GLOBAL CHRISTIAN OUTREACH
Preaching the Gospel to All Creation
Mark 16:15
SOBER AND QUICK TO OBSERVE
Do the “Prophet” Mormon’s Teachings Fit Those of Current Latter-day Saints . . . or Bible-based Christians?
Copyright ©2011 by Loren Franck
All Rights Reserved
LIFE-GIVING STEPS
Ready to take two liberating, life-giving steps?
First, begin your new life—an incredible spiritual journey—with Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15). After your required rebirth in Christ (John 3:3, 5;
1 Peter 1:23), your life will abound in his consummate grace, forgive-ness and inner peace (John 10:10).
Second, if LDS, remove your name from Mormon church records. Stop attending. Stop giving Mormonism your money. The Lord wants you to leave that "domain of darkness" and enter the "kingdom of His beloved Son" (Colossians 1:13), which is composed of those who believe in the biblical Jesus.
You can’t transition if you remain in Mormonism. God asks people who worship him in “spirit and in truth” (John 4:23) not to bind themselves to unbelievers, associate with the lawless or fellowship with those in darkness (2 Corinthians 6:14).
Through the biblical Jesus, God has reconciled believers to himself and at the appropriate time will present us "holy and blameless and beyond reproach" in his presence (2 Corin-thians 5:18–21; Colossians 1:21, 22).
Take comfort in God’s word: “ . . . If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation . . . for whosoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:9, 10, 13).
At an early age, Mormon was sober of mind and “quick to observe” (Mormon 1:2). Among numerous Book of Mormon characters, he was apparently faithful to Christ. But Mormon is also one of the most understated personalities in the book that bears his name. Even a cursory study of the Book of Mormon suggests he’s one of that volume’s most important personalities.
Bible-based Christians don’t consider Mormon a prophet, though. And some members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) would never recognize their beloved Book of Mormon hero as a prophet, especially when some of his teachings differ drastically from current LDS church doctrine.
Understandably, then, some students of scripture will want to assess how well the “prophet” Mormon’s teachings harmonize with current LDS tenets in light of Bible-based Christian doctrine. Unfortunately, this article doesn’t permit an exhaustive examination in this area. Instead, it should serve as a springboard for further study. Therefore, with that in mind, the outline below will suggest five reasons the “prophet” Mormon fits among current Bible-based Christians, three reasons he doesn’t fit doctrinally among today's Mormons, and will propose several thought-provoking questions.
WHY MORMON FITS AMONG CONTEMPORARY BIBLE-BASED CHRISTIANS
1. MORMON WAS PRAYERFUL
He Asked of God, Expecting to Receive
Exercising remarkable faith in God, Mormon asked him to preserve the Book of Mormon plates. “And I, Mormon,” he writes in Words of Mormon 1:11, “pray to God that they may be preserved from this time henceforth. And I know that they will be preserved.” As 3 Nephi 5:14 reveals, Mormon believed the prayers of God’s “holy ones” would be answered according to faith and God’s will. Similarly, Mormon explains in Moroni 7:26, “As surely as Christ liveth he spake these words unto our fathers, saying: Whatsoever thing ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is good, in faith believing that ye shall receive, behold, it shall be done unto you.”
Bible-based Christians Likewise Believe in Fervent, Faithful Prayer
For Bible-based Christians, prayer is a lifeline to God. They know he answers their petitions largely according to one’s faith. For example, in Luke 11:1–8, Jesus outlines several essentials of prayer in the Parable of the Persistent Friend. This timeless tale tells of a man who relentlessly asks a neighbor for bread late at night. In verse 8, the Lord drives his point home: “Even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he heeds.” Accordingly, Bible-based Christians exercise faith in the words of Jesus recorded in Mark 11:24: “All things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted to you.”
