In Christian history, few debates have been more persistent than the question of whether sacraments (or ordinances) are necessary for salvation. The disagreement is not simply about whether Jesus instituted baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and the laying on of hands — most Christians agree He did. The divide lies in how those acts are understood, and whether they are essential to receiving God’s saving grace.

1. How the Divide Emerged

Early Church Consensus

In the first centuries after Christ, baptism, the Eucharist, and laying on of hands were understood as covenantal acts — visible, God-ordained channels of grace. Early Christian writers like Ignatius of Antioch and Justin Martyr spoke of them as indispensable parts of Christian life, not optional extras. Authority to perform them was tied to ordained leaders, maintaining unity and doctrinal continuity.

Catholic Development

Over centuries, the Catholic Church defined seven sacraments and taught that they were generally necessary for salvation. Grace was understood to be conferred through the act when performed with proper authority and intent (ex opere operato). This view preserved continuity with the early Church but also concentrated sacramental authority in the clergy.

The Protestant Reformation Shift

The Reformers in the 1500s rejected much of Catholic sacramental theology. Martin Luther, John Calvin, and others affirmed baptism and communion but redefined them as symbols or ordinances — outward signs of inward faith, not grace-conveying rites. They feared that requiring sacraments for salvation undermined the biblical teaching that salvation is “by grace…through faith…not of works” (Ephesians 2:8–9).

Their reasons fell into three main categories:

1. Grace vs. Works — Any requirement beyond faith could be seen as human effort competing with Christ’s finished work.
2. Sola Scriptura — Only what was explicitly commanded in Scripture should be binding.
3. Priesthood of All Believers — No special class of clergy should mediate grace.

2. Protestants and the “Faith First” Lens

Many Protestants do not deny that Catholics or Latter-day Saints have faith — but their historical lens often treats any belief in grace transmitted through ordinances as a corruption of “faith alone.” During the Reformation, this framing helped Protestants distance themselves from Catholic authority and ritual. Over time, it hardened into a habit: if a tradition ties grace to any ritual or covenant, it is accused of “works-based salvation.”

From a Catholic or LDS perspective, this often feels like semantics. Both traditions affirm faith as the foundation, but see it as covenantal — a living trust in Christ that leads naturally to obedience, including participating in ordinances He commanded. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are not competitors with grace; they are expressions and extensions of it.

3. The Framing Game and One-Upmanship

The Protestant–Catholic split created centuries of rivalry. Each side told its story in a way that made the other look spiritually deficient:

• Catholics: Protestants abandoned the true Church, its unity, and its God-given sacraments.
• Protestants: Catholics replaced the gospel of grace with a works-based system controlled by clergy.

This mutual caricature became a form of identity reinforcement: “We are not like them.” Once these narratives solidified, they shaped theology as much as theology shaped the narratives.

Latter-day Saints, entering this already-polarized landscape, get caught in the crossfire. Because LDS theology shares elements with both sides — Catholic-like emphasis on priesthood and ordinances, Protestant-like reliance on the Bible and personal conversion — both groups tend to frame it through old battle lines:

• Protestants often lump LDS beliefs with “works-based” Catholicism.
• Catholics may see LDS claims as radical restorationism that rejects historical continuity.

4. Deflection from a Fuller Gospel

From the LDS point of view, the Protestant reduction of salvation to a single transaction — “accept Christ and you’re saved” — sidesteps the richer, layered message of the New Testament. Latter-day Saints distinguish between:

• Salvation — Resurrection and deliverance from death through Christ’s atonement, offered to all (1 Corinthians 15:21–22).
• Sanctification — The process of becoming holy through the Spirit, in obedience to God’s commands (John 17:17).
• Exaltation — The fullness of eternal life, reigning with God, and becoming like Him (Romans 8:17; Revelation 3:21).

