Scripture Difficultiesgraceworks2-nephi-25salvation

“After All We Can Do”

Does 2 Nephi 25:23 teach that we earn salvation by works, or that we are saved by grace after we have done all we can do?

Bible

They quote this

Bible · Ephesians 2:8–9

KJV + NRSVUE

King James Version
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

NRSVUE
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast.

Our explanation

They quote Paul, then 2 Nephi 25:23, and pretend they have caught us.

How we read it

They quote Paul, then 2 Nephi 25:23, and pretend they have caught us. Keep reading. The rest of the Bible is still in the room.

The Bible answers

Bible · Titus 3:5

KJV + NRSVUE

King James Version
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

NRSVUE
He saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

Our explanation

Not by works of righteousness which we have done. The Book of Mormon is not at war with Paul.

Book of Mormon

They quote our book

2 Nephi 25:23
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.
Our explanation
This is the line they quote. Read the whole chapter. His labor is to persuade people to believe in Christ. That is ‘all we can do.’

The Book of Mormon answers

2 Nephi 25:20
…there is none other name given under heaven save it be this Jesus Christ, of which I have spoken, whereby man can be saved.
Our explanation
None other name under heaven. Same chapter. Same gospel.

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.
Our explanation
We talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ — so they know the source of remission. That is the paragraph 23 sits in.

2 Nephi 25:29
And now behold, I say unto you that the right way is to believe in Christ, and deny him not; and Christ is the Holy One of Israel; wherefore ye must bow down before him, and worship him with all your might, mind, and strength, and your whole soul; and if ye do this ye shall in nowise be cast out.
Our explanation
The right way is to believe in Christ. Still the same chapter.

Moroni 10:32
Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ.

Ancient witnesses

Dead Sea Scrolls and related extra-biblical texts that illuminate the same pattern the Restoration restores.

1QS XI (Community Rule, hymn of the Instructor)

As for me, my justification is with God. In His hand are the perfection of my way and the uprightness of my heart. He will wipe out my transgression through His righteousness. … If I stumble, the mercies of God shall be my eternal salvation. If I stagger because of the sin of flesh, my justification shall be by the righteousness of God which endures for ever.

The Qumran covenanters were rigorous about works of the law, yet their hymn refuses self-justification. Perfection of way is in God’s hand. That is covenant religion, not a ledger. 2 Nephi 25:23 belongs in the same family as Paul and 1QS: grace is not the opposite of obedience; it is the only reason obedience is not a joke.

Faithful answers

Scripture Central

By grace we are saved, after all we can do

Scripture Central

Read the verse in its paragraph — and the verses on both sides. Nephi’s labor is to persuade people to believe in Christ and be reconciled (v. 23). Verse 20: no other name under heaven. Verse 26: we talk of Christ, rejoice in Christ, preach of Christ. Verse 29: the right way is to believe in Christ. ‘All we can do’ in that chapter is put faith in Jesus, not a stack of merits that tips a scale.

Nephi’s sentence is grace-first. The chapter will not shut up about believing in Christ. That is what ‘all we can do’ is.

Paul and Nephi are allies: salvation is a gift; boasting is excluded.
2 Nephi 25 is a Christological chapter, not a works chapter. Read 20, 23, 26, and 29 together.
‘All we can do’ is believe in Christ and be reconciled — the surrounding verses say so.

Read the original

The Interpreter Foundation

Grace and discipleship in the Book of Mormon

The Interpreter Foundation

Some Protestants hear ‘after’ as ‘because we completed the list.’ Some Latter-day Saints have preached it that way, and they were wrong. The Book of Mormon’s own usage of grace, the infinite atonement, and ‘rely wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save’ (2 Nephi 31:19) forbids that reading. We do all we can do because we have been bought, not so that we might be.

Relying wholly upon the merits of Christ is the doctrine. A checklist that competes with Gethsemane is not.

King Benjamin: even if you serve with your whole souls, you are unprofitable servants.
Ordinances are means of grace, not invoices.

Read the original

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