2. MORMON EMPHASIZED PERSONAL DISCIPLESHIP UNDER JESUS CHRIST
Mormon Openly Confessed his Christian Discipleship
Following the examples of Abinadi in Mosiah 15, King Benjamin (Mosiah 3:17–20), and other Book of Mormon principals, Mormon boldly confessed he was a disciple of Jesus Christ. For example, in 3 Nephi 5:13, Mormon proclaims, “Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life.” In verse 20, Mormon added, “I have reason to bless my God and my Savior Jesus Christ . . . he hath given me and my people so much knowledge unto the salvation of our souls.”
Bible-based Christians Confess Their Discipleship of Jesus Christ
Confession plays pivotal roles in the lives of Bible-based Christians. For instance, 1 John 1:9 assures, “If we confess our sins, [God] is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Similarly, 1 John 4:2 points out, “Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.” Clearly, John speaks exclusively of the biblical Jesus. In a related passage, Matthew 16:16, Peter confesses: “[Jesus is] the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And the Savior himself announces in Luke 12:8 that “everyone who confesses [Christ] before men, the Son of Man will confess him also before the angels of God.” An important additional trademark of Bible-based Christians is their confession that Jesus is Lord of their lives. This explains why Paul fearlessly proclaims in 1 Timothy 6:15 that Jesus is “the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords.”
3. MORMON BELIEVED IN THE RESURRECTION
Mormon Taught That Christ Ensures Resurrection for All Mankind
Mormon envisioned his resurrection at God’s appointed time, knew he’d be judged, and that the faithful in Christ will be raised to eternal life. “I know that I shall be lifted up at the last day,” he writes in Mormon 2:19. In chapter 7 verse 6, the noted scribe records, “And [Christ] bringeth to pass the resurrection of the dead, whereby man must be raised to stand before his judgment-seat [sic].” Mormon expresses similar views in Moroni 7:41, which reads in part, “Ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise.”
Bible-based Christians Teach All Mankind Will Rise From the Dead
Bible-based Christians embrace the scriptural passages that say Christ’s resurrection guarantees resurrection for all mankind. Two popular resurrection verses among Bible-based Christians are Job 19:25 and 26, wherein that faithful prophet affirms, “I know that my Redeemer lives . . . even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God.” In the New Testament, John 5:28 and 29 proclaim, “An hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear [Christ’s] voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment” (ESV). Writing in 1 Corinthians 15:21 and 22, Paul agrees: “For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.”
4. MORMON TAUGHT GOD IS ETERNAL AND OMNISCIENT
Mormon Affirmed God is Unchangeable and Knows All Things
With refreshing boldness, Mormon writes that God possesses all knowledge. For instance, in Moroni 7:22, Mormon elaborates, “God knowing all things, being from everlasting to everlasting, sent angels to minister unto the children of men, to make manifest concerning the coming of Christ.” And surely, Mormon recalled 2 Nephi 9:20, which affirms, “[God] knoweth all things, and there is not anything save he knows it.” In Moroni 8:12, Mormon scorns the suggestion God could change. So we might ask, If God can’t change, how could he learn?
Bible-based Christians Worship the Eternal Omniscient God
Like Mormon and many Latter-day Saints, Bible-based Christians believe God knows all things. They use the Bible to establish this important truth. For example, Job 28:24 says God “looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens.” Similarly, Job 36:4 and 37:16 declare that God is “perfect in knowledge.” And Psalm 147:5 assures us that God possesses infinite understanding. Furthermore, Bible-based Christians know that God has always been God, that the phrase “from everlasting to everlasting” means he has been—and will remain—unchanged throughout all eternity. For instance, we read in Psalm 90:2: “From everlasting to everlasting, you are God.” Psalm 102:24 reveals that God’s years are “throughout all generations” (italics added). And Psalm 103:17 explains that “the lovingkindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him.” Offering a New Testament perspective, 2 Timothy 1:9 reminds believers of the “[divine] purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity.”
