Does Grace Really Save You?

This is a continuation of my blog post titled: Keeping the Proper Focus in Life.

Here, I want to explore two aspects of the pole vaulting analogy - grace and works. I initially joined the track team when I was a sophomore in high school because I had seen my oldest brother do it and I loved running. He blazed the trail and I gained the courage to try something new that now seemed possible. My senior year, after joining pole vaulting, I knew I would need help because I had no skills. I relied on my teammates to teach me the rules. I trusted the most skilled members of the team and treated the one with the personal trainer as a coach. I practiced as the season progressed and when the time came we went to our first track meet.

I signed in with the officials and when they said it was time to start, I ran down the track, placed the pole in the box and jumped. The bar was set to the minimum height which I had to pass to continue on; that height was eight feet. (To give you an idea, there is only one man in all recorded time that has passed 8 feet without a pole or box, but that is high jump which is structured differently.) I passed over the bar without knocking it down and was so excited that I made it. That was the first time I had officially passed over the bar. Then they raised the bar so I could try again. At that first meet I did not pass over the bar again. I passed the minimum standard but that was it.

This is the way the pole vaulting event works: the pole vaulter holds a pole, runs down the track and places the pole in the box below the bar; He then rises up off the ground, clears the bar and lands safely on the other side.

So far I have subtly listed the fourteen graces of the pole vaulting event; they will be outlined specifically in the next post. (See if you can find them all.) Now let me explain the works involved:

The person is not a pole vaulter until he chooses to join the event. He then must stand at the beginning of the track with the pole in his two hands; this is not as simple as it sounds because he must hold it tight, with the proper grip and form and at the proper distance from the end. He must run as fast as he can towards the bar. As I mentioned in the former post he must have a full focus on the box, with the goal to place the pole in the box. As soon as the pole has a certain amount of tension on it, he must jump - timing is critical. Every factor mentioned so far must be in its proper order at this moment or the pole vaulter will injure himself.

He must rise straight up with his body facing the bar and lift his feet over his head. This is done holding firmly to the pole. He then puts his feet over the bar followed by the rest of his body in an effort to clear the bar. After he has cleared the bar he must release the pole, so it does not touch the bar, and make certain that he does not injure himself when he lands.

The other works deal primarily with choice and accountability: The choice to follow in the brother's footsteps, the choice to associate with the teammates who will inspire me to improve, the choice to accept and live by the rules, the choice to obey the coach with exactness, the choice to practice the whole season and perfect the skills of the event, and the accountability before the officials.

Now that I've outlined the fourteen graces and the thirteen works, does grace really save you? Well let's consider removing grace:

After removing all of the graces from this event, no one can pass or succeed. No one can clear the bar, having no bar to clear and no body to clear it with. No one can be considered a successful pole vaulter; nor can they have the joy of clearing the highest bar at the Olympics, let alone the possibility of clearing the lowest bar at any track meet. Grace is the foundation, everything given. It is enabling; we have to use the grace given to us.

What if we removed all of the works? With all this grace available, if the person, having chosen to join the event, decides instead to accept these graces with gratitude and thanksgiving and sits at the beginning of the track marveling and pleased at all of this grace received, he will never find himself successful until he stands up and puts in the faith necessary to clear that bar. He may be happy but he is short of one grace that he cannot receive without the faith built on the other graces. The idler will never receive the grace of joy for themselves, a feeling that everyone who enters heaven will feel. He will never "win the prize" as King Benjamin says.

So, to answer the original question, yes, grace does save you, but not alone. Neither can works save you without the graces they are built upon. Grace and works go hand in hand. God has chosen to give us grace and we must build upon that grace. If we find grace in God's sight, through our works - faith, He may choose to give us more grace. And we grow "from grace to grace" and "receive grace for grace" "until the perfect day." Grace comes first and last but must have works in between or we will not find grace in the sight of God to receive that final grace of salvation.

Now, some may read this and say I am treating grace like a merit. There is some truth to this but it is not me it is the scriptures that portray this. "Grace is the help or strength given through the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ." Help from God comes in both forms, merited and unmerited. However, grace is the foundation of merit; grace comes first, before any works could be performed. For example, if we ran as fast as we could and the pole was not capable of properly transferring our momentum to the vertical direction we would not rise to the height equal to our momentum. Grace also comes last, after all works can be performed. God will give us everything that we deserve because He is a just God.

If you read this and didn't see the full analogy, I will spell it out in the next post (The Plan of Salvation Through Pole Vaulting.)