Abstract: Religious educators can face unique challenges when teaching the doctrine of grace. Some students struggle with excessive guilt and do not think they are doing enough to live the gospel. Others think that grace somehow excuses their sins. Helping students better grasp the doctrine of justification by faith can help them feel peace with God while inspiring them to be more faithful disciples of Jesus Christ. This article uses the words of scripture, modern prophets, and trusted scholars to clarify this doctrine and discusses how understanding it removes guilt and inspires obedience to God’s commandments. The concluding section provides practical methods for teaching justification by faith in the Latter-day Saint classroom in ways that stay true to the doctrine of the Restoration.

Keywords: Justification by Faith, Grace, Discipleship, Teaching the Gospel

It is hard to teach grace. On one hand, we have students who struggle with excessive guilt and do not think they are doing enough. On the other, some students think that grace somehow excuses their sins. Religious educators often wrestle with teaching the Savior’s forgiveness in a way that simultaneously provides hope and encourages students to become diligent disciples.

There is a lot at stake in working through this dilemma. In a Seminary and Institutes (S&I) training broadcast in January 2022, Chad Webb quoted from a longitudinal study focusing on Latter-day Saint youth “who are struggling to hold on to faith and stay active in the Church.”[1] Of the three reasons he identified for why some leave the faith, he said some young people “feel guilt and despair because of mistakes they have made.”[2] In other words, despite having been taught about the Atonement of Jesus Christ in seminary, Sunday School, and sacrament meeting, some young people feel so much guilt and hopelessness that they are leaving the Church. However, on the other hand, some students seem to be facing the opposite challenge: rather than dealing with excessive guilt, they may be tempted to not take sin seriously. In the S&I training broadcast mentioned above, Elder Clark G. Gilbert, Commissioner of Church Education, cited research that suggests the majority of Gen Z also embraces moral relativism, which “argues there is no formal standard for right and wrong.”[3] This relativism is tragic because, in the words of Paul, “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Latter-day Saint religious educators find themselves teaching students who might be tempted to give up in despair over their sins or to reject the notion that there is an absolute standard for moral right and wrong based on the commandments of God.

This article will suggest that frequently teaching the doctrine of justification by faith can help students feel peace with God while simultaneously inspiring them to be more faithful disciples of Jesus Christ. First, I will use the words of the scriptures, modern prophets, and trusted scholars to clarify the doctrine of justification by faith. Second, I will explain why understanding the doctrine of justification removes guilt and inspires obedience to God’s commandments. Third, I will offer principles and a model for teaching justification by faith in the Latter-day Saint classroom in ways that stay true to the doctrine of the Restoration.

What Is Justification by Faith?

Doctrine and Covenants 20 plays a unique role in our canon of scripture. It lays out the basic doctrines and structure of the Church. This foundational revelation was read and accepted unanimously at the first conference of the Church on June 9, 1830, in Fayette, New York.[4] It was originally named “the articles and covenants of the Church of Christ”[5] and was later called “the constitution of the Church.”[6] After explaining the ecclesiastical roles of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery and the importance of the Book of Mormon, section 20 lays out foundational doctrines of the Church. These include the nature of God, the Creation, the Fall, and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Notably, the revelation also teaches, “We know that justification through the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is just and true” (v. 30). At least on some level, this shows that the Lord wanted the doctrine of “justification through the grace of our Lord” to be considered a central doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

According to the Church’s Guide to the Scriptures, justification or justify means “to be pardoned from punishment for sin and declared guiltless. A person is justified by the Savior’s grace through faith in Him. This faith is shown by repentance and obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel.”[7] For clarification, I will break this definition into three parts and provide further explanation.

Pardoned from punishment for sin and declared guiltless

Those who are justified are no longer considered guilty before God. As Elder D. Todd Christofferson taught, “He [Jesus Christ] removes our condemnation without removing the law. We are pardoned and placed in a condition of righteousness with Him. We become, like Him, without sin. We are sustained and protected by the law, by justice. We are, in a word, justified. Thus, we may appropriately speak of one who is justified as pardoned, without sin, or guiltless.”[8] When we are justified, our legal status before God changes from guilty to innocent.[9] Even though we are still imperfect, we are considered clean. Whereas forgiveness of individual sins can occur frequently throughout our lives when we repent, our justified status before God is maintained as we stay on the covenant path.

