From her book “100 favorite verses to Bring You Closer to Christ” Shauna Humphrey’s wrote:
. . . 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. (2 Nephi 25:23)
When students enroll in a class, there are certain expectations and requirements they must meet in order to receive credit for the course. Most teachers require that the students be present for class lectures and labs, that assignments be completed and handed in on time, and that written or oral exams receive at least a passing grade. It is up to the student to decide how hard they want to work and how important a good grade is to them and their future plans. The teacher tallies the marks and must reward the students accordingly. Nothing further is required. We might even say they are “saved” by their works.
There are those of Christian persuasion, perhaps even members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who believe that this simple principle applies to being saved in a spiritual sense. We make our lists and check them twice and breathe sighs of spiritual relief that we are successfully meeting all of the requirements for a passing grade in the course of salvation. The Savior has written the syllabus; as we “do” what he has asked, He has no choice but to pass us with flying colors. We might even go so far as to say that we only need a certain percentage of the Savior’s Atonement because of our strict adherence to the rules. He simply provides the “gap insurance” that sees us safely home.
But at times, we, like the Pharisees, look on our accomplishments and form an exclusive club to which we forget to invite the Savior. Jacob calls it “looking beyond [or missing] the mark” (Jacob 4:14), that “mark” being the Savior. The focus of all that we do or accomplish should be Christ and His Atonement. Of course it is important to be “anxiously engaged,” to be up and doing when it comes to adherence to the principles and ordinances of the gospel, but the Lord wants us to become something, not just do something. Without obedience, there is no salvation, but without Christ’s atoning sacrifice, there is no resurrection (immortality) and no exaltation (eternal life) in the celestial kingdom. Our broken hearts and contrite spirits are far more crucial than the checklists we cherish.
What we become in the eternal sense is possible only through His grace. What we do is simply our humble gesture of accepting His grace. “We must believe that it is through His grace that we are saved, that he performed for us that labor which we were unable to perform for ourselves, and did for us those things which were essential to our salvation, which were beyond our power; and also that we are under the commandment and the necessity of performing the labors that are required of us as set forth in the commandments known as the gospel of Jesus Christ ” (Doctrines of Salvation, Vol. 2, 311). Only then can we anticipate a celestial graduation.
“Behold he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who
have a broken heart and a contrite spirit: and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered: (2 Nephi 2:7).
Shauna Humphreys, 100 favorite verses To Bring You Closer to Christ (American Fork, Utah: Covenant Communications, 2012), 53-54
