“All We Can Do”
Part of our
responsibility to qualify for the Savior’s atoning power is taught in 2 Nephi
25:23: “For we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.”
When I first read
this scripture, I construed its meaning to be we must do everything correctly that
we are capable of doing before Christ will apply His saving power. My
interpretation led me to infer that we must save ourselves as far as we can,
and then Christ saves us the rest. However, I grew to appreciate that there is
no part of salvation we can do on our own. Christ is the only one who holds
saving power. Further, with my original interpretation, how would I know when I
have done enough? Because I inferred that I had to reach some arbitrary level
of righteousness to earn the Savior’s power, I never felt qualified. For example,
does a parent who occasionally loses their temper with their child qualify for
Christ’s parenting help? IF we take “all we can do” to mean we must do
everything correctly that we are capable of doing, then the answer would be no.
What, then, does “after
all we can do” mean? While the word after often implies sequence, this
scripture is not implying that Christ’s saving grace operates only after a
finished, qualifying event that we perform. The word after signifies
that Christ domes during our journey but only after we invite Him
and show our willingness to change. Consider Alma 24:11, which reads, “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” (emphasis added). This scripture suggests that at least one
interpretation of the phrase “all we can do” means to repent since all we
can do is repent. In other words, we invite Christ into our life by showing
our willingness to change. Thus, one way to interpret 2 Nephi 25:23 is that we
are saved by grace after we show a desire to change. There is nothing we must
accomplish before Christ applies His compensating power. HE is continually part
of our lives. HE even said himself, “Behold, I have graven thee upon the psalms
of my hands; thy walls are continually before me” (Isaiah 49:16).
Because all we can
do entails changing, we must willingly accept Christ’s change agents, even
if we do not like them at first. Christ’s goal is to help us become like Him,
and this process will entail being stretched and being uncomfortable. Living a
life with God does not mean living a life of ease. We must remember that the
history of Christianity is a history of being made uncomfortable. Abraham was
asked to sacrifice his son, Moses was exiled. Paul was shipwrecked and hungry,
Lehi wandered the desert, and the pioneers crossed the plains in wagons and
handcarts. Doing all we can encompasses accepting God’s will, which is
sometimes unpleasant. However, the trade-off is always worth it because Christ’s
compensating power can make us more than we can make ourselves. For example,
when I was finishing graduate school, it felt as if God was continually asking
me to do more and more. I transferred schools halfway through my PhD program,
so I was already a bit behind the regular time line. Then I was called to be a
temple ordinance worker. This would require me to work a half-day shift every
week. I thought it sounded crazy to try to do this long with finishing my dissertation
and managing my family of five at the time. However, after receiving
encouragement from my wife, I decided to move forward. Roughly six months later
I was called as the elder’s quorum president of my ward. Although I questioned
how I could do everything the Lord was asking me to do, I tried my best to magnify
my calling. This experience taught me an important lesson. Christ will compensate
your efforts to a greater extent when you put Him first. Even though I felt overwhelmed
with all I needed to do, I had more success in my graduate program—in terms of
academic writing and publishing and job placement—than I ever thought I would.
It far exceeded my own expectations. Coming unto Christ means doing what He
asks, and in return, His compensatory power makes us more than we could be
without Him. When we are willing to accept God’s will, we are truly doing all
we can do. (B. J. Allen, The Compensating Power of Christ: How Christ’s Atonement
Rights the Wrongs of an Unfair World and Imperfect People [American Fork,
Utah: Covenant Communications, Inc., 2024], 141-45)
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