Grace vs Works

I have long been intrigued by the debate in Christianity on Grace vs Works. The arguments on both sides are compelling and interesting. Of course the stakes are high, with (theoretically) eternal life on the line.

I have been listening to a series of lectures entitled Philosophy and Religion in the West, which has caused me to think a lot about this topic lately. I freely admit that I am not a scholar of philosophy, but here is my understanding in a nutshell.

During Martin Luther's time there was a heavy emphasis on the Works side of things - obeying God's commandments, participating in church sacraments, doing penance when one committed sin, paying money for indulgences, etc.

Luther believed that individuals just needed to confess to God and that He would forgive them of their sins, instead of confessing to a priest or anything else. His reasoning was that if we believed (had faith in) God's promise that He would forgive us, then we were forgiven and that was the end of it (see John 3:16 and Rom 1:16). This eliminated the need for any of the "actions" then common in the Catholic church. Thus faith and the Grace of God alone were enough to gain salvation. Luther emphasized that the outward ordinances and sacraments of the church were still valuable because they represented the faith of the individual in God's promise. If you lost your faith, you could lose your salvation.

John Calvin took this even further by introducing the idea that we cannot even choose salvation. God has chosen His "elect". Those who are chosen by God for salvation are given Grace and salvation regardless of their actions or inaction. And those who are not elected for salvation cannot gain it no matter how well they follow the teachings of Jesus.

On the Works side of the argument, in my mind, are the many teachings of the Savior and His disciples which talk about the need to "do" things. When the rich young man asked Jesus what he needed to do in order to gain eternal life, the Savior said he should give away all that he had to the poor. Jesus followed that up by saying, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God (Mark 10:25)." He seems to say that baptism is a requirement for salvation (John 3:5). He also commanded us to be perfect (Matt 5:48). And there are numerous scriptures which talk about us being judged according to our deeds (like Rev 20:12-13). If all one needs to do is have faith, why would the Savior teach these things?

These two seemingly contradicting ideas have been the source of my confusion. I believe that the idea of Grace and salvation being a free gift from God is true. To a certain extent what we do has no impact on our salvation. The easiest way to defend this stance to me is to remove the Savior's Atonement from the equation. If there had been no Atonement then it would not matter what we did in this life. We absolutely could not be forgiven of our sins. We all commit sin, and no unclean thing can dwell with God. So we would be eternally excluded from returning to heaven to live with God. However, I disagree with the Calvinist view that we are predestined to salvation or damnation regardless of what we do. I do believe that individuals can choose to have faith in Christ and accept His forgiveness and thus partake of salvation.

With that being said, I have also always believed that Works are a necessary component to a certain extent. Not that they can "earn" us salvation, but because when Jesus paid the price for our sins, our individual forgiveness was conditional upon our acceptance of His gift through covenant.

I still could not really explain the relationship between Grace and Works, but this morning as I was listening to the discussion on how the idea of Grace developed in Christianity, the words of Joseph Smith came to my mind.

“A religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation; for, from the first existence of man, the faith necessary unto the enjoyment of life and salvation never could be obtained without the sacrifice of all earthly things” (Lectures on Faith, 6:7).

So here is my new understanding. Works are necessary because without them one would not have sufficient faith to enact God's Grace. Yes, Grace is free, but Martin Luther was correct that faith is necessary. However, faith is not a Boolean value - it is not just Yes or No. We can have faith in Jesus Christ without having enough faith for salvation. The ordinances and performances of the gospel and obedience to the Savior's teachings are important because they help to foster and build enough faith so that one can enjoy the fruits of Christ's Atonement.

I believe that James lays this out very clearly.

 14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? 

 15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, 

 16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? 

 17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. 

 18 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. 

 19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. 

 20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? 

 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? 

 22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
(James 2:14-22) 

One needs to "perfect" one's faith in Christ in order to have faith sufficient for salvation. By entering into a covenant with God at baptism, an individual declares their acceptance of Christ's terms for salvation and begins upon the journey of faith and obedience. At that point, the individual's faith is as small as a mustard seed, but through obedience it will grow and produce the fruits of salvation.