Disagreeing with Brad Wilcox

I have been chatting with an LDS friend of mine about God's grace. We would go back and forth and discuss topics of grace, salvation, works, etc. Eventually she asked me to listen to a talk given by BYU professor Brad Wilcox entitled "His Grace is sufficient". She assured me that this talk would clarify how Mormons view grace. Seeing an opportunity to grow and learn, I accepted and told her I would give it my attention and get back to her.

Below is the talk as well as my accompanying notes. I thought that sharing with you guys this talk and my own feeble thoughts might help clarify things for you as well.

Enjoy.

NOTES:

[4:25 – 5:22]  Amen. Praise God. It is finished, Jesus paid it all!

[5:35- 5:51]  “We will all be resurrected. We will all go back to God’s presence. What is left to be determined by our obedience is what kind of body we plan on being resurrected with and how comfortable we plan to be in God’s presence. How long we plan to stay there.”

He seems to be blurring the lines between justification (Faith in Jesus reconciles us to God and saves us from eternal damnation in Hell) and sanctification (God making us into better disciples through the Holy Spirit’s guidance). 

I think scripture is clear that we will be resurrected for the final judgment (Matt 25:31-46). However, the way he’s alluding to the afterlife makes it sound like we’ll all be ‘saved’ (meaning no Hell or casting away [v.41]), and we just need to get our good, better, best body depending on our obedience, a reference to the three kingdoms I assume.

I humbly disagree. I think when we are born again, Christ’s righteousness is imputed onto us and all our sins were imputed onto Him on the cross. When this happens, God determines we are righteous and are granted eternal life with Him. If we have not accepted Jesus, then our lives are ‘on the chopping block’ to get measured up to His standard (which we all fall short of – Rom. 3:23) and they are cast away from His presence forever (Matt 25:41, Rev. 20:15). Not quite the same.  

[6:20 – 6:40] “Justice requires immediate perfection or punishment when we fall short. Because Jesus took that punishment, He can offer us the chance for ultimate perfection and He can help us reach that goal.”

This is exactly why I wrote “Where is Jesus?” The Gospel isn’t about us! Grace isn’t about us or what we can get from it. Grace is about God and Him demonstrating His love towards us. Grace gives glory to God. I don’t look at Grace as some get out of jail free pass [as opposed to what he alludes to later in the talk], but rather with every fiber of my being praises God for His amazing grace!

[6:52 – 7:02] The girl says, “So what’s the difference. Whether our efforts are required by justice or whether they are required by Jesus they are still required.” He responds with, “True.”

Didn’t he just say Jesus paid it all? “It is finished.” (John 19:30). Well if it is finished, then we are not “required” to “do” anything because Jesus fulfilled everything (Mat 5:17, Rom 10:4, Gal 3:23-25). Grace first reconciles us to God (2 Cor 5:19, 2 Cor 5:18). And out of that grace comes freedom and fruits. By the grace of God we have freedom, or liberty, from legalistic, religious requirements to perform works to please God (Gal 5:1, Rom 8:1-2). The reality is that we aren’t required to tithe, go on missions, do home teaching, etc. We are free to choose to do them or not. And if we do not do them, Grace is sufficient to save. HOWEVER, we also need to acknowledge that grace produces fruits. James says that a faith that produces no fruit is not actually a saving grace at all, but rather a false, or superficial, faith (James 2:14-17, Rom 4:1-5). Notice that there is tension here. There is tension between not being required to “do” anything VS having a new heart and acting out our faith. Should we give? Yes. Should we _______ (fill in here)? Yes. But the beauty of grace is that we are not “required” to do anything because, as the Bible says, Jesus paid it all.

Moreover, the Bible says that everyone who still feels like they are required to do something is cursed (Gal 3:10). Furthermore, the Bible says that the purpose of the Law is to show us our sin and move us towards His saving Grace (Romans 3:19-20).

He goes on to clarify with the analogy of the mom paying the piano teacher and in turn asking for practice. While this analogy ‘works’ it is not quite cohesive with scripture. Jesus doesn’t ask us to be good people, but rather our righteousness is a product of the Holy Spirit moving in us and through us (1 Cor. 6:19, Acts 2:4, Rom 8:9) to accomplish His will (Eph. 1:11-14). So, it’s not that God is saying to us, “I paid your piano lessons (justified/redeemed/salvation by grace) and so you must practice (keep my commandments and ordinances).” Again, this implies that there is a requirement to practice, inferring that if we don’t practice then we could get in trouble. According to scripture, Jesus says, “I paid your debt.” Period. No need to do anything else, including practice. (John 19:30, 1 John 1:9) Then, the Holy Spirit moves in us and our new heart rejoices and says, “I will glorify God by my life.” (Titus 2:14, Gal 5:18).

