Benjamin attempts here to explain the problem of grace and works without casting it as a theological question. We begin mortality in debt to God for our very lives; but when we attempt to repay him for our lives by obedience to his commandments, he immediately blesses us, leaving the original debt untouched. By the very nature of God and by the nature of mortality, we are unable to “catch up” to God’s blessings. While some blessings might seem to be “earned,” the overall set of blessings can never be earned.
This principle of Benjamin’s is more clearly stated in the Doctrine and Covenants 130:20–21: “There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.” This scripture describes the same principle as Benjamin: When we obey, we are immediately blessed.
What do we do with those very real and frequently painful situations in which a desired blessing does not appear to be “immediate” at all? Benjamin combines this principle of human obedience with Yahweh’s overarching grace, making it a close match with Nephi’s understanding: “It is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do” (2 Ne. 25:23).