Latter-day restoration of the
Gospel clarified the doctrine of exaltation, thus making it clear that
obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel (works) was not lost in the
doctrine of grace. Unfortunately, however, this renewed concept of the place of
works in the plan of salvation has not alone clarified the relationship of
works and grace, but has also had a tendency to elevate works above grace in
the minds of many believers. Moreover, some exponents of the latter-day word,
after making clear allowance for both grace and works, have oversimplified the
matter. They have limited grace to the free gift of resurrection, and have
attributed to works alone the power to exalt man in the Celestial Kingdom of
Glory. This conclusion is unsupported by written authority. Full recognition is
given throughout the scriptures to the fact that man is incapable of fully
living the Gospel in any of his stages of progress, without help from God. In His great doctrinal sermon, Jesus made clear that living His Gospel would be
much more than the simple application of a clear-cut formula to the problems of
life. Man's salvation would be achieved by keeping in touch—by asking and
searching.
Ask, and it shall be given you;
seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. (Matthew 7:7)
He promised that the good gifts would
be forthcoming to those who righteously searched and requested them.
For every one that asketh
receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be
opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him
a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being
evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your
Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? (Matthew
7:8-11)
Thus we see that man's forward
movement is aided by one gift after another, or as John has said: "grace
for grace" (John 1:16).
A careful reading of the teachings
of Jacob in the Book of Mormon dispels any notion that works alone have the
power to exalt.
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 it is only in
and through the grace of God that ye are saved. Wherefore, may God raise you
from death by the power of the resurrection, and also from everlasting death by
the power of the atonement, and that ye may be received into the eternal
kingdom of God, that ye may praise him through grace divine. (II Nephi
10:24-25) (George Reynolds and Janne M. Sjodahl, Commentary on the Book of
Mormon, 7 vols. [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1977], 4:13)
