The Doctrine of the Law

The Law

Initiatory and Endowment

Beginning at sixteen years old, worthy young men and young women who are members of the Kingdom of Zion may receive the initiatory and endowment when they are spiritually prepared. Adults who enter Zion later in life and have not already received these ordinances through recognized priesthood authority may receive them after baptism and confirmation when they have been adequately prepared.

The initiatory and endowment are distinct ordinances received in succession. The initiatory prepares the person; the endowment then bestows the holy priesthood and places the disciple under greater covenant responsibility.

Everything already required through baptism, the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and membership in Zion remains in force. These later ordinances add greater light, priesthood rights and powers, sacred responsibilities, and greater covenant accountability.

Initiatory

The initiatory is preparation to meet God. Through symbolic washing, anointing, and sacred clothing, the disciple is prepared to approach Him clean and set apart, ready to receive the holy priesthood during the endowment. These outward acts express the inward cleansing and preparation Jesus Christ brings to a faithful soul.

The Washing — Preparation to Come Before God

Throughout the Bible, those approaching God are taught to prepare for His holy presence. The Lord commanded Moses to wash, clothe, and anoint Aaron and his sons for priestly service. Priests were also required to wash their hands and feet before entering the tabernacle or ministering at the altar (Exodus 40:12–15; 30:17–21). These outward preparations taught reverence for the Lord who dwelt among His people.

In the initiatory, washing represents the cleansing of the whole person. Clean hands and clean feet invite the disciple to consider the works they do and the paths they walk, while a pure heart brings their thoughts, desires, speech, and intentions into harmony with God (Psalm 24:3–6). The body and its capacities are being prepared for His presence and service, not merely washed outwardly.

The law of Moses pointed toward the Savior, not toward a power of cleansing independent of Him. Hebrews explains that Jesus Christ cleanses the conscience and opens the way into God's presence through His sacrifice (Hebrews 9:13–14; 10:19–22). The water makes cleansing visible; forgiveness and sanctification come through His Atonement and the Holy Ghost (3 Nephi 27:19–20).

The Anointing — Preparation for Priesthood and Kingship

Anointing with holy oil signifies being set apart for a sacred purpose. In ancient Israel, priests were anointed for holy service, and kings were anointed for the responsibilities of righteous rule. Samuel anointed David before David began to reign, showing that anointing could prepare a person for a calling not yet fulfilled (1 Samuel 16:12–13; 2 Samuel 2:4).

In the initiatory, men and women are anointed in preparation to receive the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthoods during the endowment and to become kings and queens, priests and priestesses unto the Most High God. They are anointed only to become such; neither the initiatory nor receiving priesthood during the endowment confers the later royal standing.

Being sealed to a husband or wife does not by itself fulfill the initiatory’s promise of becoming a king and priest or a queen and priestess. That marriage sealing remains sacred and valid, but it is distinct from the further anointing and sealing promised to the faithful. Those already washed, anointed, endowed, and sealed through recognized priesthood authority do not repeat those ordinances when Christ calls them to Zion. Those who have not received the foundational ordinances must first receive them and learn to live their covenants.

To be called up is to be personally called by Jesus Christ to enter the Kingdom of Zion. After being received as a member, the disciple receives an additional anointing and sealing from the Lord, as He directs, through the Holy Order of Matrimony in the New and Everlasting Covenant. It is through this further ordinance—not the earlier marriage sealing or membership alone—that they are made kings and queens, priests and priestesses unto the Most High God, to serve and reign with Jesus Christ in the house of Israel forever. The realization of these blessings depends upon faithfulness, both in preparation and in the calling received.

These promises center on Jesus Christ, the everlasting High Priest, through whose redemption His people may serve and reign with Him (Hebrews 7:24–27; Revelation 5:9–10). The outward anointing points toward a life set apart to God and strengthened by His Spirit. Preparation to reign with Christ means learning to serve as He serves, with righteousness, humility, justice, mercy, and love.

