Laws and Ordinances. According to the Articles of Faith, “We believe that through the atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel” (The Articles of Faith 1:3). Apostle Boyd K. Packer told a general conference audience, “We came to earth to be tested and to gain experience, with a promise that ‘through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel’” (“The Standard of Truth Has Been Erected”, Ensign (Conference Edition), November 2003, 24). Alonzo L. Gaskill explained, “The laws and ordinances by which men and women are exalted in the celestial kingdom of our God are eternal and do not change – and because they are eternal, they predate God. Yes, they have always existed and have ever been in operation. And no, they are not negotiable. All beings are saved on the same principles – by the same laws and ordinances – in all dispensations, on every earth created by the God who ‘upholds all worlds and all things by his power’” (Odds Are, You’re Going to be Exalted, 8).

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