Saving, Saving, Saved by Grace

"What must I do to inherit eternal life? What must I do to be saved?"

Though these questions may seem irrelevant to my brethren who identify as atheist, to those of us who believe in God, we recognize that there is a gulf, as it were, of difference between us and God, between what we do or even wish to do and the reunion with God that we theists aspire to.

I am a Latter-day Saint (LDS). I am Mormon. I am a Christian. Some of my fellow Christians who are not LDS ascribe to a belief that to be saved one must only profess a belief in Jesus Christ, that He is The Son of God, our Savior. The scripture that these Christian brethren often cite is in Ephesians 2:

Ephesians 2:1-10

1: And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;

2: Wherein in time past ye walked according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

3: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

4: But God, who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us,

5: Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

6: And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus;

7: That in ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

8: For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God:

9: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

10: For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

The phrases "for by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves" and "not of works, lest any man should boast" seem to be very precise, "believe and by grace ye are saved". My brethren who ascribe to this view see salvation thus achieved as immediate, secured in the moment of belief professed, and irrevocable.

But What of Other Scriptural References?

The point of concern, however, is that The Bible scriptures may seem to be at odds with each other. Here are 10 New Testament passages that, though clear in and of themselves, seem to be at odds with the terms outlined in Ephesians 2.

#1: John 3:3-5

3: Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

4: Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?

5: Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

Here Jesus makes a statement that two requirements for entry into the kingdom of God are baptism by water and baptism by the Spirit. In fact, this is the first requirement The Lord outlines for entry into the Kingdom of God. Jesus makes the requirement universal and binding upon all.

#2: Mark 16:16
16: He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

Here Jesus overtly names belief and baptism as necessary for salvation.

#3: James 2:19-20
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?

Here James draws the distinction between a tenet held and not observed/obeyed/practiced, as what the devils do, and one that is practiced in the works that we do. The devils have dead faith, and likewise our faith is dead if our faith is not leading us to take the steps or works God requires of us.

#4: Matthew 7:21-23

21: Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

22: Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

23: And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

This passage seems to teach that faith alone is insufficient for a person to be saved if that faith were accompanied by works of iniquity, however much the doer asserts that such dark works were wondrous. Here The Lord acknowledges the role of faith, "Lord, Lord" is a reference to prayer, to reverence, to acknowledgement, to a person's acceptance of Him, The Savior, through reverence. He, The Savior, makes it clear that the type of acknowledgement of Him that His Father will accept is the type that led those who profess His Name, The Savior's, to do the will of His Father in Heaven.

#5: Matthew 10:22

22: And ye shall be hated of all men for my names's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

In this passage Jesus states that salvation comes to those who endure to the end, which seems to be at odds with the belief in instantaneous salvation. Here The Savior makes clear that our diligence must not die off but persevere unto the end, the goal, the objective. Endure to the end is clear, for if we desire to return to our Father in Heaven, why would we cease striving to grow closer to God at any point? We would not cease striving to grow closer to God, but would continue growing closer to Him until we are reunited, and that reunion is salvation. Thus he that endureth "to the end" shall be saved.

#6: Matthew 19:16-17, 26

16: And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?

17: And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

26: But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

Here the Savior overtly states that the keeping of the commandments is what a person must do to have eternal life. And when his own disciples expressed doubt that anyone could achieve salvation on such terms Jesus said that "with God all things are possible." So what are the steps for entering into life eternal, to that life that is union with God in His presence? The steps are the commandments of God, and thanks to this sacred record, the world has it on the highest authority, Jesus Christ Himself, that the commandments are the steps for walking into or "entering" into life eternal, our ultimate end or objective.

#7: Matthew 28:18-20

18: And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

19: Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost;

20: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

This passage does not make an overt reference to "salvation" or "grace", but notice the Savior's instruction, "teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." Here the Savior's instruction to His apostles is that they should teach obedience to all His commandments. The Savior sent His apostles out to teach the world to keep every single commandment He had commanded them, His apostles. The point is clear, because He, Christ, was sent to bring all people to the very presence of God, if we choose to follow Him we will do what He instructs us to do, and those instructions are His commandments.

