Saturday, November 18, 2023

John W. Welch on "After all we can do" in 2 Nephi 25:23

  

2 NEPHI 25:23-24—AFTER ALL WE CAN DO

 

Nephi says that “we are saved by grace after all we can do.” What does that mean? Some, including the German translators in the 1960s, have thought it saying “in spite of all we can do,” meaning that anything we do is inconsequential. That translation, however, was soon corrected to say, “after all that we can do.” What we do in truly accepting the gift of grace matters.

 

Verse 24 continues: “Notwithstanding [even though we are saved by grace], we believe in Christ, we keep the law of Moses, and look forward with steadfastness unto Christ, until the law shall be fulfilled.” Thus, all of us must rely on grace—the Atonement, the Resurrection, and the sustaining influence of Jesus Christ—to be made perfect. But through our faith and faithfulness we are made alive in Christ, being willing to do what He has commanded. Keeping the commandments is part of “all we can do.”

 

The story of the Ammonites, who buried their weapons of war to have their sins remitted, bears out this understanding. They state that this was “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, 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 out stain” (Alma 24:11). Likewise, all that we can do includes turning to Christ, renouncing our sinful ways, and making a covenant, and He will be there for us. So completely did the Ammonites understand this that many of them offered to give up their lives rather than fight. (John W. Welch, Inspiration and Insights from the Book of Mormon: A Come, Follow Me Commentary [American Fork, Utah: Covenant Communications, Inc., 2023], 60-61)