One of the pernicious doctrines of men attributed falsely to God is the idea that God whimsically blesses and saves some of His children and curses and condemns others. This doctrine, never taught by any of the prophets and apostles of God, would have us believe that God unjustly tilts the scales in favor of some of His children over others. This god of whim is a creation of man’s imagination, much like the gods of Greek, Roman, and Norse mythology. He is not found in the real heavens from which we each and all came for our brief time of mortal testing and to which we each and all can qualify to return, based upon our own thoughts, words, and deeds—the exercise of our will.
One version of this false and pernicious teaching is the idea that man is saved by grace and by grace alone—regardless of what he does. It is true that we rely upon the grace of Jesus Christ in order to return to the presence of God the Father, to live with Him again forever. It is also true that this grace is free: there is nothing that we can give that entitles us to the Savior’s grace. There is nothing that we can exchange in trade for His grace. In that very important and essential sense, the grace of Christ is free. We have no right to the grace of God.
Having said that, grace is within reach of any and all who qualify to receive God’s free gift of grace, and any and all of God’s children can qualify. To qualify for but not purchase grace means that it is granted to us above and beyond what we deserve. The ancient American prophet, Nephi, explained to his people, “that it is by grace that we are saved, after all that we can do.” (2 Nephi 25:23) The “all that we can do” is how we qualify to receive the grace of God, but it still falls short of being equal to the blessings that God bestows.
Does that not still mean, then, that God gives His grace to whomever He prefers? The answer is yes and no. In order for the gift of God to be grace, not an entitlement, God is free to extend grace to any to whom He wishes. He has said that He wishes and wills to extend grace to all who through their own choices meet conditions that He has prescribed, conditions that any and all can meet if they so choose.
Another ancient American prophet, Jacob, explained it this way:
"Wherefore, my beloved brethren, reconcile yourselves to the will of God, and not to the will of the devil and the flesh; and remember, after ye are reconciled unto God, that it is only in and through the grace of God that ye are saved." (2 Nephi 10:24)
The qualification is to yield your will to God, to want what He wants. Then, after reconciling your will to God, He extends to you the free gift of His grace, an everlasting gift of blessings beyond what we could ever earn.
I liken it to college scholarships. I was awarded several of these, that very generously helped fund my college education. I did not earn any of them—they were all free gifts from the sponsors. I could not demand them. I gave nothing in return. I did, however, have to qualify for them by my scholastic effort. I had to meet the prescribed standards.
Similarly, through His atoning sacrifice, Jesus Christ won an infinite endowment, upon which He draws to bless any and all who reconcile themselves to His will. As we do so, He graciously brings us into His presence forever.
2 comments:
I understand that none of us are entitled to the grace of God, even when we are doing all we can to keep the commandments, because we are always in His debt. Do you think that means it just seems as if some are blessed more than others? Is it only in our own selfish eyes that someone seems to have an easier life, or has been given more blessings? If we think that, does that mean we are more focused on the reward for doing good, than actually trying to do what is right in the first place? While I don't think I've really been troubled with someone else seeming to be more blessed than me, I do have a problem with the opposite. I feel like my life is so wonderful, and has been so happy, that I can't help but wonder when I see someone else who is unhappy, or in poverty, etc., and think, "why do I have so much?"
Your question is an insightful one. It is asked by many people, in a variety of ways. Some come at the question from the point of view of hardship, and ask, “Why am I going through this?” A version of the question was asked by Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof in his conversation with God: “I know, I know. We are Your chosen people. But, once in a while, can’t You choose someone else?”
Your approach to the question comes from the less frequent but equally important side of the issue: Why am I so blessed? This question is not uncommonly encountered on the battlefield or in a natural disaster, in the form of, “Why did I survive?”
The core of understanding and resolving this question is the same one that lies at the heart of much baseball commentary (found in other competitive sports, too). Even before the baseball season begins, we are told who is going to win the World Series and who is not. Then, as the season proceeds, we are told at various stages that this or that team is out of the running or is a sure thing. As the games are played, many (most?) of these predictions turn out to be wrong. They are wrong for at least two reasons: 1) they are based upon judging the outcome by the information available at the moment—a dangerous thing to do in this very changeable world; and, 2) the available information is always incomplete and usually very inadequate. That is why they play the games. You do not know the whole picture until you have the whole picture.
Similarly, when we consider ourselves more or less blessed than those around us, we suffer from the same two problems. We are judging the season before all the games are played. The Yankees are either a sure thing or hopelessly out of contention at various times during the season. We do not usually know the outcome until the game is played. And in this space of life between birth and death, we do not even get to see the whole game. We only see the middle innings. We do not know what happened in the first three innings, and we are not given to see here the concluding innings. When I turned off yesterday’s game, the Yankees were leading Toronto 6-2. The final score was 6-7, Toronto winning. I am still trying to figure out what went wrong, but some people—on each team—did some things that I did not expect.
Second, we do not have and probably will never have all of the information on other people and their lives and experiences, either of what happened before, what is coming later, or even what is going on now. As C.S. Lewis has Aslan often reminding in The Chronicles of Narnia, it is given to you only to know your own story, not anyone else’s.
The final point I would make: We are not even good judges of our own situations. I suspect that none of us is aware of just how wonderfully blessed each of us really is.
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