PUZZLE #16 - No Can Do

"For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace
that we are saved, after all we can do. (2nd Nephi 25:23 Pages 99-100)

We must 'believe in Christ' in order to be 'reconciled to God. This passage starts out as a statement of salvation by grace, much like the words of Paul's letter
to the church at Ephesus.

"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." (Eph. 2:8-9)

2nd Nephi 25:23 starts out with the truth, but those last five words of the verse cause an irreconcilable contradiction within the verse itself, and they creat a PUZZLE. Which is it?

Is our reconciliation to God based on our belief in Christ, or is it based on "all we can do". This verse presents the idea that the grace of God comes into play only after we have done everything we can do. What kind of grace is that supposed to be?

The grace presented here is contingent upon us first doing everything we can do; it is grace that we can earn, grace that we can merit by doing something on our own. It is not grace at all. Grace is when we are shown favor in spite of the fact that we have not earned favor.

This passage teaches a contradiction much like the contradiction expressed in the third Article of the Mormon Faith, which says;

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

Again, it's a PUZZLE. Which is it? Are men saved by obedience to laws and ordinances or by the Atonement of Christ? If we could have been saved by obedience to laws and ordinances, there would have been no need for Christ's atonement for us. He atoned for us because we cannot be saved by obedience to laws and ordinances.

The passage here would be more accurate if we added one word to the ene of the verse so that it reads as follows:

'For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace
that we are saved, after all, we can do nothing.'

God does not expect us to do 'all we can do' before His atonement can save us. He saves us while we are still sinners, and then He changes us.

"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)