Have you ever wondered what your friendly Mormon next door believes? Well if you have, let me just give you a quick sum up: the full name of our church is "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." Like the name indicates, we
are Christian! We believe in modern day revelation and we believe that the Lord loves his children. (To learn much more about our religion, just go to
www.mormon.org.)
A lot of people have asked me if Mormons believe in being saved by "grace," referring to the atonement of Jesus Christ, "saving" us from sin. The answer to this question is a resounding
YES!
We do believe that we are saved by grace!
We just believe there's so much more to it than that. A lot of time among Mormons, you'll hear the phrase, "Saved by grace after all we can do." We believe that we shouldn't just float along in life, just because we are "saved" no matter what we do. We believe that to be truly converted unto Christ, you'll want to show your appreciation by doing good works in His name.
I recently read an AMAZING talk given by
Brad Wilcox (who actually happens to be teaching one of the classes I'm taking at BYU right now!) I'd like to go through his talk and include some great quotes and examples that will help clarify what we believe and that really helped me understand the Atonement a lot better.
Some people think of grace as a
gap-filler. We do what we can, but when it's not enough, Christ makes up the rest of the difference that we can't fill.
This is not the case. Christ has already paid the price for all of us-- he's not asking us to repay him.
ANALOGY TIME!
(from Brad's talk, "His Grace Is Sufficient")
"Christ's arrangement with us is similar to a mom providing music lessons for her child. Mom pays the piano teacher... Because Mom pays the debt in full, she can turn to her child and ask for something. What is it? Practice! Does the child's practice pay the piano teacher? No. Does the child's practice repay Mom for paying the piano teacher? No. Practicing is how the child shows appreciation for Mom's incredible gift. It is how he takes advantage of the amazing opportunity Mom is giving him to live his life at a higher level. Mom's joy is found not in getting repaid but in seeing her gift used-- seeing her child improve."
As this analogy shows us, we are not trying to "repay" Christ for what He has done for us. Here's another quote:
"Elder Dallin H. Oaks has said, referring to President Spencer W. Kimball's explanation, 'The repenting sinner must suffer for his sins, but this suffering has a different purpose than punishment or payment. Its purpose is change.' Let's put that in terms of our analogy. The child must practice the piano, but this practice has a different purpose than punishment or payment. Its purpose is change."
Brad then goes on to talk about taking "saved by grace" to the next level, which is being changed by grace. He asks his questioning friends,
"Have you been changed by grace? As my friend Omar Canals puts it, "While many Christians view Christ's suffering as only a huge favor He did for us, Latter-day Saints also recognize it as a huge investment He made in us.'"
EVERYONE MAKES MISTAKES
Sometimes, it feels overwhelming to constantly try to be better. The simple fact is, everybody makes mistakes. Tons of mistakes. BIG, HUGE, overwhelming mistakes. To reference the analogy again, Brad says,
"When a young pianist hits a wrong note, we don't say he is not worthy to keep practicing. We don't expect him to be flawless. We just expect him to keep trying."
This is not a journey that we make on our own, trying to do all that we can do, and then letting Christ's grace take care of the rest.
"Christ is not waiting at the finish line once we have done "all we can do." He is with us every step of the way."
Brad also quotes Elder Bruce C. Hafen, who said,
"Grace is not a booster engine that kicks in once our fuel supply is exhausted. Rather, it is our constant energy source. It is not the light at the end of the tunnel but the light that moves us through the tunnel. Grace is not achieved somewhere down the road. It is received right here and right now."
I believe this with all of my heart, and it gives me hope and joy! I believe that one of the main purposes in this life is to become the best versions of ourselves we can be. Life is a learning process, and we will make mistakes. We just have to keep realize that we keep trying, and that the grace of Christ is what enables us and encourages us to keep moving forward and to continually change and grow.
To me, being truly converted to Christ is not to float on through life believing there are no consequences to our actions because we are "saved." To me, being truly converted is to go through life trying to show my appreciation to Christ for saving me, through my actions, and acting as He would-- helping others, loving others, and keeping His commandments. I know that we are saved by grace, and I know more than anything that God loves me, and He loves you.
If you'd like to read the full talk by Brad, click here.
