Grace: The Enabling Power and Gift of God’s Love

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the wonderful news that our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ have not forgotten us. All of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, but They have provided the way in which we can be redeemed from the misery of sin, overcome temptations and weaknesses, be sanctified, and find eternal life and joy in the Kingdom of God.

The Apostle Paul taught that through the grace of God, lovingly provided by our Redeemer Jesus Christ, we can become new creatures. Grace is the divine enabling and sanctifying power which gives us strength to overcome mortal weakness, unholy influences, and become like Him. When we believe in Jesus Christ, we repent of our sins. We are baptized by immersion, which symbolizes the death of our old life of sin and our resurrection as new creatures in Christ (Romans 6:3–5).

This, however, is not the end of our spiritual journey since we will still face challenges, temptations, and trials as we continue on the covenant path throughout our lives. As disciples of Christ, members of the Church of Jesus Christ have access to the gift of the Holy Ghost, which guides us and shows us our weaknesses and where we need to do better. This gift helps us recognize how much we truly depend on the Savior to help us.

Paul warned the Saints in his day that they should not be careless in their discipleship or treat lightly the grace that the Savior offers (Romans 6:1–2, 10–23). His grace is a precious opportunity to overcome our sins and weakness and thereby increase the happiness and joy in our lives. We can be sanctified through the Lord’s grace if we strive to “love and serve God with all [our] mights minds, and strength,” (Doctrine and Covenants 20:31), but we must be faithful and endure to the end since “there is a possibility that man may fall from grace and depart from the living God” (v. 32). We can receive added strength and power through prayer and as we follow the counsel of the Lord’s living servants (see Doctrine and Covenants 21:4–6).

The prophet Jacob in the Book of Mormon taught, “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, reconcile yourself to the will of God, and not to the will of the devil and the flesh; and remember, after ye are reconciled unto God, that it is only in and through the grace of God that ye are saved” (2 Nephi 10:24). As we trust in God daily, repent when we fall short, and ask for help and strength to do better, He blesses us with power and sanctifies our hearts.

As Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf has taught, the Lord’s grace opens the windows of heaven “through which God pours out blessings of power and strength, enabling us to achieve things that otherwise would be far beyond our reach. It is by God’s amazing grace that His children can overcome the undercurrents and quicksands of the deceiver, rise above sin, and ‘be perfect[ed] in Christ’.”1

• 1. Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “The Gift of Grace,” Ensign, May 2015, online at churchofjesuschrist.org.