Continuing from Stephen E. Robinson’s book “Following Christ,” previous post. . . . The Scriptural Necessity of Works.
Now, the doctrine of justification by faith is thoroughly scriptural (see, for example, Galatians 2:16; 2 Nephi 2:5; Doctrine and Covenants 20:30), but the doctrine of justification by faith alone, without any effort, obedience, commitment, or response on the part of the believer, is not.(see 7 below)
Some Christians, (but not as many as you might think) argue that God requires nothing of us after our conversion, but that he will lovingly accept any lifestyle the saved may subsequently choose to wallow in—thus subsidizing their sins like a rich, indulgent, or gullible parent who keeps paying the bills for spoiled, ungrateful and rebellious children. To Latter-day Saints, such a view insults the dignity, justice, and righteousness of God.
On the other hand, for many years “popular” Mormonism (that counterfeit religion invented by members stuck for an answer) has wrongly promoted the other side of the false dilemma of grace versus works. Because the “enemy” (that is the Baptists, Pentecostals, or whomever they are arguing with) dismiss the need for works and exalt grace alone, it has been felt for some inexplicable reason that we must take the opposite position, dismissing grace and exalting works alone. The resulting “popular” theology is just as defective as the adversarial attitude toward other Christians that goes along with it.
Since the scriptures—not just the Bible but all the scriptures—discuss the importance of both grace and works, we are not at liberty to choose sides or to throw out one in favor of another. Any theological view that slights the vital role of either grace or works is defective. Luther was wrong to ignore James. Latter-day Saints are wrong to shy away from Paul. Both James and Paul wrote the word of God. Both the Epistle of James and the Epistle to the Romans are scripture. Unfortunately, some LDS missionaries when confronted with Paul’s “By grace are ye saved” (Ephesians 2:8) or “A man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law” (Romans 3:28) have counterattacked with James’ “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:26) as though Paul was wrong or as though James somehow cancels out Paul.8 But Paul was an Apostle of the Lord, and his letters are just as much the word of God as the letter from James (see the eighth Article of Faith). We cannot chose sides between grace and works—both must be right!
7. The phrase by grace alone does not appear in the Bible. The phrase by faith only is found in James 2:24 but in a passage that explicitly denies justification is possible in this way.
For links click. . . .Both Must be Right