The Sacred Garment — Clothed in Remembrance of Christ

In the initiatory, the disciple receives the garment of the holy priesthood as a symbol of Jesus Christ and a reminder of temple covenants. Wearing it throughout life as instructed recalls the Savior and the sacred obligations associated with Him. Its promised protection depends upon faithfulness to Christ and His covenants, not merely upon possessing the garment.

The garment is to be worn and treated according to the instruction given with the ordinance. New sacred garments are to be entirely white, without visible tags, logos, patterns, or other colors; modest and properly covering; and marked according to the established order. Clothing worn over the garment is to cover it and preserve its sacredness. When a garment is no longer usable, its sacred marks are first to be removed, after which the garment is to be destroyed so that no remaining piece bears the marks.

Endowment

Following the preparation of the initiatory, the endowment bestows the holy priesthood and places the disciple under five governing covenant laws: the Law of Obedience, the Law of Sacrifice, the Law of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Law of Chastity, and the Law of Consecration. During the ordinance, these covenants are entered before God, angels, and the appointed witnesses.

Because these covenants are sacred and binding, they should be entered with understanding and an honest heart. Before receiving the endowment, each person should examine their life, beliefs, intentions, relationships, and stewardship before the Lord and correct anything they already know is contrary to the laws they are preparing to receive.

The Law of Obedience

The Law of Obedience requires the disciple to place the will of Jesus Christ above personal preference, convenience, fear, pride, worldly approval, and the traditions of men. Obedience is not selective. The endowed disciple is to remain teachable, receive correction, obey what the Lord has already revealed, and remain willing to receive greater light when He gives it.

Obedience also requires respect for stewardship and lawful order. Personal revelation does not authorize rebellion, interference in another stewardship, or the seizure of authority God has given elsewhere. A disciple is to hear Jesus Christ and obey Him within the order He establishes.

The Law of Sacrifice

The Law of Sacrifice is more than giving up sin. Sin must be forsaken because it cannot remain in a life governed by Christ, but the Lord may also require a disciple to surrender things that are lawful, good, desirable, comfortable, or deeply valued.

Obedience is doing what the Lord commands; sacrifice includes accepting the cost of that obedience. A disciple places their plans, ambitions, comforts, possessions, opportunities, reputation, relationships, place in life, and other blessings before the Lord with an open hand. They are willing to go where He directs, remain where He places them, become what He asks them to become, do the work He gives them, and relinquish or receive differently whatever He requires.

Sacrifice does not mean manufacturing suffering, abandoning lawful responsibilities, or assuming that every loss is a command from God. It means that when the Lord truly requires something, the disciple does not place a cherished good beyond His reach. Neither should the disciple harbor bitterness against God when obedience changes the life they expected. Wherever the Lord places them, they are to remain grateful, faithful, and good stewards of what remains in their care.

The Law of the Gospel of Jesus Christ

The Law of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the life taught and exemplified by the Savior in the New Testament and among the Nephites. It includes His teachings concerning faith, repentance, humility, forgiveness, mercy, purity of heart, peacemaking, service, generosity, reconciliation, righteous judgment, prayer, and doing unto others as we would have them do unto us (Matthew 5–7; 3 Nephi 12–14).

At its center is love. Jesus taught that the first great commandment is to love God with all the heart, soul, mind, and strength, and that the second is to love our neighbor. He also gave His disciples the higher pattern: “As I have loved you, that ye also love one another” (John 13:34). The gospel therefore requires more than outward religious conduct. The heart must learn to love as Christ loves.

That love extends to the difficult person, the enemy, the person who has injured us, the stranger, the poor, the weak, and those within our own household. It requires forgiveness without vengeance, mercy without abandoning truth, service without self-exaltation, and charity that seeks another person's good. It also requires receiving the mercy of Jesus Christ toward ourselves. A repentant disciple is not to preserve self-hatred or endless self-condemnation after seeking the Lord's forgiveness, but is to learn to see and govern the self through His truth and love.

The Law of the Gospel is therefore a covenant to become increasingly like Jesus Christ: to love God, love others, receive His love and correction, repent quickly, forgive freely, seek peace, do good, and let His character govern both private and public life.

