Commenting on 2 Nephi 25:23 and “all we can do” and how such does not support a legalistic soteriology, Marcus M. Ladd wrote:
Does the “all we can do” somehow imply that there is any acceptable work outside of the Spirit’s influence (outside of being in Christ)? Fortunately, Moroni also provides us with a scripture explaining this concept. In Moroni 10:24-25 we read, “24 And now I speak unto all the ends of the earth—that if the day cometh that the power and gifts of God shall be done away among you, it shall be because of unbelief. 25 And wo be unto the children of men if this be the case; or there shall be none that doeth good among you, no not one. For it there be one among you that doeth good, he shall work by the power and gifts of God.” I have emboldened the phrase “power and gifts” of God because Moroni gives us a very clear context for the meaning of this phrase. As mentioned earlier, verses 4-18 of this chapter define what the power and gifts of God are:
5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.
6 And whatsoever things is good is just and true; wherefore, nothing that is good denieth the Christ, but acknowledgeth that he is.
7 And ye may know that he is, by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore I would exhort you that ye deny not the power of God; for he worketh by power, according to the faith of the children of men, the same today and tomorrow, and forever.
8 And again, I exhort you, my brethren, that ye deny not the gifts of God, for they are many; and they come from the same God. And there are different ways that these gifts are administered; but it is the same God who worketh all in all; and they (the gifts of God) are given by the manifestations of the Spirit of God unto men, to profit them.
Moroni tells us in verse 7 to “deny not the power of God,” which he then clearly parallels to the power of the Holy Ghost. Moreover, when we understand the phrase “power of God” to be synonymous with the Holy Ghost, then we can understand why Moroni tells us that “no not on” can Do good without these gifts of the Spirit (vs 25). Indeed, as he stipulates, “if there be one among you that doeth good, he shall work by the power and gifts of God.” According to Moroni, there is no other acceptable way to “do all that we can do”; to be satisfactory it must be done within the boundaries set by the Spirit, using its gifts, producing its fruit, which, as we have discovered, is also sufficient grace. (Marcus M. Ladd, The Temple Pattern: An Ancient Celebration of the Plan of Salvation [Tafiat Publishing, 2015], 220-22, emphasis in original)
