Topic: Good Works and Grace

Ephesians 2:8-10 > 1 Peter 1:20 > Ether 3:14 > Hebrews 11:1 > 1 Timothy 1:1 > 1 Thessalonians 5:8 > Ether 12: 4, 32 > Moroni 7:40-41 > Moroni 8:26 > John 20:17 > John 17:3 > 3 Nephi 27:21 > John 3:16 > Philippians 4:13 > Jacob 4:6-7 > John 15:1-11 > Matthew 25:31-46 > James 1:27 > Mosiah 2:17 > Alma 34:28 > James 1:22-26 > James 5:16 > Luke 16:15 > Romans 3:27 > Titus 1:16 > Ephesians 5:5 > James 2:14-26 > Psalms 62:12 > Proverbs 24:12 > 2 Timothy 4:14 > Revelation 14:12-13 > 1 Nephi 15:32 > Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 > Matthew 5:13-16 > Hebrews 12:2 > Matthew 7:12, 15-29 > John 3:18-21 > Romans 1:16-2:16 > Matthew 16:27 > Doctrine and Covenants 76:15-119 >  2 Timothy 3:14-17 > Titus 3:1-8 > Doctrine and Covenants 130:20-21 > Hebrews 6:4-20 > James 1:12-21 > James 4:17 > Ether 12:26-27 > The Acts 15:11 >  1 Peter 1:1-23 > Revelation 20:12-13 > Daniel 12:2 > Doctrine and Covenants 93:20 > 2 Nephi 10:24 > 2 Nephi 25:23 > Romans 11:6 > John 9:4 > Philippians 2:12

Many people often misunderstand the doctrines of faith, good works and the grace of Christ and how they work together towards our salvation. The scriptures are replete with examples of these beautiful doctrines. In this Scripture Train, we will examine how these doctrines work together in bringing about the salvation of mankind.

Let us first turn to the well-known teachings of Paul in Ephesians chapter 2 verses 8 through 10. These verses of scripture address our three doctrines. Paul teaches that it is by the grace of God through our faith in Jesus Christ that we are saved. He then makes a clear statement that ‘it’, salvation, is a gift of God. I would like to state, without hesitation, that this is a true statement! There would be no salvation for mankind if it were not for the gift of Jesus Christ. There would be no salvation for mankind if it were not for the gift of faith. There would be no salvation for mankind if it were not for the gift of grace. Verse 10 is also clear, we are the workmanship of Christ and have been created to work or to bring forth good works and were ordained to do so. The scriptures we will study throughout this Scripture Train will endeavor to help us all understand how these principles of the gospel work together for our salvation.

In a past Scripture Train, we discussed the truth that Jesus Christ is the literal Son of God. In 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 20, Peter reminds the readers in this beautiful epistle that Jesus Christ was foreordained to be the Savior of mankind. Therefore, God knew that Adam and Eve would fall and bring sin and death into the world and that a Savior would be required to save fallen man from death and hell. Jesus Christ is the first and great gift given to mankind. The Book of Mormon testifies to this truth! In Ether chapter 3 verse 14, Jesus Christ, Himself, testifies that He was prepared from the foundation of the world to redeem all mankind. God, through His love and grace, gave to us, as a gift, His Son, Jesus Christ. As Paul taught, our duty is to exercise faith in Jesus. This has also been discussed in a previous Scripture Train.

