Salvation by Grace and Works

The Mormon people boldly claim that they are saved by grace. Yet, they stoically cling to and depend on their good works while denying their necessity. Try as they might to distance themselves from the doctrine of grace and works; certain passages or scripture prove to be difficult hurdles.

We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.

Mormon 3rd Article of Faith, emphesis added

The Uselessness of Works

The biblical doctrine of salvation by grace alone stands in stark contrast to established doctrines canonized in Mormon scripture. Paul clearly taught, if it is by works, God will pay you what you deserve … and that will be very bad. Our best efforts, compared to the holiness of God, will never amount to anything in his eyes. He will see us as we truly are, wretched!

¹⁰ As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: ¹¹ There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. ¹² They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. ¹³ Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: ¹⁴ Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: ¹⁵ Their feet are swift to shed blood: ¹⁶ Destruction and misery are in their ways: ¹⁷ And the way of peace have they not known: ¹⁸ There is no fear of God before their eyes. ¹⁹ Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. ²⁰ 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 3:10-20, KJV, emphasis added

The Mormon church and most other false religions look to the law, or the law they create for their cause, and believe it is a path to holiness. In reality, it is a curse. It exists as to show us how we must live perfectly in order to attain the holiness we seek. The trouble is, we are not perfect. We are not even close. Carefully consider Romans 3:20 above. How is the law of any value if no flesh will be justified through and by it? If a law binds us to its demands and can not save us, how is it not a curse?

¹⁰ For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

Galatians 3:10, KJV, emphasis added

The problem is those who trust in works of the law, or a combination of Jesus and works of the law, do not trust in the sufficiency of Jesus alone. By this, they elevate their own works, their efforts up with the finished work of Jesus. They pull Jesus low by suggesting that He alone cannot save us and needs our efforts and His to bring forth a completed work.

The Righteous Live by Faith

¹¹ But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.

¹² And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.

¹³ Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

¹⁴ That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.

Romans 11:6, KJV

⁴Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. ⁵But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

Romans 4:4-5, KJV

It is an either-or proposition. Biblically, there is no grace and works. You either believe in your own good works or trust Jesus alone. New-age Mormons have no theology to harmoniously blend biblical grace with historical Mormon doctrine. Grace and works will not and cannot be mixed. This attempted mixing also creates an impasse between the grace-affirming Mormon and every general authority from Joseph Smith down to the current leadership because they all blend grace and works with the strongest focus on works. These conflicts mark a clear shift to a new Mormon theology without regard to established Mormon doctrine.

Joseph Smith Corrupts the Bible

In Romans 4, the apostle Paul contrasted the idea of being saved by grace versus saved by works. Joseph Smith disagreed with Paul and, consequently, changed the words recorded by God’s apostle. But are these Paul’s words, or do they, in reality, come from a higher source? The Bible assures us that all scripture is God-breathed¹. Who then has authority above God? Is any man justified in modifying what God has established and when they do, does this constitute the creation of another God made in the image of the human creator?² When men set out to change the Word of God, does this constitute another gospel ³

Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counseller hath taught him?

Isaiah 40:13, KJV

For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counseller?

Romans 11:34, KJV

A portion of Romans 4:5 in the King James version reads, “him that justifieth the ungodly.” Joseph Smith changed it in his bible translation to read, “on him who justifieth not the ungodly.”

Oh, the difference one word, “not,” makes in this passage. In the biblical record, those who do not live perfectly still have hope of salvation. In the Joseph Smith translation, not means not, I suppose.

Romans 4:16 opens with these words, “Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace…“. The changes made by Joseph Smith are few in words but endless in content. The Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible opens this same passage with, “Therefore ye are justified of faith and works, through grace…“.

Oh, the difference two little words, “and works,” can make. Because the words of Joseph Smith stand in abject opposition to those of Paul, both men cannot be numbered among God’s faithful. Therefore, we know one stands in opposition to God. The question is this, who is right in this thing, and who is wrong? Does the Bible defend the doctrine that we are saved by grace and works, or does it say saved by grace alone? Is Paul or Joseph the enemy of God?

The wickedly corrupted versions of Romans 4:5 and Romans 4:16 mesh perfectly with what Smith wrote in Mormon scripture.

Keep my commandments continually, and a crown of righteousness thou shalt receive. And except thou do this, where I am you cannot come.

Doctrine and Covenants 25:15

Questions for Mormon Bishops

• What evidence can you present to justify Joseph Smith’s rewrite of Romans chapter 4?

Testing All Things

The New Testament has been preserved in more manuscripts than any other ancient work. There are over 5,800 complete or fragmented Greek manuscripts, 10,000 Latin manuscripts, and 9,300 manuscripts in various other ancient languages, such as Syriac, Slavic, Ethiopic, Coptic, and Aramaic.

Interlinear Bibles provide an easy way to peek into these ancient manuscripts and know what the original writers intended to say. Word by word, we can pour through any and every passage, comparing the words in our Bibles with the words the authors wrote and exact and literal translation for each.

This excerpt from a well-respected online Interlinear Bible presents each Greek word from original manuscripts, English pronunciation, and the most common English translation. In the Joseph Smith translation of the Bible, he changed Romans 4:16, to begin with, “Therefore ye are justified of faith and works.” Look at the Interlinear. Do you see any justification for the Joseph Smith translation in the Greek manuscripts? I believe you will find no support for the biblical rework of Joseph Smith and ample reasons to believe we will be saved by grace alone.

Biblical promises, in both testaments, prophesy that the Word of God will be preserved.⁴ Considering the vast amount of manuscript evidence for both the old and new testaments, is it right and prudent to trust the Bible or Joseph Smith, who offers none?

