Do you indeed desire to be my people? Then accept and do as I have required.
—T&C 157:56
Humans long for connection—for a sense of belonging—for a group we can call “our” people.
You see this human need leveraged in marketing, where everything from credit cards to pharmaceuticals, to the US Marines sell the idea that if you accept what is being offered, you’ll gain membership and belonging. You’ll be numbered among a group with special status; that the common shared ideals and attributes of the group will now become your own ideals and attributes. The group identity will become your identity . You’ll be elevated, unique, and given special status as a member of an exclusive group. Once a Marine, always a Marine, as they say.
The potential loss of such membership and identity is a powerful motivator to control the behaviors of individuals in a group—just ask any organization that uses threatened loss of membership as a means of control. To strip someone of membership is to remove their supposed special status, to make them common like those who are not members; to remove the privileges and expected rewards of membership status. It is a loss of identity, which, for those most committed to the group, is most painful.
It turns out that God longs for connection as well—for a group of observant people committed to the truth He can call His own. The Hebrew word עַם (ahm) has something to teach us about such a group. The word literally refers to a nation, people or kinsfolk; those of a common tribe; those who share a common identity. When appearing with the definite article, it is commonly translated simply as “the people” though this undersells the concept. “The people” in the Old Covenants refers to the House of Israel, or the people with a specific family relationship and covenant connection to God. The opposite term is גּוֹי (goy), which also refers to a group, but means a foreign nation, a group of “others”, a troop of animals, or most commonly, “gentiles.” It implies any group other than “the people,” with such a group lacking the elevated status enjoyed by “the people.”
Putting it simply, the Hebrew terms divide people into two categories. “His people” and all others. “His people” can expect protection, salvation and favor, while all others can expect eventual disappointment.
His by Baptism
Likewise, Covenant of Christ uses the term, “His people” in numerous places. Perhaps the most descriptive is Mosiah 9:7:
He told them: Here are the waters of Mormon (referring to what they were called). Do you have a desire to enter God’s fold and be called His people? Are you willing to help carry each other’s burdens, to lighten them for one another? 9Are you willing to mourn with those who mourn, and comfort those who need comforting? Will you stand and testify as witnesses of God at all times, in all things, wherever you go, for the rest of your lives? Do you want to qualify for redemption by God and be included with those of the first resurrection, receiving eternal life? 10If this is the desire of your hearts, are you now willing to be baptized in the Lord’s name, as a witness before Him that you’ve made a covenant with Him? Are you willing to commit to serve Him and keep His commandments, so He can pour out His Spirit more abundantly upon you? (emphasis added)
Here we learn the notion of entering into a covenant by means of the gospel’s first ordinance, which is baptism. Indeed, this ordinance is the beginning of the believer’s return to God, or in the Book of Mormon language, “the gate by which ye should enter.” (2 Nephi 13:3) It is the genesis of a peoplehood identity that expands as the believer progresses. “His people” therefore denotes a specific, covenant status and implication of connection to God by having received an ordinance. It also implies the expectation that those so identified will share a common set of beliefs and practices, conforming their lives to specific behavior patterns, as outlined in scripture. Therefore, becoming “His people” requires more than mere baptism. It requires obedience to his word.
His by Covenant
The ordinance of baptism is offered, indeed commanded, to be received by all. A group of believers who have entered into this ordinance, received the Holy Ghost as promised and given some level of heed to its direction may be offered a higher level of “peoplehood” or a new identity more closely linked to God.
Such is the case with those who accepted the covenant offered by the Lord in 2017:
Now, hear the words of the Lord to those who receive this covenant this day: All you who have turned from your wicked ways and repented of your evil doings, of lying and deceiving, and of all whoredoms, and of secret abominations, idolatries, murders, priestcrafts, envying, and strife, and from all wickedness and abominations, and have come unto me, and been baptized in my name, and have received a remission of your sins, and received the holy ghost, are now numbered with my people who are of the house of Israel.
