AFTER ALL WE CAN DO
Now we come to the language from the title of this book, “after
all we can do” (2 Nephi 25:23). The prophet Nephi made an important
contribution to our understanding of God’s grace when he declared, “We labor diligently
. . . to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ,
and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace we are saved,
after all we can do” (2 Nephi 25:23; emphasis added).
However, I wonder how often we misinterpret the phrase “after
all we can do.” We must understand that “after” does not equal “because.”
We are not saved “because” of all that we can do. We
choose to receive Christ’s grace; we don’t earn it. Salvation cannot be bought
with the currency of obedience; it is purchased by the blood of the Son of God
(Acts 20:28). Have any of us done all that we can do? Does God wait
until we’ve expended every effort before He will intervene in our lives with His
saving grace?
Many people feel discouraged because they constantly fall
short. They know firsthand that “the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is
weak” (Matthew 26:41; see also Romans 7:19). They raise their voices with Nephi
in proclaiming, “My soul grieveth because of mine iniquities” (2 Nephi 4:17).
I am certain Nephi knew that the Savior’s grace allows
and enables us to overcome sin (see 2 Nephi 4:19-35; Alma 34:31).
This is why Nephi labored so diligently to persuade his children and brethren “to
believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God” (2 Nephi 25:23). After all, that
is what we can do! And that is our task in mortality!
All we can do is choose to receive grace as the Savior
offers it to us. We can choose to receive hope, and ultimately to receive joy! (Dieter
F. Uchtdorf, After All We Can Do: Embracing Hope, Grace, and Joy [Salt
Lake City: Deseret Book, 2024], 7-8, italics in original)
Unlocking the Gates of Heaven
Because we have all “sinned and come short of the glory
of God” (Romans 3:23) and because “there cannot any unclean thing enter into
the kingdom of God” (1 Nephi 15:34), every one of us is unworthy to return to God’s
presence (see also 1 Nephi 10:21; Moses 6:57).
Even if we were to serve God with our whole souls, it
would not be enough, for we should still be “unprofitable servants,” as King
Benjamin taught (Mosiah 2:21). We cannot earn our way into heaven; the demands
of justice stand as a barrier, which we are powerless to overcome on our own.
But all is not lost.
The grace of God is our great and everlasting hope.
Through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the plan of mercy
appeases the demands of justice “and [brings] about means unto men that they
may have faith unto repentance” (Alma 34:15). Our sins, though they may be as scarlet,
can become white as snow (see Isaiah 1:18). Because our beloved Savior “gave
himself a ransom for all” (1 Timothy 2:6), an entrance into His everlasting kingdom
is provided unto us (see 2 Peter 1:11).
The gate is unlocked!
But the grace of God does not merely restore us to our
previous innocent state. If salvation means only erasing our mistakes and sins,
then salvation—as wonderful as it is—does not fulfill the Father’s aspirations
for us. His aim is much higher: He wants His sons and daughters to become like
Him. With the gift of God’s grace, the path of discipleship does not lead
backward; it leads upward.
It leads to heights we can scarcely comprehend! It leads
to exaltation in the celestial kingdom of our Heavenly Father, where we, surrounded
by our loved ones, receive “of his fulness, and of his glory” (Doctrine and
Covenants 76:56). All things are ours, and we are Christ’s (see Doctrine and
Covenants 76:59). Indeed, all that the Father hath shall be given unto us (see
Doctrine and Covenants 84:38).
To inherit this glory, we need more than an unlocked
gate; we must enter through this gate with a heart’s desire to be changed—a change
so dramatic that the scriptures describe it as being “born again; yea, born of
God, changed from [our worldly] and fallen state, to a state of righteousness,
being redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters” (Mosiah 27:25).
Opening the Windows of Heaven
Another element of God’s grace is the opening of the
windows of heaven, through which God pours out blessings of power and strength,
enabling us to achieve things that otherwise would be far beyond our reach. It
is by God’s amazing grace that His children can overcome the undercurrents and
quicksands of the deceiver, rise above sin, and “be perfect[ed] in Christ”
(Moroni 10:32).
Though we all have weaknesses, we can overcome them
through His grace. Indeed, it is by the grace of God that, if we humble
ourselves and have faith, weak things can become strong (see Ether 12:27).
Throughout our lives, God’s grace bestows temporal
blessings and spiritual gifts that magnify our abilities and enrich our lives.
His grace refines us. His grace helps us become our best selves.
HOW DO WE RECEIVE GRACE?
