Concerning the meaning “all we can do” in 2 Nephi 25:23, LDS (correctly) point out to the
only other instance of “all we [could] do” elsewhere in the Book of Mormon:
And now behold, my brethren, since it has
been all that we could do, (as we were the most lost of all mankind) to repent
of all our sins and the many murders which we have committed, and to get God to
take them away from our hearts, for it was all we could do to repent
sufficiently before God that he would take away our stain-- (Alma 24:11)
Here, the
locution refers, not to raw works righteousness, but instead, all we can do to
repent of our sins and be reconciled to God. Furthermore, my friend, James
Stutz has an excellent paper on the phrase in 2 Nephi 25:23 itself, showing
(convincingly) it refers to Nephi et al having to keep the Law of Moses,
notwithstanding their knowledge of the then-future coming of the Messiah and
then-future abrogation of the Mosaic Law:
In her essay
on the enabling power of grace, Camille Fronk Olson (the Chair of Brigham Young University's Department of Ancient Scripture) wrote the following about “all we can do”:
“All We Can
Do”
Recognizing our overwhelming need for the
Savior, does anything remain for us to do? Prophets in every era and direct and
unequivocal in their reminders that we have a role to play in our redemption.
Again, the essence of grace reflects not only a gift given but also a gift
humbly received. But our receipt of the gift, we confirm our faith “in the
strength of the Lord I can do all things” (Philippians 4:13; see also Alma
26:12). But specifying our role in receiving help presents another temptation
to misunderstand. How do you separate our role from the Savior’s grace that
enables us to perform that role?
Choosing to accept His grace is at the heart
of “all we can do.” Both James and Peter stressed that God gives grace
to “the humble” (James 4:16; 1 Peter 5:5). In all His magnanimous offering, the
Lord will not force us to accept Him or His enabling power to return to God. “For
there is a God, and he hath created all things, . . . both things to act and
things to be acted upon” (2 Nephi 2:14). We are not mindless robots waiting to
be programmed to conform to Christ’s law. We are more than empty vessels
waiting to be filled. Our role is therefore neither passive nor independent of
Christ’s enabling power.
Nephi’s discussion of salvation by grace “after
all we can do” concludes with free will and actions describing our essential
part: “Believe in Christ, and deny him not; . . . wherefore ye must bow down
before him, and worship with all your might, mind, and strength, and your whole
soul; and if ye do this ye shall in nowise be cast out” (2 Nephi 25:29).
More specifically, Christ taught that our
role in His gospel is to have faith in Him, repent of all our sins, be baptized
in His name, “be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost,” and endure to
the end (3 Nephi 27:13-20). In essence, this constitutes “coming to Christ.”
These same requirements are reiterated and reinforced elsewhere in scripture as
being interconnected to the grace of Christ.
Exercise
faith in Christ.
Paul taught, “By whom [Christ] . . . we have access
by faith into this grace wherein we stand” (Romans 5:2, emphasis added; see
also 4:16). Alma counseled priesthood leaders to trust in the Lord and not the
people for support in their office. “For their labor they were to receive the
grace of God, that they might wax strong in the Spirit . . . that they might
teach with power and authority from God” (Mosiah 18:26). By having faith in the
Lord’s grace, they were enabled to teach with power from on high. The same is
true for us.
Repent of
all our sins.
Peter testified, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, . .. but is
longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all
should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). Accepting Christ’s gift of grace is
nowhere more resplendent than when we choose to turn our lives around to follow
Him. To his son Corianton, Alma explained: “The plan of redemption could not be
brought about, only on conditions of repentance of men in this probationary
state, . . . for except it were for these conditions, mercy could not take
effect except it were these conditions,
mercy could not take effect except it should destroy the work of justice” (Alma
42:13). In profound awareness of the grace of Christ in their conversion and
rebirth, the king of the Anti-Nephi-Lehies reminded his people, “For it was all we could do to repent
sufficiently before God that he would take away our stain” (Alma 24:11;
emphasis added). (Camille Fronk Olson, “Saved and Enabled By the Grace of Jesus
Christ” in Ray L Huntington, Frank F. Judd Jr., and David M. Whitchurch,
eds. Shedding Light on the New Testament:
Acts-Revelation [Provo, Utah: BYU Religious Studies Center, 2009], 46-66,
here, pp. 60-62, italics in original)
