Topics / Atonement
Enabling as well as forgiving
Grace
Latter-day Saints have historically underused the word, and the Book of Mormon uses it more per page than the New Testament does. Grace in scripture is both pardon and power — and the argument with works is a false choice the canon never actually makes.
22 min2 sections
The word
The Church's own Bible Dictionary defines grace as divine means of help or strength, given through the mercy and love of Jesus Christ, and says explicitly that it is 'an enabling power' allowing people to do things they could not do on their own. That second half is the part most often missed in Latter-day Saint usage and most often missed by critics.
The argument that is not an argument
Paul
Ephesians 2:8–9 — by grace are ye saved through faith, not of works.
But Ephesians 2:10 — 'created in Christ Jesus unto good works.'
Romans 3:28's 'deeds of the law' are the Mosaic markers: circumcision, diet, calendar.
James
James 2:17 — faith without works is dead, being alone.
Uses the same Abraham example as Paul, to the opposite-sounding conclusion.
Answering a different question: what does living faith look like from outside?
23For 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.
32Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness… then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ.
Principle
Grace is both pardon and power: it forgives what a person has done and enables what they could not otherwise do.
Ether 12:27 · Philippians 4:13 · D&C 93:12–14 · Moroni 10:32
What this topic holds
Salvation is by grace, and works are the shape a living faith takes rather than its price.
Even Christ's own progression is described as receiving grace for grace, which makes grace a process rather than a transaction.
Check your reading
3 questions01How does the Church's Bible Dictionary define grace?
02What are the 'deeds of the law' Paul contrasts with faith in Romans 3?
03How does the Book of Mormon gloss 'all we can do'?
Where to go next
Sources
- Bible Dictionary, "Grace"
- Ephesians 2; James 2; 2 Nephi 25; Moroni 10 — The primary texts.