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APOLOGETICS |
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Mormonism's View of Jesus Christ the
Savior By
Marvin W.
Cowan |
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Mormons today often say they believe in
Jesus Christ as Savior just like other Christians, but
Mormon leaders are teaching things that are not in the
Bible. For example, Mormonism’s founder said, "To get
salvation we must not only do some things,
but everything which God has commanded" (Teachings
of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 332).
The 1997 manual published by the LDS
Church for its Priesthood quorums and the Relief Society
says, "The Gospel of the Son of God that has been
revealed is a plan or system of laws and
ordinances, by strict obedience to which the
people who inhabit this earth are assured that they may
return again into the presence of the Father and the
Son… The Gospel and the Priesthood
are the means He employs to save and exalt
His obedient children… every ordinance,
every commandment and requirement is necessary
for the salvation of the human family" (Teachings
of Presidents of the Church—Brigham Young, pp. 15,
18).
The 3 rd
LDS Article of Faith also says, "We believe that through
the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved,
by obedience to the laws
and ordinances of the Gospel."
If men must "do everything" God has
commanded including keeping all the laws and ordinances
God has given in order to be saved, no one will be
saved. No one but Christ ever kept all the Old Testament
laws. Galatians 2:21 says, "If righteousness came by the
law, then Christ died in vain." Romans
3:20 also says, "By the deeds of the law
there shall no flesh be justified in His sight;
for by the law is the knowledge of sin." Romans 3:28
goes on to say, "We conclude that a man is justified by
faith apart from the deeds of the
law." And Titus 3:5-6 declares it is "Not by
works of righteousness which we have done, but
according to His mercy He saved us, by the
washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit
which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our
Savior."
LDS Apostle LeGrande Richards wrote,
"Jesus Christ redeemed all from the fall; He paid the
price; He offered Himself as a ransom; He atoned for
Adam’s sin leaving us responsible only for
our own sins" (A Marvelous Work and a
Wonder, p. 102). And LDS Apostle John Widtsoe said,
"Complete salvation, which is full and eternal life,
results from man’s full endeavor to conform to the laws
of life, the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is
why we often say that men save themselves
with the aid of the Lord" (Evidences
and Reconciliations, p. 190).
Why call Jesus "Savior" if that is true
since He would only be a partial Savior and we would be
co-saviors with Him! But the Apostle Paul wrote, "Christ
died for our sins" (1 Cor. 15:3). And the
Apostle Peter declared that Christ "Himself bore
our sins in His own body on the tree…" (1 Pet.
2:24). The Apostle John also wrote, "The blood of
Jesus Christ, His [God’s] Son cleanses us
from all sin" (1 John 1:7).
On pages 70-71 of The Teachings of
Spencer W. Kimball, the 13 th
LDS Prophet wrote, "One of the most fallacious doctrines
originated by Satan and propounded by man
is that man is saved alone by the grace of God;
that belief in Jesus Christ alone is all that is
needed for salvation… One passage in the Book of
Mormon… is particularly enlightening … ‘For we know
that it is by grace that we are saved, after all
we can do’ (II Nephi 25:23)."
If someone drowning cried out for help
while a person able to save him watched and said, "I
will save you only after you have done
all you can do, would you consider him a good
"savior"? Did Jesus do that? Has any mortal done
all he could do in any area of life? In contrast
to what Kimball and the Book of Mormon said, the
Apostle Paul declared, "When we were yet without
strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly…
God commendeth his love toward us in that while we
were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:6, 8).
We were "without strength" since we were "dead
in trespasses and sins," Ephesians 2:1 says. Paul
did not say that Christ would save us after we
did all we could do. But he did say, "For by grace
are you saved, through faith; and
that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God—not
of works, lest any man should boast" (Eph. 2:8-9).
Some today claim that Mormonism has
changed and become more biblical, but an official LDS
Gospel Reference book published in 2004 entitled True
to the Faith doesn’t show such a change. It says,
When Jesus
Christ was on the earth, He established His Church
among His followers. After His Crucifixion and the
deaths of His Apostles, the fullness of the gospel
was taken from the earth because of widespread
apostasy.… The fullness of the gospel has been
restored and the true Church of Jesus Christ is on the
earth again… As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints, you can receive blessings that
were absent from the earth for
almost 2,000 years. Through the ordinances
of baptism and confirmation, you can receive
the remission of your sins and enjoy the
constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. (pp.
135-136)
Notice that for almost 2000 years mortals
had no access to the saving ordinances and
now they have access to them but only in the LDS
Church! Is that what the Bible teaches?
Before Jesus was born of Mary in
Bethlehem an angel appeared to Joseph and told him "Thou
shalt call His name Jesus for He shall save His
people from their sins" (Matt.
1:21). When Jesus began His ministry John the Baptist
saw Him coming and said, "Behold the Lamb of God, who
takes away the sin of the world" (John
1:29). And Peter, the Apostle said, "Neither is there
salvation in any other, for there is no
other name under heaven given among men whereby we
must be saved" (Acts 4:12). The Apostle
John also wrote, "The blood of Jesus Christ, His [God’s]
Son, cleanses us from all sin"
(1 John 1:7). And Hebrews 7:25 declares, "He is able
also to save them to the uttermost
who come to God by Him." These Bible verses and many
others clearly state that Christ came to
save us from our sins.
And that included the penalty of sin, the power of sin
and ultimately the very presence of sin when we enter
heaven. That is not what Mormonism was teaching in the
passages we quoted in this article!
Those who want to read more about the LDS
view of salvation can do so in Doctrines of Salvation,
vol. 2, by Joseph Fielding Smith. Next time we will
discuss LDS Priesthood. |
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