If only our works could save us, then there was no need for a Savior and Jesus Christ’s mission was in vain. If only the Grace of God could save us, then Christ’s judgment would be in vain – for
all the wicked and all the righteous would be saved or condemned equally.
True, Heavenly Father is no respecter of persons, but He is a respecter of deeds. It is said that He “cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance”, yet He embraces the repentant sinner just as the father embraced his prodigal son. He will render reward unto mankind according to the deeds done in the flesh, but He offered His Son as a sacrifice to answer the demands of His justice.Alma taught that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ was necessary, “thatGod might be a perfect, just God, and a merciful God also.”
Once baptized and confirmed by a Priesthood holder, a person has taken upon themselves the name of Christ. King Benjamin tells us that we, “become his [Christ’s] sons and his daughters.” Christ then tutors us and shows us how we can become like Him. What are we like when we are like Him? Well, we are, by extension, the firstborn of the Father and receive His full inheritance. The Savior takes us as wayward children and cares for us as the Good Samaritan did until we get to the point where we are able to stand as, “joint-heirs with Christ.”
None of this is done by His grace alone. Our spiritual Father [Jesus Christ] expects us to do our chores in the household of our Heavenly Father. Yet, none of this is by our works alone.
Like a child who breaks the living room window, we are unable to repay our debt.However, a good Father still requires the child to do extra chores for money that the Father will pay him in order for the child to learn a lesson on repayment. So the money the child will use to pay the Father back was really the Father’s all along. So, did the child repay the broken window by grace or by works? Although the child had to do the extra chores to earn the money, it was the Father’s money the whole time.The child gave nothing to the Father that He didn’t already have, but the Father gave the child something. You see, the Father cares nothing for the window, or the money needed to fix it. He cares for His child. What His child learned through this experience is of far greater worth than either the money or the window.
Through the Savior Jesus Christ, our sin-debt to the Father has been paid. What remains is if we will do our “chores” and learn the lesson this life was intended to teach us. Our works are necessary – not for God – but for us. The dept has already been paid, but we must “repay” the Father with His own “money”.
The question is not, “Am I saved by grace or works?” but, “In whom do I trust; upon whom do I rely?” Is our trust in ourselves and our own works – do we think that we could stand alone? Or is our trust upon the Savior Jesus Christ?
The question is not, “Has the debt for my sin been paid?” but, “Now that it is paid, am I willing to pay the price asked of me to accept what was done on my behalf?”
Are we redeemed in the same way that Lehi knew that his son Jacob was, not of our own works, knowledge, or righteousness, but, “because of the righteousness of [our] Redeemer”?
Grace/Works is a false dichotomy. They are not two ends of a rope, pulling us this way or that. Instead, they are standing on either side of us, arms around us, lifting us up, and helping us to walk the straight and narrow with strength beyond our own.
If “grace or works” is the question, then the answer is neither. It is both or nothing at all.
