Lecture 6
Overview
Lecture 6 of the Lectures on Faith presents a profound inversion of the traditional Christian understanding of faith, assurance, and sacrifice. The text posits that mere belief is insufficient for salvation; rather, a believer must possess an 'actual knowledge' that their course of life is entirely pleasing to God. According to the author, this absolute certainty is the only foundation upon which saving faith can be built. Crucially, the text asserts that this requisite knowledge cannot be obtained through grace or divine revelation alone, but must be earned through the total sacrifice of all earthly things—including reputation, property, family, and one's own life. The lecture argues that a religion lacking this demand for total human sacrifice lacks the power to produce saving faith. Furthermore, it establishes a strict binary between faith and doubt, claiming they cannot coexist in the same person. If a person harbors any doubt or uncertainty, their faith is void, and they will be destroyed by the adversary. Historically situated during a period of intense persecution for early Mormons, the text serves to galvanize adherents to endure extreme hardship, framing their suffering and loss of property as the very mechanism by which they earn the right to exercise saving faith.
Key Figures
- God (The Creator whose will must be perfectly aligned with, and who accepts the believer's total sacrifice)
- Jesus Christ (Mentioned as the object of knowledge for whose excellency believers must count all things as dross)
- Abel (Identified as the first martyr who serves as the archetypal example of obtaining knowledge of God's acceptance through offering sacrifice)
- Ancient Saints (Used as historical precedents of individuals who endured persecution because they possessed actual knowledge, not mere belief, of their standing before God)
Doctrines Analyzed
Key theological claims identified in this text:
The Prerequisite of Actual Knowledge
Assertion
Saving faith cannot exist based on belief alone; it requires an absolute, experiential knowledge that one's life is perfectly aligned with God's will.
Evidence from Text
An actual knowledge to any person that the course of life which he pursues is according to the will of God, is essentially necessary to enable him to have that confidence in God, without which no person can obtain eternal life.
Evangelical Comparison
In Evangelical theology, saving faith is fundamentally a posture of trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ. While assurance of salvation is a biblical concept (1 John 5:13), it is grounded in the promises of God and the inward witness of the Holy Spirit, not in a believer's absolute certainty that their own 'course of life' is perfectly aligned with God's will. Lecture 6 shifts the object of confidence from Christ's perfection to the believer's own performance. By demanding 'actual knowledge' of one's own perfect alignment as a prerequisite for faith, the text creates an impossible standard that contradicts the biblical reality that believers still struggle with sin (1 John 1:8) and often exercise faith in the midst of weakness and incomplete knowledge.
Salvation Contingent on Total Personal Sacrifice
Assertion
The faith necessary for salvation can only be obtained after a person has sacrificed all earthly things, including property, family, and life.
Evidence from Text
Let us here observe, that a religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things, never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation... it is through the medium of the sacrifice of all earthly things, that men do actually know that they are doing the things that are well pleasing in the sight of God.
Evangelical Comparison
This doctrine represents a severe departure from Sola Fide (Faith Alone) and Sola Gratia (Grace Alone). In the biblical framework, Jesus Christ's sacrifice is 'once for all' (Hebrews 10:10) and entirely sufficient to secure the believer's salvation. Faith is the empty hand that receives this free gift (Ephesians 2:8-9). Lecture 6 inverts this by making the *believer's* sacrifice the instrumental cause of obtaining faith. It explicitly states that without offering one's all—including family and life—a person cannot obtain the knowledge required to have faith. This transforms salvation into a transaction based on extreme human works and self-immolation, directly contradicting the Evangelical tenet that human works contribute nothing to justification.
The Mutual Exclusivity of Faith and Doubt
Assertion
Doubt and faith cannot exist in the same person at the same time; any presence of doubt means faith is absent and the person will be destroyed.
Evidence from Text
For doubt and faith do not exist in the same person at the same time. So that persons whose minds are under doubts and fears cannot have unshaken confidence, and where unshaken confidence is not, there faith is weak... and the adversary will have power over them and destroy them.
Evangelical Comparison
Lecture 6 establishes a psychological absolute: if there is doubt, there is no faith. This creates a fragile and terrifying spiritual paradigm. Evangelical theology, drawing from the whole counsel of Scripture, understands that faith is often exercised in the very face of doubt and fear. Figures like Abraham, David, and Peter exhibited moments of profound doubt while still possessing saving faith. Jesus commended the father who cried out, 'I believe; help my unbelief!' (Mark 9:24), showing that Christ's grace meets believers in their weakness. By claiming that doubt entirely negates faith and invites destruction by the adversary, this text places an unbearable psychological burden on the adherent, demanding a level of cognitive perfection that the Bible never requires for justification.
Comparative Analysis
Theological Gap (Summary)
The text fundamentally alters the Christian order of salvation by making extreme human sacrifice the prerequisite for obtaining saving faith, whereas Evangelicalism teaches that Christ's sacrifice is the sole basis for salvation, received by faith alone.
