The Law of the Celestial Kingdom

In June 1834, the Lord explained why church members had been unable to build Zion in Missouri:

They have not learned to be obedient to the things which I required at their hands, but are full of all manner of evil, and do not impart of their substance, as becometh saints, to the poor and afflicted among them;

And are not united according to the union required by the law of the celestial kingdom;

And Zion cannot be built up unless it is by the principles of the law of the celestial kingdom; otherwise I cannot receive her unto myself.

Doctrine and Covenants 105:3-5

This makes sense. If our goal in establishing Zion is to prepare ourselves to be in God’s presence, and if celestial glory is only received by those who live according to celestial law (see Doctrine and Covenants 88:22), then it follows that establishing Zion requires adherence to celestial law. The Lord specifically identified four infractions of this law:

1. Disobedience to His instructions
2. Full of evil — not purified (see Doctrine and Covenants 97:21)
3. Failing to share with the poor and needy
4. Not united

Note that the people in the Book of Mormon who successfully established a Zion society after the ministry of Jesus Christ fulfilled all four of these requirements of celestial law:

1. Obedience: “They did walk after the commandments which they had received from their Lord and their God” (4 Nephi 1:12).
2. Purity: “There were no envyings, nor strifes, nor tumults, nor whoredoms, nor lyings, nor murders, nor any manner of lasciviousness” (4 Nephi 1:16).
3. Equality: “They had all things common among them; therefore there were not rich and poor, bond and free, but they were all made free, and partakers of the heavenly gift” (4 Nephi 1:3).
4. Unity: “They were in one, the children of Christ, and heirs to the kingdom of God” (4 Nephi 1:17).

Elder D. Todd Christofferson has spoken many times about the role of celestial law in God’s plan. Here are some of the principles he has taught:

• Elements of the law: “The law of the celestial kingdom is, of course, the gospel law and covenants, which include our constant remembrance of the Savior and our pledge of obedience, sacrifice, consecration, and fidelity” (“Come to Zion,” October 2008 general conference).
• Learning to follow it: “The real, the core purpose of this mortal experience is the moral test: Will we in fact ‘do all things whatsoever the Lord [our] God shall command [us]’? Our central quest is to learn and to live the celestial law” (“Our Moral Test,” Brigham Young University devotional address, 22 April 2010).
• Consecration as its earthly counterpart: “The word stewardship calls to mind the Lord’s law of consecration, which has an economic role but, more than that, is an application of celestial law to life here and now” (“Reflections on a Consecrated Life,” October 2010 general conference).
• Incremental progress: “With repentance we can steadily improve in our capacity to live the celestial law” (“The Divine Gift of Repentance,” October 2011 general conference).
• The Savior’s atonement: “Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ and His grace, our failures to live the celestial law perfectly and consistently in mortality can be erased and we are enabled to develop a Christlike character” (“Free Forever, to Act for Themselves,” October 2014 general conference).

So Elder Christofferson teaches us that obedience to celestial law is the goal of mortality, but that we won’t achieve it all at once, nor can we achieve it without the Savior’s grace. Our efforts to live a consecrated life, following God’s instructions and making incremental improvements, will eventually result in our inheriting celestial glory because we have learned to follow celestial law.

Today, I will help to build the kind of society described in 4 Nephi, characterized by obedience, purity, equality, and unity. I will take comfort in the recognition that it takes time to learn to live by God’s law, but that He can and will help us to achieve that essential goal.