The faith we exercise in Jesus Christ, not surprisingly, is also a gift from God. Christ asked His Disciples in Mark chapter 4 verse 40, “How is it that ye have no faith?” Could it be that they had not as yet sought it? Faith does not just happen! In Hebrews chapter 11 verse 1, Paul states that faith is the substance, or in other words, the assurance of the things we hope for. As taught in an earlier Scripture Train, faith is the first principle of the gospel of Jesus Christ; without it nothing is possible. Faith is born within us as we hope; and what do we hope for? Timothy teaches in chapter 1 verse 1 that Jesus Christ is our hope. Paul teaches in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 8 that we hope for salvation; of course salvation comes through Christ, so to hope for one is to hope for the other. Moroni, in the Book of Ether chapter 12 verse 4 expands on this for us teaching that if we believe in God we will with surety hope for a better world, even a world where we dwell with God, which of course is salvation, which of course comes through Jesus Christ. He also teaches that this hope serves to anchor our souls keeping us sure and steadfast always abounding in good works! So the hope of salvation will lead us to exercise our faith to do good, for our faith is anchored in Christ and Christ is our example of doing good. Skipping over to verse 32, we learn that, man must hope, or he cannot receive an inheritance in the place which Christ has prepared. Moroni then teaches in Moroni chapter 7 verses 40 and 41 that in order to obtain a fullness of faith we must develop hope in our faith along the way. Faith and hope are born in our hearts as we hear the Word of God. We hear the Word of God from either the spoken word or from the written word; either way it has come to us as a gift from God. Mankind didn’t just make it up! It came as God granted, through his love and grace. So as we hear the Word, which gives us hope and as we exercise our faith in the Word, our hope grows stronger in the salvation through Jesus Christ; as our hope grows stronger, we exercise greater faith, which faith motivates us to go out and do what the Word teaches us to do! As we do this the more exciting our hope becomes and the stronger our faith grows. All of this is grounded, as Moroni teaches, in the atonement of Jesus Christ. Moroni continues to teach us in Chapter 8 verse 26 that once we are baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost then the Holy Ghost will also fill our souls with hope; thus hope comes additionally as a gift through the Holy Ghost, which will also increase our faith and increase our good works.

What is the conclusion that we come to at this point? Jesus Christ was given to us as a gift of love from our Father in Heaven or we may say, “by the grace of God”; additionally, faith and hope in Christ are gifts from God, as well! Faith and hope are offered to us as we hear the Word of God; it is important to note that we have the gift of agency to choose to accept these gifts or to reject them; to accept them means that we must work to keep them and to grow them.

Referring back to Hebrews chapter 1 verse 11 for a moment, Paul also taught that faith is the evidence of the things we do not see. What evidence do we have of salvation? Of course we have the written Word of God; we have God’s prophets who testify of salvation, but how many of us have actually seen a person who has received their salvation in the kingdom of God? Very few of us! Yet, in the scriptures there is evidence of such a being. The scriptures teach of such a being! Of course it is Christ. He is our example of a saved being. Remember that in John chapter 20 verse 17, the resurrected Jesus tells Mary that He has not yet ascended to His Father in Heaven, but that He is about to do so. Is not this salvation? Is not the salvation we all seek the blessing of returning to God and making our abode with Him? Jesus teaches that if we hope to be saved in the kingdom of God, then we need to come to know Him! This teaching is recorded in John chapter 17 verse 3. When we come to know Christ, we come to know a being who has been saved in the kingdom of God. This, then, becomes the evidence of our faith, coming to know Christ. So how do we come to know Christ? Jesus, teaching the Saints of the Book of Mormon, teaches in 3 Nephi chapter 27 verse 21 that we come to know Him by doing what we have seen Him do, or in our case by doing what we have read that He did. We could also rephrase this scripture saying, “By learning to serve as He served”, or “By doing the works that He did”. Throughout our lives, we need to learn how to do like He did or how to serve like He served. In order for this to happen, we must follow His teachings and His example; as we do this we learn to exercise our faith and our hope in Him. Will we do so perfectly and without error? No of course not. We will always end up short; so what is to be done? Remember the teachings of John in John chapter 3 verse 16? We are taught that God loved us so much that He gave His Son, Jesus Christ, to live and to die for us so that we might have everlasting life. This is the grace of God! His grace will make up the difference. It is the bridge that spans the gulf between Him and us; what we are incapable of achieving due to our own weakness and inability and what He desires for us.

