I read a relatively new book today; the following section caught my eye as it shows (1) the necessity of grace and (2) the Christocentric nature of Latter-day Saint soteriology; furthermore, it refutes the charge that LDS soteriology is raw works righteousness (read: Pelagian). Keep in mind this is not an LDS author writing to an Evangelical audience in order to "dupe them" (something James White et al claim modern LDS scholars engage in), but an LDS author writing a book for an LDS audience:
Remember, we do not earn grace. We do not merit it. The fruits of us receiving the grace of God through Christ’s atoning sacrifice are expressed in our righteousness. We become, and thus we are what we are through Christ the Lord. [re. Eph 2:8-10:] These quintessential verses describe perfectly how grace operates and how our works follow when we receive grace into our lives . . . To work out salvation does not mean that we work it out or earn it, but rather it means we come to the Lord with all our hearts (we accept His infinite Atonement), and then we are empowered to work it out through our faithfulness (see Mormon 9:27). We are saved by the grace of God, and we are judged by our works and the desires of our hearts (see Alma 41:3; D&C 137:9). We are motivated by our love of and for God and by gratitude, for His goodness becomes our motivation. The commandments are not a check-off list of things to do, but rather they become the joy of our expression for the love of God and the empowerment of the Atonement in our lives. It simply is the right and natural thing to do. Not only have we obtained a hope in Christ, but Christ is also in and through us, empowering us to do good as all good comes from God. He becomes our strength, “for in his strength I can do all things” (Alma 26:12). He is our strength and our power. (Ed J. Pinegar, Gethsemane, Golgotha, and the Garden of the Tomb [Springville, Utah: Cedar Fort, Inc.: 2015], 95, 96-7; comment in square brackets added for clarification)