The thief on the cross (Luke 23:39-43) is a great illustration of this. It proves that we do not need to ‘practice’ to earn or prove our love for God. Salvation is a judgement on the heart of a believer, not in his actions.

[9:40 – 9:53] “See maybe we don’t yet see through Christ’s eyes, maybe we have not yet comprehended, what He is trying to make of us.”

I agree. There are things that believers should do as long as we are still on this earth. (I am not talking out of both sides of my mouth here. We are not required to do them, but rather motivated by The Holy Spirit to do them, as I said above) However, things that we do are out of a heart of worship. Things like tithing! Giving tithe is an acknowledging that God is the Great provider and so out of thankfulness, reverence, and praise we give freely (Matt 10:8), openly (Acts 5:1-10), and as the Holy Spirit leads (2 Cor. 9:7). Again, not required, but out of a worshipful mindset.

[10:31] “The repenting sinner must suffer for his sins, but this suffering has a different purpose than punishment for payment. Its purpose is change.” – Dallin H. Oaks

The word “must” in this context makes me squirm. While it is true that we all (believers and non-believers alike) suffer, it is not for our sin but rather as a result of original sin (Genesis 3). Saying that we must suffer so that God can make us Holy is a poor interpretation of Biblical truth. Instead, I’d say that we suffer because of a fallen world and God uses that to make us Holy. We are not saying the same thing. On one hand, you have God calling suffering a requirement that we all must go through, like a hot poker in the furnace, to be made righteous. I disagree. Being born again and receiving that new heart is sufficient for God to make us righteous (Rom 5:19). In the same breath though, God uses the depravity of this world to help refine us, but that depravity of suffering is not a requirement to make us holy.

Recall that the Bible says if we are born again, we are no longer under wrath, but under grace! “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:1).  God doesn’t require us to suffer at all. Jesus did that for us on the cross. He did it so that we wouldn’t have to (2 Cor 5:21, 1 Thess 5:9). So, no Mr. Oaks, repentant sinners do not have to suffer. They are safe in the loving arms of Grace.

[10:53 – 12:03] Talking to his Christian friends about grace, they ask if he is saved by Grace and Brad responds, “Yes.” Then Brad flips the conversation on them and asks, “Have you been changed by grace?” He then goes on and says, “They are so excited about being saved that maybe they’re not thinking about what comes next. They are so happy the debt is paid they might have not considered why the debt existed in the first place. Latter-day saints know not only what Jesus has saved us from but what he has saved us for.”

Um….no. I know full well why the debt existed in the first place. I read in the Bible that Adam and Eve took the fruit in the garden, willfully disobeying the Almighty God (Gen 3:6). I know that going on down the line in human history, for thousands of years we, as humans, have become more and more depraved in our sin. We have become adulterers, murderers, thieves, perverse, blasphemous, vile creatures because of our sin. I know that throughout all of these years, God has withheld His righteous hand of justice and shown us mercy by giving us another day to live and come to Him. I know that despite our complete and total rejection of Him, He sent his son to die for us. The bible actually says this exact thing. “But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). While we were still sinners, while we were living by our flesh, while we were cursing God, while we were rejecting His gospel, while, while, while….He sent His Son to die and redeem us. I also know that because of the cross and being born again, though my actions deserve condemnation, damnation, and separation from God, I instead have eternal life with Him. That is Grace. That is undeserved favor.

So, that is why we are so excited about being saved.  We fully understand a few things that I’m not quite hearing from Brad’s talk. 1) every day we live by the Grace of God because we are not deservingly destroyed by His Wrath, 2) Our sin is piled up so high that even on a good day for the most righteous person deserves Hell, 3) We have seen His glory and we worship Him every day for His redeeming grace.

To answer, “Have you been changed by Grace?” I would respond with: absolutely! If I wasn’t changed by Grace I wouldn’t be saved by Grace. Interacting with the living God would have immeasurable effects on your life. If I were to stand in the middle of the freeway and be hit by a Peterbuilt truck, my body would be changed forever. Jesus is so much more bigger and magnificent that a big rig, so of course my life is changed. The difference comes from what Brad is saying VS what I am saying.  Brad seems to be saying, “Because you have been saved, Jesus requires you to act.” I am saying, “Because I have been saved, my heart longs to worship my Savior and so I act.” Not the same thing.

Lastly, he say the LDS know what He saved us for. Ok…what is it? What are you saved for? Is this in reference to exaltation? I was hoping he’d elaborate on this a bit.

[12:14 – 12:31] Quoting his friend Omar Canals - “While many Christians view Christ’s suffering as only a huge favor He did for us, Latter-day Saints also recognize it as a huge investment He made in us.”