Everything we have discussed in this Scripture Train is bound up in the grace of God. Therefore, when we read that salvation is through the grace of God we can interpret it to mean that it is through His love, or because He loves us, He has offered salvation to us. So when we read the teachings of the ancient Apostles and Prophets that salvation is a gift from God and not of our works, we can completely understand why! We did not foreordain Christ to be our Savior; we did not bestow the gifts of faith and hope upon ourselves! All these came from a loving Father in Heaven as gifts.

The second part of the meaning of grace can be understood as we read Philippians chapter 4 verse 13 and Jacob chapter 4 verses 6 and 7. Paul records that he can do all things through Christ, who strengthens him. Jacob teaches us that as he recognized his weaknesses he learned that it was through the grace of Christ that he was given the power or the strength to do great things. Here in we see the application of the principle of faith in Christ. Without faith in Christ, Paul and Jacob would not have obtained the grace of Christ to strengthen them to do the things that God required of them. Paul and Jacob recorded these scriptures for our benefit and learning. We learn from these verses that it is Christ who strengthens us to be able to do all things that He requires of us. Why? Because without His help, we could not do what He asks of us. So, what is the grace of Christ? It is the enabling power graciously given to us to strengthen us to do all that He requires of us.

This is further taught, very plainly, in John chapter 15 verses 1 through 11. In these verses, Jesus teaches that He is the true vine, meaning that if we want to bear fruit unto salvation, then we must be a branch abiding in Him. This is so plain and so beautiful! It is through His strength that we gain the ability to bear fruit! We cannot bear fruit if we are detached from Him! He also says that every one of us who will not bear fruit will be cut away from the vine, or from Him. Obviously, this verse is speaking to those who have already attached themselves to Him through baptism, but are not drawing from Jesus the strength needed to bear fruit, they are dying while on the vine! If I have made those sacred covenants, as we have spoken of already in a previous Scripture Train, but am not fruitful, I will be cut away. Those who will not attach themselves to the vine will never bear fruit. From this incredible teaching of the Master, we learn that one of the requirements given us from our Savior is that we must bear fruit. What does it mean to bear fruit? It means that we must bring forth good works! We must do the works that Jesus exemplified! It only makes sense! If we are a branch and He is the vine, we should be bearing the same fruit! We cannot bring forth good works unless we are in Him and He in us. This is the enabling or strengthening grace of Christ. We cannot bear fruit on our own. He is the vine, we are the branches. We will bear much fruit if we are in Him, if not we can do nothing and will be cast out.

In verse 7 of this parable, we see how faith plays its important role. If we abide in Him and His word abides in us, then whatsoever we ask for will be given us. Of course, with such unity and faith as this would require, we would never ask amiss, we would only ask for that which was God’s will to give us in the first place. The Branch and the vine have become so unified that His will for us has become our will. We also learn that as we do good works through the enabling strength or grace of Christ, we will glorify the Father; we can only glorify the Father as we do good works through our unity with Jesus Christ. It is only then that our works are in accordance with the will of God. If our works are not according to His will, then they are not good works and they will not glorify our Father in Heaven. We seek for this unity, this oneness with our Savior because we love Him, have faith in Him and have hope in His word. He offers us this unity because He loves us. He commands us to abide in His love because He wants what is best for us. The only way we can abide in His love is by keeping the commandments of the Father, which were given to the Son, which He keeps and by which He also abides in the love of His Father. If we do this, our joy will be full. Thus we learn that the grace of God, which is also the grace of Jesus Christ, is manifest to us through their love, which offers us the strength necessary to keep the commandments and bring forth good works. When we do this we show God and Christ that we love them, which keeps our branch securely in the Vine, Jesus Christ.

