Everlasting Covenant
Generally referred to the “fulness of the gospel”—the sum total of the church’s message, geared toward establishing God’s covenant people on the earth; also used to describe individual elements of the gospel, including marriage. According to Joseph Smith, the everlasting covenant was contained in “Holy writ and the things that God hath revealed unto us” [Letter, circa 22 March 1839]. A Joseph Smith revelation stated that God revealed the everlasting covenant to the earth so that individuals “might have life & be made partakers of the glories which are to be revealed in the last days” [Doctrine and Covenants 66:2; 133:57]. On 16 April 1830, a revelation concerning baptism introduced the term new and everlasting covenant, which was later used with reference to marriage sealings, including plural marriages, by church priesthood authority [D&C 22:1].
Retrieved with permission from The Joseph Smith Papers.