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INTRODUCTION The provision provided by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most key and critical doctrine in the Bible. The death and resurrection of Christ is the culmination of the Biblical narrative and the heart of the gospel message It may come as a shock to Christians to be told that the Mormon church does not believe that the death of Christ provides for the salvation from sins as is taught in historic, traditional Christianity. It must be remembered that Mormon doctrine is not based on the doctrines and teachings of the Bible. Almost every traditional doctrine that is taught in the Bible is denied or changed in Mormon teaching. What confuses many Christians and non-Christians alike, is that the Mormon church claims to be Christian and to believe and teach the "gospel" of Jesus Christ. The Mormon church calls itself "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" and it was originally called the "Church of Christ". It would seem that Jesus Christ is the central figure in Mormon belief, but that is not so. Mormon terminology is complete with all the words found in the Bible, and it would seem that the Mormon church believes and teaches everything that is found in Christian doctrine, but that is also not the case. Who is the "Jesus Christ" that is taught by the Mormon Church? He is not the Jesus Christ taught in the Bible, but a different person, defined and described in the Book of Mormon and in the other teachings of the Mormon church. SAME WORDS - DIFFERENT MEANINGS The Mormon religion is very subtle, because it uses the same words and terminology found in the Bible and in traditional Christian teaching, but the meanings of those words and terminology are completely different. The Christian can talk to a Mormon about being "saved", and the Mormon will say, "I believe in being saved; in fact I am saved". The Christian can talk to a Mormon about "believing in Christ", "salvation by grace" and being "forgiven"; and the Mormon will reply that all of those things are believed and taught in the Mormon church. The Christian may assume that both of them are talking about the same thing, but the definitions of, "being saved", "believing in Christ" and "salvation by grace" and "forgiven" are not the same in the Mormon mind as it is in the Christian. The words may be the same, but the meanings are radically different, even to the point of being irreconcilable. The Mormon church claims to believe in Jesus Christ, but he is not the same Jesus Christ that is revealed in the Bible. The name is the same, but the person of Jesus Christ and His work has been redefined in Mormon theology by removing the Biblical and traditional beliefs that are taught in the Bible. The bottom line is this: the Mormon church, through Joseph Smith, subsequent prophets and apostles, defined a new religious belief and means of obtaining "salvation" and then assigned to that new belief names of persons and words from the Bible. Having done that, the Mormon church then claimed a "new revelation" and stated that the Biblical record was corrupt and had been changed by evil priests many years ago. This was all done through the self-proclaimed authority of the Mormon church. In the process, the Mormon church fails to tell its adherents and prospective followers that the names and terms, taken from the Bible and used in Mormon doctrine, are redefined, interpreted differently and applied to different circumstances than can be found in the Biblical record. When the Christian, who believes in the historical and traditional doctrines taught in the Bible, tells a Mormon that they are not Christian, because of those differences, the Mormon becomes offended and defensive. They claim that they are Christians, because their church bears the name of Christ and they believe in Christ. But they believe in a Jesus Christ as defined by the Mormon church and not as defined by the Biblical record. They are not Biblical Christians, but are Mormon Christians, their Jesus Christ being defined by their own "revelation" and doctrines. Traditional Biblical teaching and Mormon teaching about Jesus Christ are mutually opposed and opposite to each other and cannot be reconciled together. "Am I Also A Mormon? What would happen if a Christian friend and I were to get two ten speed bicycles and put on white shirts, dark slacks, and ties and then began going door-to-door in Salt Lake City? Let's say we made up a couple of black name badges and calling ourselves "Elder Walker" and "Elder Jones," proclaiming door-to-door that we believed in Joseph Smith. But once in the home of the real Mormons, we say that we believe that Joseph Smith was a WOMAN, who was born in California in 1905. Now any good Mormon should know that Joseph Smith was not a woman but a man, and he was born in 1805 not in 1905 - and it was in Vermont not California. Well, perhaps I would just be off on a few irrelevant historical details. But what if I went on to say that Joseph Smith also never taught the "Law of Eternal Progression." [Note: this is the Mormon belief that God was once a man, that we were once his spirit offspring in the pre-existence, and that if worthy we could one day become Gods ourselves. (History of the Church, Vol 6, p. 305-6).] What would happen if I said that Joseph Smith, that is Miss Joseph Smith, taught the Law of Eternal REGRESSION - that we used to be Gods in the pre-existence, now we have regressed to humans, and if we are worthy, we