Salvation
To Mormons
"salvation" or being "saved" has a number of different
meanings. All Latter-day Saints who have been baptized and accepted the gospel
of Jesus Christ have in one meaning of the word been "saved," because
they have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior. Just as the Apostle
Paul taught, "If thou shalt confess with thy
mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto
righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."1
Another meaning
of the word "salvation" is the saving of the physical body from the
grave and the subsequent resurrection. The Mormon
Church teaches that through the resurrection of Jesus Christ all
mankind are saved from death.
Like other
Christians, Mormons believe
that through Christ they are saved from sin, but there are conditions. "We
believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by
obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel." 2
"Relying
upon the totality of Bible teachings and upon clarifications received through
modern revelation, we testify that being cleansed from sin through Christ’s
Atonement is conditioned upon the individual sinner’s faith, which must be
manifested by obedience to the Lord’s command to repent, be baptized, and
receive the Holy Ghost. Believers who have had this required rebirth at the
hands of those having authority have already been saved from sin conditionally,
but they will not be saved finally until they have completed their
mortal probation with the required continuing repentance, faithfulness,
service, and enduring to the end." 3
In the Book of Mormon
Nephi teaches, "For we labor diligently … to persuade our children … 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." 4
What is all we
can do? To Mormons this means being baptized, keeping the commandments of God,
repenting of sins, and enduring to the end. "We are not saved in our sins,
as by being unconditionally saved through confessing Christ and then,
inevitably, committing sins in our remaining lives. We are saved from our sins
by a weekly renewal of our repentance and cleansing through the grace of God
and His blessed plan of salvation." 5
The "plan
of salvation" is outlined in the Book of Mormon and through modern
teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith.
The plan of salvation teaches mankind that they lived with Heavenly Father as
spirit children before being born on earth and that they are here to receive a
physical body and to be tested. They also understand that if they follow Jesus
Christ they will one-day return to live with God and receive eternal life.
Thus, to many
Mormons the word "salvation" denotes exaltation or eternal life with
God. To them they cannot say that they have been saved in mortality. Salvation
is something that one attains in the life after. It requires more than
repentance and baptism. "It also requires the making of sacred covenants,
including eternal marriage, in the temples
of God, and faithfulness to those covenants by enduring to the end."
6 In this meaning salvation is a status that is only received after the
final judgment of Jesus Christ and requires a lifetime of faithful
service.
(1) Romans 10: 9-10
(3) Dallin H. Oaks, "Have You Been Saved?" Ensign,
May 1998, 55
(4) 2 Nephi 25:23
(5) Dallin H. Oaks, "Have You Been Saved?" Ensign, May 1998, 55
(6) Dallin H. Oaks, "Have You Been Saved?" Ensign, May 1998, 55