5. MORMON PROCLAIMED CHRIST’S DIVINITY
Mormon Insisted That Christ is God
Agreeing with today’s Bible-based Christians, Mormon knew that Jesus Christ is God’s Son—and that Christ is God. “Listen to the words of Christ,” Mormon exhorts in Moroni 8:8, “your Redeemer, your Lord and your God.” Surely, Mormon could never forget Abinadi’s words in Mosiah 15:1–4: “God himself shall come down among the children of men, and shall redeem his people. And because he dwelleth in flesh he shall be called the Son of God, and having subjected the flesh to the will of the Father, being the Father and the Son—and they are one God, yea, the very Eternal Father of heaven and of earth” (italics added).
Bible-based Christians Believe Jesus Christ is the God, Not Merely a God
Grounding their convictions solely on the Old and New Testaments, Bible-based Christians affirm that Christ is not a God, but the God over all creation throughout all existence. Many verses verify this doctrine. For example, John 1:1 and 2 says Christ was “in the beginning with God,” and that Jesus is God. One of scripture’s most compelling affirmations, Hebrews 1:8, declares, “But of the Son [God] says, ‘Your throne, O, God, is forever and ever.’” And with equal verve, the Bible explains in Titus 2:13 that Christ is “our great God and Savior.” Writing in 1 John 5:20, the apostle John says of Jesus, “This is the true God and eternal life” (italics added). Additionally, Bible-based Christians affirm that Jesus has always been God. Hebrews 13:8 verifies that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” And Colossians 1:16 declares Christ has generated—and will generate—all earthly and heavenly creation.
WHY MORMON DOES NOT FIT AMONG TODAY’S LATTER-DAY SAINTS
1. THE ETERNAL HEREAFTER
Today’s Latter-day Saints Believe in Three Eternal Kingdoms of Glory
“At the Final Judgment, we will be assigned to the kingdom for which we are prepared,” says the LDS church-published book, Gospel Principles (1997 edition, p. 297). On the same page, we read, “We will be sent to one of four places: the celestial kingdom (the highest degree of glory), the terrestrial kingdom (the second degree), the telestial kingdom (the lowest degree), or outer darkness (the kingdom of the devil—not a degree of glory).” This is based on Doctrine and Covenants 76:25–38, 50–70; 131:1-4.
Mormon Taught of Only One Heaven and One Hell
Throughout his writings, Mormon delineates one heaven for the righteous, and one hell for the wicked. For example, in Mormon 7:7 he explains, “He that is found guiltless before [Christ] at the judgment day hath it given unto him to dwell in the presence of God in his kingdom.” Likewise, Mormon writes in Moroni 9:6 that God’s faithful will “rest from [their] sins in the kingdom of God.” Mormon surely knew these words in Helaman 12:25 and 26: “In the great and last day there are some . . . who shall be cast off from the presence of the Lord . . . who shall be consigned to a state of endless misery, fulfilling the words which say: They that have done good shall have everlasting life; and they that have done evil shall have everlasting damnation.” This agrees with Daniel 12:1 and 2; Matthew 25:31–46; Luke 16:19–31, John 5:28 and 29 and numerous other verses. It’s what most Bible-based Christians believe about heaven and hell.
2. THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY
Today’s Latter-day Saints Proclaim One Godhead of Three Separate and Distinct Gods Who Are United in Purpose
Nobody was more familiar with Mormon doctrine than Joseph Smith was. In his infamous June 16, 1844, sermon on the plurality of gods, he announced, “I have always declared God to be a distinct personage, Jesus Christ a separate and distinct personage from God the Father, and that the Holy Ghost was a distinct personage and a Spirit: and these three constitute three distinct personages and three Gods” (History of the Church 6:473, italics added). Two months earlier, in the equally noteworthy King Follet Sermon, Smith articulated, “God wants us to become Gods ourselves, just like all the other Gods have done” (History of the Church 6:302–317). Doctrine and Covenants 132:19 and 20 officially canonize this doctrine.
