Mormonism vs Christianity Do you know the Difference?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 ต.ค. 2024
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God's CrimeScene: A Cold-Case Detective Examines the Evidence for a Divinely Created Universe:
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First off- Mr. Wallace is very accurate.
I was the guy knocking doors for the LDS church as a 19 yr. old, and I remained really active in that belief system and culture until I was 41. Then, just a few years ago, doubts about some of the truth claims started creeping in, and I was deathly afraid that my faith was falling apart. I dug in to the history and would only read from Church approved sources. I was sure that if I just understood context better then my concerns would be resolved.
The important thing most Christians don't understand is this- as a mormon I felt Jesus's influence in my life many times. I felt that I had a relationship with Him, and I knew I had been forgiven of sins that I didn't deserve forgiveness for. I had prayed and experienced real grace even when I didn't know what that word meant (today, I realize this is because God is bigger than any religion and was pursuing me for a long time) but back then I attributed it all to what I believed was the "only true and living church on the face of the earth". It was my world, and as my doubts crept in, I was afraid I would lose all of that along with the parts of mormonism that for me were becoming increasingly harder to hang on to (polygamy, race issues, failed prophecies, etc.). I also have a wife and 3 kids living in Utah, so the social implications weighed heavy on me.
At some point during a pretty deep and scary faith crisis, I was praying and got the impression to read the New Testament "as a child". I took this to mean that I needed to take every passage at face value and try to understand it as if I had never read any of it. I had always been taught that grace was "an enabling power" that meant Jesus's sacrifice made it possible for me to be saved by MY obedience to laws and ordinances- that if I proved myself good enough then I could progress to exaltation with my family and be as God is because of the things I had done. The downside was the daily evidence that I was seldom if ever even pointing in the right direction. But as I read from the bible, the overwhelming message of the gospel kept repeating itself on every page- the (really, really) good news that despite my weakness and pitiful attempts at obedience, Jesus has taken my place at judgement and has become sin so that I might become the righteousness of God, not by anything I do, but through His completed work of atonement alone. Grace is a free gift, and it means God will judge us and reward us on the merits of His perfect son rather than our works which compared to the standard of righteousness required for life with God are described as filthy rags. That sacrifice alone is sufficient to give me nothing less than Eternal Life with God- not a consolation prize lower kingdom where I would be eternally separated from God and the people I love. I receive everything because of Jesus alone.
News like that is good enough to lead to a life of gratitude through obedience, and I love how Jim states this at about 7:42 when he talks about the equation.
Thanks for making it to the end of my talk😂. If you want to know more of my story, just click my profile.
As a former Mormon of 65 years, this is so helpful. I struggle finding the simplest way to explain this to LDS family and friends. I ALWAYS thought Mormons were Christians simply because we believed in Jesus. It’s so much more ~ and so much less without the endless checklists (ladders). I’ve come to realize Jesus never intended His gospel to be as complicated as Mormonism makes it. It’s simple for a reason. Thank you for this.
The "Jim Wallace" analogy was good. 👍
MORMONS’ IMPOSSIBLE GOSPEL:
Moroni 10:32
“ **IF** you deny yourselves of **ALL** ungodliness… **THEN** is his grace sufficient for you.”
Did you notice the IF / THEN statement?
That’s a conditional statement.
So - how much ungodliness do you need to get rid of? Some? Most of? 60%? 90%?
Moroni 10:32 states you need to deny
“ *ALL* ungodliness.”
Sin is ungodly.
That means you have to remove ALL sin from yourself.
According to this Mormon scripture: grace doesn’t start until **AFTER** you have removed ALL ungodliness/sin from yourself.
This means grace is unattainable for Mormons.
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The Book of Mormon has other passages which support this:
2 Nephi 25:23
“We are saved by grace, **AFTER** all we can do.”
When do you get the grace?
Have you done all that you can do?
Have you ever had 1 day in your whole life where you did all you could do?
You couldn’t have prayed another minute?
So - can anyone ever be saved???
-
Mormon scripture is consistent about this:
Alma 11:37
“And I say unto you again, that HE CANNOT SAVE THEM IN THEIR SIN. For I cannot deny his word, and ye have said no unclean thing can inherit the kingdom of heaven. Therefore how can you be saved except you enter the kingdom of heaven? Therefore YOU CANNOT BE SAVED IN YOUR SINS.”
That’s like saying you’ve got to get out of the water before I’m going to save you from drowning.
In contrast, the Christian Jesus isn’t a swimming coach - He’s a lifeguard.
I’ve seen Mormons say, “it just means do your best” - but the Book of Mormon directly contradicts them and makes it explicitly clear that it does not mean that:
First Nephi 3:7
“And it came to pass that I nee-phi said unto my father , “I will go and do the things which the Lord has commanded. For I know that the Lord giveth no commandment unto the children of men save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commanded them.””
Is it possible for the Mormon god to give you a command you can’t keep?
Did he tell you to deny yourself of ALL ungodliness?
Did he tell you to do all you can do?
Did he tell you you can’t be saved in your sins?
If they say, I’m doing the best I can - then ask - does it say “Do the best you can” ?
So - can anyone be saved?
Read the whole chapter of Alma 34.
Which says you have to have repented of ALL sin before you die, otherwise you will be sealed to Satan.
AND:
a reminder:
Moroni 10:32
“IF you deny yourselves of **ALL** ungodliness… **THEN** is his grace sufficient for you.”
2 Nephi 25:23
“We are saved by grace, **AFTER** all we can do.”