I dare you to find a true believer that will say Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross was “only a huge favor.” How insulting! The death and resurrection was the fulfillment of thousands of years of prophecy. It was a miraculous sign of God’s amazing love and awesome power! It was magnificent upon magnificent upon magnificent hundreds of times over for eternity! The fall of man, the promise of Abraham, the preservation of His people for hundreds and thousands of years, the prophecy of a savior, the virgin birth, the perfect life, the calling of disciples, the preaching, the torture He endured, the mocking, the humbling experience For God to step off His throne and into a mortal body, the death, and the resurrection!!! These are not huge favors…these are everything! It’s not like God paid off our car loan or gave me a ride across the country…HE SAVED ME FROM ETERNAL DAMNATION WHEN HE DIDN’T HAVE TO AND EVEN THOUGH I DIDN’T DESERVE IT.

[12:31 – 13:03] Moroni 7:48 – “Grace isn’t about being saved. It’s about becoming like the savior.”

First off, I just want to point out that this is the first time in his talk, almost 10+ minutes into a talk about God’s Grace and this is the first time he uses any type of scripture.

Secondly, is he saying that salvation is merely a bi-product – or second thought - of grace while the true intent was for God to grant us grace so that we can be like Him? If that is what he’s saying, then again I must humbly disagree. Grace can be defined as undeserved favor. How can we understand the very definition of grace if we don’t focus on what we are being saved from? In other words, how can we not look to salvation as an adequate definition or expression of God’s grace towards us, especially since we know that our sins mean we can oly hope to deserve hell? Again, I disagree with Brad. Grace is about being saved (2 Tim 1:9), and being sanctified (or becoming Christ-like) is the next logical progression of grace. Sanctification is an outworking of the Holy Spirit – given to us out of His abundant Grace (Acts 5:32, Rom 5:5)– so that we can live every day – again, each day is given by His grace – and preach the gospel.

Again, not the same thing.

[13:03 – 16:32] “Scriptures make it clear that no unclean thing can live with God. But brothers and sisters, no unchanged thing will even want to.” Then he talks about this man who gets out of prison and how he constantly messes up, trying to get him to EFY, etc. He then says that he hates it and wants to leave. “Heaven will not be heaven for those who have not chosen to be heavenly.” Then he talks about the final judgment and what he thought it would be like. Jesus with the clipboard saying he missed it by 2 points. Then he says the more he understands the plan of redemption, the more he realizes, “in the final judgment it will not be the unrepentant sinner begging Jesus, “Let me stay, let me stay.” No, he will probably be saying, “Get me out of here.”” Then he says that knowing Jesus’ character, it will be Jesus begging him to use his atonement and stay with Him.”

This whole section is sort of based off of James 2 (dead faith), but not quite. I agree – for the most part – with what he’s saying here. I can agree whole heartedly that His grace changes us. I agree that for those who do not want to be changed have indeed rejected His grace. But, I disagree with his assumption that those people will stand before God and angrily want to leave, because they don’t want to be there. Doesn’t the Bible say that in the last days, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord? (Rom 14:11, Isa 45:23, Phil 2:9-10) According to scripture, it sounds like people will come face to face with Jesus and will realize that He is God and that they rejected Him their whole life (2 Tim 4:3-4). Then, according to that faithless life, God allows them to reject His grace and gives them what they wanted, or what their life wrought.

Laslty, and probably most importantly. My God, the Holy, Holy, Holy Lamb, the Almighty, the Alpha, the Omega, the Great provider, Jehova, YHWH, the Great I AM, God with us, The second member of the Godhead, God in the flesh, The Eternal one...Does. Not. Beg. God is not begging us to come to Him. God is not seeking our love like some desperate schoolgirl. No! God has already demonstrated His love for us on the cross, has displayed His gospel, has given a plethora of ways that people will know and understand that He is real, His grace is free, and His love is sufficient…but He does not beg.

[16:34 – 17:51] “If Christ did not require faith and repentance, then there would be no desire to change. …If Jesus did not require covenants and bestow the gift of the Holy Ghost, then there would be no way to change. We would be left forever with will power and have no access to His power. If Jesus did not require endurance to the end, then there would be no internalization of those changes over time. They would forever be surface and cosmetic, rather than sinking inside of us and becoming part of who we are. Put simply, if Jesus did not require practice then we would never become pianists. Christ’s grace is sufficient to help us in that process.”

“REQUIRE” seems to be the word we differ on. And make no mistake, it is a HUGE difference. The Bible says that by His grace we are saved. Not only from a life apart from God eternally, but also from a life of legalism. We aren’t required to do anything! That’s what freedom in Christ means!! We are no longer slaves to sin (Rom 7:25) and we are no longer slaves to the law (Gal 3:13, Gal 4:5). It is out of that freedom we cry, “Abba! Father!” (Rom 8:14) and live – with our freedom in Grace – a life forever worshiping our God!  We are not required to do anything, for that implies if we do not do those things then we are not saved, or rather our salvation is in jeopardy. Instead, we acknowledge that Jesus has done everything for us and out of His grace we act out of love, worship, and obedience through the workings of the Holy Spirit.

