Summary: For centuries, Christians have debated whether we are saved because of the works we do, or whether we are saved exclusively by God’s grace regardless of what we do or don’t do. This is a serious debate because if we are saved by grace alone then there is no need to be baptized or keep the commandments of God or repent of our sins. Yet the Bible tells us that we should do these things. Then do the scriptures contradict themselves or is there a way to reconcile these seemingly opposing statements? This article seeks to answer that question.

In the Book of Mormon we read, “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), yet in the New Testament we read, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). The debate that has raged among Christians for centuries is, are we saved because of the works we do, or are we saved exclusively by God’s grace regardless of what we do or don’t do?

The reason for this debate is because if we are saved only by God’s grace, then we don’t need to be baptized because it is considered to be a work, yet the Bible teaches, “whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (1 Peter 3:21). If we are saved only by God’s grace, then we don’t need to repent of our sins, yet the apostles taught, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins… Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. (Acts 2:28; 3:19). If we are saved only by God’s grace, then we don’t have to keep God’s commandments, yet Jesus taught, “If ye love me, keep my commandments…. [For] if ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love” (John 14:15; 15:10).

Do the scriptures contradict themselves or is there a way to reconcile these seemingly opposing statements? To answer that question, we first have tot define what we mean by “works,” what we mean by being “saved,” and what we mean by “grace,” because if we’ve attached an inaccurate definition to these words, then we will come to an inaccurate understanding of what the scriptures teach, and since everything about the gospel of Jesus Christ centers on and revolves around God’s grace, then that becomes the most important word we have to correctly understand.

Most Christians define the word grace as meaning “God’s unmerited favor.” In other words, God saves us, not because we deserve it, or have done anything to earn it, but he gives it to us as a free gift. As the apostle Paul explained it, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). Thus, salvation is a gift that God gives us without having to work for it. In other words, God is doing us a favor by saving us.

Another word that is used extensively in the scriptures is “mercy,” which the Bible defines as God’s love, compassion, forgiveness, and kindness. Since the word mercy is a synonym for grace we can read the scriptures thusly: “Wherefore, redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah; for he is full of grace (mercy) and truth” (2 Nephi 2:6), “Being justified freely by his grace (mercy) through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24).

It is because of the grace or mercy of Jesus Christ that he is able to redeem us from our sins, and the way he shows his mercy is “through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” However, the way Jesus is able to redeem us from our sins is because of his atoning sacrifice, which paid the price for our sins. Thus, the atonement of Christ IS what God’s grace is all about, because without it, there can be no redemption from our sins.

Paul explained that “God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). And what did we have to do to justify him dying for our sins? Nothing! He didn’t have to do that, but he did it as a completely unselfish act of mercy on his part. It is the atonement that was God’s free gift to us, and therefore it is Christ’s atonement this is what God’s grace is all about. This is why Paul said, “For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified… [because] if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.” (1 Corinthians 2:2; 15:14).

The entire plan of salvation revolves around, is centered on, and is built upon Christ’s sacrifice for our sins. Without it, there can be no redemption or deliverance from the consequences of our sins. Therefore, if Christ did not die to pay the penalty for our sins and rise from the grave, then all the preaching about the redemption from our sins is meaningless and so is our faith in Jesus. What Paul taught was that the grace of God is all about the atonement of Jesus.

But Jesus didn’t pay the penalty for just those who believe in him. Paul said, “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22). Because of what Adam did, “all” men will die, but because of what Jesus did “all men will live again and the only way that can happen is if Christ paid the penalty of not only those who believe in him, but those who don’t believe in him and even those who hate him. That kind of mercy is almost incomprehensible, and this is what God’s grace is all about.

But what did he save us from or what did he save us for? Most Christians will say that he saved us from going to hell so we could live with him in heaven. The Bible tells us that the wages of sins is death, and the gift of God is eternal life (Romans 6:23), But, if Christ paid the penalty for the sins of all men, and since all men will live again, which is an unmerited gift from God, then all men will be saved from the wages of sin, in which case, they will all be entitled to live in heaven.

