It is By Grace we Are Saved

In a recent podcast Sister Camille Fronk Olson spoke about this famous verse from Nephi: “For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children and also our brethren to believe in Christ, to be reconciled to God. For we know that it is by grace we are saved after all we can do" (2 Nephi 25:23). She then made this comment, “To come to that verse and come away and say, ‘We have to do all of this by ourselves first before the grace of Christ will kick in’ is the most ridiculous interpretation possible. You simply pluck that verse out of context and make it say what you want it to say. It does not fit in the context of what Isaiah and before him, Jacob, and before him, Lehi and Nephi have said. Elder Ballard said, ‘It is by grace we are saved even after all we can do.’ That's M. Russell Ballard. Elder Hafen said, ‘Before and after all we can do.’ I've heard others say, ‘Despite all we can do.’ If pride's the sin, what happens when we get to this verse and say, ‘I, I, I’? No. It is truly by the grace of Jesus Christ that we are saved.” She then shared this cross reference which I think really tells us what is meant by “all we can do.” The king of the converted Lamanites said this: “And now behold, my brethren, since it has been all that we could do (as we were the most lost of all mankind) to repent of all our sins and the many murders which we have committed, and to get God to take them away from our hearts, for it was all we could do to repent sufficiently before God that he would take away our stain” (Alma 24:11). What is “all we can do”? It is simply to repent—that is what Jesus asks of us and what He always asks. The grace of Christ helps us especially as we repent—and when do we repent? According to President Nelson, it is every day. So we don’t have to wait for some far out day for the grace of Christ to help us—it is there for us every day as we simply reach out to him with a repentant heart and a desire for Him to help us.

                 In the same podcast Brother John Bytheway highlighted the use of the word “merits” in the Book of Mormon and emphasized that it is always Christ’s merits that are referred to and never ours. For example, Lehi taught, “Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise” (2 Nephi 2:8). Nephi similarly wrote, “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” (2 Nephi 31:19). We rely on the merits of Him who is might to save and not on our own. Samuel the Lamanite taught this: “And if ye believe on his name ye will repent of all your sins, that thereby ye may have a remission of them through his merits” (Helaman 14:13). We are saved through His merits as we repent. Moroni suggested that we can stay faithful as we are “relying alone upon the merits of Christ, who was the author and the finisher of their faith” (Moroni 6:4). We rely on Christ’s merits and not our own to save us. We should never think that we have to do everything possible before we can receive of His grace—we can have His strength and help and redeeming power every day as we come unto Him in humble prayer and a repentant heart. We don’t have to save ourselves—He is the only one who can save us.