What is the no-gaps Atonement of Jesus Christ?
In the new book, Golden Answers, John Bytheway relates a time that he was once told, “You guys believe in the Jesus of the gaps.” This meant that we, as Latter-day Saints, believe that after all we can do, Jesus will eventually fill in the ‘gaps,’ or make up the difference in order for us to earn our Salvation. Is that true? Do we really earn our own salvation?
With that question in mind, John went on a hunt within the scriptures to answer the question “How much do we do and how much does the Lord do when it comes to our salvation? How big or how small is this gap? Or does any gap exist at all?” (Golden Answers, p. 41).
John dives deeper into seven scriptures from the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants to help answer that question. I want to explore two of those here.
The second scripture John highlights is in Second Nephi:
2 Nephi 31:19: And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him, who is mighty to save.
As John mentions, this scripture says we must rely “wholly” on the merits of Jesus Christ, it does not mention anything about our own attempts. I find this so interesting, especially considering how often we talk about good works, and taking action within our Church. This concept is easily misunderstood without some further investigation.
The next verse John highlights is from Alma:
Alma 22:14 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.
So interesting! We see here that man cannot merit anything himself! Again, we must rely wholly on Christ.
“None of us can tell the Lord, ‘I don’t need to beg for my salvation. I earned it一I merited it!’ Nope, can’t be done. Jesus did for us what we could not do for ourselves,” (Golden Answers, p. 46).
Now, this is not a get-out-of-jail-free card. John continues to explore five more verses that demonstrate this idea in different ways and with different insights. He also discusses the things we CAN do (which are still very important).
“We are saved by the grace of Christ. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t strive to be better people. I love the word strive and the idea of striving. We can do good works, and we should!” (Golden Answers, p. 48).
John’s eloquent and relatable explanation of this important concept, plus many other Book of Mormon lessons一including the gathering of Israel, what happens after death, being ‘born again,’ the Fall of man, and more一will help you understand these precious truths in a whole new way.