The way I put it: we are saved by faith, but faith without action isn’t faith at all. It doesn’t even rise to the level of opinion if it doesn’t prompt action. If I have the opinion that inoculations are bad for children, I would not have them inoculated. But if I believe in the law, then I will do it because it’s stronger than an opinion, so I follow the law. Faith is the pinnacle of belief. It is action based on taking a risk; it’s jumping out of a plane with faith your parachute will open and you’ll land safely. It’s taking the ultimate chance by putting trust in a being we have not seen and cannot KNOW exists, without long and careful practice of faith FIRST. Faith without works is dead because it’s not faith, and calling a tail a leg doesn’t make it so.
Harold RustAugust 4, 2020
I see an even broader aspect of this issue of faith and works. First of all, the most important "Work" we do is strengthening and purifying our spirit. When we help others, we are really doing good work on ourselves. When we sacrifice the temporary for the long term; when we stand up for truth and integrity; when we willingly partake of ordinances that commit us to serve the Lord; when we work to improve our mind and our body.....all these elements of work contribute their greatest value in what we are becoming. Thus, when we say, as members, that faith without works is dead, we really are saying that having faith--in something hoped for or having faith in Christ such as believing that His prophet is guiding us--provides changes in us that can be considered an aspect of work.
I believe we should combine that concept of what work really means with a recognition that at the day of judgment it is what we have "become" rather than what we have done that will be the factor in determining the degree of glory we can embrace. The role of grace or the Atoning Sacrifice of Christ will then be to make possible the complete elimination of those impure actions and thoughts from which we have repented but which would otherwise preclude us from a celestial glory. That is why we cannot be saved except for the Grace of God and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. But if we haven't been willing to keep changing and repenting until becoming one with Christ, then His atonement simply can't do away with those aspects of our own spirit which are unwilling to align with His will. In other words, it is then our "Works", (our true self) that makes possible eternal salvation and the saving power of the Atonement.
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Renaissance NerdAugust 4, 2020
The way I put it: we are saved by faith, but faith without action isn’t faith at all. It doesn’t even rise to the level of opinion if it doesn’t prompt action. If I have the opinion that inoculations are bad for children, I would not have them inoculated. But if I believe in the law, then I will do it because it’s stronger than an opinion, so I follow the law. Faith is the pinnacle of belief. It is action based on taking a risk; it’s jumping out of a plane with faith your parachute will open and you’ll land safely. It’s taking the ultimate chance by putting trust in a being we have not seen and cannot KNOW exists, without long and careful practice of faith FIRST. Faith without works is dead because it’s not faith, and calling a tail a leg doesn’t make it so.
Harold RustAugust 4, 2020
I see an even broader aspect of this issue of faith and works. First of all, the most important "Work" we do is strengthening and purifying our spirit. When we help others, we are really doing good work on ourselves. When we sacrifice the temporary for the long term; when we stand up for truth and integrity; when we willingly partake of ordinances that commit us to serve the Lord; when we work to improve our mind and our body.....all these elements of work contribute their greatest value in what we are becoming. Thus, when we say, as members, that faith without works is dead, we really are saying that having faith--in something hoped for or having faith in Christ such as believing that His prophet is guiding us--provides changes in us that can be considered an aspect of work. I believe we should combine that concept of what work really means with a recognition that at the day of judgment it is what we have "become" rather than what we have done that will be the factor in determining the degree of glory we can embrace. The role of grace or the Atoning Sacrifice of Christ will then be to make possible the complete elimination of those impure actions and thoughts from which we have repented but which would otherwise preclude us from a celestial glory. That is why we cannot be saved except for the Grace of God and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. But if we haven't been willing to keep changing and repenting until becoming one with Christ, then His atonement simply can't do away with those aspects of our own spirit which are unwilling to align with His will. In other words, it is then our "Works", (our true self) that makes possible eternal salvation and the saving power of the Atonement.
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