from the Doctrines of the Gospel Manual: http://www.ldsces.org/inst_manuals/doc-gosp/manualindex.asp Chapter 21
B. God reestablished His covenant with Israel in mortality.
■ “Abraham first received the gospel by baptism (which is the covenant of salvation); then he had conferred upon him the higher priesthood, and he entered into celestial marriage (which is the covenant of exaltation), gaining assurance thereby that he would have eternal increase; finally he received a promise that all of these blessings would be offered to all of his mortal posterity. (Abra. 2:6–11; D. & C. 132:29–50.) Included in the divine promises to Abraham was the assurance that Christ would come through his lineage, and the assurance that Abraham’s posterity would receive certain choice, promised lands as an eternal inheritance. (Abra. 2; Gen. 17; 22:15–18; Gal. 3.)
“All of these promises lumped together are called the Abrahamic covenant” (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 13).
■ “When the Lord called Abraham out of Ur, the land of his fathers, he made certain covenants with him because of his faithfulness. One promise was that through him and his seed after him all nations of the earth should be blessed. This blessing is accomplished in several ways.
“1. Through Jesus Christ who came through the lineage of Abraham;
“2. Through the priesthood which was conferred upon Abraham and his descendants;
“3. Through the scattering of Israel among all nations by which the blood of Israel was sprinkled among the nations, and thus the nations partake of the leaven of righteousness, on condition of their repentance, and are entitled to the promises made to the children of Abraham; and
“4. In the fact that the Lord covenanted with Abraham that after his time all who embraced the gospel should be called by his name, or, should be numbered among his seed, and should receive the Holy Ghost” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 3:246).
■ “The essence of the covenant thus made with Abraham was the ancient, everlasting one, that those who are obedient to God’s law shall inherit the blessings of the Lord. Because Jesus the Christ replaced the lesser law of Israel by the higher one, we now speak, for the sake of distinction, of the ‘new and everlasting covenant.’ The word ‘new’ seems to have a sense of ‘restored,’ as in the words of the Lord to the Prophet Joseph Smith, ‘. . . this is a new and everlasting covenant, even that which was from the beginning’ [D&C 22:1].
“This covenant with Abraham was also a call to leadership. Therefore, it has been interpreted to mean that Abraham and his descendants were chosen to conserve in purity and to advance on earth the eternal plan for human salvation. Consequently, the seed of Abraham are often spoken of as the chosen or covenant people” (John A. Widtsoe, “Why Are We Called a Covenant People?” Improvement Era, June 1945, 349; see also “A Covenant People,” New Era, Feb. 1976, 45).
■ “Nor is this covenant confined to mortal life. It extends beyond the grave and into the celestial kingdom. The children of Abraham, if they will keep the covenant as they receive it in the house of the Lord, shall, as Abraham their father, continue on through all eternity to increase, and there shall be no end to their posterity. In this way the blessings of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, are extended to them, and they become partakers to the fullest extent. For there is to be a continuation of the ‘seeds forever’ among those who receive exaltation in the kingdom of God. This is the promise, and there shall come through Abraham kings and priests and rulers, not only on this earth but in the heavens, and so shall it be worlds without end” (Joseph Fielding Smith, The Way to Perfection, 96).
C. Covenant Israel today means anyone who covenants to accept and live the gospel.
