each diagram below has the scriptural Way to Eternal Life on the left side, and the church-sourced description of the Covenant Path on the right side. The centre section compares the scriptural Doctrine (left) to the Covenant Path (right).  The centre section is meant to be read from bottom to top (progression upward towards Eternal Life and also Exaltation*).  As you look through the six examples you'll see there are definitely similarities!  I think this is something that can only be figured out with planting seeds, time contemplating and looking to God for guidance. Perhaps you may see things differently than myself, and you're welcome to that. Let's all make the spirit our guide.

*I've shared an essay on Exaltation, but here's what needs to be said now. We LDS believe that Eternal Life and Exaltation are different.  Exaltation is an even higher level of heavenly reward, with additional requirements to qualify.  The Doctrine of Christ teaches the way to Eternal Life. I believe Exaltation used to have the same meaning as Eternal Life, before section 132.
Looking at these comparisons, you'll see Exaltation is the promised reward for the Covenant Path. But for the Doctrine of Christ side of the comparison, these all point to Eternal Life, which scripture says is the greatest of all the gifts of God.

 

D&C 6
13 If thou wilt do good, yea, and hold out faithful to the end, thou shalt be saved in the kingdom of God, which is the greatest of all the gifts of God; for there is no gift greater than the gift of salvation.

And also, I believe Eternal Life promises us life the Celestial Kingdom.

D&C 88
3 Wherefore, I now send upon you another Comforter, even upon you my friends, that it may abide in your hearts, even the Holy Spirit of promise; which other Comforter is the same that I promised unto my disciples, as is recorded in the testimony of John.

4 This Comforter is the promise which I give unto you of eternal life, even the glory of the celestial kingdom;

I'll also add, that I know some in the church who are living what they would call The Covenant Path with a heart focused on Christ, and they truly are coming unto Him! He is redeeming them and revealing Himself to them. So, the true sanctification of the Doctrine of Christ is available to them, I believe. I'm not suggesting no one can be saved while living The Covenant Path, only that these changes can be a hinderance and distraction,  because I'm also aware of others who believe in the Covenant Path so much, and are not yet redeemed nor becoming sanctified. These members could be focused on the wrong markers along their path.

 

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#1

Take a moment with this first one.  The way to Eternal Life (centre left) is the consistent doctrine in scripture.  I've added as much detail as I could, hoping to make as many comparisons as I could.

 

In blue, I've highlighted what the quote describes as the way to come to the promise of heavenly reward (whether Eternal life or Exaltation).
In orange, I'm suggesting those direct comparisons, where the details of both columns could be agreeing.
The orange dashed lines, unfortunately, I have a hard time really comparing the receiving of the Holy Ghost references.  Though the words are the same, I'm very aware that the church's meaning & the scriptural meaning are different. While the church teaches the Holy Ghost is received at the laying on of hands, scripture teaches that the laying on of hands is not the catalyst.  Instead, it's the miraculous baptism of the Holy Ghost that's the catalyst.  I felt that was enough of a difference that it should be marked with a dashed line.

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#2

This was an image in the New Era. I won't dock points for the way not being straight.

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#3

I could find no direct comparison between the two teachings here.  Why?  How?  This is the man so many believe is supposed to be leading us to Christ and he has not referenced one step of the way to Christ doctrine?  My husband came home one day and said to me, "I think the church and the scriptures are teaching two different gospels." Here is a pretty clear example of what he was seeing. If they were meant to be the same, there would be no need for temple secrecy, or exclusivity.  The true Doctrine is available to all and able to be known by all.

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#4

Regarding "hope for healing through faith & blessings & the resurrection", this felt too unbelieving to be a perfect comparison, so I used the dashed line.  The scriptures have convinced me that unbelief should not be any part of an act of faith, and so I'll honour that truth.

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#5

"Promises paired with priesthood power", this will be discussed in future posts.  My personal feeling is that we need to refocus on the truth that Christ alone saves, and we have greatly confused ideas of priesthood, authority, and essential ordinances. these have become false idols, and should not be prioritized over the powerful effect of Christ working through the doctrine He has established to refine us and make us like Him.
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Now this final quote is from before the, "The Covenant Path" buzz, but it shares the same general message in the previous five we've looked at - that the church recognizes the Doctrine of Christ partially, but surely The Doctrine of Christ cannot be the whole way, or means or conditions whereby men can be saved, right?