But how can that be if salvation comes only to those who believe in Christ? If we only depend on what is written in the Bible, this question becomes impossible to answer, however, the Lord has provided additional revelation that resolves this dilemma.

Most Christians believe there are only two places we go to after death – either heaven or hell – but if that is true then the person who lived a morally good life but didn’t accept Jesus will suffer the same punishment as the most vile of sinners. That also means that the person who accepted Jesus as their Savior but who didn’t live his life as a Christian, will enjoy the same glories of heaven as those who dedicated their life to serving God with all their heart.

However, the Bible tells us, “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be” (Revelation 22:12). “For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works” (Matthew 16:27).

If God is fair and just, and that he will reward every man according to his works, it isn’t fair or just to reward everyone the same when their works are all very different, therefore, God has to punish and reward everyone differently. That means, there has to be different degrees of hell as well as different degrees of heaven.

The apostle Paul said as much when talking about the resurrection, saying that just like “all flesh is not the same, in the resurrection of the dead, people will be given different bodies. Some will have a celestial body; some will have a telestial body and others will have a telestial body. More than this, everyone will be given a different glory. Some will have the glory like the sun, some will have a glory like that of the moon, while the glory of others will be like the stars, and as one star’s brightness is different than others, “so also is the resurrection of the dead” (1 Corinthians 15:39-42).

Paul is not just talking about saved sinners. He is saying this in the context of everyone being resurrected and brought back to life. If the wages of sin is death, then Jesus has indeed won the victory over death by banishing the penalty of sin if everyone will be brought back to life. And if everyone’s sins have been forgiven, then there is no reason to prevent them from going to heaven.

But if the wicked go to heaven, even if it isn’t as glorious as where God lives, then why believe in Christ? The answer has to do with repentance. The Lord has explained, “Therefore I command you to repent—repent, lest I smite you by the rod of my mouth, and by my wrath, and by my anger, and your sufferings be sore—how sore you know not, how exquisite you know not, yea, how hard to bear you know not. For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent; But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I” (D&C 19:15-18). “Nevertheless, he that repents and does the commandments of the Lord shall be forgiven” (D&C 1:32).

When Jesus paid the penalty for the sins of all men, as Paul said, “Ye are bought with a price” (1 Corinthians 7:23) and he paid that price with his blood. We may have been freed from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13) but we are indebted to Christ. He owns us! But because he is a man of mercy, if we will come to him and repent of our sins with a sincere heart, then, as an act of grace (God’s unmerited favor) he will forgive us of all our sins. However, if we will not come unto him and repent, then we must suffer for them, to the same extent that he suffered for each of our individual sins.

Therefore, all men will repent for the things they have done wrong, but they can either choose to do so voluntarily, by calling upon Christ to show us mercy, or they can do so involuntarily and must pay the price of their own sins. That is part of their reward.

But notice that Jesus said, “for, behold, your reward is great in heaven” (Luke 6:23; Matthew 5:12). According to the Bible, heaven is not our reward. Rather, our reward will be waiting for us once we get to heaven, but if all men will be rewarded for their works, then the reward of the unrighteous will be waiting for them when they get to heaven. However, it will not be the same as that which the righteous will receive.

It’s because of Christ’s atonement, which is what Christ’s grace is all about, that all men will go to some degree of heaven. However, those who accepted Christ’s invitation to come unto him, and showed they loved him with all their heart, mind, and might, by keeping his commandments, which includes repenting of their sins, will have their sins forgiven, and be “found guiltless before him at the judgment day [and] hath it given unto him to dwell in the presence of God in his kingdom, to sing ceaseless praises with the choirs above, unto the Father, and unto the Son, and unto the Holy Ghost, which are one God, in a state of happiness which hath no end” (Mormon 7:7).

As Paul said, “What is my reward then? Verily that, when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in the gospel… Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour” (1 Corinthians 9:18; 3:8). In other words, “every man shall receive his own reward,” according to the things he has done.