One essential aspect of justification by faith and being declared guiltless is that we become covenant members of the family of Abraham (see Galatians 3:26–29). President Russell M. Nelson has recently addressed this topic: “I have spoken frequently about the importance of the Abrahamic covenant and the gathering of Israel. . . . Baptism is the gate that leads to becoming joint heirs to all the promises given anciently by the Lord to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their posterity.”[10] Some commentators do not always emphasize the connection between justification by faith and becoming a covenant member of the family of Abraham. However, N. T. Wright, an Anglican New Testament scholar, emphatically frames justification by faith in the context of joining the family of Abraham. In speaking of the writings of Paul in Galatians, Wright observes the following:

Paul is assuming that those who have believed in the Messiah and have been baptized into him have thereby been set free from the guilt, penalty and power of “the present evil age” and their own membership and behavior within it. He is now, on the basis of that assumption, arguing that all those of whom this is true form a single family over which God has already pronounced the verdict “righteous,” “my people,” “my children,” “seed of Abraham,” “heirs according to promise.” That verdict, issued in those rich terms, is the fuller meaning of “justification by faith.”[11]

In other words, those who are justified are simultaneously declared clean, are forgiven, and become members of the family of Abraham.

When justified and pardoned from the punishment of sin, we can also consider ourselves saved. President Dallin H. Oaks taught, “Believers who have had this required rebirth at the hands of those having authority have already been saved from sin conditionally.”[12] Of course, one needs to stay faithful to covenants until the end of one’s life. But there is a significant difference in thinking one “might be saved” and one is, in the words of President Oaks, “already . . . saved from sin conditionally.” With the former, my salvation is still ultimately on trial. With the latter, I have already been given the gift of salvation, but I must live my life as a faithful disciple to retain my covenant standing before God. Various people in the Book of Mormon speak of redemption or salvation as a blessing that one can receive in this life (see 2 Nephi 2:3; 33:6; Mosiah 27:24–25; Alma 19:29; 46:39). As biblical scholar Stephen Robinson taught, “Although our private, individual perfection comes later, long after this life is over, our partnership perfection, our perfection-in-Christ, is effective immediately.”[13]

A person is justified by the Savior’s grace through faith in him

Ultimately, the only way an imperfect, sinful, fallen human being could be declared guiltless before God is through the grace of Jesus Christ. The pardoning of our sins comes through the Savior’s redeeming blood. The Joseph Smith Translation of Romans 3:24 reads, “Therefore being justified only by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” No amount of willpower, obedience, or diligence could cleanse our sins. Our only hope is in “Christ crucified” (1 Corinthians 1:23). Our faithfulness is the way we use our agency to choose to receive the Savior’s forgiveness (see Mosiah 3:12; Romans 3:22–28). In the Book of Mormon, the great missionary Aaron taught these principles powerfully when he said, “And since man had fallen he could not merit anything of himself; but the sufferings and death of Christ atone for their sins, through faith and repentance, and so forth” (Alma 22:14).

This faith is shown by repentance and obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel

When Latter-day Saints use the words faith or faithfulness, we do not simply mean giving mental assent to the theological proposition that Jesus is the Christ. Rather, faith in Christ means we trust in the Savior and his teachings, we continually repent of our sins, we enter the covenant path through baptism at the hands of an authorized priesthood holder, we receive the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, and ultimately we endure to the end. Nephi taught that those who meet these qualifications are “in this strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life; yea, [they] have entered in by the gate” (2 Nephi 31:18). Those who accept the first principles and ordinances of the gospel are justified before God, but they must continue on the covenant path until the end of their lives (see 3 Nephi 27:19–20).

Justification and sanctification

Justification is the act by which we are declared guiltless before God. It is an event that occurs when we are baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. We maintain our justified state before God by staying on the covenant path. Sanctification is the process by which we become more like God. As the Guide to the Scriptures teaches, sanctification is “the process of becoming free from sin, pure, clean, and holy through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.”[14] To use an analogy, justification is the event that allows one to become a member of the king’s household. In this state, one is forgiven, accepted by the king, and privileged to receive all the blessings he offers. Sanctification is the process by which the king helps us to become more like him. We are trained to become more loving, wise, and holy.

