Do "Mormons" Depend Upon Their Works for Salvation?
by Mike Clark © 2024
Note that this article was written in accordance with my understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as taught by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of which I am a member. The contents of the article are my own work, and does not necessarily represent the view of the Church. This article originally appeared as an answer to a question posed on Quora, a Q&A website (link given below).
The original question on Quora (see HERE) was "Are Mormons depending on their works to be saved?"
My answer:
Absolutely not!
But there are differing opinions within Christianity as a whole about this. For example, Catholics believe that certain works must be performed in order to be saved, and they are not the only ones who believe this. To start with, according to New Testament scripture, baptism is a requirement. In Matthew, Jesus told John the Baptist that it was necessary for John to baptize Jesus “to fulfill all righteousness.” Jesus later told the Jewish leader Nicodemus that unless a person were baptized by water and the spirit (Holy Ghost) he could not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Recorded in Acts, is that when the apostles found certain men who claimed to be Christians and said they had been baptized, but had never heard of the Holy Ghost, they had their baptisms done over before giving them the Holy Ghost. Why bother if baptism were not a requirement?
Much later, some Protestant denominations started teaching that baptism was optional. But from the beginning this was not so. The New Testament strongly indicates that the “work” of baptism is required. And if Jesus was baptized, the only man who ever lived who surely didn’t personally need it (being sinless), then how could a follower of Jesus claim an exemption?
Is baptism by water and the spirit the only “works” required for salvation? No. According to the Apostle Peter, faith and repentance are also required. This was recorded in Acts, during the first Day of Pentecost.
But it must be clearly understood, that none of these required “works” are what saves us. One is saved by the grace of Jesus Christ alone. The “works” of faith, repentance, baptism of water, and of the spirit do not save anyone, but they are required in order to access that free gift of salvation. One cannot “earn” salvation from sin; it is a free gift.
As I said, some Protestants insist that a simple declaration of faith is all that one needs for salvation from sin. This is derived from Martin Luther’s strong feelings against certain practices of the medieval Catholic church, which included paying money or undertaking difficult or painful labors to obtain forgiveness. Luther was spot on that Christ’s blood is what saves, not empty works. Where we go astray, however, is to insist that the tokens of submission to Christ’s will, namely repentance and baptism, are “works” are empty works. According to Christ himself, they are necessary for salvation.
Now, I suspect that your question deals with the common Latter-day Saint practices of laboring in the church in various capacities. For example, paying tithing, fasting once per month to donate funds for the poor, attending church, acting in various unpaid church positions (such as bishop), and serving on full-time missions. These things do not “save.” I hope I have dispelled any thoughts on that score.
But if one is truly a Christian, does one just say to oneself, “OK, I am saved! Now I will just sit on my hind end and one of these days go to heaven!” No, of course not! What if the apostles had done this? The New Testament is full of tales of the righteous exploits of Christians who went beyond the basics, and worked their entire lives to take the Gospel to the world. And many of them were killed for their beliefs! Why would they do this if they had already secured their own salvation? Because of love, for God, and for their fellow man!
Jesus told the Apostles that in his kingdom there were many mansions. Not just one. It was clear that there was something in the eternal rewards that could be worked for, beyond the glory of being forgiven. This was clearly pointed at by Jesus’s parables. Remember the parable of the talents? Jesus was talking about a greater reward for greater effort. Later, in 1st Corinthians, the Apostle Paul wrote about three degrees of heaven, which he called Celestial, Terrestrial, with the third one unnamed. He compared them in glory, respectively, to the sun, the moon, and the stars. In another of his epistles, 2nd Corinthians, Paul wrote of having been taken up to the ”third heaven.” Was this ”third heaven” the one that Paul compared to the stars? It seems so.
To sum up, salvation from sin is a free gift that results from Christ’s grace. Nothing we can do can earn this salvation. But he does require submission to his will (“If you love me, keep my commandments.”), which is shown by first, faith in him, repentance (ceasing to do evil), and baptism of water and spirit. And once we have attained salvation by grace, we continue to follow Christ by doing all we can to build up his kingdom, including seeking to bring others to Christ.
In telling all the above, I have only written about the New Testament. I have not once mentioned the Book of Mormon. But rest assured, the Book of Mormon teaches the same, that salvation comes through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and through no other way. In fact, the Book of Mormon is even more explicit about it than the Bible.
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