In order to become perfected, Moroni explains that one must deny oneself of all ungodliness, which is a path to not denying the power of God. By doing these things, we will love God with all our might, mind and strength. Jesus identified this as the greatest commandment. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” This was part of the Law of Moses delineated in Deuteronomy 6:5 and was reiterated by Jesus to the Pharisee in Matthew 22:37.
By taking these measures, the grace of Christ will be sufficient for perfection or completeness. The Lord’s grace is given unconditionally, but it will only be effective and sufficient after these preliminary steps have been taken. His grace is always there. But Moroni powerfully says in these verses, that unless these outlined steps are taken—denying all ungodliness, recognizing the power of God, and loving God—the grace of Christ will not be sufficient. Members of the Church believe that grace is always there—but, like the light in a room, it does not do us much good as long as our eyes are closed.
What does it mean to be perfected in Christ? The word “perfected” means “finished.” The word for “perfected” in Hebrew means “to be at peace, finally settled, everything is calm.” The Hebrew greeting, “Shalom,” comes from that same root. In Greek, the words “to be perfected” mean “to come across a finish line.” The concept does not mean that everything is over or that a person is totally finished. It means a person has finished a race or finished a course–one has come to an endpoint.
After going through the ordinances of the gospel and following Moroni’s steps, one is perfected in a sense—one is finished, but not yet a perfect being. The course is completed. Paul used this when he said that he had finished the course set before him (2 Timothy 4:7).
Elder Bednar has addressed this matter:
We will not attain a state of perfection in this life but we can and should press forward with faith in Christ along the straight and narrow path and make steady progress toward our eternal destiny. The Lord’s pattern for spiritual development is line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little. Small, steady, incremental, spiritual improvements are the steps the Lord would have us take. Preparing to walk guiltless before God is one of the primary purposes of mortality and the pursuit of the lifetime. It does not result from sporadic spurts of intense, spiritual activity.
Book of Mormon Central, “What Does It Mean to Love God with ‘All Thy Mind’? (Moroni 10:32),” KnoWhy 517 (May 23, 2019).
David A. Bednar, “Clean Hands and a Pure Heart” Ensign, November 2007, online at churchofjesuschrist.org.
Brent J. Schmidt, Relational Grace (Provo, UT: BYU Studies, 2015), 158–160.