In LDS soteriology, as a result of God's prevenient grace, we have the free will capacity to accept or reject the gospel; note the following texts from the Book of Mormon:
And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the commandments which God hath given. Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself. (2 Nephi 2:26-27)
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 is it only in and through the grace of God that ye are saved. (2 Nephi 10:23-24)
LDS scholar Blake Ostler offered the following comments on the soteriological importance of these texts:
[These passages teach that] the Atonement is a gift which “redeems” or restores human agency (which entails the self-determination to choose either life or death). In the absence of atonement, we are captive to the devil and the desires of our flesh. Thus, free will is a gift. We are freed from the bondage to our self-absorbed alienation and passions “of the flesh” when we are able to choose to share life with God . . . The Book of Mormon asserts that all persons are free to choose among alternatives of life and death and are therefore free to accept or reject God’s grace, but the choice is ultimately made possible only by Go’s grace. Thus, one enters the way leading to eternal life “by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly on the merits of him who his mighty to save” (2 Ne. 31:19). Nevertheless, once on the path, the burden is on human agency to persist in faith by God’s grace. “Wherefore ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ . . . and a love of God and of all men” (2 Ne. 31:20). In other words, there is no preventing or preserving grace because we must endure to the end (2 Ne. 31:15-16). (Blake T. Ostler, Exploring Mormon Thought, vol. 2: The Problems of Theism and the Love of God [Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2006], 221, 222)
The soteriological significance of this is that, contra the protestations by our (predominately Evangelical Protestant [pun intended!]) critics that Latter-day Saints cannot affirm Paul’s teaching in Eph 2:8-9 that faith is a gift. The Greek of the text, followed by the NASB, reads (emphasis added):
Τῇ γὰρ χάριτί ἐστε σεσῳσμένοι διὰ πίστεως· καὶ τοῦτο οὐκ ἐξ ὑμῶν, θεοῦ τὸ δῶρον· οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων, ἵνα μή τις καυχήσηται.
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and not that of yourselves, it is the gift of God; and not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Something that has vexed commentators of this text is the question of what the demonstrative τουτο refers to. The demonstrative τουτο is a nominative singular. None of the other terms (in bold) are singular nominatives: χαριτι is the feminine singular dative of χαρις ("grace");σεσωμενοι is the nominative masculine plural present passive participle of σωζω ("to save"), and πιστεως ("faith") is a genitive feminine singular. The most likely explanation for the use of τουτο is that it is being used to encompass all the concepts previously discussed, grace, faith, and salvation are, commensurate with the above-quoted pericope from the Book of Mormon, and similar to Rom 4, where no man can lay a legal claim to salvation—it is not a wage but is given graciously from God. As one commentator on Ephesians wrote:
Rather than any particular word it is best to conclude that τουτο refers back to the preceding section. This is common and there are numerous illustrations of such in Ephesians. For example, in 1:15 τουτο refers back to the contents of 1:3-14, in 3:1 it refers back to 2:11-12, and in 3;14 it refers back to 3:1-13. Therefore, in the present context, τουτο refers back to 2:4-8a, and more specifically 2:8a, the concept of salvation by grace through faith. (Harold W. Hoehner, Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic, 2002], 343.)
Recommended Reading:
Brent J. Schmidt, Relational Grace: The Reciprocal and Binding Covenant of Charis