—T&C 158:9-10
This represented a change in status from the general body of repentant, baptized believers (my people) to the covenant family of Israel (my people who are3 of the house of Israel). Therefore, the meaning of “the people” among those who entered into the covenant similarly changed. We are not merely believers in a common God and shared set of beliefs, but also a body who has accepted a higher covenant binding us to God and His commandments. In response, God has recognized us as having a unique, committed relationship with him and has claimed us as His own.
His by Name
Yet another level of “peoplehood” was recently bestowed on us by the Lord, as reported in our last General Conference:
After learning that the Lord intends to accomplish His work through our group, or at least a remnant that includes some from our group, I was then told that the Lord has given us a name. When the Lord names His people He then commits to work with them, for there is no reason for Him to name what He intends to abandon. Even if the people reject Him, for at least three and four generations the Lord will reach out to recover them. Only when they have altogether gone too far astray will He then end His work with the people He has named, to choose and work with another people. Therefore, the fact He has now named us holds great significance. This is what the Lord has declared:
This is what you shall say to the people: “I give to you a name to distinguish you from others, and you shall call one another by this name: ‘Covenant Christians’ because you have and hold a covenant with me that make you my followers deserving of my protection. But my protection does not only defend, but also corrects, reproves, disciplines and guides you along that you may be mine indeed.”
—Denver Snuffer, “God’s Covenant People,” April 13, 2025, p. 28
The Lord giving us a name adds yet another dimension to the identity of “His people.” As Denver pointed out, this implies a commitment to protect, correct, and labor with us for three and four generations. Giving a new name like this creates a new identity and relationship that was not included in the covenant that made us “His people.” In the 2017 covenant, he said “You shall be my people and I will be your God” (T&C 157:48), creating a relationship between a God and his recognized followers. The same paragraph also associated us with Jacob (Israel): “I will number you among the remnant of Jacob, no longer outcasts, and you will inherit the promises of Israel.” These gave us a God and another man’s name.
But the naming of children is the privilege of parents, and this act of giving us a name and a commitment reaching to generations of our posterity implies something much more familial and intimate. It is the tender act of a loving Father who wants a connection with us sufficient to rescue us and our children from this fallen world; it is the act of a God who seeks to expand his family. The name he gave us is derived from his own elevated status; by calling us Christians he associated us with his own anointing (Mashiach in Hebrew, Christos in Greek). He did not merely name us; rather He anointed us with His name. This increased commitment on God’s part ought to be matched by an increased commitment on our part.
Faith in His People
This brings us therefore to confront the sobering reality that God not only intends to protect and correct us, but also actually has faith in us. His willingness to make prophecies and promises comes from His confidence that some portion of people on earth will give heed to His word, obey His commandments, and do His work.
We must conclude that if our hope in God is based upon our faith in Him, God’s hope in our fulfillment of prophecy, promises, and covenants must likewise be based on the same principle of faith. Our hope is predicated upon our confidence in God. It follows, therefore, that God’s hope is predicated upon His confidence in us.
—Denver Snuffer, “God’s Covenant People” p. 24
The mere thought that the God of heaven deigns to have confidence in some portion of fallen mankind is stunning and even distressing. The fulfillment of God’s word depends upon US. Upon His People. Upon those who will humble themselves before him to the point of casting aside their own will to become one with His will. Upon those He has anointed with His name.
Cleaving and Pruning
Unfortunately, in the same talk we learned that God’s commitment includes the willingness to correct us, both by precept and also by sad experience. As a loving Father corrects his children, so a loving God corrects those he hopes will be his family.