Religious educators often focus on sanctification. We continually invite our students to rely on the Atonement of Jesus Christ to experience purification and to become more righteous. We want our students, as King Benjamin taught, to “[put] off the natural man and [become] a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and [become] as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love” (Mosiah 3:19). However, this article will suggest that also keeping the doctrine of justification in the forefront of our students’ minds is essential in helping them to become diligent disciples of Jesus Christ.

Sinning after justification

After people are declared guiltless by accepting the gospel of Jesus Christ, certain questions may arise. For example, “If we are saved, does that mean we can now sin?” Paul dealt directly with that question: “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? . . . As Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:1–4). For Latter-day Saints, there is a point where one’s sins could lead to the loss of salvation. In the words of Doctrine and Covenants 20:32, “There is a possibility that man may fall from grace and depart from the living God.”

Naturally, some students may begin to wonder (with perhaps both noble and less-than-noble motives), “How much can I sin before I lose my salvation before God?” I have found two scripturally based metaphors helpful in answering this question. First, our covenant relationship with God can be likened to a marriage. Married people have entered a legally defined relationship with expectations and responsibilities. Disagreements, misunderstandings, and even some degree of mistreatment are not necessarily moral grounds to end the marriage relationship. There must be space for growth, mistakes, sins, repentance, and forgiveness. As long as both parties are sincerely committed to building their relationship, the legal status of the relationship does not necessarily need to change as they work through sin and weakness. However, there are lines. Certain behaviors or sins may justify ending the marriage relationship. In like manner, there are some sins (based on a variety of factors) that may lead people to lose their covenant standing before God. King Benjamin taught, “I would that ye should remember also, that this is the name [Jesus Christ] that I said I should give unto you that never should be blotted out, except it be through transgression” (Mosiah 5:11). Our Father in Heaven and his Son Jesus Christ give us time to develop, repent, and grow while we are in a covenant relationship with them. President Russell M. Nelson described how the Lord continues to bless his children who have made covenants: “Because God has hesed[15] for those who have covenanted with Him, He will love them. He will continue to work with them and offer them opportunities to change. He will forgive them when they repent. And should they stray, He will help them find their way back to Him.”[16]

Another scriptural image that helps us deal with the question “How much can I sin before I lose my salvation?” is the comparison of sin to a disease or sickness. A small amount of cancer can eventually lead to death if it is not properly removed. Hence, we cannot rationalize little sins by saying, “I’m not going to lose my salvation by committing this small sin.” Minor sins left unrepented lead to larger sins—the kinds of sins that could lead to a loss of salvation. Nephi said the devil works by leading people “by the neck with a flaxen cord, until he bindeth them with his strong cords forever” (2 Nephi 26:22). Similarly, C. S. Lewis taught:

Hell begins with a grumbling mood, always complaining, always blaming others . . . but you are still distinct from it. You may even criticize it in yourself and wish you could stop it. But there may come a day when you can no longer. Then there will be no you left to criticize the mood or even to enjoy it, but just the grumble itself, going on forever like a machine. It is not a question of God “sending us” to hell. In each of us there is something growing, which will BE Hell unless it is nipped in the bud.[17]

Sin is a sickness that needs to be consistently removed. Hence the importance of continual repentance and striving to be faithful until the end.

Understanding Justification by Faith Inspires Diligent Discipleship

As we will see, the teachings of King Benjamin explain why an accurate understanding of justification by faith leads to fervent discipleship. This increase in obedience is apparent in followers of Christ who “always rejoice,” are “filled with the love of God,” and “live peaceably” with others (Mosiah 4:12–13). In this section I will also discuss how the security found in knowing that we are declared guiltless leads to increased discipleship.