In the Bible we read of Christ’s visit to the home of
Simon the Pharisee. Outwardly, Simon seemed to be a good and upright man. He
regularly checked off his to-do list of religious obligations: he kept the law,
paid his tithing, observed the Sabbath, prayed daily, and went to the
synagogue.
But while Jesus was with Simon, a woman approached,
washed the Savior’s feet with her tears, and anointed His feet with fine oil.
Simon was not pleased with this display of worship, for he knew that this woman
was a sinner. Simon thought that if Jesus didn’t know this, He must not be a
prophet or He would not have let the woman touch Him.
Perceiving his thoughts, Jesus turned to Simon and asked
a question. “There was a certain creditor which had two debtors . . . one owed
five hundred pence, . . . the other fifty.
“And when they [both] had nothing to pay, he frankly
forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which will love him most?”
Simon answered that it was the one who was forgiven the
most. Then Jesus taught a profound lesson: “Seesth thou this woman? . . . Her
sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much; but to whom
little is forgiven, the same loveth little” (Luke 7:36-50; emphasis added).
Which of these two people are we most like?
Are we like Simon? Are we confident and comfortable in
our good deeds, trusting in our own righteousness? Are we perhaps a little
impatient with those who are not living up to our standards? Are we on
autopilot, going through the motions, attending our meetings, yawning through Sunday
School class, and perhaps checking our cell phones during sacrament service?
Or are we like this woman, who thought she was completely
and hopelessly lost because of sin? She was the one who “loved much” (Luke
7:47).
DO we love much?
Do we understand our indebtedness to Heavenly Father and
plead with all our souls for the grace of God?
Christ’s parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector
also illustrates this point clearly. These two men went into the temple to
pray. The Pharisee prayed: “God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are,
extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the
week, I give tithes of all that I possess.”
The other man, a hated publican, stood “afar off, [and]
would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast,
saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.”
And Jesus said, “I tell you, this man went down to his
house justified rather than the other” (Luke 18:9-14).
In truth, we “all have sinned and come short of the glory
of God” (Romans 3:23). We are all in need of mercy. In that last day when we
are called to the judgment bar of God, do we not hope that our many
imperfections will be forgiven? Do we not yearn to feel the Savior’s embrace?
When we kneel to pray, it is to replay the greatest hits
of our own righteousness, or is it to confess our faults, plead for God’s
mercy, and shed tears of gratitude for the amazing plan of redemption?
Salvation cannot be bought with the currency of obedience; it is purchased by
the blood of the Son of God (see Acts 20:28). Thinking that we can trade our good
works for salvation is like buying a plane ticket and then supposing we own the
airline. Or thinking that after paying rent for our home, we now hold title to
the entire planet earth.
WHY THEN OBEY?
If grace is a gift of God, why then is obedience to God’s
commandments so important? Why bother with God’s commandments—or repentance,
for that matter? Why not just admit we’re sinful and let God save us? This is
what some might call “easy grace.”
Or, to put the question in Paul’s words, “Shall we
continue to sin, that grace may abound?” Paul’s answer is simple and clear: “God
forbid” (Romans 6:1-2).
So why then do we obey? We obey the commandments of God out
of love for Him!
Trying to understand God’s gift of grace with all our
hearts and mind gives us all the more reason to love to love and obey our Heavenly
Father with meekness and gratitude. As we walk the path of discipleship, it
refines us, it improves us, it helps us to become more like Him, and it leads
us back to His presence. “The Spirit of the Lord [our God]” brings about such “a
mighty change in us . . . that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do
good continually” (Mosiah 5:2).
Therefore, our obedience to God’s commandments as a
natural outgrowth of our endless love and gratitude for the goodness of God.
This form of genuine love and gratitude will miraculously merge our works with
God’s grace. Virtue will garnish our thoughts unceasingly, and our “confidence
[will] wax strong in the presence of God” (Doctrine and Covenants 121:45).
Living the gospel faithfully is not a burden. It is a
joyful rehearsal—a preparation for inheriting the grand glory of the eternities.
We seek to obey our Heavenly Father because of spirits will become more attuned
to spiritual things. Vistas are opened that we never knew existed.
Enlightenment and understanding come to us when we will do the will of the
Father (John 7:17).
Grace is a gift of God, and our desire to be obedient to
each of God’s commandments is the reaching out of our mortal hand to receive
this sacred gift from our Heavenly Father.