Theological Gap (Explained)
The theological gap between Lecture 6 and Evangelical Christianity centers on the doctrines of Justification by Faith Alone (Sola Fide) and the Sufficiency of Christ's Atonement. In Evangelical theology, faith is the instrumental cause of justification—it is the empty hand that receives the free gift of God's grace (Ephesians 2:8-9). This faith is placed entirely in the objective, finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Good works and sacrifices are the *fruit* of this salvation, not the root. Lecture 6 completely inverts this biblical order. It posits that saving faith cannot even exist until a person has first achieved an 'actual knowledge' of their perfect standing before God. Furthermore, it claims this knowledge can only be obtained through the believer's total sacrifice of all earthly things. Therefore, human sacrifice becomes the prerequisite for knowledge, which is the prerequisite for faith, which leads to salvation. This creates a severe works-righteousness paradigm. It shifts the believer's focus away from the cross of Christ and places the burden of salvation squarely on the believer's ability to surrender their property, family, and life. This nullifies the grace of God, as salvation is no longer a gift, but a status earned through extreme personal deprivation.
For All Ages
Imagine you need a very expensive ticket to get into a wonderful theme park. The Bible says Jesus bought the ticket for you because it was too expensive, and you just have to trust Him and accept it as a free gift. This text says something very different. It says you have to sell all your toys, your house, and give up everything you love just to prove you really want to go. Only *after* you give up everything will you feel sure enough to get the ticket. It makes getting to heaven depend on how much *we* give up, instead of what *Jesus* gave up for us.
Friction Points
Sola Fide (Faith Alone)
The text explicitly denies that faith alone is sufficient, requiring the 'sacrifice of all earthly things' as a prerequisite to even possess saving faith.
Christ's Sufficient Sacrifice
The text shifts the focus from Christ's sacrifice to the believer's sacrifice, stating that 'through this sacrifice [of the believer's earthly things], and this only, that God has ordained that men should enjoy eternal life.'
Assurance of Salvation
The text destroys biblical assurance by claiming that any presence of doubt entirely negates faith, leaving the believer vulnerable to destruction.
Semantic Warnings
Terms that have different meanings between traditions:
"Faith"
In This Text
A power or unshaken confidence that can only exist *after* a person has gained absolute knowledge of their acceptance by God through the total sacrifice of all earthly things.
In Evangelicalism
Trust and reliance on God's promises and Christ's finished work, which is the assurance of things hoped for, not necessarily absolute experiential certainty, and is a gift of grace (Ephesians 2:8, Hebrews 11:1).
"Sacrifice"
In This Text
The believer's total surrender of all earthly goods, relationships, and life as a mandatory prerequisite to obtain the knowledge necessary for saving faith.
In Evangelicalism
Christ's once-for-all atonement for sin (Hebrews 10:10); secondarily, the believer's grateful response of offering their life to God (Romans 12:1) as a result of being saved, not to earn salvation.
Soteriology (Salvation)
Salvation Defined: Obtaining eternal life, entering into eternal rest, and becoming a partaker of the glory of God.
How Attained: By exercising faith, which is only possible after obtaining actual knowledge of God's acceptance, which in turn is only possible through the believer's total sacrifice of all earthly things.
Basis of Assurance: The internal knowledge and testimony that one has successfully sacrificed everything and is therefore doing God's will perfectly.
Comparison to Sola Fide: This text is a direct antithesis to Sola Fide. It explicitly states that without the believer's total sacrifice, saving faith 'could not exist.' In contrast, Romans 4:4-5 declares, 'And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.' Lecture 6 demands the ultimate work (total sacrifice) to validate faith.
Mandates & Requirements
Explicit Commands
- Sacrifice all earthly things, including property, reputation, family, and life.
- Commit the whole lecture to memory (as instructed in the concluding Note).
Implicit Obligations
- Endure extreme persecution and the spoiling of goods joyfully.
- Eradicate all doubt and uncertainty from the mind.
- Maintain absolute confidence that one's life is perfectly pleasing to God.
Ritual Requirements
- Make a covenant with God by sacrifice (framed here as a total life sacrifice rather than just animal sacrifice).
Evangelism Toolkit
Practical tools for engagement and dialogue:
Discovery Questions
Open-ended questions to promote reflection:
- Lecture 6 says we must sacrifice all earthly things to have the faith necessary for salvation. Do you feel you have sacrificed enough to have this absolute knowledge?
- Paragraph 12 says that doubt and faith cannot exist in the same person at the same time. How do you handle moments of doubt or fear in your own spiritual life?
- If our faith depends on our ability to sacrifice everything, how do we know when we've finally done enough to be accepted by God?
Redemptive Analogies
Bridges from this text to the Gospel:
The necessity of a perfect sacrifice for acceptance with God.
The text rightly recognizes that a total, perfect sacrifice is required to secure eternal life and fellowship with God. The Gospel bridge is that we are incapable of making this perfect sacrifice ourselves. Therefore, Jesus Christ made this exact, total sacrifice on our behalf. We don't offer our flawed sacrifice to earn faith; we place our faith in His perfect sacrifice.
Spiritual Weight
Burdens this text places on adherents:
The text places a crushing burden on the believer by demanding the sacrifice of literally everything—property, reputation, family, and life—just to qualify for saving faith. This creates an endless treadmill of performance where the believer can never be truly sure they have given up enough to earn God's acceptance.
By declaring that doubt and faith cannot coexist, and that doubt leaves one vulnerable to destruction by the adversary, the text weaponizes normal human weakness. Believers are forced to suppress or hide their doubts, leading to deep psychological distress, scrupulosity, and a terrifying fear of losing their salvation over a fleeting thought of uncertainty.