Mormonism and Christianity/Grace and works

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How do the LDS see the relationship between works and grace?

Topics

Grace and works

Mormonism and the relationship between grace and works

Summary: How do the Mormons see the relationship between works and grace?

Early Christian views on salvation

Summary: What can the writings of early Christians tell us about how to receive salvation in Jesus Christ?

The importance of grace versus works

Summary: Some claim that the Church ignores the doctrine of grace at the expense of "works." Critics argue that Church leaders do not teach this doctrine, and as a result most members of the Church do not expect to be saved, since they are not "good enough."

Evangelical Christians claim that salvation comes through "faith alone"

Summary: Evangelical Christians claim that salvation comes through "faith alone" (sola fide) and they accuse Latter-day Saints of holding to an un-Biblical belief of "works-based salvation."

Baptism and grace

Summary: Early Christians understood the relationship between grace and the baptismal ordinance differently than some modern protestant critics of the Church.

Scriptures on grace and works

Summary: Critics of the church claim that the Bible teaches that individual works are completely unnecessary, in contrast to the doctrine of the LDS church that an individual's obedience to the commandments of God matters in his salvation.

Unforgivable sin

Summary: Why did LDS apostle Bruce McConkie write that a man may commit a sin so grievous that it will place him beyond the atoning blood of Christ (Mormon Doctrine, 1979, p. 93) when the Bible says that the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7)?

Impossible Gospel

Summary: Sometimes critics (especially Evangelicals) describe our gospel as one in which nobody can be saved because they are not perfectly keeping the commandments. They attempt to show that this is what we believe by using passages from the Book of Mormon and from other LDS works.