Sunday, November 27, 2016

Saved By Grace


Many members (and even non-members) are familiar with this scripture from 2 Nephi, or at least the last part. But I think we often misinterpret it. We read "it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do," and we think it means "I am only saved by grace after I have done all that I can do; if I don't do all I can do, I won't be saved." In reality, we should interpret it to mean, "Even after all I can do, it is grace that saves me, not my own works."
In the grand scheme of things, our all, our very best and most valiant efforts are pitiful compared to the great debt we owe our Heavenly Father, both because of all He has given us, and because of our own disobedience and unworthiness. Luckily, it is not our good works that pays our debt. Rather, it is by our good works that we show our faith (see James 2:18). It is an act of faith to humbly make our paltry offering, in spite of the great debt we owe. Such faith will ultimately be rewarded by the great gift of our Savior's Grace, which is sufficient to pay the debts of every person who has ever lived and ever will live. We will never be able to repay our Savior for that gift. And if we will accept Him and exercise faith in Him, we'll never have to.

2 comments:

  1. Were you inspired by this article?

    https://www.lds.org/blog/the-perfect-lie?lang=eng

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    Replies
    1. Actually, I saw that article after I made this one, but it's a good article that's very relevant here.

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