NEPHI AND ALL WE CAN DO
As we discussed in the introduction toward the end of 2
Nephi, we encounter this verse: “We labor diligently . . . to persuade our
children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to
God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do”
(2 Nephi 25:23; emphasis added). Reconcile is the word that Jacob and
Nephi use when talking about the Atonement of Jesus Christ (see 2 Nephi 10:24;
33:9; Jacob 4:11). We find this same language in the New Testament (see Romans 5:10;
2 Corinthians 5:18-19; Colossians 1:20-21).
Sometimes we quickly read this single verse and forget
everything else Nephi, Jacob, and Lehi have taught us about grace. Remember, “after
all we can do” does not mean “because of all we have done.”
Although the scriptural phrasing might be unfamiliar to
us and perhaps is misunderstood in the twenty-first century, it was language familiar
to Joseph Smith as he translated the Book of Mormon. In the language of his
time, “after all we can do” more closely meant apart from what we can do or in
spite of all we can do.” (See Brigham Young, “Discourse,” February 3, 1867, Deseret
News, March 13, 1867) As one scholar explained, “Another acceptable
paraphrase of the sense of the verse might read, ‘We are still saved by grace,
after all is said and done.’” (Stephen E. Robinson, Believing Christ [Salt
Lake City: Deseret Book, 1992], 92; see also Robert L. Millet and Gerald R.
McDermott, Claiming Christ: A Mormon-Evangelical Debate [Grand Rapids,
MI: Brazos Press, 2007], 188)
We are not saved “because” of all that we can do.
President M. Russell Ballard phrased it as, “It is through His grace that we
are saved even after all we can do.” He taught, “As we embrace His
teachings, we give up all of our sins, we repent, and we do all that is in our
power to do to come unto Him in a true spirit of discipleship, knowing
perfectly well that it is through His grace that we are saved, even after all
that we can do. And as we give ourselves to Christ, fully and completely, we
find safety, peace, joy, and security in Him.” (M. Russell Ballard, “That We May
Know,” BYU-Hawaii devotional, January 25, 2001)
With Nephi, “we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we
preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ.” And we “believe in Christ” (2 Nephi
25:26, 29). He is the one who offers us His grace and offers us salvation. In
Alma’s words, “all we can do” is enter the covenant and repent (Alma 24:11). All
we can do is receive what Christ has offered us. We rely on hope and grace that
stems from Christ. If we accept His offering, we will “repent and harden not
[our] hearts, [and] immediately . . . the great plan of redemption [will] be
brought about” for us (Alma 34:31).
GRACE IS AVAILABLE TO ALL
We acknowledge that “all have sinned, and come short of
the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), but we also declare with firmness that
repentance and forgiveness can be as real as sin. The Atonement of Jesus Christ
causes each person to be accountable for his or her individual sins. We will
overcome the consequences of individual sin by claiming the blessings and
benefits of the Atonement.
As Elder Quentin L. Cook instructed, “None can return to
God by his or her own good works alone; we all need the benefit of the Savior’s
sacrifice. All have sinned, and it is only through the Atonement of Jesus
Christ that we can obtain mercy and live with God.” (Quentin L. Cook, “Be True
to God and His Work,” Liahona, November 2022) Likewise King Benjamin
testified, “For salvation cometh to none . . . except it be through repentance
and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Mosiah 3:12).
It is not repentance per se that saves mankind. It is the
blood of Jesus Christ that saves us. It is not by our sincere and honest change
of behavior alone that we are saved, but “by grace that we are saved, after all
we can do” (2 Nephi 25:23). When King Lamoni’s people were converted, they knew
that it was “all [they] could do to repent” and rely on Christ (Alma 24:11).
True repentance is the condition required to that God’s forgiveness can come
into our lives. As President Russell M. Nelson has taught, true repentance “allow[s]
the Savior to transform us into the best version of ourselves.” (Russell M.
Nelson, “We Can Do Better and Be Better,” Ensign, May 2019)
When I think of that the Savior did for us, I want to
lift up my voice and shout praises to the Most High God and His Son, Jesus
Christ!
The gates of heaven are unlocked!
The windows of heaven opened!
Today and forevermore, God’s grace is available to all
whose hearts are broken and whose spirits are contrite (see 3 Nephi 9:19-20). Jesus
Christ has cleared the way for us to ascend the heights incomprehensible to
mortal minds (see 1 Corinthians 2:9). Let us consider what Jesus taught us
about our dependence on God and the importance of our relationship with Him. (Dieter
F. Uchtdorf, After All We Can Do: Embracing Hope, Grace, and Joy [Salt
Lake City: Deseret Book, 2024], 39-48)
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