After the people of Zarahemla received a “remission of their sins” and obtained a “peace of conscience” (Mosiah 4:3), King Benjamin instructed the Nephites how to “retain a remission of [their] sins” (v. 12). First, referring to their receiving forgiveness of their sins (justification), King Benjamin said, “Ye should remember . . . the greatness of God, and your own nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures.” Second, the people should also “humble [themselves] even in the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily.” Third, they should stand “steadfastly in the faith.” Notice how Benjamin first commands the people to remember the goodness of God as it relates to their having received a remission of sins. He does not think that having people dwell on their new justified state before God will, as some people today may worry, lead to a lesser degree of obedience. Rather, coupling the suggestions to pray daily and live diligently with remembering one’s justified and forgiven state before God, he enumerates the natural effect: they “shall always rejoice, and be filled with the love of God, and always retain a remission of [their] sins; . . . and [they] will not have a mind to injure one another, but to live peaceably” (vv. 12–13). To better see why understanding our justified state before God leads to diligent discipleship, let’s analyze each of Benjamin’s ideas further.

“Ye shall always rejoice”

The natural emotions resulting from receiving forgiveness of sins are gratitude and rejoicing. Nephi said, “I glory in plainness; I glory in truth; I glory in my Jesus, for he hath redeemed my soul from hell” (2 Nephi 33:6). When Alma received a forgiveness of sin, he exclaimed, “What joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!” (Alma 36:20). In this state we long to pray, worship, sing hymns, and remember what the Savior has done for us by reading scripture and partaking of the sacrament. In short, we rejoice in God’s goodness for offering the priceless gift of his Son and declaring us clean and justified through his redeeming blood. All these holy practices invite the Spirit into our lives and give us increased motivation and power to obey God’s will.

In addition, according to a study by religion professors Daniel Judd and Justin Dyer, those who experience grace are more likely to have better mental health than those who do not. Judd and Dyer surveyed 635 students at Brigham Young University about their experience with God’s grace, their level of “legalistic attitudes,” “fear of sin and of God,” perfectionism rates, and feelings of shame. The study found that “God’s grace correlated with all other variables of interest in the expected direction; it was negatively correlated with anxiety, depression, scrupulosity, and perfectionism. Experiencing God’s grace was positively correlated with healthy forms of perfectionism—having high standards and being organized.”[18] Although a further study of one’s understanding of justification by faith and relative discipleship might add more specific insight, this study at least indicates that experience with grace and a healthier mental and emotional state are correlated. All this is to show that, as King Benjamin taught, relying on the Savior’s grace leads to more joy.

“Filled with the love of God”

When forgiven of our sins, we are also protected from the constant temptation to focus on ourselves. Instead, we are filled with love for God and others. The Savior, speaking of the woman who washed his feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair, said, “Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little” (Luke 7:47). As we experience the forgiveness of God, we gain the desire to express love toward God, share his love with others, and keep his commandments. Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf taught, “Our obedience to God’s commandments comes as a natural outgrowth of our endless love and gratitude for the goodness of God.”[19] In other words, the more we focus on the goodness of God the more likely we are to turn to him and seek to obey his will in our lives.

“Always retain a remission of your sins”

King Benjamin taught that as we remember God’s goodness in forgiving our sins and continue in diligent prayer and discipleship, we will “always retain a remission of [our] sins” (Mosiah 4:12). Although Benjamin framed this as a blessing of maintaining our justified state before God, knowing that we are clean and guiltless also leads to increased discipleship in profound ways. Doctrine and Covenants 76:55 teaches that those who receive celestial glory are those whom “the Father has given all things.” The promise that those who are justified will eventually enter the presence of God, become like him, and receive all things can create deep security in Christ. Why does this security lead to more righteous living? President Spencer W. Kimball taught, “Jesus saw sin as wrong but also was able to see sin as springing from deep and unmet needs on the part of the sinner.”[20] When people realize their needs are met in Christ, they are more likely to lose the motivation for sin. Security in Christ leads us to freely love God and others. Timothy Keller, a traditional Christian preacher, illustrated this principle with two examples: “We can’t give our money away until we get new security and identity in Jesus. We can’t love our spouses rightly until we fill our inner neediness with the spousal love of Christ.”[21] Because those who are justified before God realize they have been given infinite love, time, resources, and security through the Savior Jesus Christ, they will love God and others without reserve.[22]

“Ye will not have a mind to injure one another, but to live peaceably”

President Henry B. Eyring taught, “Gratitude for the remission of sins is the seed of charity, the pure love of Christ.”[23] As alluded to above, experiencing the forgiving love of Christ helps us become more loving to others. King Benjamin taught that those who do the things required to retain a remission of sins will “live peaceably,” become better parents, and help the poor (see Mosiah 4:13–16). Clearly, as we celebrate our justified state before God, we are strengthened in our capacity to keep the second great commandment: “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matthew 22:39).