Up to this point, we have studied the doctrine of grace and how our good works flow from our receiving the grace of God. We will now further examine the Doctrine of Good Works. I believe that Matthew chapter 25 verses 31 through 46, the parable of the sheep and goats, demonstrate clearly the importance of the Doctrine of Good Works. When Christ comes the second time, all nations, meaning those who claim a belief in Him, will be gathered before Him and He will separate them one from another just as a shepherd divides his sheep from his goats. He will set the sheep on His right hand symbolic of a blessing and the goats will be placed on His left, symbolic of a cursing. Christ will then speak to the sheep on His right and say, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world”. He then explains why they are thus blessed. He then turns to the goats on His left hand and explains to them why they will not be blessed. So what is the difference between the two? From Christ’s explanation given to both groups, we can know for a surety that it is Good works! Christ, in His explanation to the two groups, explains very simply that those who he counts as His sheep were those who fed the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty, took in the stranger, clothed the naked and visited the sick and the prisoner.  It is these people who will inherit the kingdom of God! Notice, that the acts that Christ describes are not difficult acts. They are not some mighty works that take a great deal of time, money or intellect, but rather they are very simple things that show we love our neighbor as ourselves, and that we treat our brothers and sisters the way we would want to be treated. Also note that in verse 37 Christ describes these people as the righteous. These who He describes as such then ask, “When did we do all these things for you”? Christ’s reply is, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” It is my sincere belief that these acts were done in kindness and love for their fellowmen, otherwise they would not have been deemed as righteous by our Savior. Never did they think that they were working their way into heaven. Christ then turns to those on His left and tells them to depart into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and His angels. Notice here that Christ calls them cursed for they did none of these works for their fellowmen as He described earlier speaking to the righteous. He describes their reward as everlasting punishment. These verses of scripture make it perfectly clear that without Good Works salvation in the kingdom of God is impossible. We cannot be couch potatoes and think that just because we have confessed Jesus with our mouths or stated that we believe in Jesus, we will be saved with Him in His kingdom. James chapter 1 verse 27 reconfirms this understanding stating that pure religion is looking after each other, seeing to each other’s needs and keeping apart from worldliness. The Book of Mormon, a second witness to the truth of the Savior’s teachings, states in Mosiah chapter 2 verse 17 that when we are in the service of our fellowman we are only in the service of our God. If we want to serve God then we do so by serving His children, our brothers and sisters. Through our good works, we serve one another. This also reemphasizes the principle that our good works, the service we do for each other, glorifies God. Additionally, Amulek teaches in the book of Alma chapter 34 verse 28 that if we turn away the needy, the naked, and visit not the sick and so forth that our prayers are in vain and will do nothing for us, but rather we are like the hypocrites who deny the faith. Our Good Works are essential to our salvation!

Prior to verse 27 in James chapter 1, we read in verses 22 through 26 that we should be doers of the word and not hearers only. This means that the word only becomes meaningful when we do it, when we become participants in Christ’s work with Him. Can Christ come down and minister to each sick soul in every hospital throughout the world? Can Christ visit every prisoner? Can Christ feed and give drink to every hungry and thirsty child? Can Christ visit all the fatherless, every widow, everyone in their afflictions? No! He depends and relies on us to do that and if we don’t then we will be held accountable for the good that we could have done, but did not. We will find ourselves on His left side among the goats, the cursed. As we learned earlier, the grace of God will strengthen us in our good works. Now, not everyone is able to get out and do; they may be physically unable. There may be many reasons, many good, valid reasons why some cannot get out and do. Will they be found among the cursed? No! They will be blessed according to the righteous desires of their hearts and those righteous desires will be known of God and heard in their prayers. See James 5:15 and Luke 16:15.

In Romans chapter 3 verse 27, we have further emphasized to our minds and hearts that in all the good works we do we have nowhere to boast. We remember the ability and strength to accomplish the will of God comes through His grace. Without His grace, we may not even recognize a brother or sister in need for whom we can sacrifice our time or our means. Thus, through our faith in Christ and by His grace all good works are accomplished. Realizing the importance of grace in our lives and the dependence we have on Christ, tempers any pride that may arise when we do good things in our service to others. We learn very quickly that there is no patting ourselves on the back in the service of God.