#8: Acts 15:9-11

9: And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.

10: Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?

11: But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.

Here the Apostles, led by the presiding Apostle, Peter, when discussing a controversial issue, whether the Gentile converts should submit to Mosaic circumcision, states that the Gentiles converts like they, the Jews, "through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved." Peter states "shall be saved" rather than "have already been saved", thus pointing to a future point at which salvation shall come to pass for them. 

#9: Acts 15:18

18: When they heard these things, they held their peace, and gloried God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.

As Peter continued his pronouncements on the issue of Gentile requirements for admission into the Gospel, he mentioned that God "also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life." Often overlooked, I feel, is that repentance, not solely the act of our asking forgiveness of God, and not even our efforts to unlearn the sin and practice a Godly walk instead of it, but the actual possibility itself to repent, "be forgiven", and strive to learn Godliness instead, that is God's gift that is granted to us.

#10: Revelation 12:10-11
10: And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
11: And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their own lives unto the death.

This reference is powerful in part because it describes the realization of salvation, again, as Peter intimated earlier, will be at a future time. At that future time we will see that it was by the "blood of Jesus", His grace enabled, His Atonement and Resurrection, that we overcame as well as our own testimonies (our own faith in Him) and our hatred of our own lives until death, an expression that means "we chose God's will over ours throughout our lives" thus despising our lives but loving God's.

Now, although these scriptures are only a few, they are consistent with each other in their message. If we look at them carefully we can discern what they indicate: Baptism appears to be the first requirement, though faith is critical before and after, namely, that faith that motivates them who profess The Christ to do the will of The Father. We must press forward throughout our lives because salvation has not brought about its objective, reunion with God The Father, until we have actually been reunified with Him. The commandments we were given are the steps that spiritually and ultimately physically will take us to the presence of God and eternal life with Him. Repentance will play a critical role both before baptism and after; far from being a painful burden, repentance was granted to us by God so that we might live life in His Son now, and eventually live with Him and His Son when we reenter their presence.

Grace Absent in the Old Testament?

The question often arises why grace is absent in the Old Testament especially since it is prominent in the New Testament. I put it to the reader that grace figures in prominently in the Old Testament, but whereas the New Testament translators came to use "grace" as the term for God's loving kindness or mercy, "mercy" was used in the translation of the Old Testament. In any event, the Hebrew word "khessed", often translated "mercy" is precisely the word that gets rendered "grace" in New Testament times. Here are three exemplary citations:

Exodus 20:5-6:

5: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them [idols], nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

6: And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

A more transparent translation would be "And showing grace unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments."

Exodus 34:6-7
6: and the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
7: Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and fourth generation.

This verse is particularly salient because in it The Lord told Moses that The Lord keeps mercy, "grace" as translated in the New Testament, forgiving iniquity, transgressions and sin, but The Lord also adds that He will not clear or absolve the guilty, that is, the unrepentant, those who persisted in rebellion.

Psalms 109:26-27

26: Help me, O LORD my God: O save me according to thy mercy.
27: That they may know that this is thy hand; that thou, LORD, hast done it.

A more transparent translation would be "save me according to thy grace."

The message of The Lord seems to be consistent, that God's grace (also translated as "mercy" in the Old Testament) is applied to those who keep His commandments. The exception seems to be what Ephesians appears to be saying, that we are saved "not by works." 

Saved by Our Own Works?

The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ contains the teachings of a prophet Alma, which name, "Alma" was discovered in the Dead Sea Scrolls as a once known but long since lost Hebrew male name that apparently was related to the Aramaic 'Alma 'world'. How fitting, because his message, the Prophet Alma's message, was for all the world. Alma taught that no human work can atone for sins, that there had to be an atonement, but that atonement had to be infinite and eternal. Alma emphasizes that it is not even animal sacrifice or human sacrifices (meaning "capital punishment for murder" and perhaps also "behavioral" sacrifices) that remove sins, but the sacrifice of The Son of God that removes sins. 

