Doctrine & Theology
Doctrine & Theologygraceworksfaithatonement

Grace and Works

Do Latter-day Saints teach salvation by works and deny the grace of Christ?

Bible

The Bible answers

Bible · Ephesians 2:8–10

KJV + NRSVUE

King James Version

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. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

NRSVUE

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we may walk in them.

Bible · James 2:17

KJV + NRSVUE

King James Version

Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

NRSVUE

So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

Book of Mormon

The Book of Mormon answers

2 Nephi 25:23

After all we can do is not a ladder we climb first. It is grace despite all we can do.

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.

Moroni 10:32

Come unto Christ and be perfected in Him — then His grace is sufficient.

Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.

Ancient witnesses

Dead Sea Scrolls and related extra-biblical texts that illuminate the same pattern the Restoration restores.

Community Rule (1QS) on grace and walking

Qumran could speak of God’s mercy justifying the elect and still demand a life of covenant obedience. Justification and walking in the way were not treated as rivals.

Second Temple Judaism was not the cartoon of “works-righteousness” Protestant polemics sometimes painted. Paul himself required holiness. The Restoration reads Paul and James together, and reads 2 Nephi 25:23 as “saved by grace, even after all we can do”—not “saved by all we can do, with a little grace as a tip.”

Faithful answers

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Grace

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Grace is Christ’s enabling power, not a wage. Resurrection is by grace for all. Forgiveness and transformation are by grace for those who come unto Him. Works are the path of discipleship, not a substitute for Calvary.

Grace is the divine help or strength extended to us through the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. Through the grace of God, everyone who has lived will be resurrected… Through His grace, the Lord also enables those who live His gospel to repent and be forgiven.

  • Ephesians 2:8–10 saves by grace through faith, then immediately says we were created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Paul is a Restoration Christian on this point.
  • “After all we can do” (2 Nephi 25:23) is best read as “apart from” or “notwithstanding all we can do”—grace is still the saving cause.
  • Moroni 10:32 locates perfection in Christ by His grace, not in a checklist that makes His grace unnecessary.
  • The sacrament, repentance, and covenants are how we remain in the grace we cannot earn.
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Suggested videos

Faithful voices only. Most of these are independent — not official Church productions unless marked as such.

Restored Truth (Chandler Hendry)

Why LDS Theology Makes More Sense Than You Think

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Further reading

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