Then there are those who profess to believe in God and have professed the name of Christ to be their Savior, but yet there works are not good, what of them, are they saved in the kingdom of God? We touched lightly on this earlier. In the book of Titus chapter 1 verse 16, we learn that they are abominable, disobedient and a reprobate. Combine this knowledge with that found in Ephesians chapter 5 verse 5 that no unclean person has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God, we quickly learn what Christ and His Apostles are teaching, that the grace of God will not cover the unclean or the unrepentant. Rather, our works must demonstrate our faith and belief in God and Christ. This understanding is reinforced by the teaching of James found in the book of James chapter 2 verses 14 through 26. I cannot profess faith in Christ without my good deeds. If I say to the hungry be filled or to the thirsty be quenched or to the naked be clothed or to the cold be warmed, but do nothing to provide for their necessities, do I really have faith? No, for faith without the works is dead, being alone. Faith and works are opposite sides of the same coin. You cannot have one without the other. I will show you my faith by the works that I will do. Remember verse 19, the devils also know Jesus is the Christ; they know and tremble, but they have no faith in Him; their works are evil continually. Verse 20 teaches that faith without works is vain. Abraham’s faith was justified through his works showing his willingness to do all that the Lord commanded, even to the offering of his son Isaac upon an alter. We are taught that faith is made perfect by our works. James goes to great lengths to teach us that faith without works is dead, even likening it to our living souls, that without the spirit our bodies are dead.

With this understanding, let’s view these teachings from a different point of view, from the view point of judgment day. Beginning in Psalms chapter 62 verse 12, we read that we will be judged according to our works. Why? Because, as the scriptures have taught, we show our faith by our works. The teachings of the servants of God in the following verses of scripture teach the same doctrine: Proverbs chapter 24 verse 12, 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 14, Revelation chapter 14 verses 12 and 13, 1 Nephi chapter 15 verse 32 and Ecclesiastes chapter 12 verses 13 and 14. We will be judged according to our works.

As mentioned previously it is through the grace of God that we are able, in the first place, to have the strength and even the ability to rise up and do good works. The good works we do are inspired of God and must be done according to His will and not our own. This is the only way our good works can be counted to us for righteousness. Abraham did not go out on his own to sacrifice his son Isaac. Moses did not go out on his own to deliver the children of Israel. These acts of righteousness came according to the will of God and their fulfillment glorified the name of God throughout the world. Our good works must come as a result of our faith in God and inspired of Him. Matthew chapter 5 verses 13 through 16 demonstrates this truth. Speaking to His disciples, Christ teaches that through faith and righteous works we become the salt of the earth. Salt has very important functions. First, as a food preservative; in Biblical times salt was used to symbolize permanence, see 2 Chronicles chapter 13 verse 5. Second, also in Biblical times, there was rarely a food, which was not seasoned with salt, see Job chapter 6 verse 6. Third, biologically speaking, salt (sodium) plays a major role in human health. It not only feeds nutritional mineral elements to our cells, it also dissolves, sanitizes and cleanses toxic wastes from our system. This latter function makes salt a great healing substance.  Classic biology textbooks refer to salt as the cleanser of bodily fluids. From these examples we can see what a powerful parable this was; for Christ to compare a disciple to such a significant substance would be very powerful. Do we begin yet, to understand how incredibly important our works are. If that was not significant enough Christ then compares a disciple to light; a disciple is to be a light to the people of the earth. In other words, through their good deeds a disciple shows the way for a person to walk in order to return to the presence of God. A good sermon is not enough, they must walk the talk, they must set the example and let their lives be living examples. When mankind sees the good works of Christ’s disciples they will glorify God, for God is the author, He inspires us to good works and gives us the strength to do them; He is the finisher of our faith, He saves us through His grace after we have done all that He commands us, after we have done all that we can do; see Hebrews chapter 12 verse 2.

