FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Difference between revisions of "Mormonism and Christianity/Grace and works"
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| + | |subject=Grace and works | ||
| + | |summary=How do the LDS see the relationship between works and grace? | ||
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|link=Mormonism and Christianity/Grace and works/Early Christian views on salvation | |link=Mormonism and Christianity/Grace and works/Early Christian views on salvation | ||
|subject=Early Christian views on salvation | |subject=Early Christian views on salvation | ||
|summary=What can the writings of early Christians tell us about how to receive salvation in Jesus Christ? | |summary=What can the writings of early Christians tell us about how to receive salvation in Jesus Christ? | ||
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|link=Mormonism and Christianity/Grace and works/Neglect grace | |link=Mormonism and Christianity/Grace and works/Neglect grace | ||
|subject=Neglect grace | |subject=Neglect grace | ||
|summary=Some claim that the Church ignores the doctrine of grace at the expense of "works." Critics argue that Church leaders do not teach this doctrine, and as a result most members of the Church do not expect to be saved, since they are not "good enough." | |summary=Some claim that the Church ignores the doctrine of grace at the expense of "works." Critics argue that Church leaders do not teach this doctrine, and as a result most members of the Church do not expect to be saved, since they are not "good enough." | ||
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|link=Mormonism and Christianity/Grace and works/Salvation by faith alone | |link=Mormonism and Christianity/Grace and works/Salvation by faith alone | ||
|subject=Salvation by faith alone | |subject=Salvation by faith alone | ||
|summary=Evangelical Christians claim that salvation comes through "faith alone" (sola fide) and they accuse Latter-day Saints of holding to an un-Biblical belief of "works-based salvation." | |summary=Evangelical Christians claim that salvation comes through "faith alone" (sola fide) and they accuse Latter-day Saints of holding to an un-Biblical belief of "works-based salvation." | ||
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|link=Mormonism and Christianity/Grace and works/Baptism_and_grace | |link=Mormonism and Christianity/Grace and works/Baptism_and_grace | ||
|subject=Baptism and grace | |subject=Baptism and grace | ||
|summary=Early Christians understood the relationship between grace and the baptismal ordinance differently than some modern protestant critics of the Church. | |summary=Early Christians understood the relationship between grace and the baptismal ordinance differently than some modern protestant critics of the Church. | ||
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|link=Mormonism and Christianity/Grace and works/Grace and works in scripture | |link=Mormonism and Christianity/Grace and works/Grace and works in scripture | ||
|subject=Scriptures on grace and works | |subject=Scriptures on grace and works | ||
|summary=Critics of the church claim that the Bible teaches that individual works are completely unnecessary, in contrast to the doctrine of the LDS church that an individual's obedience to the commandments of God matters in his salvation. | |summary=Critics of the church claim that the Bible teaches that individual works are completely unnecessary, in contrast to the doctrine of the LDS church that an individual's obedience to the commandments of God matters in his salvation. | ||
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|link=Mormonism and Christianity/Grace and works/Unforgivable sin | |link=Mormonism and Christianity/Grace and works/Unforgivable sin | ||
|subject=Unforgivable sin | |subject=Unforgivable sin | ||
|summary=Why did LDS apostle Bruce McConkie write that a man may commit a sin so grievous that it will place him beyond the atoning blood of Christ (''Mormon Doctrine'', 1979, p. 93) when the Bible says that the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7)? | |summary=Why did LDS apostle Bruce McConkie write that a man may commit a sin so grievous that it will place him beyond the atoning blood of Christ (''Mormon Doctrine'', 1979, p. 93) when the Bible says that the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7)? | ||
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|link=Mormonism and Christianity/Grace and works/Impossible Gospel | |link=Mormonism and Christianity/Grace and works/Impossible Gospel | ||
|subject=Impossible Gospel | |subject=Impossible Gospel | ||
Revision as of 09:47, 15 March 2014
- REDIRECTTemplate:Test3
Contents
How do the LDS see the relationship between works and grace?
Questions
How do the LDS see the relationship between works and grace?
