You've probably heard it a hundred times already: Are we saved by faith? Or are we saved by works? This has been debated for centuries. Some denominations say that it's faith (or grace) alone. Others say it's only by works.
It strangely reminds me of Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer from T. S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats (also adapted into the musical CATS). One of these cats was getting into trouble -- knocking things over, tearing up the basement, stealing pearls -- but no one knew which cat was doing it because they were never caught in the act. Which one was it?
And wouldn't you know it! In the case of faith vs. works, there are biblical scriptures to back up either side of this question.
Faith (grace)
Acts 15:11 "But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved."
Ephesians 2:8-9 "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."
Acts 2:21 "And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved."
Works
Titus 3:8 "... and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works."
Matthew 5:16 "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."
Revelation 20:12 "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works."
James 2:17-18 "Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works."
Seems a little contradictory. So, which is it? Faith or works? If you know who Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer are, you probably already know where I'm going with this.
But first, let me tell you that this is probably the number one discussion that I have with people not of my church -- and almost always, they're the ones to bring it up. I've had this discussion literally more than a hundred times. And everyone has a different perspective on the whole thing. Most Protestants tend to believe that grace alone is sufficient -- say a prayer to accept Jesus and you're saved forever.
And most of these people seem to see the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a works shop. At one place of work, my friends would rib me about the points I'm saving up to buy that toaster up in heaven. Maybe this comes from the "Mormon" stereotype of always being busy, doing good works here and there, being productive, etc. It is true that good works are a major part of our doctrine. We're encouraged to be self reliant and to help other people in need -- lift each other up. But after five decades in the Church, I have yet to see a catalog for redeeming good works points. It just doesn't work like that.
In the case of the two cats I keep bringing up, it turns out to be Moungojerrie AND Rumpleteazer. They did everything together.
In the case of faith vs. works ... over 90% of the time when I press my friends they end up admitting that works is important as well -- and then it turns out that all denominations pretty much already believe the same thing, and for centuries people have been arguing semantics.
This is a synopsis of what I hear from everyone (including my own church). First comes faith / grace. Without that, none of us can return to heaven ... period. Just one sin -- even the tiniest one -- would make us unworthy to return. No amount of good works can save us because that sin had been committed and can't be undone. It is only through Jesus Christ's atonement that we have a chance to be redeemed.
Then once we have that faith in Christ, it makes us naturally want to do good works. Many of my friends say it's not the good works that gets you into heaven, but rather works are a sign that you have faith. If you're not doing good works, then you don't really have faith. But as a logistician/computer programmer, I see this as being logically equivalent to: "You can't get into heaven without good works." (Well ... mostly equivalent -- deathbed repentances might be an exception -- as there's insufficient time to demonstrate faith by works.)
But with this all said, I challenge you to go back up to those verses above and read them again, and suddenly I hope you'll see that they're really not that contradictory. Both faith AND works are necessary. This is summarized nicely in Latter-day Saint scripture.
2 Nephi 25: 23 "... for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do."
Let me know what you think in the comments.
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