can one day be vegetables? And even worse, what if hundreds - even millions of Mormons started believing us? "Now wait just a minute," a Mormon might answer. That is not what Joseph Smith taught, and you're not a REAL Mormon missionary. He is absolutely right! I would be teaching a counterfeit Mormonism and a different Joseph Smith. Rights and ResponsibilitiesNot only that - if even a few Mormon families were converted by us bogus Mormons, he, his Church leaders in Salt Lake City, and every other discerning Mormon have the right to warn their own followers and the general public of the difference between our Joseph Smith and the genuine article.More than the right, they would have the responsibility to help their members avoid the trap of these "mock Mormon Missionaries." Hopefully, they would go beyond warning their members of our error. Perhaps they would even sit down with us in love and explain, from their scriptures and history why, even though "we believe in Joseph, too," we were actually teaching an imitation Joseph Smith. In this issue of the Expositor, we present just some of the reasons that we believe the Jesus of the Mormons is not the same Jesus that's worshipped by Christians. It is our hope that our Mormon friends will realize that ours is not an unprovoked attack. Instead, we are exercising our God-given right and moral responsibility to inform our fellow believers about differences between the real Jesus and the ones taught by their leaders, which we see as a counterfeit. Perhaps they will even accept our invitation to sit down and to explore the scriptures and discuss our fundamental differences. And let us explain in love why we see theirs as "another Jesus, another Spirit, and another Gospel," (II Cor. 11:4)." ---- Watchman Fellowship, http://watchman.org Although Mormons claim the Bible as one of four sources of their Scripture, it has been relegated to the fourth source. The Bible, from the founding of the Mormon church, has been considered to be incorrectly translated, missing large parts that have been removed and had other parts added that were not part of the original. These alleged changes were done, in the second century A.D. by corrupt priests in the Catholic church. The claims are absolutely false, and are refuted by current scholarship and history, but the Mormon church still adheres to the teaching in order to denigrate the teachings in the Bible that contradict current Mormon teachings. With this in mind, it is not difficult to understand that Mormon doctrine and traditional Christian doctrine are in opposition to each other. THE DEATH OF CHRIST NOT UNDERSTOOD "It is not fully comprehended why it was necessary that Jesus Christ should leave the heavens, ...and come upon the earth to offer himself up a sacrifice; ...why this should be, why it was necessary that his blood should be shed is an apparent mystery. ...what sins of the world did he take away? We are told that it is the sin which Adam committed." LDS Prophet John Taylor, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 10, pp. 114 - 115, 1863. The process by which Mormon apologists proceed with their teachings is found in the above quote. They simply make a statement which is not true, or partially true, and then proceed to teach it as truth without proof and without foundation. In the above statement Mr. Taylor states that there is no explanation sufficient for a person to fully comprehend why Christ died as a sacrifice, and the implication is that the Bible, which is the only source of the teaching on the subject, does not provide an explanation. Then, the teaching that is provided in the Bible, which Mr. Taylor knew was there all the time, is then twisted to say something that is not taught in the Bible, mainly that the death of Christ takes away the sin of Adam only; conveniently ignoring the fact that the death of Christ also takes away the penalty for the sins that individuals commit in this life. What Mr. Taylor does is a classic case of creating a "straw man" (a premise in which he creates an untruth and then credits it to his opponent, in this case the Bible) and then makes his argument against that premise. The argument sounds great to the listener, but it is an argument against an untruth that he has created, and does not deal with the reality of the evidence against his belief. What is being taught by LDS Apostle John Taylor is that the death of Christ was only sufficient and able to take away the sins of Adam and Eve as personally applied to them only. The sins of the world, and every individual after Adam and Eve, cannot be taken away by the death of Jesus Christ. His death is not adequate to accomplish the task. The Bible teaches a doctrine that is clearly opposite to Mr. Taylor, and despite his claims to the contrary, the Biblical teaching is very complete, clear and understandable. But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did god's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many? Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: the judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. for if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive god's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased; grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." The Holy Bible, Romans 5:8 - 21 (NIV) THE DEATH OF CHRIST REQUIRES ADDITIONAL HELP TO PROVIDE FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND THE APOSTLES OF JESUS TAUGHT THE WRONG GOSPEL "The sin which our first parents committed in the Garden of Eden is called original sin; and the sins committed individually by the inhabitants of the earth, are called actual sin. ...the apostles sent forth to preach the Gospel by our Savior himself, taught the people that through the shedding of Christ's blood remission of sin might come to all and that mankind might be redeemed from sin, original and actual. But we find this distinction ...that the blood of Christ redeems mankind from the effects of the fall...but that while people had nothing whatever to do with the sin which Adam committed and therefore have nothing whatever to do with the work of atonement for that sin, yet for their own sins there is some action required on their part that they may obtain redemption therefrom, inasmuch as the blood of Christ was shed for original sin unconditionally, but for the remission of actual sin conditionally." LDS President Charles W. Penrose, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 21, pp. 81 - 82. LDS President Charles W. Penrose reveals how much confidence that he has in his own scriptural authority, the Book of Mormon, by denying what if says on the subject: "And the days of the children of men were prolonged, according to the will of God, that they might repent while in the flesh; wherefore, their state became a state of probation, and their time was lengthened, according to the commandments which the Lord god gave unto the children of men. For he gave commandment that all men must repent; for he showed unto all men that they were lost, because of the transgression of their parents." LDS Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 2:21 "For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father." LDS Book of Mormon, Mosiah 3:19 LDS President Charles W. Penrose must also deny the teaching of the first LDS Prophet and President Joseph Smith: LDS President Charles W. Penrose refers directly to the doctrine taught by the Apostles of Jesus Christ, who were themselves personally taught by Jesus Christ, and claims that he is the authority, claims that they were in error and announces to the world that he has the correct teaching. The Holy Bible, 1 Corinthians 15:21 - 22 (NIV) "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned... Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come." The Holy Bible, Romans 5:12, 14 (NIV) It is a difficult, in fact impossible, distinction to be made between the sin of Adam and Eve and the sin of mankind after Adam and Eve. The Bible makes no distinction between the commission of the sin by Adam and Eve and the rest of humanity. All sin is the same and is committed in the same way by the same pattern:
"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him." The Holy Bible, Romans 5:8 - 9, (NAS). The Mormon church actually teaches that there are two kinds of "salvation". There is "general" salvation and "individual" salvation. "General" salvation is given to all men, regardless of belief or conduct. This "general" salvation allows all men, after they have died, to be resurrected again, at which time they will be assigned their place according to the judgement of god. "Individual" salvation is preceded by what men do who believe in the doctrines of the Mormon church. "Individual" salvation can only be accomplished through personal works, i.e. following all the precepts, teaching and duties prescribed by Mormon doctrine. It not only will result in resurrection, as in "general" salvation, but will result in "exaltation" which Mormons equate with eternal life. Both types of salvation, "general" and "individual" are linked back to the death of Christ, but not in the same manner that is taught in the Bible. "But some one may ask, 'Is there no efficacy, for actual sin, in the atonement wrought out by Jesus Christ? Is there no method by which people can obtain a forgiveness of their individual sins?' Yes, ...and that is the plan of the true gospel, but it does not consist in mere belief in the righteousness of another; mere belief in the righteousness [of] somebody else will not make us any better ourselves." LDS President Charles W. Penrose, As a consequence of this doctrine, as taught by the Mormon church, the action of Christ, and specifically His death, has little or no relationship to the forgiveness of sins. Christ's death is seen as a means to bring all people, even those who reject Him, to the point of the Mormon teaching regarding resurrection. However, Christ's death is relegated to a minor event, with minimal, if no effect on personal sin. Christ's death is seen to have no effect regarding eternal life. What becomes major and important in Mormon doctrine are personal works which give an individual status and standing with god. It is this personal goodness, achieved by the individual sinner, that makes him "better".