-
This is confirmed by:
Doctrines and Covenants 82:7
“And now, verily I say unto you, I, the Lord, will not lay any sin to your charge; go your ways and sin no more; BUT UNTO THAT SOUL WHO SINNETH SHALL THE FORMER SINS RETURN, saith the Lord your God.”
"Those who receive forgiveness and then repeat the sin are held accountable for their former sins."
Gospel Principles, Chapter 39
Official LDS book published by the LDS Church.
“And the Lord said unto him: I will forgive thee and thy brethren of their sins; but thou shalt not sin any more, for ye shall remember that my "Spirit will not always strive with man; wherefore, if ye will sin until ye are fully ripe ye shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord.”
Ether 2:15
Doctrines and Covenants 82:9-10
“I give unto you directions how you may act before me, that it may turn to you for your salvation. I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; BUT WHEN YE DO NOT WHAT I SAY, YE HAVE NO PROMISE.“
Under those conditions - who can be saved???
Also:
"TRYING IS NOT SUFFICIENT. Nor is repentance complete when one merely tries to abandon sin,"
Spencer Kimball 12th President and **PROPHET** of the LDS Church, The Miracle of Forgiveness, p150
“Even though forgiveness is so abundantly promised there is no promise nor indication of forgiveness to any soul who does not totally repent. … We can hardly be too forceful in reminding people that they cannot sin and be forgiven and then sin again and again and expect repeated forgiveness.”
Spencer Kimball 12th **PROPHET** of the LDS Church, The Miracle of Forgiveness, p353, p360
The book just quoted, ‘THE MIRACLE OF FORGIVENESS,’ by Spencer Kimball (12th President and **PROPHET** of the LDS Church) is approved and recommended by multiple LDS leaders:
Ezra Taft Benson (13th President and **PROPHET** of the LDS Church) urged all church members "to read and reread President Spencer Kimball's book."
(from ‘In His Steps’ 1988).
LDS Church apostle Richard G. Scott called ‘The Miracle of Forgiveness’ a "masterly work" (‘Peace of Conscience and Peace of Mind, 2004) and “a superb guide.” (Finding Forgiveness, 1995).
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Please notice how this Mormon scripture directly contradicts the following 2 Bible scriptures:
Alma 11:37
“And I say unto you again, that HE CANNOT SAVE THEM **IN** THEIR SIN. For I cannot deny his word, and ye have said no unclean thing can inherit the kingdom of heaven. Therefore how can you be saved except you enter the kingdom of heaven? Therefore YOU CANNOT BE SAVED **IN** YOUR SINS.”
“And when you were dead **IN** your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our sins, having canceled the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.”
Colossians 2:13-14
“even when we were dead **IN** our sins, 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,”
Ephesians 2:5-6
Thank you so much for these references. I am a former Mormon, and was trying to wrap my head around all the verses I could share with my lds family.
The "saved by grace after all you can do" was a great stumbling block for me. That is not how the TRUE GOSPEL works. It is indeed, found in Ephesians 2.8-10
I know this personally because I was terribly broken , and only Christ could provide the healing, empowering grace for me to awaken and begin the sanctification process. God is great!🙏❤️🔥🕊️🎚️
[Titus 2:11-13 KJV]
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation
hath appeared to all men,
Teaching us that,
denying ungodliness and worldly lusts,
we should live soberly, righteously,
and godly, in this present world;
Looking for that blessed hope,
and the glorious appearing of the great God
and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
[Moroni 10:32]
Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him,
and deny yourselves of all ungodliness;
and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness,
and love God with all your might, mind and strength,
then is his grace sufficient for you,
that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ;
and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ,
ye can in nowise deny the power of God.
[1Cor 15:1-2 KJV]
Moreover, brethren,
I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you,
which also ye have received,
and wherein ye stand;
By which also ye are saved,
if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you,
unless ye have believed in vain.
A long comment, but *very* insightful. Thank you.
All Christians need to know about this. And so do all Mormons.
There is no Salvation in the Mormon "gospel".
It's as if Joseph Smith lied or Mormonism is of the devil.
That’s good intro information. There are a lot more differences to discuss than how Mormonism started. I’ve done research and had conversations with some Mormons from Saints Unscripted and watched many videos on LDS claims vs the Bible.
Helpful information, thank you.
The only difference is the beliefs on heaven, hell, sin, salvation, Jesus, God, atonement, grace, the Bible, and what to do with a demonic, gnostic heretic.
Besides that we have a lot in common!
Not forgetting the view on marriage.
You mean the many differences... only implies one, but you have a whole list.
So what is common?
The GOD and Jesus of the Bible are different then the God and Jesus of Mormonism. In the Bible GOD is the only GOD and Jesus is his only begotten Son. In Mormonism God used to be a man with a God of his own and ascended to godhood through his good works and Jesus is one of millions of his sons. Different attributes = different beings.
I have to make an important correction here: Finney was NOT preaching the gospel! Finney preached works salvation. He could not have been more clear about it. Charles Finney was A FULL BLOWN HERETIC.
Read his own words from his own books:
"We shall see that perseverance in obedience to the end of life is also a condition of justification. Some theologians have made justification a condition of sanctification, instead of making sanctification a condition of justification. But this we shall see is an erroneous view of the subject." (pp.326-7).
"There can be no justification in a legal or forensic sense, but upon the ground[2] of universal, perfect, and uninterrupted obedience to law. This is of course denied by those who hold that gospel justification, or the justification of penitent sinners, is of the nature of a forensic or judicial justification. They hold to the legal maxim, that what a man does by another he does by himself, and therefore the law regards Christ's obedience as ours, on the ground that He obeyed for us [Systematic Theology, 362].
Anyone else like me here? I saw the thumb-nail and read it as follows: "Most morons don't know what they believe." 🙃