What IS grace?

"Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight:  for by the law is the knowledge of sin."  Romans 3:20

"For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death."  Romans 7:5

"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."  Ephesians 2:8-9

What do all of these quotes have in common?  Perhaps the overlooked is that they are taken out of context.  However, they also seem to point to grace as the only source of our salvation.  Many who fight against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for our belief in the power of righteous acts (because apparently encouraging our members to be charitable is satanic) use these scriptures as ammunition.  So, is grace what saves us?

YES!

I cannot save myself.  You cannot save yourselves.  I can't save you, nor can you save me or anyone else-spiritually speaking.  I refuse to disagree with the scripture in Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."  I sin on a regular basis, and don't do nearly enough service to justify my case that I am approaching perfection.  And, because of this, Jesus Christ atoned-suffered-for all our misdeeds.  He felt our pain.  He understood our struggles.  His good intentions slowly transformed into perfect empathy, and pure power.  And, with his power he gives grace to us.  And, through is grace, we are saved.  Without his grace, we are not.  It is only by accepting Jesus Christ as our redeemer and savior that we can be perfect.  I truly "stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me.  Confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me."  It's amazing, but I'm happy it's there.

There's one more thing the first listed scriptures have in common.  They're all misunderstood and misquoted.  In his epistle to the Romans, Paul tried to help them see the higher law.  He wanted them to see that we are not saved by killing and burning animals, but by grace.  Our works in the law that he was referring to were sacrifices and rituals contained in the Law of Moses.  And now, rather than scorch the flesh of livestock, we are asked to become humble and seek God's grace.  So, are we saved by our works?

NO!!!

As it says in Ephesians, if we were saved by our works, people would be keeping track of their proverbial gold stars and gloating about how elite they are.  This can't be in Christ's church, so the power of the individual was removed, and our path to salvation was provided and standardized between any given person.  Further, "Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law (of Moses)." (Romans 3:28)  God requires faith.  No one can deny me that assertion.  To accept Christ, you inevitably have faith in his grace and in his saving power.  Now, is just saying you believe in Christ enough to justify having faith?

NO!

This is where the need for works comes in.  The savior, Jesus Christ, said in his famous Sermon on the Mount, "Ye are the light of the world...Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven" (Matt 5:14,16).  If we have faith in Jesus Christ, why wouldn't we be seeking everyday to become more like him?  Why wouldn't we be studying his life and striving to do our best to live as he does?  Why wouldn't we seek to harbor that same love and charity that he did during his earthly ministry, and the same long-suffering and patience that he has for us now?

"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 they faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works." (James 2:17-18)

THIS is what the "Mormon" church teaches.  We do not believe in our power to save ourselves, because we have none.  We believe in our capacity to change and our divine inheritance to eventually become perfect as God is.  To summarize, and to show how The Book of Mormon complements The Bible, I again cite from 2 Nephi, "...it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do."

I believe in Jesus Christ.  I know that I will be saved through his grace.  His love comforts me in my struggles; and he never leaves me to fend for myself.  I have faith in his power to support me and to improve my life.  Because I have faith, I will try everyday to do good things because I know that's what he expects of me.  I will work harder everyday to be better because I want to be as much like Him as I can.  I will fully rely on grace, but will not settle for mediocrity-for that is not my purpose.

Nor is it yours.