"The Son of God, the Saviour of the world, in the way that it has been taught to us, is made to have a great share in it [salvation] and a great deal to do with it. Some suppose that he has done so much, and has made such peculiar kinds of provisions for our wants and necessities, that there is but little left for us to do, ...[Some suppose] that the great plan and work that bring salvation are things that belong to the mission of Jesus Christ. If this is correct, it is what we ought to believe; if it is not, it is that which we should expose; and we should labour to undeceive the people... If there is a work left for us to do, it will be accomplished as the result of our exertions." LDS Apostle Amasa M. Lyman, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 7, p. 297, 1859. "For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to god; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do." The Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 25:23. "When we cling to what Jesus Christ has done for us, do you not see that our part will never be done?" LDS Apostle Amasa M. Lyman, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 7, p. 297, 1859. "I want you to see this, and to comprehend that the whole matter of your salvation is your own business and work. What else has Jesus done? ... You examine principle in the Gospel as it is taught to you, and what requirement of that Gospel has been obeyed for you [by Christ]? None." LDS Apostle Amasa M. Lyman, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 7, p. 301, 1859. "What is it that frees us from sin? ... Truth exists all around us to a vast infinity, yet we pass on in our darkness from year to year, and add folly to our transgressions, and still continue to hope that yet, through Jesus, we shall be redeemed; but it will be when, by our own actions, we shall be released from the thraldom of sin." LDS Apostle Amasa M. Lyman, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 7, p. 299, 1859 "Has Jesus done anything that will bring salvation to you and me? The chief of what he has done is that he has revealed the plan of the Gospel -- the scheme of human redemption, and manifested himself among his brethren; and we may say he has done a great deal more, for he has shed his blood for it. So have others shed their blood. But whose blood has cleansed you and me? It is said that the blood of Jesus cleanses from all sins. Then why is it that we remain sinners? It is simply because the blood of Jesus has not cleansed us from sin -- because it has not reached us. What is the reason? It is because we have not been found in that perfect path of obedience that ensures us a freedom from sin [works]" LDS Apostle Amasa M. Lyman, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 7, p. 298, 1859. The work of Jesus Christ was not sufficient, because human beings must do works that are of a better quality and nature than the death of Christ for His death to be of any consequence. The blood of Jesus Christ reaches human beings only by means of their works. It is difficult to understand how, when human beings are capable of sinning, they can after being sinners, elevate themselves to acceptance in the godly realm through their good works. Can a person achieve more than perfection in order to make up for the negative aspects of his sins. Perfection is the standard, even for the Mormon, although they do not understand their own doctrine. They claim the verse in the Book of Mormon that salvation is "after all we can do". But "all we can do" means perfection. The word "all" means exactly that - there can be no failure, there can be no instance where a person did not do everything that was possible. If a person has not accomplished "all" then the standard of "all" is not met. What does the Mormon do then? The Mormon cannot look to Christ for mercy or grace, because the standard of "all" is not met. No Mormon can claim to have done "all" - there is always one more thing that could have been done, one more good deed, one more second of prayer, one more whatever. The Mormon church wishes salvation to be conditional, based on the performance of good works, but they do not wish to actually admit to the standard. If law is the standard, then the law must be met perfectly. THE DEATH AND SHED BLOOD OF CHRIST CANNOT WASH AWAY SINS "There was nothing about Jesus but the Priesthood that he held and the Gospel that he proclaimed that was so very singular. But he died for the world. Yes; and what man that ever died for the truth that he died for, did not die for the world? Prophets have died in our day. Men have testified to the truth, and for that truth have died; but has their blood redeemed us from the sin and transgression we were previously guilty of? Have we found redemption through them? As far as we have obtained it, it has been by walking in the truth. ...We may talk of men being redeemed by the efficacy of his [Christ's] blood; but the truth is that that blood has no efficacy to wash away our sins. That must depend upon our own action." LDS Apostle Amasa M. Lyman, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 7, p. 299, 1859. THE MORMON DOCTRINE OF BLOOD ATONEMENT After teaching a doctrine that minimizes and denigrates the death of Jesus Christ in relation to the forgiveness of sin, the Mormon leaders then proceed to teach a doctrine that states there are some sins, actually many, that cannot be forgiven by the death and blood of Christ, even when the best of good works are accomplished. These "special" sins can only be atoned for by the sacrificial death of the person who committed these sins. This is the doctrine of "blood atonement" which was taught by the Mormon church for many years, and at the same time was publicly denied as one of their teachings. Blood atonement requires that an individual commit suicide or be killed by members of the Mormon church in such a manner as to have their blood spilled on the ground. It is not the blood of Christ that atones for the individual's sins, but the individual's own blood that provides the atonement. "It is true that the blood of the Son of God was shed for sins through the fall and those committed by men, yet men can