Our Gospel is NOT as Good as His

The Book of Mormon tells of Enos fervently calling upon God in prayer for his soul. As a result, he heard the voice of God telling him that his sins were forgiven, and he would be blessed.

This week I was reading a commentary on Enos.  I noted a statement that said that Enos had his glorious experience with God following a five-step pattern. I agree with four of the steps: 1. Hear the word; 2. Let the word sink into our hearts; 3. Hunger for righteousness; 5. Raise your voice in prayer. Great! All of those are described in the Enos account and agree with my experience as I have sought Jesus.

I have concerns about step number 4: Obediently follow gospel laws. I don’t see a clear indication that Enos was following gospel laws. In fact, it was after his wrestle that he “received a remission of [his] sins” (v. 2). We don’t know from the account whether Enos was a garden-variety sinner or had been rebellious and contrary, but we know that he was seeking redemption.

The account does NOT suggest that Enos “obediently followed Gospel laws.” Is this an unauthorized addition to the gospel process?

We can test the idea by examining other great Book of Mormon transformations. Alma comes readily to mind as a test case.

1. Alma heard the word: “I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world” (Alma 36:17).

2. Alma let the word sink into his heart: “Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart . . .” (Alma 36:18).

3. Alma hungered for something better: “Yea, I did remember all my sins and iniquities, for which I was tormented with the pains of hell; yea, I saw that I had rebelled against my God, and that I had not kept his holy commandments” (Alma 36:18).

5. He raised his voice in mighty, soul-transforming prayer: “O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death” (Alma 36:18).

What about #4? Was Alma obediently following gospel laws?

The answer is “No!” Alma was clearly NOT following gospel laws. He and his colleagues “were the very vilest of sinners” (Mosiah 28:4).

Please don’t misunderstand me. I am not recommending ardent sinning as the path to spiritual renewal. Not at all. But we mortals hardly need to worry about that. “Because of the fall, our natures have become evil continually” (Ether 3:2). We are all sinners. We are all fallen. And if we are not actively breaking the commandments, we are probably badly neglecting those commandments we don’t prefer. And we may be guilty of many of the subtle sins like pride, judging, or failing to forgive those who have wronged us. We fallen humans can’t claim to be fully obedient to all gospel laws even when we are trying hard.

Since I don’t recommend sinning, why does this matter? Why am I bothered by the “requirement” to follow gospel laws. The reason is that it misunderstands God’s plan and thereby insults His grace.

Elder Patrick Kearon addressed that potential misunderstanding in the recent General Conference: “Our Father’s beautiful plan, even His “fabulous” plan, is designed to bring you home, not to keep you out. No one has built a roadblock and stationed someone there to turn you around and send you away. In fact, it is the exact opposite. God is in relentless pursuit of you. He ‘wants all of His children to choose to return to Him,’ and He employs every possible measure to bring you back.” (God’s Intent is to Bring You Home, April 2024)

Elder Kearon suggests that God is leaning in—He is actively reaching for us. This feels different from saying that we must obediently follow gospel laws in order to win His favor.

To suggest that we must first obediently follow gospel laws before experiencing God’s loving embrace, suggests that God is a reluctant paymaster. He will not bless us until we have earned the blessings. But God is not reluctant. He is pursuing us. The One who encourages us to be anxiously engaged in a good cause is Himself anxiously engaged in the cause of reaching us and redeeming us. As Elder Maxwell beautifully expressed it, “His relentless redemptiveness exceeds my recurring wrongs” (Jesus of Nazareth, Savior and King, April 1976).

A fundamental concern I have about the prerequisite of obedience is that it leaves the conscientious—though flawed—seekers without hope. It leaves the wayward out in the cold. It lessens the reach and power of the Atonement.

“When we habitually understate the meaning of the Atonement, we take more serious risks than simply leaving one another without comforting reassurances—for some may simply drop out of the race, worn out and beaten down with the harsh and untrue belief that they are just not celestial material” (pp. 5-6, Hafen, B. C. (1989). The broken heart. Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book).

Satan wants the earnest but imperfect saints to be discouraged; God wants to redeem us.

We shouldn’t add requirements that the Lord does not specify. His gospel is better than ours. It is more gracious, expansive, glorious, joyous, and far more redemptive than we imagined! Most of us will be surprised how enthusiastic He is to bless His children.

“All of God’s faculties, all of his inclinations are poised and bent on blessing at the slightest provocation. Oh, how God loves to be merciful and bless his children! Perhaps that is his greatest joy. It is the inherent quality that drives him with tireless vigilance to save his children” (p. 313, Tad R. Callister (2000). Infinite Atonement. Deseret Book)

That is the incredibly good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ! We must not replace His “great and eternal plan of redemption” (Alma 34:16) with our own puny and fallen plans of divine reluctance. When we understand His gracious, loving, and redemptive heart, we know we can trust Him, and we are likely to redouble our efforts to connect with Him.

Maybe that is a key point. We who are fallen are likely to become discouraged; we are tempted to give up because of our repeated failures to do good and be good. God invites us to focus on His goodness rather than our fallenness.

I think of Jesus’ New Testament parable of the prodigal son. The wayward son turned homeward for no more reason than he was hungry and miserable.

When we turn Homeward, whether out of miserable desperation, weary loneliness, or spiritual longing, Father runs to us! He embraces us! He announces a party to welcome us. It does not matter whether we were earnest seekers, or prodigal, wasteful, unwise, wayward, and reluctant. He wants us home in His embrace! He wants us all to come home to Him!

While the older brother was grudging and resentful of the undeserving brother’s warm welcome, nothing should bring us more joy than the return of any member of the family no matter how wayward they have been.

If I were to edit the list of steps to approach God, I would replace “obediently follow gospel laws” with “throwing ourselves on Jesus’ merits, mercy, and grace.” I believe that agrees with God’s plan and with all scriptural accounts of transformation. That is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Of course, our spiritual journey is not complete with running into the heavenly embrace.

Much will be required in the process of discipleship. But we must not confuse the cost of discipleship with the process for relationship. God rejoices at the slightest openness to Him. Yet He will require soul-stretching growth in the course of His curriculum of becoming new creatures in Christ. The whole process is made possible because of the joyous embrace of a loving Father. As Alma exclaimed after feeling the redemptive power of God’s love:

That joy of heavenly connection can energize our whole journey.

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Thanks to Barbara Keil for her inspired additions to this article.