How to Teach Justification by Faith

As we have seen, teaching justification by faith can help students cease despairing over their sins while simultaneously motivating them to become better disciples. This section covers principles for effectively teaching the doctrine of justification by faith. I begin by noting the importance of teaching justification by faith in a way that reflects the doctrines of the Restoration. Next I offer a simple model for teaching justification so it can lead to diligent discipleship. I conclude by emphasizing the importance of helping students live according to the implications of justification by faith rather than simply accepting it as a true doctrine.

Teach true doctrine

The topic of justification by faith has been central to centuries of intense debate in Christianity. There are countless books, sermons, and treatises on this doctrine and its surrounding issues. As teachers of the restored gospel, we should be careful to base our teaching in the simple statements of scripture and the words of the prophets. Trusted scholars can add clarification and insight, but in teaching students it is wise to avoid complicating the doctrine of justification or teaching ideas not clearly found in scripture. King Benjamin’s speech in Mosiah 1–5 and Paul’s epistles to the Romans and Galatians are powerful scriptural beginning places for deepening our understanding of this crucial doctrine. Elder Christofferson’s article “Justification and Sanctification” and President Oaks’s sermon “Have You Been Saved?” (both noted earlier) are other inspired resources. The most thorough treatment from a Latter-day Saint perspective is Stephen Robinson’s classic Believing Christ (noted earlier). Moreover, the entry on justification in the Guide to the Scriptures, quoted from earlier, can be drawn on regularly because it is simple and powerful.

A model for teaching justification by faith

As quoted earlier, President Kimball said, “Jesus saw sin as wrong but also was able to see sin as springing from deep and unmet needs on the part of the sinner.”[24] Drawing on this quotation and the work of Timothy Keller, the teaching model presented below can help students live more righteously while knowing they are justified before God.

Often, teachers emphasize behavior changes learners need to make to better live the gospel. Although this is an essential practice, it can also help to first examine why someone might not choose to engage in a certain gospel practice or standard. Along this line, Eugene Lowry, a professor of preaching, observed, “Our responsibility in preaching the gospel requires us to probe behind the behavior to motives, fears, and needs in order to ascertain the cause or causes.”[25] Otherwise, our gospel teaching becomes a matter of goal setting and behavioral change techniques. As Keller explained, “If . . . you depict the problem as a matter of behavior, then the only solution will be some exhortation to try harder. Unless you get down to the level of heart dynamics and motivation, the transforming power of the gospel in the work of Christ won’t be seen as the unique, direct solution to the problem.”[26]

When explaining gospel principles, teachers can examine the possible motivations that students may have for not living a particular commandment. For example, when teaching our responsibility to share the gospel with others, a teacher may want to explore the potential fear someone may have of rejection. In this case, the issue is not so much that students don’t know how to share the gospel but rather that they may worry about inviting the disapproval of others. Getting at this root cause can better help teachers know what might help students share the gospel.

Simply diagnosing a problem correctly is obviously not enough to inspire true discipleship. The next step in this model is to show how our needs are met in Christ because of his sacrifice and our justified state before him. Using the example above, teachers might explain that those who have a covenant relationship with God realize that they have no need for the approval of others because of the love shown for them through the Savior’s sacrifice and the acceptance of God they have received through justification. Then, following the third step of this model, teachers might highlight how those who find their security in Christ can more freely and naturally share the gospel. Because they feel God’s love and approval, they don’t worry about potential rejection when inviting people to attend church, hear the missionary discussions, or read the Book of Mormon. In fact, like Lehi, who partook of the fruit of the tree of life, they will begin “to be desirous that [others] should partake of it also; for [they know] that it [is] desirable above all other fruit” (1 Nephi 8:12).

The following chart is designed to help teachers show students how the Savior’s sacrifice and our justified state provide the motivation and resources for diligent discipleship.