With this in mind, Christ’s teachings in Matthew chapter 7 verses 12 and 15 through 29 also become much more meaningful. Christ teaches the golden rule; if we are true to ourselves, our God and our fellowmen, then we would never treat another child of God with any less love and respect than what we would want shown to us. This brings us back to the teaching of Christ that we have already touched upon, where He taught that whatever we do to our fellowman we also do to our God. Christ teaches us to beware of false prophets, or false teachers; He said that we could discern them by their fruits, or in other words, their works, their deeds. This verse ties directly back to Christ being the Vine and we being a branch in the Vine! If we are in Christ, we will bear good fruit. If not our fruit will be evil. So, how do we recognize good and evil fruit? We can ask ourselves a few questions: What kind of an example do they set? Do their day-to-day lives walk the talk? Do they uplift and edify? Do they bring us closer to Christ? How important are our works? They are vitally important. Remember, in the end the fruit of an evil tree will be evil and it will be hewn down and cast into the fire of everlasting misery, no matter whether they confessed with their lips a belief in the Christ or not. Their works will follow them. The fruit of a good tree will be delicious and very desirable; it will lift, enlighten, instruct, and bring us unto Christ. This instruction can be found in John chapter 3 verses 18 through 21 and Romans chapter 1 verse 16 through chapter 2 verse 16.

In these verses of the 1^st and 2^nd chapter of Romans there are a couple of important principles to point out besides those which help us discern between a good and evil tree. First principle: In chapter 1 verse 16, Paul states that he is, “Not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes”. The gospel of Jesus Christ has the power to lift man unto salvation, but only the man that believes. Belief is not passive it is an action verb. Belief, like faith, must be demonstrated in our works and deeds. Belief and faith go hand-in-hand. If I profess a true belief in Jesus, then I must have some degree of faith in what He teaches. If I have faith in what He teaches, then I will do what He asks of me. Second principle: It is not our place to judge, or in other words, condemn the sinner, for we, ourselves, are not without sin. If we condemn another for his sins, we will receive the greater condemnation. Sins are unrighteous works, works for which we will be judged and condemned if we do not repent. Repentance is a good work that we do for ourselves, which good work we are inspired to do when we come to know the goodness of God. The goodness or grace of God should inspire us to all good works. The good works that we do for ourselves and others will bring peace, honor and glory. If we do not do these good works, then we will be judged accordingly and receive the appropriate rewards. Third principle: God does not play favorites. He will judge us all individually according to His perfect righteousness, each according to His unique individuality. No one of us is alike. Each of us had different opportunities in life for learning, growth, and individual development. Can the mentally retarded be judged on the same ground as the mentally elite? Or can the orphaned boy who dies on the street at age 10 be judged the same as the boy who had every privilege? Fourth principle: Jesus Christ will be our judge and His judgments will be just, according to the teachings of the gospel. Do we comprehend how all our eternal rewards are conditioned upon ourselves? God and Christ have given us, by their grace, everything we need to succeed in our mortal journey; now the rest depends on us and we show that we love them, we demonstrate that we desire all that they have to give us by our works. That is all that we have!

In Matthew chapter 16 verse 27, we have a new possibility opened to our view. Christ teaches that He will come in the glory of His Father. Jesus is the perfect example of humility. He does not take glory unto Himself, but gives all the glory to God. Then, He says and this is what we need to ponder on: That He will reward every man according to his works. Every man, millions of us, all rewarded according to our works. What reward will we receive? Will we all be lumped together and be the recipients of one or two rewards, heaven or hell? Not according to Christ’s word. We will receive a reward that is, “According to our works”, a reward that is tailored to fit us perfectly. Are all our works the same? No, of course not; thus our rewards will not all be the same. Our final reward will be tailored to us according to our works. These teachings would lend to a belief that there are differing degrees of heaven and possibly even hell. This would match better the human condition; we all live differing degrees of righteousness and wickedness. In the Doctrine and Covenants, our Latter-day Scripture, we learn that this is indeed the case. Section 76, beginning in verse 15, we learn that as each individual is judged he will receive his individual reward according to his works. Those who learn in their lives to do the works of Christ will receive the same kind of reward that Christ received. In 2 Timothy chapter 3 verses 14 through 17, we learn that being furnished unto all good works is part of becoming perfect, whole or complete, just like Christ. We need good works to complete our faith, just like Christ. Indeed, our works perfect our faith!