Mormon Said the Father, Son and Holy Ghost are Separate and Distinct Personages but One God; He Said Nothing About Men Becoming Gods
Demonstrating that the Father and Son are separate personages, Mormon declares in Moroni 7:27, “Christ hath ascended into heaven, and hath sat down on the right hand of God, to claim of the Father his rights of mercy which he hath upon the children of men[.]” In Moroni 7:31 and 48, Mormon again distinguishes between the Father and the Son. In fact, Mormon was well versed in the phrase “Father, Son and Holy Ghost.” For example, in Mormon 7:7, he says the guiltless will eternally “sing ceaseless praises with the choirs above, unto the Father, and unto the Son, and unto the Holy Ghost, which are one God” (italics added). All of this agrees with Isaiah 44:8; 45:21; Matthew 3:13–17; 28:19; John 17:3; 20:17; and 2 Corinthians 13:14. These and other verses evidence that the Father, Son and Holy Ghost are distinct personages but the one true God.
3. MORMON PROCLAIMED JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH
Latter-day Saints Say We Must Keep All of God’s Commandments to Receive Eternal Life
Contemporary Mormons claim God told Joseph Smith, “Keep my commandments continually, and a crown of righteousness thou shalt receive. And except thou do this, where I am you cannot come” (Doctrine and Covenants 25:15, italics added). Doctrine and Covenants 76:52 explains “that by keeping the commandments [the just] might be washed and cleansed from all their sins.” In the Book of Mormon, supposedly “the most correct of any book on earth and the keystone of [the LDS religion]” (see History of the Church 4:461), we’re told in Moroni 8:25, “Fulfilling the commandments bringeth remission of sins.” And no Latter-day Saint would intentionally disregard 1 Nephi 22:31: “If ye shall be obedient to the commandments, and endure to the end, ye shall be saved at the last day.”
Mormon Taught That All Who Have Faith in Christ Will Receive Eternal Life
“[Christ] claimeth all those who have faith in him,” Mormon writes in Moroni 7:28, “and they who have faith in him will cleave unto every good thing.” The verse says Christ claims all who have faith in him, not those who demonstrate a certain degree of faith in Christ by obeying the laws and ordinances of the Mormon gospel. Again looking at Moroni 7:41, Mormon explains, “Ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him” (italics added).
Bible-based Christians agree with Mormon and disagree with today’s Latter-day Saints regarding justification by faith. For instance, Bible-based Christians claim the full blessings of Romans 4:2–5, which reads: “If Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does [Genesis 15:6] say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’ Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness . . . David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works” (italics added). Verses 23 and 24 add: “Not for [Abraham’s] sake only was it written that [righteousness] was credited to him, but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.”
Bible-based Christians believe in justification by grace alone, through faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ alone. In the New Testament view, good works are the fruits of faith, the result of salvation, not the pathway to it. (See Matthew 7:21–27 in light of John 6:38–40; Ephesians 2:10; and James 2:14–18.)
FOR FURTHER THOUGHT
1. In numerous significant areas, why does the “prophet” Mormon have more in common with contemporary Bible-based Christians than with today’s Latter-day Saints?
2. Are Mormon’s version and the biblical version of the gospel both wrong because they conflict in important areas with the teachings of Joseph Smith and other LDS church presidents? The LDS church teaches that its president will never lead the church astray. Bible-based Christians rely solely on the Bible for the word of God. They embrace the gospel only it teaches.
3. Mormon’s version of the gospel closely resembles the biblical gospel of Jesus Christ. Since all versions of the gospel besides that taught by Christ and his apostles are false (Galatians 1:8, 9), why does the Mormon church teach a different gospel? For example, Mormonism insists temple marriage, salvation for the dead, following the LDS church president and other legalistic works are necessary for eternal life.
4. Did Mormon possess the fullness of the gospel? If the Book of Mormon is “the most correct book on earth,” as Joseph Smith maintained in History of the Church 4:461, and it purportedly contains “the fulness of the everlasting gospel” (see Doctrine and Covenants 20:9; 27:5 and 42:12), do Mormons possess the fullness of the gospel? If so, why do the “prophet” Mormon’s writings pertaining to the gospel and the current LDS gospel differ so dramatically?
