I have tried to
understand the Savior’s Atonement with my finite mind, and the only explanation
I can come up with is this: God loves us deeply, perfectly, and everlastingly.
I cannot even begin to estimate “the breadth, and length, and depth, and height
… [of] the love of Christ.”7
A powerful expression of that love is what the scriptures often
call the grace of God—the divine
assistance and endowment of strength
by which we grow from the flawed and limited beings we are now into exalted
beings of “truth and light, until [we are] glorified in truth and [know] all
things.”8
First: Grace Unlocks the Gates of Heaven
Even if we were to
serve God with our whole souls, it is not enough, for we would still be
“unprofitable servants.”12 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.
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.
Second: Grace
Opens 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.”22
Though we all have
weaknesses, we can overcome them. Indeed it
is by the grace of God that, if we humble ourselves and have faith, weak
things can become strong.23
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.
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 Gospel Doctrine class, and perhaps checking our cell phones during sacrament
service?
Do we understand our indebtedness
to Heavenly Father and plead with all our souls for the grace of God?
Salvation cannot be bought with the currency of obedience; it
is purchased by the blood of the Son of God.26 Thinking that we can trade our good works for salvation is
like buying a plane ticket and then supposing we own the airline.
Why Then Obey?
If grace is a gift of God, why then
is obedience to God’s commandments so important?
Our obedience to
God’s commandments comes 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.
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.
All
We Can Do
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 that we are saved, after
all we can do.”31
However, I wonder if sometimes 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. 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.”32 They raise
their voices with Nephi in proclaiming, “My soul grieveth because of mine
iniquities.”33
I am certain Nephi
knew that the Savior’s grace allows and enables us to overcome sin.34 This is why Nephi
labored so diligently to persuade his children and brethren “to believe in
Christ, and to be reconciled to God.”35
After all, that is what
we can do! And that is our task in mortality!
He therefore knows our struggles, our heartaches, our temptations,
and our suffering, for He willingly experienced them all as an essential part
of His Atonement. And because of this, His
Atonement empowers Him to succor us—to give us the strength to bear it all.
Isaiah
taught that the Messiah would bear our “griefs” and our “sorrows” (Isaiah
53:4). Isaiah also taught of His strengthening
us: “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I
will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee” (Isaiah 41:10).
We
see that because of His Atonement, the
Savior has the power to succor—to help—every mortal pain and affliction.
Sometimes His power heals an infirmity, but
the scriptures and our experiences teach that sometimes He succors or helps by
giving us the strength or patience to endure our infirmities.
There
are millions of God-fearing people who pray to God to be lifted out of their
afflictions. Our Savior has revealed that He “descended below all things”
(D&C 88:6). As Elder Neal A. Maxwell taught, “Having ‘descended below all
things,’ He comprehends, perfectly and personally, the full range of human
suffering.” We might even say that having descended beneath it all, He is
perfectly positioned to lift us and give
us the strength we need to endure our afflictions. We have only to ask.
I
know these things to be true. Our Savior’s Atonement does more than assure us
of immortality by a universal resurrection and give us the opportunity to be
cleansed from sin by repentance and baptism. His Atonement also provides the opportunity to call upon Him who has
experienced all of our mortal infirmities to give us the strength to bear the
burdens of mortality. He knows of our anguish, and He is there for us.
Repentance
is the necessary condition, and the grace of Christ is the power by which
“mercy can satisfy the demands of justice” (Alma 34:16). Our witness is this:
“We
know that justification [or forgiveness of sins] through the grace of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ is just and true;
“And
we know also, that sanctification [or purification from the effects of sin]
through the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is just and true, to all
those who love and serve God with all their mights, minds, and strength”
(D&C 20:30–31).
It
would mock the Savior’s suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross
for us to expect that He should transform us into angelic beings with no real
effort on our part. Rather, we seek His
grace to complement and reward our most diligent efforts (see 2 Nephi
25:23). Perhaps as much as praying for mercy, we should pray for time and
opportunity to work and strive and overcome. Surely the Lord smiles upon one
who desires to come to judgment worthily, who resolutely labors day by day to
replace weakness with strength.