Alma 34:9-14

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 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 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.

11: Now there is not any man that can sacrifice his own blood which will atone for the sins of another. Now, if a man murdereth, behold will our law, which is just, take the life of his brother? I say unto you, Nay.

12: But the law requireth the life of him who hath murdered; therefore there can be nothing which is short of an infinite atonement which will suffice for the sins of the world.

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.

Here Alma makes the case that there is nothing any human can do to atone for his own sins, let alone for those of another. Consequently, to remove the sins of the world, a sacrifice would have to be made, namely, The Son of God. Suffice it to say that Mormons do not believe that "our works save us" in the sense that "our works remove our sins", for the only work that removes sins is that done by The Son of God, and that great Work was accomplished by The Savior at the culmination of His earthly life.

So Do Our Personal Works Impact Our Salvation?

To be clear, our own choices and deeds, often referred to as "works" do not remove sins--only The Savior's Atonement removes sins--yet our works serve a purpose. If the Atonement of Jesus Christ wipes sins away, and if as we continue to repent we invite the Savior's cleansing power once again to wipe the newly committed sins away, then what purpose do our works serve? Our works, our personal choices and deeds, are the very steps we take to draw closer to God, step by step closer, until we have reentered His actual physical Presence. The Book of Mormon prophet Nephi illustrated this when he described baptism as only the entry into the way that leads to eternal life. 

2 Nephi 31:19-20

19: And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save.

20: Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.

Nephi's expression, "press forward" in the strait and narrow path is vivid and it forms an unmistakable image of our duty to move from the beginning of our new life in Christ to the ultimate goal, eternal life with our Father in Heaven and His Son. Grace, The Lord's loving kindness in agreeing to take upon Himself our sins, lightens the otherwise impossibly heavy burden of removing our own sins. His Atonement makes movement forward possible, that is, His Atonement made it possible for steps back to our Father in Heaven to exist, but we must receive the gift, and we must choose to apply His Atonement in our lives in order to return to God.

John the Baptist declared this very message, but his words get overlooked:

Matthew 3:4
4: ...Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

This citation is often taken to mean that we are clearing a path for our Lord to walk. That imagery is beautiful, that we would prepare the way for The Lord to reach us. Indeed that is what "preparing The way of The Lord" may mean. The words that follow that introductory statement clarify our personal duty, for each of us to "make a straight path to The Lord", which is what is meant by "make his paths straight". That is why "paths" is used here in the plural, that is, each of us must make a straight path to Him, and wherever we are in life, the steps will be the same ones, same in straightness and righteousness (faith, repentance, baptism, enduring to the end as led by The Holy Ghost to keep God's commandments). 

The Focus is on The Lord's Enabling Grace and Not on our Abilities

There is a tendency for us as humans to believe that any ability we have to overcome weakness is solely the result of personal effort. Yes, we choose to move forward, but when we ascribe the remission of sins to our adherence to God's laws, we convert what should be The Lord's enabling steps into dead works. Let me attempt to make my point: To obey God's laws is good, and essential, but to believe that our obedience removes our sins is to assume an honor reserved solely for The Son of God because it was He and He Alone who took upon Himself the sins of the world. No human work, no matter how well motivated, removes a single sin, not even repentance or baptism removes sins. These choices invite the cleansing power of the Atonement in our lives, but it is always only the Atonement of Jesus Christ that removed sin. It is through our works that we receive the Gift, but God's Gift of Mercy or Grace removed all sin. The Lord, both in the Old and New Testaments, instructed the people not to view their adherence to His laws as the act of removing sin, for that belief makes the work a dead work (a work of pride or arrogance), but to remember that it was and is His Grace, His Mercy, that removes the sin (an act of humility before God). The passage in question is in Hosea and Matthew. In Hosea I will supply the King James version then its more correct translation from the Hebrew.

Hosea 6:6 King James Version
6: For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than of burnt offerings.
From the Hebrew:
6: For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice; and the acknowledgement of God instead of burnt offerings.