Then Christ Died in Vain

Allow me as I play devil’s advocate for a minute. If the Joseph Smith translation is accepted as authoritative, Galatians presents an additional challenge;

I don’t make void the grace of God. For if righteousness is through the law, then Christ died for nothing!”

Galatians 2:21, WEB, emphasis added

This could not be more clear. If you think you can be saved by works or a combination of grace and works, Christ’s death on the cross will not be applied to you. Mormon doctrine is clear. Joseph Smith taught in opposition to the biblical promise. When he penned, “…all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel”,⁵ he drew a line in the sand, dividing Mormonism and the biblical record. This compels us to separate truth from error and the Word of God from the howl of ravenous wolves in sheep’s clothing.⁶

Joseph Smith taught that when we successfully do the works of the law, we bind God; we literally make Him indebted to us. Oh, God is faithful, he is just and we can rest confidently in Him. But bind God as Joseph Smith said? Never! Blasphemy!

I, the Lord, am abound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise.

Doctrine and Covenants 82:10, emphasis added

Let Isaiah Decide

Paul and Joseph Smith aggressively disagree on this essential component of the gospel. One insists that grace and works are required. The other demands that we are saved by grace through faith alone and in Christ Jesus alone. Paul and Joseph Smith do share one thing in common. Both Joseph Smith and Paul quoted Isaiah extensively.

The Book of Mormon reads;

Jesus approves the words of Isaiah—He commands the people to search the prophets—The words of Samuel the Lamanite concerning the Resurrection are added to their records. About A.D. 34.

3 Nephi 23, chapter heading, italics in the original, emphasis added

And now, behold, I say unto you, that ye ought to search these things. Yea, a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah.

3 Nephi 23:1, emphasis added

So, in light of this deadlock between two men who claim to stand with Isaiah, let us appeal to Isaiah for a resolution. On this matter, will Isaiah agree with Paul or Joseph?

Seeing Ourselves as We Really Are

While speaking of his many accomplishments, Joseph Smith recorded these words;

I have more to boast of than ever any man had. I am the only man that has ever been able to keep a whole church together since the days of Adam. A large majority of the whole have stood by me. Neither Paul, John, Peter, nor Jesus ever did it. I boast that no man ever did such a work as I. The followers of Jesus ran away from Him; but the Latter-day Saints never ran away from me yet.

Joseph Smith, History of the Church, Vol. 6, pp. 408-409, emphasis added

After reciting a long resume of his many accomplishments as a pharisee and of his zeal in keeping the law, Paul put everything in perspective when he wrote;

Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,

Philippians 3:8, KJV, emphasis added

The Greek for dung is skýbalon. According to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, the translation to English is “excrement.” Paul rightly saw his best and most righteous accomplishments in this light. His desire was that we each imagine going before the Lord to be reconciled with Him and presenting, for His approval, a huge box filled with massive piles of hot, steaming, stinking, fly-infested feces. Good luck with that.

Isaiah described the best people in all of Israel. They believed works righteousness was the way to please God. He had this to say about their righteousness;

But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags…

Isaiah 64:6, KJV, emphasis added

The Hebrew for filthy is “ed”, phonetically spelled “ayd”. Turning back to Strong’s, we read that the primary translation applies to a woman’s menstrual flux. Once again, can you imagine laying a box of your best deeds before God, and upon opening it, you find nothing more than old cloth soiled in this insidious manner?

It is no coincidence that Isaiah and Paul chose ayd (filthy rags) and skýbalon (dung) for their illustrations. Leviticus 15:19-32 required a woman to separate from the camp of Israel during menstruation. Deuteronomy 23:12-13 required a separate location outside the camp of Israel where the people would go to urinate or defecate.

Many parts of the law of Moses seem strange to us today; these two examples are not exceptions. The following passage provides some understanding of God’s intended purpose for these laws.

For the Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy: that he see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee.

Deuteronomy 23:14, KJV, emphasis added

By our standards, presenting our best deeds to God in the form of filthy rags and feces seems pointedly inappropriate. These things meant much more to Jews who lived under the law of Moses. Filthy rags and excrement were not merely disgusting and offensive; these were things God had forbidden inside the camp of Israel. These things were ceremonially unclean and made any who came in contact with them equally unclean.

Paul and Isaiah were suggesting the unimaginable. They suggested the possibility of taking unclean things that had been forbidden in the dusty, dirty, grimy, gritty, stony desert and presenting them before the holy throne of God. No self-respecting Jew would ever consider such a deplorable thing. They would have been utterly repulsed by the very thought of it.

And so, if we allow Isaiah to resolve the conflict between Joseph Smith and the Apostle Paul, we find:

∙ Joseph Smith boasted in his works and claimed he alone accomplished more than Paul, John, Peter, and even Jesus.
∙ Isaiah regarded his best as nothing better than bloody, filthy rags.
∙ Paul recited his resume and labeled every accomplishment as stinking, steaming dung.

With regard to works, Isaiah and Paul are in total harmony with each other and with the biblical gospel.⁷ This leaves Joseph Smith as the odd man. He has led and is leading millions to hell with his heretical teaching of grace and works.

Works Righteousness, More Deadly than Covid

1. 2 Timothy 3:16
2. Exodus 20:2-7, 2 Corinthians 11:3-4, Romans 1:22-23
3. Galatians 1:6-12, 1 Corinthians 15:1-4
4. Isaiah 40:8, Matthew 16:18, Matthew 24:35, Mark 13:31, Luke 21:33
5. Third Mormon Article of Faith
6. Matthew 7:15
7. 1 Corinthians 15:1-4