Saved by Grace after All We Can Do
The major misunderstanding concerning grace comes from a misinterpretation of 2 Nephi 25:23, "it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do." Usually, this phrase is interpreted to mean that grace becomes active only after a person has done absolutely everything he or she can, and even then grace functions only to make up the difference between effort and success. There are a number of problems with this view. First, since, theoretically, we can always do more than we are doing, we could never qualify for such grace. Second, God has already acted. For example, he did not wait until we had done all we could before he provided the basis and means of salvation, or executed the plan of salvation and revealed it to humankind, or gave the gift of his Son. Third, Christ has already acted. He did not wait until we had done all we could before atoning for all sin, or making reconciliation and redemption possible. Further, he has not waited until we have done all we can before bequeathing the gifts of the Spirit with their enabling powers--powers that invest us with the ability to do whatever is necessary. Indeed, the Lord often gives the Spirit to help a soul overcome weakness and grow spiritually. He does not wait until they are strong and then give it.
Some mistakenly believe that they really can do all that is required and thereby either earn or merit exaltation, but the truth is no one can. According to the scriptures, all are unprofitable servants and will be as long as they are in mortality (Luke 17:10; Mosiah 2:21; Hel. 12:7-8; compare Rom. 3:23). But no one is asked to be profitable; simply to be loving and faithful. God is easy to please and impossible to satisfy (at least until we reach this stage of perfection and holiness). Pleasing God, for now, is enough, and his grace will attend us.
To earn or even merit salvation, a person would have to put God in his or her debt. This is impossible, as King Benjamin emphasized to his subjects. "If ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you," he said. "And now, in the first place, he hath created you, and granted unto you your lives, for which ye are indebted unto him. And secondly, he doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you; and therefore he hath paid you. And ye are still indebted unto him, and are, and will be, forever" (Mosiah 2:22-24).
Because all are continually indebted to God, salvation cannot be earned and, therefore, must be free (2 Ne. 2:4). As Nephi testified, Jesus "hath given it free or all men . . . and none are forbidden" (2 Ne. 26:27-28). It is God's gift and all a person has to do is accept it and enter into a covenant with the Lord and strive to keep his or her promises. Though "the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance" (D&C 1:31), he exercises his grace by accepting a person's striving for fully keeping the law.
Humility allows the Saint to recognize this and gain a proper attitude. As one LDS scholar noted, "It is necessary to live in a state of divine indebtedness, in a condition of always acknowledging the goodness and greatness of God as well as our utter helplessness without him. Inextricably linked to this truth is the need to love and serve others, particularly those in need. That is how we 'remain guiltless' before God (Mosiah 4:25).
The point is, God's grace operates all the time. It does not activate only when a person has done all he or she can. As one LDS scholar noted, God "can and does help us all along the way. Nephi seems to be emphasizing that no matter how much we do, it simply will not be enough to guarantee salvation without Christ's intervention [2 Ne. 25:23]. To paraphrase Nephi, above and beyond all we can do, it is by the grace of Christ that we are saved. And what is true of our ultimate salvation is true of our daily walk and talk, of our personality and our passions. Above and beyond all our efforts at self-control, behavior modification, or reducing our sins to manageable categories, 'everything which really needs to be done and our souls can be done only by God.'" Alma 24:10-12 suggests that all we can really do anyway is "come before the Lord in reverent humility, confess our weakness, and plead for his forgiveness, and his mercy and grace." (Richard D. Draper and Michael D. Rhodes, Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians [Provo, Utah: BYU Studies, 2017], 86-88)