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When those who comment on the scriptures, with regard to faith and works, say, "I believe James when he says 'faith without works is dead'". Yet another may say, "I believe what Paul says on that subject". According to Paul if grace is come then we no longer need works, but Paul is saying we no longer need the Law of Moses when we have faith in the grace of Jesus Christ.

We know that faith in Jesus Christ has replaced the Law of Moses and a careful reading of James will show that the works he is referring to are works of obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ. When Jesus atoned for our sins He brought an end to the need to follow the multiplicity of everyday ritual and observances performed by the Israelites, but did not do away with the Golden Rule or the Ten Commandments.

Sometimes Latter-Day Saints also fail to notice that Paul and James are referring to two different kinds of works, Paul about the works of the Law of Moses and James about works of faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Golden Rule and the Ten Commandments. That failure may be the result of ignoring the sectarian overly simplified view of heaven. They have a boring view of what awaits us. They see the hereafter as two possibilities. Either an eternity of suffering in hell with Satan or playing harps and singing in heavenly choirs for eternity.

As Latter-Day Saints we see heaven as a place where Gods work of creation continues for eternity. In the Savior?s parable of the talents He shows His servants receiving different rewards according to their diligence and faithfulness. In other words there are assignments given in heaven according to how we performed during our time on earth. On the other hand his parable of the laborers who were called into the fields to work, some in the morning, some in the mid-day, and some in the evening shows that at whatever age we accept the gospel we are all expected to serve Him for the same wages. The wages are forgiveness of our sins and we must endure to the end in order to obtain our equal reward. The assignment we will receive once we obtain heaven will suit our demonstrated abilities as we performed assignments in mortality.