No more heinous doctrine could exist than that which encourages lip service to God but discourages wholehearted obedience and the works attendant to discipleship.... And surely no more diabolical belief could exist than that which encourages the kind of smug self-assurance that comes from trusting in one’s own works, relying upon one’s own strength, and seeking to prosper through one’s own genius.
It is an affront to God and a mock of the atoning power of him whom God sent, for man to place himself at the center of things, for him to revel in his own greatness and marvel at his own achievements.
Pure humanism is a doctrine of the devil: it places an inordinate emphasis upon fallible man and thus deflects man’s vision away from the heavens and the powers of redemption.... The key to understanding this sacred principle—the relationship between the grace of God and the works of man—is balance, balance and perspective provided through the scriptures of the Restoration and the words of living oracles of this dispensation.
It is only as we seek to rid ourselves of the taints of this telestial world that we prepare ourselves to receive the Lord’s grace, his power and strength, which then enable us to do that which we could not do on our own. President Harold B. Lee wisely taught: “Spiritual certainty that is necessary to salvation must be preceded by a maximum of individual effort. Grace, or the free gift of the Lord’s atoning power, must be preceded by personal striving.