Christ is the Reason

Our Salvation is linked to the word and concept of work. “This is my work and my glory” Moses 1:39, we also speak of “working out our salvation,” of the “law of the harvest,” and of the “sweat of the brow” (see Moses 5:1; see also Inspired Version, Gen. 4:1)

Missionary Work

“Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that you serve him with all your heart, might, mind, and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day.” D&C 4:2

1. “I was a stranger to excellence.” -Neal A. Maxwell Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel Conference Report April 1998
2. President Hinckley has declared, namely that “we have the finest generation of young people ever in the history of this Church” (Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley [1997], 714; see also Conference Report, Apr. 1992, 96; or Ensign, May 1992, 69)
3. Gen. 3:19 “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread.”
4. Some 2,700 years ago, a Greek poet observed that “in front of excellence the immortal gods have put sweat, and long and steep is the way to it.” (Hesiod, Works and Days, 1. 287, as cited in John Bartlett, Familiar Quotations, 14th ed., Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1968, p. 67.)
5. Ezk. 16:49 Iniquity defined as an “abundance of idleness.”
6. “Thou, O God, [doth give us] all good things at the price of labor.” (David Hume, Human News; as cited in The Macmillan Book of Proverbs, Maxims, and Famous Phrases, sel. Burton Stevenson, New York: The Macmillan Co., 1948], p. 1331.)
7. “One of the greatest secrets of missionary work is work! If a missionary works, he will get the Spirit; if he gets the Spirit, he will teach by the Spirit; and if he teaches by the Spirit, he will touch the hearts of the people and he will be happy. There will be no homesickness, no worrying about families, for [he will have] all [his] time and talents and interest … centered on the work of the ministry. Work, work, work—there is no satisfactory substitute, especially in missionary work.” (The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1988, p. 200.)
8. Alma 29:15 “…they have labored exceedingly, and have brought forth much fruit; and how great shall be their reward!”
9. Moses 4:23 ““Cursed shall be the ground for thy sake” (italics added)
10. “We moved under our own power, without subsidy, without loan, wished on our way only by the maledictions of those who drove us out from our own homes and then appropriated, without paying for it, the property they forced us to leave behind. … So we struggled on against want and misery; toil and hardship were with us daily. … But the Church survived; the people prospered. Character endured intact. We took care of our own poor. In times of scarcity neighbors helped one another. Time and again, we passed through the fiery furnace; we came out of it each time, refined, with the dross burned away, re-inspirited, sanctified.” (J. Reuben Clark, Church Welfare Plan, pamphlet, 1939, pp. 8–9; italics added.)
11. Of President Willford Woodruff, it was said he loved work. “To him it was a blessing, a privilege. … His toil in the canyons, his sweat in the harvest field, … were all important parts in divine economy. … To sweat, was a divine command as much so as to pray.” (Matthias F. Cowley, Wilford Woodruff: History of His Life and Labors, Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1909, pp. 644–45.)
12. “If you are poor, work. … If you are happy, work. Idleness gives room for doubts and fears. If disappointments come, keep right on working. If sorrow overwhelms you, … work. … When faith falters and reason fails, just work. When dreams are shattered and hope seems dead, work. Work as if your life were in peril. It really is. No matter what ails you, work. Work faithfully. … Work is the greatest remedy available for both mental and physical afflictions.” (The Forbes Scrapbook of Thoughts on the Business of Life, New York: Forbes Inc., 1968, p. 427.)
13. D&C 84:79 Make sure the “the laborer is worthy of his hire.”
14. D&C 60:13 Thou shalt not idle away thy time, neither shalt thou bury thy talent”
15. “Work with faith is a cardinal point of our theological doctrine and our future state—our heaven, is envisioned in terms of eternal progression through constant labor.” (Elder Stephen L Richards in the Conference Report, Oct. 1939, pp. 65, 68.)
16. D&C 75:3, 5 ““Behold, I say unto you that it is my will that you should go forth and not tarry, neither be idle but labor with your might. … And thus, if ye are faithful ye shall be laden with many sheaves, and crowned with honor, and glory, and immortality, and eternal life.”
17. When the Church launched its welfare program, President Heber J. Grant stated: “Our primary purpose was to set up, in so far as it might be possible, a system under which the curse of idleness would be done away with, the evils of a dole abolished, and independence, industry, thrift and self-respect be once more established amongst our people. The aim of the Church is to help the people to help themselves. Work is to be re-enthroned as the ruling principle of the lives of our Church membership.” (In Conference Report, Oct. 1936, p. 3.)

