FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Question: Does the Bible teach that individual works are unnecessary?
Question: Does the Bible teach that individual works are unnecessary?
The Bible does not teach that salvation comes by faith alone
Critics of the church claim that the Bible teaches that individual works are completely unnecessary, in contrast to the doctrine of the Church that an individual's obedience to the commandments of God matters in his salvation.
The Bible does not teach that salvation comes by faith alone, with no dependence on an individual's obedience to the commandments. Granted, several passages in Paul's letters, taken alone, seem to be teaching that our works do not matter in our salvation. These passages, however, are badly misunderstood. They have been carefully clarified by other of the ancient apostles, notable James, and this false interpretation is contradicted by Paul himself in other places in his writings. Most importantly, the Savior is clear that works are critical to determining who will be able to enter his kingdom and who will not.
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