Obedience in Mormonism

Mormons are taught that obedience is the first law of heaven. To successfully progress in this life, men and women must live in accordance with the truths that come from the Lord.

Obedience is for our benefit, as God expresses in Jeremiah 7:23: “But this thing I commanded them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.”

Mormons do believe that obedience is crucial to proving their faithfulness to the Lord. When a person is disobedient, he puts a stop to his progression and harms his relationship with his Heavenly Father. Jeremiah 7:24 illustrates this fact: “But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.” This passage brings up a crucial point in Mormon theology: every person on the earth—every child of God—must put Heavenly Father’s will above his or her own. When people start thinking they can live without the Lord's guidance, they lose sight of the path that leads to happiness.

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5). The limited understanding of individuals on Earth can never exceed the perfect understanding of the Lord. Mormonism teaches that obedience is made easier by keeping in mind that the Lord knows best.

Mormons also believe that blessings come to those who are obedient. Just as men and women receive benefits from obeying the laws of the land and natural laws, so do people receive benefits from obeying spiritual laws.

A key component of Mormon beliefs deals with this relationship between obedience and blessings. Mormons understand the Lord to be unfailingly trustworthy, a perfect Being who will never go back on His promises. He has established laws specifically so that we, through obedience to those laws, can be happy. He will fulfill every promise made to His children on Earth, in His own appointed time. In modern scripture God declares:  “I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise” (Doctrine and Covenants 82:10); a second passage states, "And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated" (Doctrine and Covenants 130:21).

It is important to remember, therefore, that the Lord is obligated (and happily so) to bless His children when they are obedient, but disobedience will conversely bring sorrow, for the Lord cannot bless the disobedient.

 The Lord has revealed important information about the specific blessings of obedience. All people desire knowledge and intelligence, and Mormons believe that “if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come” (Doctrine and Covenants 130:19). This life truly is a probationary period where we can get real results and real rewards for proper behavior.

Obedience is important in order to progress and to learn from the experiences the Lord has prepared for His children here on Earth. Mormons believe that often the Lord tries the faith of His servants through tests of obedience. We may not understand the reasons why the Lord asks us to obey certain commandments. Moses chapter 5 (in the Mormon book of scripture, the Pearl of Great Price) describes the first man on Earth, Adam, as being in that exact situation. He was commanded to offer animal sacrifice to the Lord without knowing why.

Many divine commandments, such as the law of sacrifice, are given for reasons only the Lord knows. This is why obedience is necessary. It is impossible for God's children to understand every reason for each commandment; men and women on Earth cannot understand all the mysteries of the Lord. But they can show their faithfulness and diligence by always obeying divine commandments. This is also how men and women learn humility, another important Christ-like attribute.

Mormonism teaches that this necessary humility can be compared to the nature of a child. Each person is encouraged to "[become] a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and [become] as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father" (Book of Mormon, Mosiah 3:19).

In the end, people will receive rewards and answers. Adam was granted an angelic visitation for his obedience, and he learned that his sacrifices were a symbolic reminder of the future sacrifice of the Lamb, Jesus Christ. Mormons know that as they exercise obedience to the Lamb, they will gain glorious enlightenment and progression.