In Titus chapter 3 verses 1 through 8, our knowledge and understanding of the grace of God continues to grow. We learn in these verses that we should always be ready to render good works whenever or wherever opportunities should appear. Paul, as he continues, suggests in verse two the righteous works that we, who have been rescued, should be found doing. Then he goes on and gives us some examples of unrighteous conduct that many had been accustomed to prior to their being rescued.  Obviously, Paul is very careful to remind us of the kind of men and women followers of Christ ought to be. So, if prior to our rescuing many were found involved in unrighteousness, then obviously what Paul states is true that we were rescued not by our personal righteousness at the time, but rather by the mercy of Christ, or in other words through His grace. Paul, himself is an excellent example! Paul, known as Saul prior to his rescue, could have refused the grace of Christ offered him; we all have our choice, God does not remove our choice in the offering of grace. We who are offered the hand of the rescuer must still accept the hand and accomplish, through faith, all that Christ and God command us to do; such as repent and be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost and then endure in faith for the rest of our lives. This is what verse 7 means! Verse 7 invokes the Law of Justification, which in part means that all blessings are predicated on obedience to the law upon which that blessing is predicated. See Doctrine and Covenants section 130:20-21. In other words, we will not receive a blessing of a law that we have not kept. Being imperfect beings we will not keep every law perfectly, so when we have done our best, we can justly plead for the grace of Christ to make up the rest. Through His grace, then, we are justified to become an heir of eternal life, all according to our hope and desire for eternal life, which is manifest through our works. This does not mean, however, that we are assured of eternal life; it only means that we are an heir. The actual realization of eternal life will continue to depend on us as we stay true to Christ and the hope and faith we have in Him as demonstrated by our works.

The book of Hebrews chapter 6 verses 4 through 20 is very plain on this matter. We must remain steadfast or we may fall from the grace of God. We must endure faithful unto the end of our lives. Christ’s warning to His Disciples in Matthew chapter 10 verse 22 is a good example of this doctrine; the day would come when they would be persecuted terribly, but through it all they must remain faithful if salvation with Him were to come to pass. James is also very clear on this subject. In James chapter 1 verses 12 through 21, we read that we are still subject to temptations and sin and that salvation is still very much dependant on us. James chapter 4 verse 17 reconfirms this principle stating that those who know to do good and do not, to them it is sin. With this knowledge, we know that we are subject to spiritual death. The grace of God is not sufficient to lift the unrepentant sinner to salvation. All the stories of the New Testament and the Book of Mormon, where sinners have been brought to salvation, are stories where the individual was offered salvation through the grace of God and accepted it through their faith in Christ and subsequent repentance. We see in these stories how grace and works work together to the salvation of the soul. If we say that the grace of God is not sufficient to lift the unrepentant sinner to salvation, does this mean that God is not all powerful? No, certainly not! Rather, He cannot prevent justice from claiming its own. Mercy and grace are extended unto man through the atonement of Jesus Christ. Mercy claims the repentant. Grace is extended to all through the resurrection without price and to the meek and humble who seek it. In Ether chapter 12 verses 26 and 27, we learn that we have been given weaknesses to teach us humility. Those who will humble themselves before God and in faith confess their weaknesses can seek the grace of God to strengthen them so that they may eventually overcome them. So, other than the resurrection, the grace of God is only available to the humble and meek and it will only be the humble and meek who inherit the kingdom God. Thus, the teaching in The Acts chapter 15 verse 11 is true that we are saved through the grace of Jesus Christ.