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Faith v. Works [Revised]

“Thou art angry, O Lord, with this people, because they will not understand thy mercies which thou hast bestowed upon them because of thy Son.”- Alma 33:161 “because of the simpleness of the way, or the easiness of it, there were many who perished” -Nephi 17:41

Man is Fallen

“No one adequately and properly knows why he needs Christ until he understands and accepts the doctrine of the Fall and its effect upon all mankind.” Ezra Taft Benson

1. Luke 5:8 Peter “I am a sinful man, O Lord.”
2. Romans 3:10 “There is none righteous”
3. Romans 3: 23 “all have sinned”
4. 1 Corinthians 2:14 : Natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God.
5. 2 Nephi 2:11 “Opposition in all things”
6. 2 Nephi 9:27 Awful is the state of those that waste their probation.
7. Mosiah 3:19 “Natural Man is an enemy to God”
8. Mosiah 16:3 “all mankind carnal”
9. D&C 29:41 Adam became spiritually dead

“Do not suppose that we shall ever in the flesh be free from temptations to sin. Some suppose that they can in the flesh be sanctified body and spirit and become so pure that they will never again feel the effects of the power of the adversary of truth. Were it possible for a person to attain to this degree of perfection in the flesh, he could not die neither remain in a world where sin predominates…I think we should more or less feel the effects of sin so long as we live, and finally have to pass the ordeals of death.” (Brigham Young, JoD 10:173)

Fallen Man Cannot Save Him or Herself

1. Matt 9:12 They that are sick need a physician.
2. Luke 17:10 (see also Mosiah 2:21) We’re unprofitable servants
3. Alma 22:14 man “could not merit anything of himself”
4. Moroni 6:4 “relying alone upon the merits of Christ”
5. D&C 3:20 “rely upon the merits of Christ”

Prophetic Examples

1. Psalms 51:10 David- “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me”
2. 1 Timothy 1:15 Paul “Chief” among sinners
3. 2 Nephi 4:17-19 Nephi a “wretched man”
4. Ether 3:2 Brother of Jared “unworthy” before the Lord.

Only Christ Can Save Us.

1. 2 Nephi 10:24 “only in and through the grace of God that ye are saved”
2. Ether 12:27 “my grace is sufficient”
3. Moroni 10:32-33 “by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ”
4. Alma 33:16 The Lord is angry because we don’t understand His mercies.
5. 1 Nephi 17:41 (Numb. 21:4-9,Alma 33:20) The atonement is too easy for some.
6. 1 King 5 The story of Naaman the leper
7. 1 Samuel 25 Story of Nabal, David, and Abigail
8. 1 John 5:4-5 Atonement overcomes the death of the Fall.
9. D&C 38:7-9 Atonement overcomes the death of the Fall.
10. Moses 6:53 Lord forgives Adam & Eve for transgression
11. Moroni 8:8 Adam’s transgression is taken away through the atonement
12. 3 Nephi 27: 16, 19-21 “who repenteth” will be held “guiltless”
13. Hebrews 12:1-2 “Jesus is author and finisher of our faith”
14. Galatians 5:4 Not justified by own works (only through Christ) See also Galations 2:16 and 2 Nephi 2:5-8
15. Galatians 3:10-13 “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law.”
16. I John 4:19 He loved us first
17. D&C 20:29-30 “justification through the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is just and true.”
18. Matt. 11:28-30 “For my Yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
19. 2 Nephi 2:6-7 “Redemption comes through the Holy Messiah”
20. 2 Nephi 9:19 Jesus delivers saints from hell.
21. Jacob 6:5, 10 His arm is extended to us.
22. Alma 34:15-16 Mercy satisfies justice.
23. 2 Nephi 9:7 It is an infinite atonement (Alma 34:12, 2 Nephi 25:16, Alma 34:10, 14, D&C 10:19-10)
24. Alma 24:10 Guilt taken away through “merits of his Son.”
25. D&C 29:46, 137:10 Atonement covers children who die before the age of accountability
26. D&C 29: 50 Atonement covers mentally challenged.
27. Alma 7:11-12 Christ knows all sin.
28. Hebrews 2:17 “he is able to succor them that are tempted.”(see Heb 4:15, D&C 20:22)
29. D&C 88:6, Eph 4:8-10 Christ comprehends all things.

