Saved By Grace

I Heard Mormons Believe You have to work to be saved, but doesn’t the Bible say we are saved by grace?

Mormons believe that man is saved by grace.  However, Mormon beliefs about what grace is differs slightly from many other Christian denominations.  In the “Guide to the Scriptures,” which is found at the end of new editions of the Book of Mormon, grace is defined as “The enabling power from God that allows men and women to obtain blessings in this life and to gain eternal life and exaltation after they have exercised faith, repented, and given their best effort to keep the commandments. Such divine help or strength is given through the mercy and love of God. Every mortal person needs divine grace because of Adam’s fall and also because of man’s weaknesses.”  Grace is God’s mercy for us, because of our weakness for sin.  Without it, no person who has ever lived could be saved.  Many Christians teach that we are saved by grace alone and that nothing we do affects that.  This doctrine, however, is contrary to the many statements of Jesus that say we must obey His commandments.  To his disciples Jesus declared:

“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 (Matthew 7:21)”

However, our good works do not earn salvation for us, for no matter how many good deeds we do; we have still sinned and are unclean, and no unclean thing can dwell in God’s presence.  Ultimately, we are saved through Jesus Christ, whose sacrifice on the cross and whose resurrection from death, provide the opportunity for all to return to God’s presence.  However, we must still work and do many good things.  Elder Dallin H. Oaks, a modern Apostle in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said this:

The Final Judgment is not just an evaluation of a sum total of good and evil acts–what we have done. It is an acknowledgment of the final effect of our acts and thoughts–what we have become. It is not enough for anyone just to go through the motions. The commandments, ordinances, and covenants of the gospel are not a list of deposits required to be made in some heavenly account. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a plan that shows us how to become what our Heavenly Father desires us to become (Conference Report, October 2000, “The Challenge to Become”).

God desires all of us to inherit Eternal Life, but because He is perfect and just and we are weak and imperfect, He cannot simply give it to us, otherwise He would be denying justice.  The solution is for Jesus Christ to pay the penalty for our sins.  This act is called the atonement.  To apply the atonement in our lives, we must believe in Jesus, repent of our sins and covenant with God and Jesus Christ to follow Jesus as our Leader and perfect Example.  We make this covenant, or promise, through baptism.

God wants each of us to become a heavenly person full of faith, hope, and charity.  This life is like a testing ground where we can, through our trials and mistakes, learn how to be happy and how to help others.  As Elder Oaks said, we are not trying to earn a certain number of good points, we are trying to become a new creature in Christ and that requires that we obey God’s commandments and save others.  As we struggle to learn, we will make mistakes, or give into weakness.  God’s grace is the power to overcome those weaknesses.  Through God’s grace and mercy we are saved by Jesus Christ through our faith in Him and our efforts to be like Him.