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#6

Emphasis is added by myself in this quote.  It's hard to not be upset by this one.  The Doctrine of Christ is not the entire plan of salvation?  As you'll see in this image I added an arrow to Mosiah 4:8, because I believe the Book of Mormon disagrees.

To look at the comparison of all six together, I made a quick spreadsheet.

There are likely more Covenant Path definitions worth considering, and I'd invite you to share links to any in the comments. Comparing these helped me see something that broke my heart, but my opinion really shouldn't govern your own.

I'd encourage you to know the doctrine of Christ and consider the scriptures that:
warn us of changes,
warn us to judge the gospel teaching from our leaders,
and tell us the kinds of changes that are not welcome.

To save you some time, I'd recommend this video which looks at the some of the relevant passages.

 

The Nuance

There definitely are similarities between the list on the left and the list on the right. There are also differences, do they matter?
Yes & No.
I say "No" because I really believe that someone who is equipped with a belief as simple-yet-profound as "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself." can bring someone through to the promise of Eternal Life. That's Christ's teaching in Luke 10.  So without entirely understanding the doctrine, I believe there's still a way to come unto Him.  Also I have a close friend who is living the covenant path and because of her great love of the Lord she has been born of God and in the presence of Christ. So we could never state "the Covenant Path keeps you from coming to Eternal Life,"
...but I say "Yes" because we also cannot state "the Covenant Path is the way to Eternal Life."

Another important question, why couldn't any of these quotes encourage and honour the Doctrine of Christ?

My Thoughts

Here I'll share my personal feelings about what these comparisons reveal. Please spend time in the spirit learning what the spirit has to say before looking at my observations. And maybe you don't need to see my observations unless you want to compare notes!  I'll try to only be an advocate for what scripture is saying, because I'm a weak person who is very uncomfortable speaking for God about His most essential doctrine.

In a moment I'll share what I feel heart-sick about, but let's refresh ourselves on what the Doctrine of Christ looks like in the lives of those who live it:

The true Doctrine states this is Christ's work and His glory to do this work in us, and He expresses so clearly that it's His intent to show up in our lives and do His work in us.

(So please note of how often Christ is actively doing His work through this process:)

It's Christ who brings us into Covenant by a great manifestation of His glory and His ability to change hearts. We receive the remission of sins, there's fire and glory and incredible light. This visionary experience oftentimes comes with a witness of Christ. We receive His spirit in our hearts.

Then we live in the spirit and as we do, God's glory manifests through us in ways that are evident that God is with us. Things that can only be seen as the power of God, healings, speaking with the tongue of angels, ministering of angels and other gifts of the spirit manifest through us because we've made ourselves submissive to Him as a branch to the vine. 

As we continue to be refined, our heart and mind become like Christ's and when we can abide in His presence, when we have become finished, Christ gives us the promise of Eternal Life.

This Doctrine is alive with the presence of God.

It's not faith to expect less, in fact, it's unbelief and false tradition to expect less.

 

Being brought into the covenant,

living in the covenant and

receiving the fulfillment of the covenant

...are three places where God manifests His glory in and through us. They're unmistakeable. They're unforgettable. They're inexcusable to the believer. They're all indicators that the covenant is working between child and Father!

This path is meant to have outpourings of the spirit that leave you speechless and in awe of our God.

Taking God out of His own Doctrine

The Covenant Path, or any other name it's had throughout our lifetimes has become a replacement for the true Doctrine.

Though there are many similar parts between these two columns, I'm uncomfortable that the Covenant Path examples suggest a "way" without any of these manifestations of God's receiving us, transforming us, working mighty works through us, and manifesting Himself to us.  I'm heart-sick that we can believe there's a way to God without these massive indications that we have been received by Him.  I'm broken-hearted that the covenant path suggests a way that we can move along with minimal promptings from the spirit and minimal relationship and experience with God. That should make us all very uncomfortable.

Remember the "actual knowledge" quote from the last post? It's such a gift to us that we don't need to wonder about how we're doing on this path.  These manifestations of God, these theophanies, are meant to testify to us that we're on the path to Him.