Misunderstanding Grace

1. ‘Grace’. The Hebrew or Greek words usually translated as favor, pleasure, thanks, graciousness, or goodwill. The term is also used for a gift, benefit, or gesture offered in token of these attitudes. In contemporary society, a tip or gratuity (from the same Latin root as grace) represents the same thing. Generally, however, it has come to mean unconditional love or blessing from God. Scripturally, grace can also mean:
1. comeliness or beauty (James 1:11)
2. Favor or special status (Gen. 33:8)
3. Spiritual merit (1 Sam. 2:18)
4. Physical beauty (Esth. 2:15-17)
5. Grace can be conditional 1 Peter 5:5 God gives grace to the humble (as opposed to the prideful)
6. Grow in grace, which is conditional (2 Peter 3:18, Luke 2:52)
7. Paul warns of falling from grace through own foolishness ( Gal. 1:6, 5:4)
8. Grace can be received “in vain” (2 Cor. 6:1)
9. Different levels of grace, you can come to a “fullness of grace” (D&C 93:13, 19-20)
2. Romans 10:9-10 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved…with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” This is one of the most misinterpreted verses in all of scripture. (CF Romans 2:13, see also, for example, Luke 8:28, 32, 33)
3. Romans 6:15-16 “What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under the law (of Moses), but under grace? God forbid.”
4. D&C 50:7-8 “there are hypocrites among you…But the hypocrites shall be detected and shall be cut off.”
5. 1 Kings 5:12 Naaman “turned and went away in a rage” because it was too easy.
6. James 2:14-17, 22 “faith without works is dead” We Believe in the Doctrine of Grace
   

1. Matthew 11:28-30 “My yoke is easy and my burden is light”
2. Luke 18:9 The Pharisee are those who “trusted in themselves that they were righteous.”
3. 2 Nephi 2:7 “He offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered.”
4. 2 Nephi 10:24 “it is only in and through the grace of God that ye are saved”
5. Alma 22:14 “man…could not merit anything of himself”
6. Alma 24:10 guilt taken away through the merits of his Son.”
7. Alma 37:46 “Do not let us be slothful because of the easiness of the way”
8. Ether 12:27 “my grace is sufficient for all men”
9. Moroni 6:4 “relying alone upon the merits of Christ” (see also D&C 3:20)
10. Moroni 10:32-33 “his grace sufficient for you”
11. D&C 20:30 “we know that justification through the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is just and true.”
    

Our Part

1. Article of Faith 4
2. D&C 131:1-3 Temple ordinances
3. D&C 64:34 “For I the Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind”
4. D&C 20:77 Must be “willing to” obey all the commandments
5. D&C 46:9 Blessings of salvation given to “him that seeketh so to do”

Comfort of Knowing

1. D&C 123:17 “stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed.” (see also D&C 106:8, Eph. 3:12)
2. 3 Nephi 27:16 “Whose repenteth and is baptized in my name shall be filled; and if he endureth to the end, behold, him will I hold Guiltless before my Father at that day when I shall stand to judge the world.” (2 Ne. 31:15)
3. Enos 5-6 “Enos knew that God could not lie, wherefore, my guilt was swept away.”
4. Alma 34:16 “Thus mercy can satisfy the demands of Justice, and encircles them in the arms of safety.”
5. If you can feel the Holy Ghost in your life, than you can know that your life is on course. Paul refers to the Holy Ghost as “the earnest of our inheritance” (Eph. 1:14) Thus the “earnest [money] of the Spirit in our hearts” (2 Cor. 1:22, 5:5) assures us of the validity and efficacy of our deal, our covenant, with God. (See Believing Christ by Stephen Robinson, pg 94)

“We all occupy diversified stations in the world, and the kingdom of God. Those who do right, and seek the glory of the Father in heaven, whether their knowledge be little or much, or whether they can do little or much, if they do the very best they know how, they are perfect… “Be ye as perfect as ye can,” for that is all we can do, though it is written, “Be ye perfect as your Father who is in heaven is perfect.” To be as perfect as we possibly can, according to our knowledge, is to be just as perfect as our Father in heaven is. He cannot be anymore perfect than He knows how, any more than we. When we are doing as well as we know how in the sphere and station which we occupy here, we are justified.”- Brigham Young Journal of Discourses, 2:129-30