Don’t the scriptures describe God’s commandments as “irrevocable”?
In the Doctrine and Covenants we read, “There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated” (D&C 132:20-21). In addition, many materials from tee Church use the phrase “eternal law,” which implies support for an idea view of truth, where truth is expressed in abstract, universal, unchangeable ideas.
Many of God’s laws may be “irrevocable” by divine decree and may have existed from before our mortal sojourn on Earth (“before the foundations of this world”), but this does not mean that they are the same sort of immutable, metaphysical entities that the Greeks referred to as absolute truth. In addition, irrevocable may simply mean that God’s appointed laws cannot be revoked by man’s will or authority, or that God is committed to them and will not change them at a whim. God’s laws may be unchanging, but that does not mean they are unchangeable.
The Lord teaches us in the Doctrine and Covenants, that eternal does not mean the same thing as “without end” but rather represents one of the honorific names of God:
Nevertheless, it is not written that there shall be no end to this torment, but it is written endless torment.
Again, it is written eternal damnation; wherefore it is more express than other scriptures, that it might work upon the hearts of the children of men, altogether for my name’s glory.
Wherefore, I will explain unto you this mystery, for it is meet unto you to know even as mine apostles . . .
For, behold, the mystery of godliness, how great is it! For, behold, I am endless, and the punishment which is given from my hand is endless punishment, for Endless is my name. Wherefore--
Eternal punishment is God’s punishment.
Endless punishment is God’s punishment (D&C 19:6-8, 12, emphasis added)
For, behold, the mystery of godliness, how great is it! For, behold, I am endless, and the punishment which is given from my hand is endless punishment, for Endless is my name. Wherefore--
Eternal punishment is God’s punishment.
Endless punishment is God’s punishment (D&C 19:6-8, 12, emphasis added)
Perhaps we can say something similar about “eternal law.” Eternal law is God’s law, and that is why we damage our relationship with Him when we violate it. For example, LaMar E. Garrard suggests, “[Eternal law] is eternal only in the sense that ‘Eternal Law’ is God’s law for he created it and ‘Eternal’ is his name: it has a beginning and it may have an end, depending upon the circumstances” (LaMar E. Garrard, “God, Natural Law, and the Doctrine and Covenants,” in Doctrines for Exaltation: Sidney B Sperry Symposium, February, 1989 [Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book, 1989], 69). It is binding upon us by virtue of the act that it is He who has commanded it. (Jeffrey L. Thayne and Edwin E. Gantt, Who is Truth? Reframing our Questions for a Richer Faith [Verdand Press, 2019], 162-63)