That seems like a small difference (or maybe not a difference at all) but it is a HUGE difference. One is acting to prove faith and the other is acting because of faith. Acting because of faith is resting comfortably in grace knowing everything’s been done and we are free. Acting to prove faith, or because we are required by faith, means we are still under the yoke of works.

Moreover, what can any of us “do” that Christ hasn’t already done for us? Keep the commandments? We’ve probably broken a few just today! What about be loving to our neighbors/everybody? We fail that one almost every time we drive our car longer than 5 minutes! We can do nothing to please God’s justice or wrath. Isaiah 64:6 says that all of us are unclean and even our righteous acts are like “filthy rags” to God. This means that requiring practice from us will always result in failure and more depravity, as everything we do is tainted and unclean. That is why Christ had to do everything! It’s because we can do nothing! Ergo, we are required to do nothing because Jesus did it all.

I think it’s important to note that I don’t like his piano analogy…at all.

[18:52 – 19:05] “Too many are giving up on the church because they are tired of constantly feeling like they are falling short. Oh they’ve tried in the past but always feel like they are just not good enough. They don’t understand grace.” He goes on and says young women, young men, return missionaries, married couples, all struggle because they don’t understand grace.

This is actually more telling than I think Brad realizes. Does he not see that these Mormons are being pressured to constantly “do good”. They understand that the LDS church teaches that Jesus has requirements for us to live by. They understand that they must do all of these things to appease God. And they understand that they will fail constantly and never succeed. This is the epitome of religious legalism. These men and women see their failures and are discouraged, and rightly so. Living up to those standards, the law, etc. is impossible. But this is not bad news when we truly understand Grace!

I would answer these people very differently than Brad does.  I would respond with Holy scripture. They’d come to me and say, “Brenton, I keep trying and failing and I can’t measure up. I keep falling short and I’m not good enough.” I would simply respond with, “Amen! Romans 3:23 says you’re never going to measure up. But don’t worry, it says that about me too! Luckily God doesn’t require us to live a perfect life or check all the boxes of a righteous life because He already paid that price and we have been made righteous already (Rom 5:1, 2 Cor 5:21) and are free from the yoke of works. Romans 5:20-21 testifies that even in the midst of our sin, we are covered by His grace! Praise God!!”  Translation: You have been made righteous by God’s grace because you’ll never get there.

But Brad doesn’t say that. Brad says to these people, “Growth and development take time. Learning takes time. When we understand grace, we understand God is long suffering. That change is a process and repentance is a pattern in our lives. When we understand grace we understand that the blessing of Christ’s atonement are continuous and His strength is perfect in our weakness. When we understand grace we can, as it says in D&C “continue in patience until we are perfected.”” Translation: Keep trying, you’ll get there by grace of God!

[23:30 – 25:12] A student struggled with his struggle to be worthy. He ended with “No work. No grace.” Brad wrote him back, “Christ is not waiting at the finish line once we have done all we can do. He is with us every step of the way.  …Grace is not a booster engine that kicks in once our fuel supply is exhausted. Rather it is our constant energy source.”

Not according to your own scriptures and doctrines. “…for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.” (2 Ne. 25:23)

Dallin H. Oaks in his talk “What Think Ye of Christ” said, “If your friends ask, “Does your church believe you are saved by grace or works?” you could say, “We believe that we are saved by grace after all we can do. We don’t earn salvation. Heavenly Father and the Savior will bless us with eternal life, through their Grace, if we do our part. They have asked us to have faith in Jesus Christ, repent  throughout our lives, be baptized and receive other ordinances, and faithfully endure to the end. If we do that, we are promised eternal life through the grace of God.” So, IF we do those things, then we are saved. This is the very definition of faith + works. But the Bible says by faith alone we are saved (Acts 16:31, John 3:16, Luke 7:50).

Mr. Oaks says “To gain eternal life, we need both grace and woks. …While these works [repentance, obedience, keeping covenants, serving others] are necessary for salvation, they aren’t sufficient. They are not enough because we can’t live perfect lives, but we can do our best to live righteously. By doing so, we invite the Lord’s grace into our lives and qualify for the gift of salvation.” As I said before, Romans 3:23 says we’ll never be worthy, we’ll never qualify for God’s salvation…but He gives it anyways out of Grace.

What Mr. Oaks says here in this talk directly contradicts Brad when he says, “Do we earn a sunrise? No. Do we have to be worthy of a chance to begin again? No. We just have to accept these blessings and take advantage of them.” So which is it? Are we granted grace according to His love (Wilcox) or do we need to do our best to qualify for it (Oaks)?