Some critics
(e.g., the Tanners) have often proof-texted D&C 132:26 as evidence that
being sealed in the temple gives one a license to engage in any sin (with the
exception of the shedding of innocent blood) and still be exalted in the
Celestial Kingdom. I refuted this eisegesis in my article:
In his 1996
October General Conference talk, Robert D. Hales, in refuting the popular but
very mistaken idea that a temple sealing ceremony is all that is needed to
establish an eternal marriage (as if it is a form of “super-glue”) also refutes
this antinomian interpretation of D&C 132:26:
As taught in this scripture, an eternal bond
doesn’t just happen as a result of sealing covenants we make in the temple. How
we conduct ourselves in this life will determine what we will be in all the
eternities to come. To receive the
blessings of the sealing that our Heavenly Father has given to us, we have to
keep the commandments and conduct ourselves in such a way that our families
will want to live with us in the eternities. (Robert D. Hales, "The
Eternal Family," Ensign
[November 1996], p. 65, emphasis added)
