Room 11 of 20
2 Nephi 25:23
After all we can do
Verse
For we labor diligently to write, 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.
Why they use it
They say “after all we can do” proves Latter-day Saints earn salvation.
Why they are wrong
Read the chapter. “All we can do” is believe in Christ — not finish a checklist so grace can clock in.
Translation note
English of the plates / 1828: after all we can do
not ‘because of’ — Uchtdorf: after ≠ because
Seminary pairs 23 with 26. Scripture Central cites 2 Nephi 10:24 and Alma 24:11. President Uchtdorf: we are not saved *because* of all we can do. Have any of us done all we can do?
The room (aka the context)
- Who wrote it
- Nephi.
- Who is in the room
- His children and his people, still keeping Moses while they wait for Christ.
- Who is speaking
- Nephi.
- What is going on
- The whole chapter is believe, believe, believe. Verse 20: there is no other way. Verse 26: we talk of Christ. Verse 29: worship Christ with all your might. Strip 23 out and you can make it a wage. Leave it in and it is grace.
- What they already believe
- The law of Moses is a pointer. Christ is the source of remission.
- How they would hear these words
- We labor to persuade people to believe. That labor is “all we can do.” Alma 24:11 even defines the phrase: all we could do was repent.
Clarifying verse
2 Nephi 25:26
And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.
Same chapter. The source is Christ. Church seminary treats 23 and 26 as a pair. That is the room.
Gal1:8 topic →Mark it
Tap when you can say the verse out loud.