commit sins which it [Christ's blood] can never remit." LDS Prophet and President Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 4, p. 54, 1856. "There is not a man or woman, who violated the covenants made with their god that will not be required to pay the debt. The blood of Christ will never wipe that out, your own blood must atone for it..." LDS Prophet and President Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 3, p. 247, 1856. "As it was in ancient days, so it is in our day... The law is precisely the same. There are sins that can be atoned for by an offering upon an altar, as in ancient days, and there are sins that the blood of a lamb or a calf, or of turtle doves, cannot remit, but they must be atoned for by the blood of the man." LDS Prophet and President Brigham young, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 4, p. 54. There was no scripture in the Old Testament of the Holy Bible in which it was possible for an individual to atone for his own sins through the sacrifice of his own life. Brigham Young deceived his audience by the inference, and lied in the process. "I know when you hear my brethren telling about cutting people off from the earth, that you consider it is strong doctrine, but it is to save them not to destroy them... I know there are transgressors, who, if they knew themselves, and the only condition upon which they can obtain forgiveness, would beg of their brethren to shed their blood, that the smoke thereof might ascend to god as an offering to appease the wrath that is kindled against them, and that the law might have its course." LDS Prophet and President Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 4, p. 53. "...suppose that [a Mormon]... has committed a sin that he knows will deprive min of the exaltation which he desires, and that he cannot attain to it without the shedding of his blood, and also knows that by having his blood shed he will atone for that sin, and be saved and exalted with the Gods, is there a man or woman in this house but what would say, 'Shed my blood that I may be saved and exalted with the gods?' All mankind love themselves, and... would be glad to have his blood shed. That would be loving themselves... Will you love your brothers or sisters likewise, when they have committed a sin that cannot be atoned for without the sheding (sic) of their blood? Will you love that man or woman well enough to shed their blood? That is what Jesus Christ meant." LDS Prophet and President Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 4, pp.219 - 220, 1857. "This is loving our neighbour as ourselves; if he needs help, help him; and if he wants salvation and it is necessary to spill his blood on the earth in order that he may be saved, spill it." LDS Prophet and President Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Vol 4, p. 220, 1857. This doctrine taught by Brigham Young is abhorrent to any thinking Christian person, but to ascribe the teaching to Jesus Christ is heresy beyond comprehension. The twisting of the Biblical Scripture, by taking the command of Jesus to love one another, and stating that means to murder your neighbor, reveals the base, corrupt and evil nature of Brigham Young. Truly, Brigham Young was a hateful and murderous individual whose conduct was reprehensible and he should have been repudiated in total by the Mormon church. How far was this strange doctrine of "blood atonement" taken and was it really seriously a part of Mormon teaching and Mormon conduct? "Men, who have been warned and forewarned, but who will associate with the wicked and take a course to commit whoredom..with a view to gratify their cursed passions: we will take them and slay them before this people." LDS Apostle Heber C. Kimball, Journal of Discourses, Vol 4. p. 173, 1857. "Let me suppose a case. Suppose you find your brother in bed with your wife and put a javelin through both of them, you would be justified, and they would atone for their sins, and be received into the kingdom of God. I would at once do so in such a case; and under such circumstances, I have no wife whom I love so well that I would not put a javelin through her heart, and I would do it with clean hands. LDS Prophet and President Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 3, p. 247, 1856. Does it not seem strange that the death only atones for the sins. There is no time given for the couple to repent or even cry out for forgiveness. They are simply killed in the act of fornication and are saved as a result. Would that not justify the murder of any person on the grounds that they were being "saved" through the process of blood atonement? Surely, no one would put into practice such a bizarre teaching, or would they? "I could refer you to plenty of instances where men have been righteously slain, in order to atone for their sins." LDS Prophet and President Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 4, p. 220, 1857. Brigham Young cannot refer to any instances in the Old Testament or New Testament of the Bible, or in any place in the Book of Mormon in which the doctrine of blood atonement was practiced. Therefore, he must have seen the practice in Salt Lake, where he was in authority and he must have authorized and approved of the actions in which murder was committed and assigned approval by God. It can only be assumed that the practice, in many instances, was just as he described in his example; the people not even being given time to repent. THE WORDS OF JESUS CHRIST ARE DENIED "Now, we will take the case of an individual who has broken all the laws of God and perhaps all the laws of man, and finally has shed the blood of a fellow-creature, and is condemned by the laws of man to die... A minister will come a preach to him, and tell him that all he has to do is to cast his soul on Jesus; that he has just to believe that Christ died for him ..so that he will have the fruits of righteousness and peace. ...the man [the criminal] believes this, he confesses Christ with his lips and acknowledges him with his tongue, and straightway is strung up between the heavens and the earth, and choked to death; his spirit is forced out of his body, and ushered into the presence of the eternal Father to stand before his spotless throne, and is deemed fit to dwell in the society of the pure and holy ones on high. That is according to the modern Gospel [the Bible], but not according to the ancient Gospel of Jesus Christ [Mormonism]..." LDS Prophet and President Charles W. Penrose, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 21, p. 84, 1880. Charles W. Penrose presumes to judge the words and actions of Jesus Christ Himself. For what Charles W. Penrose described was exactly what happened at the death of Christ on the cross when Jesus spoke the words to the thief on the cross next to Him, "Today thou shalt be with Me in paradise." Christ forgave the sins of the thief, when the thief had no good works to merit that forgiveness, something that Jesus Christ cannot do according to Mormon doctrine. By his own words, Charles W. Penrose revealed that he had no understanding of the meaning of forgiveness and how it could be applied to the thief on the cross or to any other individual in the world. Contrary to Charles W. Penrose's understanding, it is not the individual that is deemed fit to stand before God, but it is the shed blood, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and His righteous covering that God sees, in relation to the individual, that gives the person standing before God. The penalty for the sins of an individual are not born by that individual, but that penalty is taken by Christ, and it is through the shedding of His blood, and not the blood of the individual, by which a person is cleansed of their sins.
"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us." The Holy Bible, Ephesians 1:7 "For, on the one hand, there is a setting aside of a former commandment because of its weakness and uselessness (for the Law made nothing perfect), and on the other hand there is a bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God. And inasmuch as it was not without an oath (for they indeed became priests without an oath, but He with an oath through the One who said to Him, 'The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind, ""You are a priest forever""',; so much the more also Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant. The former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing, but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently. Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to god through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when he offered up Himself. For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints a Son, made perfect forever." The Holy Bible, Hebrews 7:18 - 28 The same message, that salvation is by grace and not by works, is even quoted in the Inspired version of the Bible, translated by Joseph Smith, and conveniently ignored by the Mormon church today: "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; but it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast." LDS Prophet Joseph Smith's translation, Ephesians 2:8 - 9. The Mormon church teaches salvation by works and every member wishes to be judged by those works. Unfortunately, they will actually be judged by those works as compared to the works of Jesus Christ. In that event, where will the best of the Mormon people be placed on a scale, in comparison with the Jesus Christ of the Bible? "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name; and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers.!" The Holy Bible Matthew 7:21 - 23 (NIV) "But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life." The Holy Bible, Titus 3:4 - 5 (NIV) The Mormon church teaches that its members have a godly nature that makes them worthy before god if they only follow the teachings of the Mormon church. In effect, they are "embryo gods" who only need the right direction to attain the exaltation of godhood. This self justifying, puffed- up opinion of human character is in direct contradiction to the Bible which states that human being are under the curse of God and have been judged already and condemned to an eternity in hell unless they repent and accept the grace of Jesus Christ. Mankind is incapable of good works prior to receiving the grace of God. It is faith and the gift of grace from God that result in good works and not the other way around: For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God. The Holy Bible, John 3:17-18 (KJV) And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of god; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. The Holy Bible, Ephesians 2:1-10 (NAS) But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of god through Him. for if while we were enemies we were reconciled to god through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. The Holy Bible, Romans 5:8-10 (NAS) |
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