Some (mainly
Evangelical Protestant) critics of LDS soteriology charge “Mormonism” with a
Pelagian or Legalistic theology of salvation due to the phrase, “all we can do”
in 2 Nephi 25:23. Of course, this ignores texts such as 2 Nephi 10:23-25 which
are antithetical to such a soteriology:
Therefore, cheer up your hearts and remember that ye are free to act for
yourselves—to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life.
Wherefore, my beloved brethren, reconcile yourselves to the will of God, and
not to the will of the devil and the flesh; and remember, after ye are
reconciled unto God, that it is only in and through the grace of God that ye
are saved. Wherefore, may God raise you from death by the power of the
resurrection, and also from everlasting death by the power of the atonement,
that ye may be received into the eternal kingdom of God that ye may praise him
through grace divine. Amen.
In LDS soteriology,
God has graced us with a free-will that can accept or reject the Gospel. We are
reconciled to God by faith, repentance, and baptism by immersion and
confirmation by the Holy Spirit. When we enter a covenantal relationship through
the instrumentality of water baptism, we are kept in that saving covenant by
God’s grace and do not legally “earn” such a covenantal standing, but maintain
it by doing good works. Some LDS scholars have correctly viewed strong
parallels between modern Pauline scholarship and the concept of “covenantal
nomism” and LDS soteriology (e.g. Blake Ostler in his book, The Problems of Theism and the Love of God).
James Stutz, who runs
a very good blog, Lehi’s Library, offered a sound exegesis of 2 Nephi 25:23
here, arguing that “all we can do” refers the
law of Moses, as the Mosaic Covenant was still in effect during the time of Nephi et al., notwithstanding Nephi
knowing about the future atoning sacrifice of Christ and the then-future
annulment of the Law of Moses (similar to the theological difficulties early NT
Christians had, as seen in Acts 15 and the epistles to the Galatians and
Romans).
It should also be
noted that there are LDS leaders who explicitly dispute the belief that this
phrase supports a legalistic soteriology. I offer the following from Bruce D. Porter, an LDS General Authority, in a work he authored on Jesus Christ:
The salvation [offered by Christ and His atoning sacrifice] is a gift
granted freely by a loving Father. “Salvation is free” (2 Nephi 2:4). By
definition, mercy can be neither merited nor deserved. No amount of good works,
no degree of virtue or righteousness, no claim of worthiness can save us
without the grace of Christ. As Lehi taught, “by the law no flesh is justified,
or by the law men are cut off” (2 Nephi 2:5). Aaron, one of the sons of Mosiah,
states this even more forcefully: “Since man had fallen he could not merit
anything of himself; but the sufferings of death of Christ atonement for
their sins, through faith and repentance” (Alma 22:14; emphasis added).
This is why “it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do” (2
Nephi 25:23). Divine grace is the dominant element of salvation, though
ineffectual without human choice and effort. What does “all we can do” mean? It
certainly does not mean perfect obedience, since no mortal achieves that; nor
does it even really imply “doing our best,” since no human being truly does his
or her absolute best all of the time. “All we can do” simply means following
the plain gospel road of exercising faith in the Saviour, striving to keep the
commandments, and repenting of sins whenever we fall short (cf. Alma 24:11). By
following this path, the grace of Christ—his strength and spiritual sustenance—will
accompany the sincere disciple of the Master each step of the way. Grace does
not just cover the gap between our frailty and eventual perfection. Rather, it
permeates the whole plan of salvation and is a daily gift from God: “O to grace
how great a debtor daily I am constrained to be.” The eternal inheritance
promised to the faithful is a gift worth incalculably more than anything they
could possibly merit on their own. By the infinite love of our Eternal father,
we will be “added upon . . .for ever and ever” (Abraham 3:26).
Bruce D. Porter, The King of Kings (SLC: Deseret Book, 2000), 147-48; comment in square brackets
my own.