Lesson 8: Salvation
Comes through Jesus Christ
1. Our efforts to follow Jesus Christ and keep His
commandments are necessary but insufficient to qualify us for salvation. Our
salvation is made possible only through the merits, mercy, and grace of Jesus Christ.
The doctrine of Christ helps us understand that through His grace, we can learn
the gospel, receive ordinances, and press forward on the path that leads to
eternal life.
2. Dieter F. Uchtdorf, The Gift of Grace, May 2015; L.
Tom Perry, “The Gospel of Jesus Christ,” May 2008.
3. "Relational Grace-The Reciprocal and Binding
Covenant of Christ", Brent J. Schmidt
4. “Many people
wonder, ‘Where did we come from? Why are we here? Where are we going?’ Our
Eternal Father did not send us to earth on an aimless, meaningless journey. He
provided for us a plan to follow. He is the author of that plan. It is designed
for man’s progress and ultimate salvation and exaltation” (Perry).
5. Does this matter? Or are we talking about two
different subjects? I don’t think so. Might I suggest that any discussion
on the “Plan of Salvation” should be re-visited as “Jesus and the Plan of
Salvation.”
With this thought in mind, I went back to the iconic
diagram and began studying. I dug into my scriptures and found a reference that
showed how Christ was involved in each step of
the Plan. (I thought about including the references for you, but
then that would cheat you out of a lovely personal/family scripture study
experience.)
• Jesus Christ stepped forward in the Pre-Mortal life
and offered himself to be the Savior.
• Jesus Christ created the world
• Jesus Christ came to this world – just like us – to
gain a body and be tested.
• Jesus Christ died.
• Jesus Christ visited the Spirit World, where he opened
the gate between Paradise and Prison.
• Jesus Christ was resurrected
• Jesus Christ will be our final judge. …sure there are
more, lots more, but that short list is enough to get you started.
6. 2 Nephi 2:6–9,: We can be saved only through the
merits, mercy, and grace of Jesus Christ.
“Salvation in its
true and full meaning is synonymous with exaltation or eternal life and
consists in gaining an inheritance in the highest of the three heavens within
the celestial kingdom. With few exceptions this is the salvation of which the
scriptures speak” [BRM, Mormon Doctrine, 670).
7. The merits of Jesus Christ are His righteous acts,
particularly His Atonement. Mercy refers to the compassion and forbearance He
extends toward us despite our sins. Grace refers to the help He extends to us in
the form of mercy, love, kindness, and the enabling power that allows us to
receive eternal life and exaltation after we have expended our own best
efforts.
8. “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. “Through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the
plan of mercy appeases the demands of justice [Alma 42:15]” (Uchtdorf).
9. "I found that throughout classical, Hellenistic,
early Christian, and late-antique Greek texts, the word charis was used in several senses, including giving compliments
about a person's gracefulness and beauty, but when used in the sense of giving
favor or in any context of a relationship between people or groups of people,
the word always has a connotation that the person giving favor expected
something in return; favors, service, gratitude, honor, obedience, and
more…Ancient charis gifts were synonymous with reciprocity in the form of
making and keeping covenants." (Schmidt p. 15)
10. (Romans 3:23]. Although we may stop sinning, we
cannot erase the harm or the guilt of our past actions. This is why the
Atonement and grace are necessary.
11. 2 Nephi 25:23.
• “‘After all we can do’ includes extending our best effort. It includes living
his commandments. After all we can do’ includes loving our fellow men and
praying for those who regard us as their adversary. It means clothing the
naked, feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, and giving ‘succor [to] those
that stand in need of [our] succor’ (Mosiah 4:16; 18:9)—remembering that what
we do unto one of the least of God’s children, we do unto him. “‘After all we
can do’ means leading chaste, clean, pure lives, being scrupulously honest in
all our dealings and treating others the way we would want to be treated” … “By
grace, the Savior accomplished his atoning sacrifice so that all mankind will
attain immortality. “By his grace, and by our faith in his atonement and
repentance of our sins, we receive the strength to do the works necessary that
we otherwise could not do by our own power. “By his grace we receive an
endowment of blessing and spiritual strength that may eventually lead us to
eternal life if we endure to the end. “By his grace we become more like his
divine personality” (ETBenson, “Redemption through Christ after All We Can Do,”
4–5).
12. 2 Nephi 31:2, 10–21; 3 Nephi 11:31–40; 3 Nephi
27:13–22 The doctrine of Christ consists of what Jesus Christ has done
and continues to do to draw us to the Father. It also consists of what we must do to access the
blessings of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. As we live according to the doctrine of
Christ, we can access the blessings of the Atonement and receive eternal life.
13. “Individuals
and families begin to follow Christ as they exercise faith in Him and repent of
their sins. They receive a remission of sins through baptism and by receiving
the gift of the Holy Ghost from one who has authority from God to perform these
ordinances. They then endure to the end, or, in other words, they continue
throughout their lives in exercising faith in Jesus Christ, repenting, and
renewing the covenants they have made. These are not just steps that they
experience once in their lives; rather, when repeated throughout life these
principles become an increasingly rewarding pattern of living. In fact, it is
the only way of living that will bring peace of conscience and enable Heavenly
Father’s children to return to live in His presence” (Preach My Gospel [2004],
6).