My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when you are rebuked of him, for whom the Lord loves he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chastens not? But if you are without chastisement whereof all are partakers, then are you bastards and not sons. Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh who corrected us and we gave them reverence. Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits and live? For they truly for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure, but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
—Heb. 1:52 RE
Therefore, we should consider carefully what it means to be part of the group of people God has claimed and named with his own anointing. As with any group, membership in this group means a shared identity, purpose, and set of beliefs. Commitment to the group entails at least the following items:
- Supporting the group’s purposes and priorities
- Subscribing to the goals and mission of the group
- Considering and respecting other members of the group as ourselves
- Laboring and sacrificing to accomplish the group’s priorities
It also means the following obligations devolve upon each of us, individually:
- Worshiping our God in spirit and in truth
- Keeping the covenant into which we have entered
- Keeping the commandments He has given us
- Treating one another in the way the Lord has instructed
- Surrendering our will, pride, desires and and understanding to His higher ways
In any group, it’s expected there will be disagreements, discussions, negotiations and settlements as the group wrestles with questions and priorities. There will be debate about group decisions and projects. These are to be conducted respectfully. (T&C 157:3)
Ultimately, there must be some level of willingness to subordinate our own desires and preferences in favor of supporting the group. And as with any group, some will find this difficult or impossible. Some will reach a point of disagreement where they can no longer support and identify with the group, in which case they are free to reject their group membership and proceed in a different direction.
When this happens, it’s important to note that such people have departed by their own rejection of the group. They left the group, though they may claim the group left them. Also, it’s important to note that it’s not really possible to retain the identity and status of the group while rejecting the goals, decisions, priorities and purposes of the group. This identity is not one that can be retained casually or half-heartedly. Now that the Lord has given his own name to this group, those who leave are no longer His.
Those who reject group membership in this way are metaphorically “pruned” from the tree in Zenos’s allegory, or separated from “the people.” But unlike actual branches, such may be said to have pruned themselves. This group—as yet—has no mechanism for removing bad branches. That is up to the Lord.
The Pattern of Elevating Connection
The notion that we can start out as strangers and foreigners to the house of God (Eph. 1:7 RE), cut off and excluded, then move through increasing levels of holiness and connection is a pattern we see demonstyrated (oops, demonstrated! Typo--see comments) in numerous scriptural examples. Consider the pattern of ancient temple worship with a public place for all, an inner court for initiates, and a holy place for higher initiates. This was noted in Denver’s recent talk:
This division between the outer and inner is reflected in the Tabernacle of Moses, the Temple of Solomon, and the architecture of the Second Temple. There were areas for the public, and others limited to the priests, and still another limited to the High Priest, and then only one time a year. The temples of the Old Testament show there was hidden knowledge that was unavailable to the public, and the content was excluded from the Bible narrative.
—Denver Snuffer, “God’s Covenant People,” p. 34
There are, of course, yet higher levels of connection between God and His people. Some involve group connection and Peoplehood, and some involve personal, intimate connection between God and individuals. We see some on display in Third Nephi when the Lord ministers in person to His people, and others that are never on display, though hints and echoes may be found in scripture.
Thus far, then, we've seen and experienced three degrees of peoplehood: His by baptism, His by covenant, and His by name. Each is a degree of connection on the ascent.
The point to remember is that we each, individually choose our level of closeness to the Lord and our level of connection to the group he calls His People. Nothing is forced upon us or demanded of us—only offered to us upon terms we are free to accept or reject. Remaining “His” may become increasingly challenging as we ascend and more is required at each level. Therefore, it's important to remember such acceptance or rejection includes eternal repercussions. As we've been recently reminded:
We are obligated to heed the Lord. We only have two choices: either to
learn by precept or through sad experience. If we learn by precept, then we listen and follow the Lord. But, when we reject the Lord’s counsel and ignore
His warning, then we learn through sad experiences. Based on the recent
communication with the Lord, it appears we will need, and are going to learn, from sad experiences.
—Denver Snuffer, “God’s Covenant People,” p. 14
This brief overview is in no way complete or comprehensive. Rather, it simply highlights a few important truths inherent in being “His people.” In my next post, we’ll expand the discussion by considering the Lord’s gifts and tools given us for working through group decisions and disagreements. Stay tuned.
And I’ll preserve My people and will yet show My will through them, to restore My covenant with a remnant upon the earth, and they’ll inherit My renewed birthright as the chosen people…
—1 Nephi 6:7 CoC
It is ordained that some things are only to be given to people who are mine and cannot otherwise be given to mankind on earth. You do not yet understand the glory to be revealed unto my covenant people.
—T&C 157:44
