Saved By Grace

I approach this subject with a desire to do it justice, while at the same time, keeping reverence for the great sacrifice of our Savior. This is a subject that is discussed by many Christians, but many of us differ in our understanding. I hope I can give a clear explanation of our view of this great subject.

Of the Savior's atoning sacrifice, the Prophet Isaiah wrote, "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." Isaiah 53:4-5 When the Savior was in the Garden of Gethsemane, He took upon Himself the sins of the world. This was a task that no mere mortal could do. But Jesus Christ was the literal begotten son of God, and therefore had divine characteristics that enabled Him to perform this great sacrifice on our behalf. He himself was without sin, being the one true sacrifice without blemish. In modern day scripture the Savior said of that suffering, "Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit— and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink— Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men." (Doctrine and Covenants 19:18,19)

The Prophet Alma, in the Book of Mormon had this to say about this great sacrifice willing given by Jesus Christ. "9 For it is expedient that an atonement should be made; for according to the great plan of the Eternal God there must be an atonement made, or else all mankind must unavoidably perish; yea, all are hardened; yea, all are fallen and are lost, and must perish except it be through the atonement which it is expedient should be made.
10 For it is expedient that there should be a great and last sacrifice; yea, not a sacrifice of man, neither of beast, neither of any manner of fowl; for it shall not be a human sacrifice; but it must be an infinite and eternal sacrifice.
13 Therefore, it is expedient that there should be a great and last sacrifice, and then shall there be, or it is expedient there should be, a stop to the shedding of blood; then shall the law of Moses be fulfilled; yea, it shall be all fulfilled, every jot and tittle, and none shall have passed away.
14 And behold, this is the whole meaning of the law, every whit pointing to that great and last sacrifice; and that great and last sacrifice will be the Son of God, yea, infinite and eternal." (Alma 34:9-14) In Old Testament times, the Children of Israel offered sacrifices of animals as a symbol of the sacrifice Jesus would later make for all mankind. His was the last and ultimate, and atones for the sins of all the world.

Many Christians today debate about the principle of being saved by "grace" or saved by "works". We believe that without the atonement of Jesus Christ, no one can be saved. No amount of repentance, no amount of good works could ever save a man without the atoning grace of Jesus Christ. It is only through that grace that we can be saved. Faith in the atonement Jesus Christ is the fundamental basic principle of the gospel. We must believe if we are to be saved.

But I think the question must be asked, "What are we saved from?". Because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are saved from death. Because of Him, all mankind will be resurrected, whether they be good or whether they be evil. We are all saved from death. In addition, the atonement of Jesus Christ can save us from sorrow. In the Book of Mormon the prophet Alma prophesied of the Savior, "11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.
12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities." (Alma 7:11,12) Because He has suffered for us, He understands our pain and can comfort us in our troubles.

Secondly we are given the opportunity to be saved from sin. Some say that belief alone qualifies us for that redeeming power. But I submit that as James taught, "faith without works is dead". (James 2:20) Our actions are an extension of our faith. If we say we believe, but then do not follow what the Savior has asked us to do, is our faith indeed true faith? It is only when we conform our lives to what He has taught that we actually demonstrate our faith.

James went on to teach, "shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works." (James 2:18) We demonstrate our faith by our actions. The Savior commanded, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." (Matt. 5:48) To "be" connotes more than just a thought. It is more than just a belief. To "be" connotes an action, a "becoming". Repentance allows us the opportunity to change incorrect behavior, and become more Christlike. In addition, repentance brings great joy and growth to the soul. What a blessing it is in my life to be able to correct the wrongs that I have done. It not only helps free me from guilt, but helps me to learn so that I won't commit the same error again. Sometimes this is a life long process, but it is a process that brings great spiritual growth in to my life.

Elder James E. Faust taught, "The Atonement and the Resurrection accomplish many things. The Atonement cleanses us of sin on condition of our repentance. Repentance is the condition on which mercy is extended. After all we can do to pay to the uttermost farthing and make right our wrongs, the Savior’s grace is activated in our lives through the Atonement, which purifies us and can perfect us. Christ’s Resurrection overcame death and gave us the assurance of life after death. Said He: “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” 27 The Resurrection is unconditional and applies to all who have ever lived and ever will live. 28 It is a free gift. President John Taylor described this well when he said: “The tombs will be opened and the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and they shall come forth, they who have done good to the resurrection of the just, and they who have done evil to the resurrection of the unjust.”