The Law of Chastity

The Law of Chastity governs sexual purity in the heart, mind, desires, words, and actions. Jesus Christ taught that sexual sin is not limited to outward acts; a person must also refuse to look upon another with lust or knowingly entertain unlawful sexual thoughts and desires in the heart.

An unwanted thought or temptation entering the mind is not itself a violation of chastity. The violation comes when a person knowingly welcomes, entertains, rehearses, fantasizes about, seeks out, or nourishes sexual thoughts or desires outside the boundaries God has established.

Those who are unmarried are to abstain completely from sexual thoughts and behavior. This includes sexual relations, sexual touching, masturbation, pornography, sexual media, deliberate sexual fantasy, and other conduct intended to arouse or satisfy sexual desire. They are likewise not to collect, keep, seek out, or dwell upon pictures, videos, or other images of people for the purpose of attraction, lust, fantasy, or sexual interest.

Those who are lawfully married remain under the same Law of Chastity. Sexual relations, thoughts, desires, affections, words, and behavior are lawful only within that marriage. Marriage does not make pornography, lust toward another person, sexual fantasy concerning someone outside the marriage, flirtation, emotional infidelity, or the deliberate cultivation of unlawful romantic or sexual desire acceptable. A married person is to remain completely faithful to their spouse in body, heart, affection, communication, and desire.

The sexual body and sexual intimacy of a spouse are likewise to remain within the sacred privacy and confidence of marriage. Nude, sexually revealing, or sexually explicit photographs, videos, recordings, paintings, digital images, messages, screenshots, or other representations of oneself or a spouse are not to be created, requested, possessed, displayed, stored, transmitted, or preserved.

This standard does not change because material is password-protected, encrypted, hidden, temporary, or believed to be secure. Sexual intimacy is not made sacred merely because access is restricted. What belongs within the marriage bed is to remain there rather than being converted into media, stored on systems, copied, transmitted, recovered, exposed, or preserved as an object or record.

A spouse is not to expose the nakedness or sexual privacy of the other through images or recordings, even with consent. Legitimate medical care and other lawful necessities do not violate sacred privacy because the exposure is functional rather than sexual or casual.

In all circumstances, sexuality is to be governed by fidelity, holiness, charity, mutual consent, tenderness, sacred privacy, purity of heart, and self-government.

The Law of Consecration

The Law of Consecration requires the endowed disciple to recognize that their whole life ultimately belongs to Jesus Christ. Time, talents, strength, labor, income, possessions, resources, opportunities, relationships, education, skills, and every stewardship the Lord gives are entrusted by Him and are to be used according to His will. Nothing is to be treated as permanently beyond His reach.

Adults who receive the endowment are required to consecrate their surplus unto the Lord after providing for legitimate needs and responsibilities. They are also to give a monthly Offering for the support of His people according to their ability. Before receiving the endowment, these contributions are voluntary.

Endowed youth who remain under their parents' household government are to contribute what they can through Consecrations and Offerings. Those who have a job are to contribute from their earnings according to their ability. The primary responsibility for the household's Consecrations and Offerings belongs to their father, and they are to work with their parents in making their contributions while they remain under their care and direction.

The endowed are also expected to live frugally. Income is not to be consumed automatically upon an ever-expanding lifestyle. Wants remain subordinate to needs, debt freedom, responsible preparation, the Lord's work, and the welfare of His people. Savings are to remain tied to real purposes rather than becoming unlimited accumulation, and the household is not to create endless future wants or savings goals so that nothing remains for the Lord.

A budget should expose genuine surplus. After legitimate provision, lawful obligations, responsible preparation, and appropriate savings have been honestly provided for, the household prayerfully determines what the Lord has placed in its hands beyond those needs and consecrates according to ability, willingness, and revelation.

Consecrations are moneys given unto the Lord for the sustaining of His church, the carrying forward of His work, and the preparation for and building of His temple. They are not tithing and are not governed by a fixed percentage. A tenth is neither the required measure nor a ceiling after which everything remaining is automatically personal property.