As teachers seek to appropriately and accurately diagnose the reasons behind human sin and weakness, they will more effectively show how the Savior’s Atonement and the blessings we receive in a justified state provide the motivation and resources to be better disciples of Christ.

Helping students practice living in the light of their justified state

Diligent discipleship is not simply a matter of “believing harder” in the doctrine of justification by faith. Rather, as is true for all of us, our students need to practice living in harmony with the implications of this doctrine. This is one way Latter-day Saints might differ in how they teach the doctrine of justification by faith compared with those in other religious traditions. Central to understanding this difference is how the Book of Mormon uses the word faith. Philosophy professor Mark Wrathall explained “that the authors of the Book of Mormon didn’t think of faith as a cognitive attitude. Faith typically takes as its object, not a proposition [or an idea], but a person or thing.”[27] In other words, in the Book of Mormon, faith is described as “something like trust or confidence as well as loyalty and commitment, fidelity and constancy, and expectancy and hope”[28] as opposed to merely just believing the right ideas. However, it is important to note that in the Book of Mormon, “faith is an attitude that always exclusively takes as its object God and Christ. . . . God alone is an apt object for the kind of loyalty and devotion that faith implies.”[29] A certain kind of faithfulness is reserved only for complete devotion to God and his Son.

All of this is to say that accepting the doctrine of justification by faith is not only a matter of believing a certain idea, but rather it is to take up a lifestyle that reflects both trust in God and the fact that one has been “declared guiltless” through the Atonement of Jesus Christ and welcomed into the covenant family of God. Paul, for example, suggested that Peter was not living in the light of these truths when Jewish Christians from Jerusalem came to Antioch and Peter stopped eating with the Gentiles (see Galatians 2:12). Peter was probably concerned about the appearance of eating with gentile Christians. Paul challenged Peter when he “saw that [he] walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel” (v. 14) because, as Paul taught, “a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ” (v. 16). In other words, if Peter really lived according to the implications of the gospel, he would have eaten with gentile Christians because one is justified (and accepted into the covenant family of Abraham) by faith, and therefore Peter should have practiced full fellowship with both Jewish and gentile Christians.[30]

Teachers can help students live the truths that flow from justification by faith in our time. For example, students who accept that they are justified will practice living a life of hope in the salvation they will eventually receive rather than spending time despairing over their sins. Because they feel accepted by God, they will not cheaply seek acceptance through worldly means such as social media or excessive focus on appearance. In addition, because they know that Jesus Christ died for all people and one is justified by his grace, they will not seek ways to prove they are better than others through their accomplishments, popularity, or talent. Effective teachers will continually illustrate and help students discover for themselves what it means to practice living in the light of our justified state before God.

Practice changes us. Elder Richard G. Scott taught, “We become what we want to be by consistently being what we want to become each day.”[31] James K. A. Smith, a traditional Christian philosopher, insightfully illustrated a related principle using the example of our knowledge of a keyboard:

If I ask you, “What letter is to the left of F on a keyboard?” it’s going to take you a second or two—or maybe longer—to sort that one out. This will probably involve you putting your hands on the table and working through a little imaginary exercise to reconnect what your fingers “know” with what your mind can say. Well, how did your hands get to “know” this? Through rituals, routines, and exercises that trained your adaptive unconscious. These exercises put your body through the motions over and over again until this know-how became lodged in a part of your brain that you don’t often call to mind—which is why the question is a kind of shock to the system.[32]

Rather than just asking our students to believe harder, we invite them to practice living the basic tenets of the gospel of Jesus Christ—including the doctrine of justification by faith. As they do so, the principles are more likely to become part of their nature and disposition. For example, teachers could discuss with students ways they could practice not seeking the approval of the world since they have the approval of God. Or teachers might help students see how they might practice not excessively focusing on their sins and weaknesses since they are justified before God.

It needs to be emphasized that practice itself will not ultimately be enough to change our nature. As quoted previously, grace helps us become “a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and [become] as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love” (Mosiah 3:19). Just as the Savior’s grace allows us to receive a new legal standing before God, it is also how we are sanctified, are made holy, and become new creatures. As we continually practice faith and repentance, we also invite the sanctifying power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ into our lives.

