Faith and Seatbelts

Mainstream Christianity and their doctrine of "Sola Fide" or salvation by faith alone, sadly often misunderstands, and dilutes the true meaning of faith.  James teaches to, "be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only (James 1:22), and "faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone (James 2:17)".  Christ Himself taught, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven" (Matt 7:21).

When Paul says we are saved by grace and not by dead works, Paul is talking about the amoral requirements of the Law of Moses. Paul is not talking about the moral requirements of a Christian life to be virtuous,  honest, true, and chaste, and to care for the poor and needy, the fatherless and the widow. 

A good analogy to faith is the seatbelt in a car.  I can say that I believe that using a seatbelt will save my life in the event of an accident.  I can form a foundation and launch a crusade to raise seatbelt awareness and advocate for its use. But, in addition to my words and advocacy, true faith also requires my daily consistent personal use. I can talk all day long about how I believe seatbelt use saves lives. but If I don't use my seatbelt, I am being hypocritical, and I will not be free of the consequences. 

Paul teaches that Christ's righteousness is imputed to us.  But our justification through Christ's grace does not negate our need to wear a seatbelt and will not deliver us from the consequences of not wearing one. What justification in Christ allows, is the presence of the Holy Ghost to be with us, even in our imperfect state, to help us via our conscience (peace or guilt), to keep keep Christ's commandments, and, in this case, consistently wear our seatbelt. 

The workings of the Holy Spirit could be compared to the annoying car notification that sounds when we have not yet fastened our searbelt.  The presence of the Holy Ghost, given by Christ's grace, through faith, aids in our sanctification and perfection. The Holy Ghost will not protect us from harm and the consequences of being in a car accident without a seatbelt.  When we have, as Captain Moroni writes to Pahoran. failed to make use of the means the Lord has already provided for us. 

Alma 60:21 Or do ye suppose that the Lord will still deliver us, while we sit upon our thrones and do not make use of the means which the Lord has provided for us?

There were some ancient Jews in the Book of Mormon (Wicked King Noah) and the Bible (Pharisees) who mistakenly believed if they kept all the amoral particulars of the Law of Moses, that they were given leeway to break all the moral commandments.  As Christians, we need to be careful that we don't make the same mistake.  and believe that saying "Lord, Lord", excuses us from keeping the commandments.  Professed Christians are not given permission to lie, cheat, steal, get drunk, do drugs, look at porn, or have sex before or outside of marriage. 

We need to beware telling ourselves that its okay because everyone is doing it and God wouldn't punish so many people.  God did punish a whole lot of people in the Great Flood, and warned us these Last Days would be the same as the days of Noah.  Confessing Christ but continuing in sin won't protect us from the spiritual and physical consequences. While. no one is perfect, what accepting Christ will do, is allow the Holy Spirit to work in us and help us improve every day.  Our responsibility is to continue in thr grace of Christ and in our daily striving and endure to the end.