Followers of Emanuel can be saved by grace through an investment in obedience which determines the willingness and desire to live back within the presence of God.

In 2 Nephi 25:23 it states: “for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.”

This commonly referenced scripture was the basis for Brad Wilcox’s Tuesday lecture, “After All We Can Do,“ from the series “Using the Atonement to Turn Weakness into Strengths.”

“This is a source of discouragement if not understood,” said Wilcox, an associate professor of teacher education at BYU.

Wilcox focused on each individual word in the latter part of the scripture and examined its definition alone and within its context.

He said the inflection put on a particular word in a sentence changes the meaning of how someone understands the concept.

Wilcox said he once felt he had to do it all before he could qualify for grace to make up the difference. But he saw that Paul and Alma the Younger did nothing first to qualify yet received many great blessings.

Then he replaced “after” with “in spite of” and found that grace was given unconditionally when he put the verse in the context of the chapter, which is focused on the mission of the Messiah and the magnitude of his great blessings.

In fact, he said, the Savior’s gift is not limited in time.

“[The Atonement] is not a booster engine when we run out of steam, it is a source of strength,” Wilcox said. “I need him here and now.”

Don’t wait for the blessings of grace because it’s not just given after the condition is completed, that it is after all we can do that grace then fills in the gaps.

“Light is all round Him, not just at the end of the tunnel,” Wilcox said.

He said that it’s tricky to do all we can do.

“In this world of mixed messages, I can’t get away from the nagging thought if only I could do more,” Wilcox said. “If only.”

He made the suggestion that those participating ask the Lord what is acceptable and not dwell on what more could have been done. The greatest comfort can be found in this principle, he said.

“Any effort is pleasing to God, even if He and I know that it’s far from my best,” Wilcox said. “God accepts it, nonetheless, because … He is more concerned with the offerer than the offering.”

Wilcox advised that people recognize their efforts are moving in the right direction instead of feeling bad that it isn’t all done.

People’s motivation should not be to impress God with their sacrifices, but let that which is sacrificed leave impressions within.

“‘After all we can do’ is dependent upon Christ’s enabling power,” Wilcox said. People, he proposes, are nothing, which literally means, powerless without God.

“It would be like a jockey saying he could win without his horse,” Wilcox said.

“After all we can do” would imply that there is a checklist before people can return to heaven, but he said it’s the willingness to get to heaven through being heavenly.

Because it’s not the work that earns a person’s admittance into heaven, but the worth in how it shapes them.

“Learn where to turn for help,” Wilcox said, “instead of lowering expectations to meet expectations.”

Wilcox said those who come unto Christ can be perfected because He has already filled in the gaps and it’s in the principle of obedience that determines where we stand with God.

“Jesus paid,” Wilcox said. “Justice is done.”

However, the condition to become perfected is one’s willingness since it’s the internalization of improvement that allows people to return to God.

“When we do finally pass the veil, it will not be as individuals who have done our part,” Wilcox said. “But literally holding hands with Jesus.”

He closed the lecture by suggesting that Christ doesn’t love us because we are good, He loves us because He is good.

“Jesus’ love is not something we earn, it earns us.”