Offerings are distinct from Consecrations. They are given unto the Lord for the welfare of needy members so that Zion remembers the poor and labors toward the day when there are no poor among the Lord's people. The regular Offering is connected with the monthly household fast and is determined according to actual ability and the willingness of the heart rather than a fixed percentage or required value of the meals not eaten.

A person or household that genuinely lacks sufficient means is not required to impoverish itself merely to produce an impressive gift. The law requires honest stewardship, a willing heart, participation according to actual ability, and increasing generosity as the Lord increases the stewardship.

Priesthood Rights, Powers, and Spiritual Gifts

During the endowment, both men and women receive the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthoods, together with their associated rights, powers, and spiritual gifts. Receiving these priesthoods does not create unrestricted jurisdiction over other people. Priesthood and revelation remain bound by righteousness, stewardship, and the presiding order established by Jesus Christ.

A person may exercise what the Lord has actually given within the stewardship to which it belongs but may not use priesthood, revelation, discernment, or claimed inspiration to seize authority the Lord has given elsewhere. Receiving these powers also brings responsibility to hear Jesus Christ, receive and act upon revelation, develop spiritual gifts, and exercise what He gives in humility and proper order.

Holy Things Entrusted Through the Endowment

The ordinances, signs, tokens, sacred instruction, ceremonial clothing, and other holy things entrusted in the temple are likewise to be protected with reverence and are not to be exposed casually, mocked, displayed, or treated as common.

Continuing Covenant Faithfulness

The initiatory and endowment are not ordinances to be completed and then forgotten. Greater knowledge, priesthood power, and covenant responsibility require continuing faithfulness. Endowed members are to remember, study, renew, and live their covenants; continue examining themselves before the Lord; repent when correction is needed; and remain faithful to the greater light they have received.

Interview Questions for the Initiatory and Endowment

Cleanliness and Repentance Before the Lord

A person preparing to receive the initiatory and endowment should come honestly before the Lord, having repented and sought through Jesus Christ to become clean in heart, thought, desire, intention, and conduct. They are not to knowingly conceal, defend, excuse, protect, or intend to continue sin.

Repentance is more than preparing an acceptable answer or avoiding wrongdoing until an ordinance has been received. It is an actual turning toward the Savior. Where repentance requires confession, restitution, changed conduct, or another act of correction, those things are to be honestly addressed before entering the Lord's house. The disciple comes seeking the cleansing Christ gives and desiring to remain faithful to Him afterward.

Have you fully repented of every sin that must be resolved before entering the Lord's house, without knowingly concealing, defending, excusing, protecting, or intending to continue anything the Lord requires you to forsake?

Serious Sin and Required Accountability

Serious sin includes willful conduct that gravely harms another person, betrays covenant trust, abuses authority or stewardship, profanes sacred things, or constitutes deliberate rebellion against known law. Where serious sin requires the involvement of the Prophet or one of his counselors, it must be honestly disclosed and properly resolved. Religious repentance does not replace restitution, protection, civil reporting, or legal accountability where those are required.

Have you honestly disclosed and properly resolved any serious sin that requires the involvement of the Prophet or one of his counselors?
Are there any requirements for restitution, protection, civil reporting, or legal accountability arising from serious wrongdoing that you have not fulfilled or properly addressed?

Understanding the Washing and Anointing

Do you understand that the initiatory washing represents inward cleansing through Jesus Christ in preparation to enter God's holy presence?
Do you understand that the initiatory anointing prepares you to receive the holy priesthood during the endowment and serve before God?
Do you understand that the initiatory anoints you only in preparation to become a king and priest or a queen and priestess, and the realization of these blessings, including reigning with Jesus Christ in the house of Israel forever, depends upon your faithfulness?

The Sacred Garment

Do you understand that the sacred garment represents Jesus Christ and recalls temple covenants, with promised protection connected to faithfulness?
Is anything unclear about caring for or wearing the sacred garment you believe you cannot honor?