Come, Follow Me

Philippians 2

Can We Earn Our Salvation?

Walking with Christ, by Trent Gudmundsen

The Apostle Paul told the early Christians to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). President Dallin H. Oaks, First Counselor in the First Presidency, asked, “Could that [verse] mean that the sum total of our own righteousness will win us salvation and exaltation?” He explained, “After all our obedience and good works, we cannot be saved from the effect of our sins without the grace extended by the atonement of Jesus Christ” (“What Think Ye of Christ?,” Ensign, Nov. 1988, 67).

The scriptures and the prophets teach that we must rely on the grace of Jesus Christ and make and keep covenants with Heavenly Father in order to receive eternal life. Consider these prophetic teachings as you study Philippians 2:12–13:

“We cannot earn our way into heaven. …

“But all is not lost.

“The grace of God is our great and everlasting hope.”

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “The Gift of Grace,” Liahona, May 2015, 108.

“Truly we are redeemed by the atoning blood of the Savior of the world, but only after each has done all he can to work out his own salvation.”

President Harold B. Lee, in Conference Report, Oct. 1970, 116.

“Our only hope for true perfection is in receiving it as a gift from heaven—we can’t ‘earn’ it. Thus, the grace of Christ offers us … salvation from sorrow and sin and death.”

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “Be Ye Therefore Perfect—Eventually,” Liahona, Nov. 2017, 41.