This passage is beautiful, though the King James translators unintentionally obfuscated it for us by writing "I desired mercy" rather than what the Hebrew says, "I desire mercy" and "the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings" instead of "the acknowledgement of God instead of burnt offerings". When understood in clarity, this verse does not mean that God does not desire our obedience to His laws, laws which require that our will be sacrificed unto His will. What this verse says is that we should acknowledge God and His mercy/grace instead of believing that our obedience has removed sin. Again, our obedience is how we accept His gift of forgiveness into our lives and apply the gift so as to step closer to God. Our obedience is dead without the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and likewise, if we assume the honor that belongs to The Son of God, we have deadened the effectiveness of our works in us even if outwardly those works are what God has asked of us. Jesus referred to this passage of Hosea in Matthew 9:13 when the Pharisees criticized Him for eating with sinners. He instructed the Pharisees to "learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." It is Jesus who has Grace, and though outwardly the Pharisees kept the law, inwardly they took the credit unto themselves. Jesus pointed out that The Lord requires our humble acknowledgement of His Grace rather than pride in our diligence, though diligence is required for us to step closer and closer to God.

Paul and Nephi Described the Same Process, But at Different Stages

The Apostle Paul's words "saved by grace, not by works" may seem at odds with what The Book of Mormon prophet Nephi taught:

2 Nephi 25:23
23: 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.

Some of my fellow Christians who are not LDS get annoyed, naturally, at what seems to be an overt contradiction between The Bible and The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. However, look closely at what Nephi wrote: "after all we can do". At what point could any of us say "that is all I can do, I can do no more"? I put it to the reader that the point at which we have done all we can do is the point when we have returned to God for our final judgment. "Now hold on!" my brethren will say. "Are you saying that you get yourself to God?" No, I am saying that Christ enables every single step, but what good are those steps if I will not take each one? Christ's Atonement will not drag me into Heaven kicking and screaming, but I must choose to follow my Lord step by sometimes painful step. At the point at which I have (I truly hope) returned to God's presence, I will look back at every step that took me there and know that although I accepted God's gift, it was by the gift of His grace that I am saved.

Would it surprise you if I told you that Paul's verses in Ephesians were mistranslated? I will cite the passages rendered carefully from the Greek:

Ephesians 2:1-10

1: And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;

2: Wherein in time past ye walked according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

3: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

4: But God, who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us,

5: Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are being saved;)

6: And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus;

7: That in ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

8: For by grace are ye being saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God:

9: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

10: For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Paul did not write that by grace we are saved but that by grace we "are being saved". What? Yes, Paul actually was speaking of the process of Salvation, just as Nephi did centuries earlier, but whereas Nephi was speaking of the completion of Salvation, at the point of finality and completion, Paul was speaking of the process of Salvation while that long process is underway. Look carefully at what Paul writes.

1. We were dead in transgressions but were quickened and raised up in Christ, which is baptism. Paul then carefully writes "for by grace ye are being saved". We are not yet saved, not yet in God's presence, but the process of our salvation is now underway.
2. Our faith is leading us to salvation, and it is not our works that are removing our trespasses but the Grace of God that removes them, therefore no man can boast of his works (as the Pharisees were so wont to do). By grace we are being saved as we move forward from baptism.
3. Now the oft overlooked teaching, from verse 10, that as Christ's new creations via rebirth through baptism, Christ's "workmanship", we are created unto good works which God hath ordained that we should walk in them.

So, Paul described our spiritual death ending by rebirth as Christ's workmanship, a new life in which we are created unto good works that God ordained that we should walk in. Nephi described the culmination of that walk, that when we have through Christ's grace done the good works God Himself ordained that we should walk in, the very good works Christ through His grace raised us up from spiritual death to walk in, we will know that after all these good works or steps that God commanded and enabled us to do, step by painful step, it was truly by grace that we were saved, mainly because not one of those steps would have removed a single sin; only the Atonement of Jesus Christ removed sin and lifted the burden.

Now, the reader is, as always, at liberty to make of these passages what he or she will. I ask only that in your contemplation you consider that my own views aside, the citations I share are actually textual.