Are Mormons as Good as Christians?

14 May

   This question was posed on a blog I read several years ago and is a recurring   question I’m asked on a regular basis.

     On the surface I’d have to say that yes, Mormons are as good as Christians when looked at through the eyes of God.  God is no respecter of persons, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  (Rom. 2:11; 6:23)  In that sense the Mormons are indeed as good as Christians.  I am no better than the Muslims that live two doors up the street from me or the Jewish Holocaust survivor living right next door.  Christians aren’t better than any unsaved person.  The difference is that we are saved through the Blood of the Lamb.

     As mankind we need to understand and believe that we are born with a sinful nature.  The moment Adam and Eve sinned, the contrary nature of God was instilled in their hearts and subsequently passed on down to each and every one except Jesus.

     God’s heart grieves deeply for each and every one of His creations.  Note that this does not include Jesus Christ as He is not a created being.  John 3:16 wasn’t a simple little verse given to us so that we could receive a sticker at AWANAS.  No!  Jesus spoke those very words to give us a small glimpse of how much the Father loves us.

     We are seen righteous unto God because of what His Son did for us on that cross.  To borrow from my pastor’s sermon today “It is through the unfertilized egg that God decided to become a man and die on the cross for you and me… is your interest in the cross or the crown…?”

     For the Mormon, you can be the hardest working human on earth.  You can give your last farthing to the collection plate and you can plow the snow out of the neighbor’s drive every week, but that means nothing to God.  He only sees you wearing righteous garments because of the spilled blood of Christ.  (Rev. 7:14)

     As Christians we are robed (and protected) in Jesus’ righteousness, not some thin layers of white clothing we place under our street clothes.  As the Irish missionary Amy Carmichael once said; “If I covet any place but the dust at the foot of the Cross, I know nothing of Calvary Love”.

     The difference between Christians and Mormons are the doctrines.  Here are just a few examples of what disqualifies the doctrines of the LDS Church from orthodox Christianity:

They do not believe it is through the complete unadulterated mercy and grace of God that we are saved.  Eph. 2:8-9.  (1)

They do not believe that God alone was in heaven before He came here to earth in human form. John 8:23.  (2)

They do not believe there is only one God.   Isaiah 43:10-11.  (3)

Mormons do not believe in the virgin birth.  Luke 1:30-35. (4)

They do not believe in original sin. Romans 3:23.  (5)

     So how about you; what do you believe?  The Mormons are constantly working towards and looking forward to wearing crowns of godhood status.  It says in Mormon Doctrine, pg. 173;

Those who gain exaltation in the highest heaven of the celestial world shall wear crowns. Perhaps literal crowns may be worn on occasion — emblematic of their victory over the world and signifying that they rule and reign as kings and queens in the eternal house of Israel. But at all times they will be “crowned with honor, and glory, and immortality, and eternal life.” (D. & C. 75:5.)

     Sadly, the Mormon isn’t going to make it into heaven by their good works trying to earn a crown of godhood status.  The ecumenical councils that sit around here deciding whether or not to tell them the truth is actually doing them a great disservice.  I’m not saying we should hate or be rude to them through taunting.  However, we should be obedient to what Paul told us to do and expose the darkness of their sin!  (2 Cor. 4:1-7.)

     It’s never wrong to lead someone to Christ.  If leaving me alone and not telling me the truth was the “norm” then I’d still be practicing Mormonism and still looking for salvation.  Was I offended at first?  You bet!  Did I demand an apology from the person who told me the truth about Jesus?  Absolutely not.  I am eternally indebted to that person and the handful of others who showed me the truth.  The apostle Paul also warned us that the gospel is offensive.  1 Cor. 1:18 says; “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.”

      I am not able to judge man’s heart because I am not God.  I can’t judge whether or not there really is one or more Mormon who will go to heaven.  However, the good Lord blessed me with a functioning brain that can reason and make rational decisions and the doctrine of the LDS Church does not promote biblical theology that leads to a true and lasting salvation.  I am also commanded by His word to tell the truth.  2 Timothy 4:1-4 says;

I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; 2Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. 3For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

     I am absolutely convinced that we (Life After Ministries) have been called by God to expose that darkness and warn my people they are in grave danger.  I personally don’t do this out of spite; on the contrary, I do this “work” because of my deep love for the Mormon people.  I’ve followed my own paths even while in this mission when I wanted so badly to just “hang it up” for awhile and have experienced God’s intervention from allowing me to do so on more than one occasion.  It’d be so much easier to just sit back and tend my dahlia gardens for the rest of my life; alas, I cannot!

     For those who have never been LDS and have never experienced the heartbreak of finding out you’ve been worshipping a false god, I have just one thing to say.  It is impossible for those of us that have lived through this to keep quiet.  Our God has given us much and therefore much is asked of us.  The passage in Luke 7:37-50 is a great description of how great my appreciation is for our Lord.  I’d much rather listen to an irritated Christian telling me how wrong I am than hear the Lord ask me why I didn’t obey His command.

     I challenge anyone who thinks it’s wrong to point out the problems of Mormonism to rethink their position.  I have to wonder if they’ve ever thought of all the false prophecies that prove Mormonism is not from God.  See our article here for a comprehensive list of Joseph Smith’s false prophecies.

1 – 2 Nephi 25:23; “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.

2 – Gospel Doctrine, pg. 93; “We want to know where we came from, and where we are going. Where did we come from? From God. Our spirits existed before they came to this world. They were in the councils of the heavens before the foundations of the earth were laid. We were there.”  (Also see Mormon Doctrine, pg. 116.)

3 – Gospel Truth, pg. 101; “The Prophet Joseph teaches us that our Heavenly Father was once a man and dwelt on an earth like we do upon this and that He has gone on from step to step, from one degree of glory and exaltation to another, until He now rules and governs…He must be the Son of some other personage, for He could not beget Himself, but must have a father even as He is our Father.”

4 – Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pg. 373; “I want you to pay particular attention to what I am saying. Jesus said that the Father wrought precisely in the same way as His Father had done before Him. As the Father had done before? He laid down His life, and took it up the same as His Father had done before. He did as He was sent, to lay down His life and take it up again; and then was committed unto Him the keys. I know it is good reasoning.

5 – Ensign, Aug. 1975, pg. 88; Elder Boyd K. Packer said: “It is critically important that you understand that you already know right from wrong, that you’re innately, inherently, and intuitively good. When you say, ‘I can’t! I can’t solve my problems!’ I want to thunder out, ‘Don’t you realize who you are? Haven’t you learned yet that you are a son or a daughter of Almighty God? Do you not know that there are powerful resources inherited from Him that you can call upon to give you steadiness and courage and great power?’ ”

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