When Protestants collapse all of these into “being saved” and then reject the latter two as “optional extras,” they can accuse both Catholics and Latter-day Saints of adding to the gospel — when in fact these are biblical promises and processes clearly taught by Christ and His apostles.

5. Biblical Patterns That Support the LDS View

Looking at the New Testament without flattening it into one stage of salvation reveals the pattern:

• Faith — Belief and trust in Christ (John 3:16; Hebrews 11:6).
• Covenant Entry — Baptism by water and Spirit (John 3:5; Acts 2:38).
• Laying on of Hands — Receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost (Acts 8:17; Hebrews 6:1–2).
• Continued Obedience — Enduring to the end (Matthew 24:13; Revelation 2:10).
• Eternal Reward — Reigning with Christ, inheriting all things (Matthew 19:28–29; Revelation 21:7).

This isn’t “works instead of grace.” It’s grace transforming the believer through faith, covenant, and Spirit-enabled discipleship.

6. How the Book of James Complements LDS Teachings on Faith and Works

The Book of James provides a crucial insight into this conversation by emphasizing that “faith without works is dead” (James 2:26). James addresses early believers who might claim faith intellectually but fail to live it out practically. He insists that authentic faith inevitably expresses itself in actions of love, service, and obedience.

James is not contradicting Paul’s teaching of salvation by grace through faith; rather, he clarifies that true faith is never alone. Just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is lifeless. This resonates deeply with LDS doctrine, which teaches that faith is the principle of action and power (Alma 32:21). Genuine faith leads naturally to covenant keeping, obedience, and participation in ordinances.

Both James and LDS theology reject a faith that is mere belief disconnected from life transformation. Instead, they emphasize that works — including sacraments or ordinances — are the evidence and fruit of a living faith, not a competing way to earn salvation.

Furthermore, James’s focus on caring for widows and orphans (James 1:27), controlling the tongue (James 3), and enduring trials (James 1:2–4) aligns with the LDS understanding of sanctification — ongoing spiritual growth made possible by grace and reflected in righteous living.

By integrating James’s teaching, the LDS view of salvation and sanctification gains biblical clarity: faith is the root, works are the fruit, and grace is the life-giving source connecting them both.

7. Why This Matters for Dialogue

Understanding these differences as matters of framing rather than pure doctrine can soften the conversation:

• For Protestants — Recognizing that Catholics and Latter-day Saints affirm salvation by grace through faith can reduce the reflex to label them as “works-based.”
• For Catholics and Latter-day Saints — Understanding Protestant fears about human mediation of grace can make it easier to explain ordinances in covenantal, grace-centered terms.

The biggest obstacle is not the biblical text but the 500 years of rivalry-driven narratives. Each tradition has developed shorthand ways of dismissing the other without seriously engaging its actual theology.

8. The LDS Distinctive

Latter-day Saints believe the Restoration brought back not just doctrines but practices and authority that had been neglected or redefined over centuries. Like the early Church, the LDS view treats ordinances as both symbolic and essential — not competing with grace, but channels God has appointed for covenant blessings.

In this light:

• Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are acts of obedience and covenant renewal.
• Laying on of hands conveys real spiritual authority and gifts.
• Faith is the starting point, but the journey includes sanctification and exaltation.

As Joseph Smith taught, ordinances are “not to be altered or changed” because they are part of God’s plan to lead His children from faith to fullness of life in His presence.

Closing Thought

When Protestants insist that sacraments aren’t necessary, they often do so to protect the doctrine of grace from what they see as human interference. But when that insistence becomes a way to flatten the gospel and dismiss deeper biblical promises, it can function as a theological deflection — even a kind of spiritual gaslighting — that prevents engagement with the full richness of what Christ and His apostles taught.

Catholics and Latter-day Saints, in their different ways, preserve a more layered vision of salvation: faith as the root, ordinances as covenantal expressions of that faith, obedience as the fruit, and eternal glory as the promised harvest. Seen this way, the sacraments are not rivals to grace, but its appointed companions on the path to God.