Continuing on with this principle, Peter, Christ’s chief Apostle, in 1 Peter chapter 1 verses 1 through 23, teaches the following basic, important principles: 1. God had a foreknowledge of Peter, thus, He has a foreknowledge of each of us, 2. All Saints should have a living hope of the resurrection, 3. Our inheritance is reserved for us in heaven and is kept through our faith in God, 4. We all suffer from temptation, which temptations can be heavy to bear, 5. The trial of our faith is precious and purifying unto the praise, glory and honor of Jesus Christ, 6. We rejoice in the knowledge we have of Christ, which knowledge has not come from seeing Him, but rather through the Holy Ghost, 7. Salvation comes at the end or as a result of our faith, through the grace of Christ, 8. Gird up the loins of your mind, in other words, take courage, be brave, be positive, be faithful and hope for the end for the grace that will be granted to you when Christ is revealed to you, 9. Be holy as Christ is holy, 10. Be prayerful, 11. You will be judged according to your works, 12. Be reverent, for you were redeemed by the blood of Christ, 13. Purification comes through obedience, 14. Love one another, 15. You were born again by water (baptism) and fire (the gift of the Holy Ghost). All this verifies that grace and works work together toward our salvation. According to John as recorded in revelation chapter 20 verses 12 and 13, we will all be judged out of the books that were kept and the book of life, a book that records our works here upon the earth. Even Daniel, many thousand years ago, saw that some of us would be resurrected to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt; see Daniel chapter 12 verse 2.

To finish this very enlightening Scripture Train, we will look at the final five references simultaneously. In the Doctrine and Covenants section 93 verse 20, we are commanded to keep the commandments of God; if we do so we will receive of the fullness of God by receiving grace for grace. In 2 Nephi chapter 10 verse 24, we are commanded to reconcile ourselves with God and that after doing such we will be saved through the grace of God. Then in 2 Nephi chapter 25 verse 23, we read one of the most concise and simple explanations of how grace and works work together to our salvation. In a very simple way, it sums up all that we have discussed through these many pages of discourse: We are saved by grace after all we can do! This makes Romans chapter 11 verse 6 very understandable and brings John chapter 9 verse 4 into clear understanding. Throughout the scriptures we are admonished, counseled, and commanded to keep the commandments of God. Prophets of old warned of famines, pestilence, and terrible destructions that would come if we do not keep the commandments of God. At the same time, we are commanded to repent of our wrong doings, our breaking the commandments, and reconcile ourselves with God. Christ commanded His disciples to go throughout the earth and preach repentance, baptism and the Holy Ghost to all. Throughout the New Testament Christ and His Apostles, invite all to follow Him in doing good. Christ teaches that if we love Him we will keep His commandments and remember, we cannot inherit His kingdom if we do not love Him. He knows we will not be perfect, thus He and His Apostles taught that if we will do all that we can, always striving to do our best, repenting of our sins, failings and shortcomings, then His grace will be sufficient for us and make up the rest. So Paul’s teaching in the Romans becomes clear. We cannot enter heaven via our good works; we will always come up short, way short; but just because we cannot enter heaven via our good works does not mean we are not to bring forth good works. It is through our faith and His grace that we bring forth good works and thus demonstrate our faith, hopes and desires. We are commanded to do these things, so we must, if not we break the commandment and are unclean and no unclean thing can enter the kingdom of God. Thus, salvation comes by the grace of God to us weak creatures who must rely totally upon Him for everything we hope to be. He asks that we do our best and He will make up the rest. Finally, John teaches that the opportunity we have to demonstrate our faith by our works will someday come to an end. Just as the day gives way to the night, someday our lives here on earth will end. The daytime is the time we are living. The nighttime is the time after death. We must use the daytime to work out our salvation, see Philippians chapter 2 verse 12. After that, it is too late. There are a couple of exceptions to this rule, but they are for another time.