***
Another version of this paper was presented on March 27, 2010, at the Sunstone Symposium West in Claremont, Calif.
References to Mormon 1:2, 3 Nephi 5:14 and similar nonbiblical references are Book of Mormon passages. Latter-day Saints believe the Book of Mormon is scripture.
The Doctrine and Covenants is a compilation of alleged revelations to Joseph Smith and other LDS church presidents. Like the Book of Mormon and another volume, The Pearl of Great Price, it’s considered holy writ by Latter-day Saints.
Unless otherwise noted, all Bible references are from the New American Standard Bible, Updated Edition, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
©2011 Global Christian Outreach, Inc. All Rights Reserved
NEED HELP
LEAVING MORMONISM?
The authors of “Seven Reasons to Leave the Mormon Church” are eager to help you formally leave the LDS church and begin a new life with the Christ of the Bible. Both men are committed to biblical principles of “not [being] quarrelsome, but [remaining] kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth”
(2 Timothy 2:24, 25).
Loren Franck, president and executive director of Global Christian Outreach, PO Box 5761, Playa del Rey, CA 90296-5761; loren@gco4lds.org.
J. Dawn Pratt, Global Christian Outreach vice president and research director, PO Box 5761, Playa del Rey, CA 90296-5761; dawn@gco4lds.org.
WANT TO BE A
GOOD SAMARITAN?
You can help people who need it most. Log on to www.wshola.org for details.
Mormonism relies heavily on marketing and public relations instead of biblical truth. The Los Angeles billboard above targets African-American families as needing help to stay together. Through its former priesthood ban, the Mormon church discriminated against blacks of African descent for more than 100 years.
“For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross.”
Colossians 1:19, 20
THE SAVIOR SAYS . . .
“Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return”
(Luke 6:38).
Global Christian Outreach needs your financial support. Please visit our donate page today!
NEED PRAYER?
Contact our prayer team to receive one-on-one prayer for all your needs.
WANT TO KNOW?
1. The Great Apostasy: Fact or Fiction? Find the truth here.
2. Did Elijah give sealing power to Joseph Smith? The answer is here.
3. What are the seven best biblical reasons to leave Mormonism? Click here to find out.
4. Was Christ the Father’s first begotten Son in the preexistence? The truth may surprise you.
5. What’s on our readers’ minds concerning Christ, his gospel and the false teachings of Mormonism? Our e-mails and letters column tells you.
AWARD-WINNING BLOG
Christians are to “demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and . . . take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV).
A NEW CREATION
Officially leaving the LDS church broke my heart—just as it has been heartbreaking for many others who’ve discovered the biblical Jesus Christ. His body of saving truths is not found in Mormonism.
So, despite hardships it could cause in my job, among my friends and with my LDS family members, I had to be true to myself—and true to the Lord. I resigned my LDS church membership.
When you come to the Christ of the Bible, you become a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). Self-righteousness and other demonstrations of piety mean nothing. The new creation is all that matters (Galatians 6:15).
Since leaving Mormonism and fellowshipping with a New Testament–based Christian church, I’ve never looked back because I was too busy looking forward—and upward. Jesus said, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62). Sure, I remember being a Latter-day Saint—the endless meetings, duties, tithes, Sunday school and Relief Society lessons (which were merely LDS indoctrination sessions). In those days, I wondered if I could ever be good enough to merit eternal life according to my works. Now I know better. I don’t need to rely on what I do to be saved.
The Savior offers a better way. John wrote, “He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:12, 13).
I know I’m a new creation through Christ’s work in me, and I know I have eternal life. It’s not a reward that awaits me. The Bible says believers have it now. When we believe in the biblical Jesus, we pass out of death into life (John 5:24).
Mormonism offers nothing of the kind. And I thank God he led me out of Mormonism and brought me to the biblical Jesus.
— J. Dawn Pratt