There are some incredibly good people living the Covenant Path.  They're better at it all than me, and they're better neighbours, and citizens than I am.  And I know that they're so faithful and love the Lord so much that they'll continue improving and consecrating themselves to their end.  To them I say, go to the temple as often as you please, but don't think it's making you into what Christ's redemption, and His spirit in you is supposed to produce. You need Christ's redemption as well.

I've been observing how simple it is to make simple deviations to the true Doctrine (see this video). Instead, we all need learn God's gospel.  He has made a plan that's so perfect and clear.  We need to be as aligned as we can with His truth.

His gospel makes it clear-

1. there will be great and glorious manifestations that we have been received into His covenant,
2. there will be glorious manifestations that we're continuing in the covenant and are truly His disciples, and
3. there will be a glorious manifestation that we have received the promise of Eternal life.

 

It sickens me that we have created a way to the promise of Eternal Life that could be without the great indicators that God has received us, and God is with us.

 

Speaking straight up, I feel the Covenant Path teachings take the expectation of the presence of God out of His own doctrine,... the doctrine has the SOLE PURPOSE of bringing us to Him.  How dare they do this.

 

They have created a way for you to become a God without ever expecting your own encounter with your God in this life. What were they thinking?

They're not teaching the calling and election,
They're not encouraging manifestations of God doing His miraculous work through you,
They're not teaching the real baptism of Fire and the Holy Ghost?  In fact at times they have even preached against the Baptism of Fire and the Holy Ghost, suggesting it's not everyone's experience.  This is changing the doctrine, and though I really wish I could say this less harshly, Christ says these kinds of changes are against Him, and come of evil. Honouring His doctrine means I need to echo His condemning words when I believe they apply.

From what I'm seeing here, and my life's experience trying to understand the way to Eternal Life, the covenant path is a way to be assured of heaven on the surface while deep down never having a theophanic encounter with God.

I think we really need to consider the evil nature of bypassing God's presence in His own doctrine and instead encouraging reliance in the laying on of hands, temple recommends, ceremonies, ordinances, and symbols.  These have become our idols if we rely upon them.  These idols cause unbelief in the true, effectual ordinances.

Consider this passage:

3 Nephi 27
9 Verily I say unto you, that ye are built upon my gospel; therefore ye shall call whatsoever things ye do call, in my name; therefore if ye call upon the Father, for the church, if it be in my name the Father will hear you;

10 And if it so be that the church is built upon my gospel then will the Father show forth his own works in it.

11 But if it be not built upon my gospel, and is built upon the works of men, or upon the works of the devil, verily I say unto you they have joy in their works for a season, and by and by the end cometh, and they are hewn down and cast into the fire, from whence there is no return.

12 For their works do follow them, for it is because of their works that they are hewn down; therefore remember the things that I have told you.

 

HIS own works! We need to be looking for a remission of sins, redemption, gifts of the spirit, ministering of angels, becoming witnesses of Christ, and the calling and election.  Our God is knowable, and wants to be known by us, and to make Himself known to us. THIS is the constant, firm message of the doctrine of Christ.  ANYTHING other than these is the counterfeit.

Moroni 7 comes to mind:

34 And he hath said: Repent all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me, and be baptized in my name, and have faith in me, that ye may be saved.

35 And now, my beloved brethren, if this be the case that these things are true which I have spoken unto you, and God will show unto you, with power and great glory at the last day, that they are true, and if they are true has the day of miracles ceased?

36 Or have angels ceased to appear unto the children of men? Or has he withheld the power of the Holy Ghost from them? Or will he, so long as time shall last, or the earth shall stand, or there shall be one man upon the face thereof to be saved?

37 Behold I say unto you, Nay; for it is by faith that miracles are wrought; and it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men; wherefore, if these things have ceased wo be unto the children of men, for it is because of unbelief, and all is vain.

38 For no man can be saved, according to the words of Christ, save they shall have faith in his name; wherefore, if these things have ceased, then has faith ceased also; and awful is the state of man, for they are as though there had been no redemption made.

We don't really believe in Christ's redemption if we're okay believing that we have the gift of the Holy Ghost without the miraculous, unmistakeable Baptism of Fire experience.
Believing we're on the path without Christ's redemption is pride. Believing in your temple covenants and temple ordinances more than the Doctrine of Christ is idolization, pride and false tradition.