Conclusion

Our students live in an increasingly complicated world. They are tempted to give up because of their sins or to think there is no such thing as absolute right and wrong. However, when they know that those faithful to their covenants are justified (or declared guiltless) before God, they are less likely to despair over their sins and more likely to seek to diligently improve their discipleship.

President Russell M. Nelson taught, “Making a covenant with God changes our relationship with Him forever. It blesses us with an extra measure of love and mercy. It affects who we are and how God will help us become what we can become. We are promised that we, also, can be a ‘peculiar treasure’ unto Him (Psalm 135:4).”[33] One way our relationship with God changes when we make covenants with him is that we are justified. Practicing living that truth brings security in Christ that causes us to rejoice and to seek to be more like him. Truly, the good news is that “God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him” (Romans 5:8–9).

Notes

[1] Chad H Webb, “His Representatives,” address given at S&I Annual Training Broadcast, January 21, 2022.

[2] Webb, “His Representatives.”

[3] Clark G. Gilbert, “The Gospel of Jesus Christ Is Astonishing,” address given at S&I Annual Training Broadcast, January 21, 2022.

[4] Articles and Covenants, circa April 1830 [D&C 20], p. 4, The Joseph Smith Papers, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/.

[5] Articles and Covenants, circa April 1830 [D&C 20].

[6] Bruce R. McConkie, Doctrines of the Restoration: Sermons and Writings of Bruce R. McConkie (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1989), 271.

[7] Guide to the Scriptures, “Justification, Justify,” Gospel Library, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/.

[8] D. Todd Christofferson, “Justification and Sanctification,” Ensign,June 2001; emphasis in original.

[9] Brent Top and Robert Millet, “Episode 18: Justification and Sanctification,” Mormon Identity, July 14, 2023, http://broadcast.lds.org/ldsradio/pdf/mormon-identity/mormon-identity-ep-18.pdf.

[10] Russell M. Nelson, “The Everlasting Covenant,” Liahona, October 2022.

[11] N. T. Wright, Justification: God’s Plan and Paul’s Vision (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2009), 134.

[12] Dallin H. Oaks, “Have You Been Saved?,” Ensign, May 1998, 55; emphasis in original.

[13] Stephen E. Robinson, Believing Christ: The Parable of the Bicycle and Other Good News (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1992), 49.

[14] Guide to the Scriptures, “Sanctification,” Gospel Library.

[15] “Hesed is a unique term describing a covenant relationship in which both parties are bound to be loyal and faithful to each other. . . . Hesed is a special kind of love and mercy that God feels for and extends to those who have made a covenant with Him. And we reciprocate with hesed for Him.” Nelson, “Everlasting Covenant.”

[16] Nelson, “Everlasting Covenant.”

[17] C. S. Lewis, The Great Divorce (New York: Collier Books, 1946), 75.

[18] Daniel K Judd and W. Justin Dyer, “Grace, Legalism, and Mental Health among the Latter-day Saints,”BYU Studies 59, no. 1 (2020): 15, 18.

[19] Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “The Gift of Grace,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2015.

[20] Spencer W. Kimball, “Jesus: The Perfect Leader,” Ensign, August 1979.

[21] Timothy Keller, Preaching: Communicating Faith in an Age of Skepticism (New York: Penguin, 2015), 230.

[22] See Ether 12:4 for the related principle of hope.

[23] Henry B. Eyring, “Remembrance and Gratitude,” Ensign, November 1989, 13.

[24] Kimball, “Jesus: The Perfect Leader.”

[25] Eugene L. Lowry, The Homiletical Plot: The Sermon as Narrative Art Form (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2001), 44.

[26] Keller, Preaching: Communicating Faith in an Age of Skepticism, 230.

[27] Mark A. Wrathall, Alma 30–63: A Brief Theological Introduction (Provo, UT: Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, Brigham Young University, 2020), 25.

[28] Wrathall, Alma 30–63, 25.

[29] Wrathall, Alma 30–63, 26.

[30] “Galatians,” in New Testament Student Manual (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2018), https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/new-testament-student-manual/galatians/chapter-43-galatians.

[31] Richard G. Scott, “The Transforming Power of Faith and Character,” Ensign or Liahona, November 2010.

[32] James K. A. Smith, Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2009), 58.

[33] Nelson, “Everlasting Covenant.”