Answer

What Does a Temple Marriage Sealing Actually Do?

You may know that Latter-day Saints marry in temples because families can be eternal and still wonder what a sealing actually does. Is it simply a promise to stay together forever? Does being sealed guarantee an eternal marriage? To understand sealing, begin with the authority Jesus Christ gave His Apostles.

A temple sealing joins a man and a woman in a marriage covenant through priesthood authority recognized in heaven. It makes eternal marriage possible, but its promised blessings are received as husband and wife faithfully live the covenant.

Eternal Truths

Jesus Christ gave authority to bind on earth and in heaven. In Matthew 16:13–19, Peter testifies that Jesus is “the Christ.” The Savior then gives him keys and says that what is bound on earth can be bound in heaven. A sealing is more than a promise of forever because it is performed through authority Christ has given.

A sealing begins a covenant marriage; it does not finish the work. Doctrine and Covenants 132:19 says a husband and wife must enter the covenant through proper authority and “abide” in it. Marriage after the sealing still requires faith, fidelity, repentance, forgiveness, sacrifice, and love.

The Family Proclamation teaches that temple ordinances make it possible “for families to be united eternally.” That promise gives marriage an eternal purpose.

What Can Make This Confusing?

A sealing can be treated as either a religious wedding ceremony or an automatic guarantee. Neither view is complete. The ordinance carries divine authority, but the covenant still must be lived.

What Research Shows

David C. Dollahite and Loren D. Marks were part of a study of 28 Latter-day Saint families. Belief in eternal marriage and eternal family emerged as the central theme, and participants connected that perspective with hope, purpose, forgiveness, humility, and patience. The study cannot measure sealing power, but it shows how an eternal view can shape married life.

Questions to Think About

• Do I think more about a temple wedding or a covenant marriage?
• What would it mean to “abide” in an eternal marriage covenant?

What You Can Do

Read Matthew 16:13–19 and Doctrine and Covenants 132:19 this week. Notice what each teaches about authority and about living a covenant after the ordinance.

Jesus Christ can help a husband and wife become the eternal companions their sealing calls them to be.