The Prophet Nephi taught, "For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do."
(2 Nephi 25:23) It is crucial that we do all we can do to demonstrate our faith by keeping the commandments and repenting. But in the end, it is the grace of Jesus Christ that saves us.

Book of Mormon Sampler July 27, 2008

I decided I would like to start a new feature on this blog called "Book of Mormon Sampler". Here I will occasionally post favorite Book of Mormon scriptures for you to peruse. The advantage to this is that I have read the Book of Mormon many times, so I know some of the particularly choice passages (atleast they are choice to me). It's sort of like getting a book review I guess, but I thought this might give you an idea for what kinds of things the Book of Mormon has to offer. I'm not sure why I chose this first scripture other than that it has been on my mind. And so today, I give you the first scripture sampler:

"Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.

And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot."
" Moroni 10:32,33

Saved By Grace

If you were to ask me if I believe in being saved by grace, or saved by works, I would have to answer both. As I contemplate this subject, it occurs to me that maybe I should explain my definition of some of these words. The words "works", and "grace", might have different meanings to other people.

The "works" mentioned aren't good deeds. I don't believe that you earn your way to heaven by doing good deeds. Oh, I helped an old lady across the street....one more notch on my heaven meter! :) No, when I use the term "works", I'm referring to repentance. Romans 3:23 tells us, " For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." As fallible human beings, we all sin. 1 John 3:4 teaches us: " Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law." We have been given commandments, or laws in the Bible. The ten commandments were given us and when we break those commandments, we commit sin. In addition, when the Savior taught the beattitudes, he took these commandments to a higher level. He taught us a higher way to think about the commandments. Revelations refers to the judgement day when we will be judged by our works: Rev. 20:12 "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works."

Repentance alone cannot ever make us worthy to enter the kingdom of heaven. We aren't even worthy to approach the judgement seat to ask for mercy. It took someone without sin to be the mediator for us. The "grace" that we speak of is the grace of Jesus Christ to volunteer to be that mediator for us. He suffered for the sins of the world so that if we repent, we can be forgiven. Galatians 2:16: "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified."

A modern day Prophet, Ezra Taft Benson said,"The question is sometimes asked, 'Are Mormons Christians?' We declare the divinity of Jesus Christ. We look to Him as the only source of our salvation. We strive to live His teachings, and we look forward to the time that He shall come again on this earth to rule and reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. In the words of a Book of Mormon prophet, we say to men today, 'There [is] no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent' (Mosiah 3:17)."

I once read a story about a little girl who asked her father if he would buy her a bicycle. He told her to save up her money, and then one day she would be able to buy one. She saved her money for a long time, then one day came to her father and said, "I have saved up my money, can we go buy a bicycle now?" Her father took her to the store and let her pick out a bike. Then he asked her to put her money on the counter. She took out several dollars worth of change. The father then made up the difference so that she could purchase the bike. This is what Jesus Christ's atonement does for us. We give all that we can give to try to repent, then his sacrifice makes up the difference that we could never do on our own. It wouldn't be fair to us as His children, for God the Father to deny us the opportunity to try to make up for wrongs that we do. We must be allowed to suffer consequences for our behavior, because this is how we progress and learn. If Jesus Christ's atonement did not require us to suffer consequences, that would not be fair to us a children who are trying to progress and learn.

In order for Christ's atoning sacrifice to take effect in our lives, we must have faith in Him, and look to Him as the only one who can pay that additional price for us. Romans 3: 23-31
"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be ajust, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also: Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith. Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law." Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord"
Some believe that faith in Christ's atonement is enough. They believe that if you only believe, you will be saved, no matter what you have done. James teaches differently: "James 2:17-26
17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?
26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also."
We must have faith in Jesus Christ's atonement, but our faith cannot be perfect with out our works. It is easy to say we believe if we dont' have to live it. The true test of our belief comes in our obeying. When we disobey, we must repent. If we do not repent, we aren't worthy to enter the kingdom of God. We are all human, so we must continually repent of things we do that are wrong.
I almost laugh when I hear people say that our religion is not a Christian religion. We look to Jesus Christ as our Savior. It is only because of His grace in suffering for us, that we have any hope. I add my feelings to those of the Book of Mormon Prophet Nephi who said, "For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do. .. And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins." 2 Nephi 25:23, 26