That means, those who don’t accept Jesus as their Savior and who didn’t ask his forgiveness by repenting of their sins, will pay the penalty for what they did wrong, and they will receive the kind of reward their works deserve. Those who have done good will be rewarded for the good they’ve done, while those who have done wickedly will receive their just reward.

But what about baptism? Is that a work? Not really. Instead, it’s an ordinance. The Bible definition of an ordinance is “rites and ceremonies by which we formalize sacred covenants with God… In Hebrew, it is derived from the term “chuqqah,” which relates to matters of ritual. In Greek, it takes on various forms such as “dogma,” “dikaioma,” and “paradosis,” all representing religious and ceremonial regulations.” (https://biblicaldefinitions.com/bible-definition-of-ordinance/ )

In most Christian churches there are usually no covenants associated with their rituals but in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, there is a covenant associated with nearly all ordinances. However, a covenant is different from a contract.

We see this most clearly in the covenant of marriage. In this arrangement, a husband doesn’t just agree to do certain things, as long as the wife does certain things, and vice versa because that’s what they would do in a contract. Rather, in a marriage both the husband and wife become one, and commit to loving one another, be loyal to one another and work together through sickness and health, prosperity or poverty, during the good times and bad, and they agree to always do this while they both are living.

We further see this kind of commitment when a married couple take upon themselves the responsibility to raise children by caring for all their needs such as clothing, feeding, teaching, and providing for their physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual needs. When one of their children becomes sick, parents will give them medicine, checking their temperature regularly, dressing their wounds, and taking them to a doctor if necessary, and they do this, not because there is something in their contract that requires them to do this, but because it’s part of the commitment they made to each other at the time of their marriage.

In some of the parables of Jesus, he likened himself to the groom and referred to those who accept him into their life as his bride. In the Old Testament, Jehovah makes this same comparison between himself and the children of Israel. When we are baptized, we are, in effect, exchanging our wedding vows with Christ, wherein we promise to love, cherish, and obey him forever, and he in turn promises to never forsake us and will care for us throughout all of eternity. In effect, it is during our baptism that we make a formal declaration of our unending commitment to and undying love for Jesus. In return, Christ promises to wash away all our sins and help us to become holy like him. This is what the term sanctification means.

In addition to this, when we are spiritually sick, Christ cares for us by constantly checking our spiritual temperature and when he sees we are getting sick, he gives us the spiritual medicine we need, he dresses our wounds and does all he can to help nurse us back to spiritual health.

But when we refuse to be baptized, we’re refusing to make that kind of a commitment to Christ. In effect we’re saying we maybe we might be willing to live with him but we don’t really want to be married to him. When a woman marries a man, she takes upon herself his name, and when we are baptized, we formally take upon ourselves the name of Christ.

The act of being baptized is a sacred rite, ceremony, or ordinance that symbolizes our commitment to following Jesus with all of our heart, mind, and soul, and in so doing we legally bind ourselves to him and mark ourselves as belonging to him. As long as we keep our promise to him, when he returns in power and glory, then he will invite us to join him in his marriage feast, while those who have not been faithful to him will find themselves barred from entering that joyful event as the Lord says to them, “Verily I say unto you, I know you not” (Matthew 25:12).

This is the message of the parable of the ten virgins and is what Jesus meant when he said, “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” (John 3:5). Some will say this verse is not referring to baptism, but Jesus did command his disciples to “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” (Matthew 28:19). He wouldn’t have given them that commandment if baptism wasn’t essential.

Jesus invites us to come marry him, but he leaves it up to us to accept his offer. It’s our choice to decide if we want to do that by being baptized or not. It’s our choice to decide if we want to be obedient to him or not. It’s our choice to decide if we want to repent of our sins or not. It’s our choice to decide if we will serve him with all of our heart or not. These are the works that the Bible speaks of and which we will be rewarded for.

It’s when we come to have the correct understanding of what the scriptures mean when they talk about God’s grace, works, repentance, obedience, and salvation, that we come to better understand how they all fit together, and as Nephi said, “Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth” (2 Nephi 2:8).

 

Related articles can be found at The Nature of Salvation