To see citations to the critical sources for these claims, click here
Answer
Differences in terminology
Two LDS authors insightfully described the LDS doctrine of grace and salvation, and compared it to the schema used by many Protestants, as follows:
- (1) Latter-day Saints believe that our individual sins (not just the original sin introduced by Adam) are forgiven as a result of God's grace. (2) Latter-day Saints believe that salvation (in the Protestant sense of that term—salvation from death and hell, coupled with immortality in the presence of God) is graciously and unconditionally granted to all but sons of perdition; (3) For Latter-day Saints the real issue of salvation has to do with the individual's continued growth into God's likeness (sanctification) and exaltation, which are the synergistic outcome of divine grace and human striving. It is the Latter-day Saint degrees-of-glory eschatology that does not fit nicely with Protestant models of grace, grafted as they are to a heaven-or-hell eschatology...
- Salvation is an all-or-nothing affair for most Protestants, making the distinction between "born again" and "unregenerate" correspond exactly to that between "saved" and "damned." For Latter-day Saints, though, most of the "unregenerate" receive a degree of glory—one which passes all earthly understanding (DC 76꞉89)—for having chosen to come to earth and for deciding not to deny the Holy Spirit. Moreover, Latter-day Saints hold that the life led by those receiving lower degrees of glory is substantially different than that supposedly enjoyed in Protestant heaven or hell. Those in the telestial kingdom for instance (and thus some of those that are "saved") do not enjoy the full presence of the Godhead as they would in Protestant versions of heaven. However, the absence of the Father and the Son (which in this respect would equate to Protestant notions of hell) is a far cry from the Protestant notion of eternal torment, as they still enjoy the presence of God, the Holy Spirit, and a glory beyond human comprehension. Similarly, the residents of the terrestrial kingdom are neither clearly "saved" nor clearly "damned" according to Protestant definitions: they have accepted the testimony of Jesus (corresponding to "saved") but have not been valiant therein and receive only the "glory" and not the "full presence" of the Father (corresponding in this sense to "damned"). Clearly, given these and other differences, the Latter-day Saint understanding of salvation cannot be directly correlated to Protestant soteriology and eschatology...
- Latter-day Saints do not accept the Protestant assumption that faith/grace and human agency/actions/works constitute two separate grammars of discourse. To the contrary, we believe that it is false and that James and even Paul, as well as living prophets, make it clear that faith/grace and human agency/actions/works are actually inseparable.[1]
Topics
Grace and works
Summary: How do the LDS see the relationship between works and grace?- Early Christian views on salvation—
Brief Summary: What can the writings of early Christians tell us about how to receive salvation in Jesus Christ? (Click here for full article)∗ ∗ ∗ - Neglect grace—
Brief Summary: Some claim that the Church ignores the doctrine of grace at the expense of "works." Critics argue that Church leaders do not teach this doctrine, and as a result most members of the Church do not expect to be saved, since they are not "good enough." (Click here for full article)∗ ∗ ∗ - Salvation by faith alone—
Brief Summary: Evangelical Christians claim that salvation comes through "faith alone" (sola fide) and they accuse Latter-day Saints of holding to an un-Biblical belief of "works-based salvation." (Click here for full article)∗ ∗ ∗ - Baptism and grace—
Brief Summary: Early Christians understood the relationship between grace and the baptismal ordinance differently than some modern protestant critics of the Church. (Click here for full article)∗ ∗ ∗ - Scriptures on grace and works—
Brief Summary: Critics of the church claim that the Bible teaches that individual works are completely unnecessary, in contrast to the doctrine of the LDS church that an individual's obedience to the commandments of God matters in his salvation. (Click here for full article)∗ ∗ ∗ - Unforgivable sin—
Brief Summary: Why did LDS apostle Bruce McConkie write that a man may commit a sin so grievous that it will place him beyond the atoning blood of Christ (Mormon Doctrine, 1979, p. 93) when the Bible says that the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7)? (Click here for full article)∗ ∗ ∗ - Impossible Gospel—
Brief Summary: Sometimes critics (especially Evangelicals) describe our gospel as one in which nobody can be saved because they are not perfectly keeping the commandments. They attempt to show that this is what we believe by using passages from the Book of Mormon and from other LDS works. (Click here for full article)∗ ∗ ∗
- Early Christian views on salvation—
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Notes
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