The "Free License to Sin" nonsense.

[Bill the Cat]

Close. It was their obedience through faith that saved them.

James 2:22-24 NKJV

²² Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? ²³ And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”[a] And he was called the friend of God. ²⁴ You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.

Psalm 106:28-31

²⁸ They joined themselves also to Baal of Peor,
And ate sacrifices made to the dead.
²⁹ Thus they provoked Him to anger with their deeds,
And the plague broke out among them.
³⁰ Then Phinehas stood up and intervened,
And the plague was stopped.
³¹ And that was accounted to him for righteousness
To all generations forevermore.

Also see Hebrews 11 passim, with its many examples of "By faith, [Name] [action]. . . . "

Correct. But it must be noted that no single act of obedience is called THE requirement for justification. Each of those listed in Hebrews 11 (and elsewhere) did something different. As I see it, this shows that baptism itself is not required, but is yet another way to show obedience.

[Kabane52]

It is exactly the example JP Holding uses to explain STC.

Yes, it is, but JP Holding did not invent the Semitic Totality Concept. I am of the opinion that he's misusing it and reading into his sources. That's NOT what Semitic Totality is. Semitic Totality is not the idea that the effect of an event can be spoken of as the event itself.

[Kabane52]

Correct. But it must be noted that no single act of obedience is called THE requirement for justification. Each of those listed in Hebrews 11 (and elsewhere) did something different. As I see it, this shows that baptism itself is not required, but is yet another way to show obedience.

Also, you should know that in traditional Orthodox theology (not sure about LDS theology) faith is the power behind every good work which is done unto justification. For us, "justification" is identified with the renewal of the Divine Image, or theosis. All good works done outside of the lens of faith profit a man nothing, because they are not done unto the establishment of communion with the living God. So, we can speak of faith alone as salvific if we mean that faith is the sole power lying behind every good work. One must be careful to emphasize, however, that this does not mean that works simply qualify faith. Good works, done by the power of the Holy Spirit through the lens of faith, actually enliven the faith and make it salvific. Faith is the muscle. The weight is salvation. The Spirit is the energy (I'm not using this with the technical meaning it has in Orthodox theology) which empowers the muscle. The work is taking advantage of the Spirit in faith to lift the weight and produce salvation. This helps us understand Hebrews 11.

(Hebrews 11:6) And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Faith is not required because it alone imputes the record of Christ to the account of the believer. Rather, it is required because it is on the basis of faith that man "draws near to God." This illumines the rest of the passage. Each Old Testament saint "draws near" to God through a particular act. The faith is what enables them to "draw near." Faith, then, is the power lying behind Baptism, and it is in Baptism that man is clothed with the death and resurrection of Christ. In Baptism, man crosses the Red Sea out of the Egypt of sin, and is liberated from the bondage enforced by the powers and authorities. In Baptism, man experiences a foretaste of "the glorious liberty of the children of God" which will be consummated at the "redemption of our bodies."

Thus, as I see it, there are three elements to what we call "justification." We were justified when we had faith, and when this faith was outworked in Baptism, so that God poured the love of the Spirit into our hearts. We are being justified, made righteous, through partaking of the divine nature and being conformed to the Image of the Eternal Son, Jesus Christ. We will be justified, shown to be righteous, God-willing, when we are granted a share of the Kingdom in the age to come. It's not as if God is saying "Nope, you must do X amount of works before I justify you." It's that there are multiple elements of justification, and one progresses up the ladder of righteousness by the power of the Holy Spirit, so that there are degrees of blessedness in the age to come.