Testimony: Converted to Christ (out of the RLDS)

I was thrilled to receive the following email in my inbox on Tuesday afternoon.

Hi Pastor Samson,

My name is __________ (Name Withheld).

We met briefly years ago, and I just wanted to reach out and give my thanks. I hope it’s an encouragement to you.

Almost 6 years ago, you preached a sermon at Apologia Church on Sunday, August 2, 2015. 

I was visiting the church then, and the Lord used your preaching to convert me.

A little background on me. I grew up in Phoenix and was raised as a devout member of the RLDS (presently known as the Community of Christ). The church is the 2nd-largest Restoration branch after the LDS, and for quite some time was a formidable “rival” to the LDS. The history is that after Joseph Smith was killed, there was significant tension on who would lead the Restoration. Eventually, Brigham Young takes a sizable group out to Utah, and becomes the LDS. There were other off-shoots, but the 2nd largest group, after the followers of Brigham, were those that stayed behind and waited for Joseph Smith’s son to grow old enough to be prophet and lead the Restoration. That group became the RLDS, and is what I was raised in. It used to be quite large and even now is still worldwide, but it has since dwindled in numbers and become progressive and liberal. Yet, there’s still quite a spectrum within the church, and I was raised in one of the more traditional wings of the church– we grew up using the Book of Mormon, Doctrine & Covenants, viewing Joseph Smith as a prophet, etc. 

Late in high school, the Lord began drawing me unto him. I began questioning much of the beliefs I was raised with, but at the time saw no need to leave behind my church. I even ended up still going to the church University in Iowa. But during my freshman year of college, the Lord really began wrestling with me. Much of that year was spent in pursuit of what I hoped was salvation, but I still felt I just couldn’t grasp it. That summer after my freshman year of college, I came back home to Phoenix to work for the summer. and much of that summer was spent wrestling as well.

One night, the Lord brought me to intense conviction of my sin. You see, I had been exposed to and heard the Gospel by this point. I had heard that belief in the Lord Jesus would save my soul and make me right with God. I had heard, and in a sense I knew, that my works did not play a role. But I had been so engrained from childhood in this idea that I had to work to earn God’s favor, that I had to work to access and maintain the grace God was offering, that I never realized how significantly it had a hold on me. I had heard the Gospel, but I still didn’t grasp it. One day I would feel like I got it, like maybe I was saved, but then the next day I would feel God’s displeasure and would realize that I wasn’t saved–this salvation I was chasing, I knew about it, but it still felt so far away.

So one night, the Lord broke me and brought me to feel the weight and guilt of my sin. I realized how severe my condition was, how great my sins were, and that my stench reached up to heaven, as it were. I deeply felt God’s displeasure with me and my sin. And I realized, or felt, that there was nothing I could do about it. I would never be able to earn enough favor to outweigh my sins. I could never work my way to righteousness, and in that moment, I felt hopeless. As far as I knew and had understood, I had heard the Gospel, but I still felt this attachment and necessity of my works, so in the light of my great sins and the perfect judgement of God, I had nothing. I spent that night in tears. That night was Saturday, August 1, 2015. 

By that time, in my searching I had encountered plenty of broad-evangelical, Protestant, and even Reformed and Calvinistic thought. I knew of the Apologia church because of their work with Mormons, and for whatever reason, I decided to attend church there that next day. 

August 2, 2015 I attended Apologia’s afternoon service and you happened to be the guest-preacher. Your sermon was entitled “Justification by Faith Alone.” By God’s grace, and in His redeeming providence, it was exactly what I needed to hear, and just mere hours after I had been brought under real conviction of my sin, the Lord providentially provided the balm to my soul in your preaching. It all clicked. It was as if blinders were lifted off my eyes, and for the first time, I saw. For the first time, I heard. The Lord had given me ears to hear. I realized there was no way I could pay for my sins. But Christ has paid it, and He has done it once and for all. There is no sense of me working hard to earn what Christ has done, or working to keep it. It is finished. Christ’s righteousness, the pardon for my sins, is found in Christ, is found simply by faith in Him. It was during that sermon I truly, for the first time, placed all of my hope and trust in Christ; in what He had done and who He is. I rested upon Him, not myself, and during that sermon I was converted. 

So I wanted to reach out and thank you, and hopefully provide some encouragement. Of course, it is not man’s words in preaching that saves souls. But the Lord uses faithful preaching to convert men and women as He is pleased to, and the Lord used your faithful preaching to save my soul. 

I’ve thought of reaching out for years now, but never did, for whatever reason. Hopefully this email finds you well and encourages you in your ministry and service to the Lord. I’m not sure how much fruit the Lord has blessed you to see before your eyes from your ministry. I know His ways are mysterious, and that many faithful ministers don’t see much of the harvest for what work they sow. But you can indeed count me amongst those whom the Lord has added to His Kingdom through your service.

I currently live in (city name withheld) Ohio. I got married last year to a girl I went to college with, that was also raised RLDS/Community of Christ, and the Lord was pleased to save her too. It’s been a blessing to be married to someone from the same background that the Lord has also rescued. She’s from this area, so we moved here after we got married. But my family all still live in the Valley, so I get back there when I can. 

So thank you again for your service to the Lord and your faithful heralding of God’s Word. The Lord used you to save my soul, almost 6 years ago. I pray many others would be brought to know the Lord through your work, and that you would be blessed to see the fruit of such labors. May the Lord grant you joy in the work as you continue to help the Shepherd call His sheep. 

Are Mormons Heretics?

Article by Jared C. Wilson (source: https://ftc.co//resource-library/1/4274)

The young man shifted nervously on my doorstep, his cheerful face belying his anxiety. He wore the customary white short-sleeved shirt and black tie and carried a backpack. He had just knocked on my door and just discovered that I was a pastor.

“Oh good!” he said. “It’s always great to meet fellow Christians.”

He was a young man on his requisite mission, the rite of passage of sorts for the LDS Church.

This is new, I thought. I had not heard Mormons call themselves Christians before.

“Why do you call yourself a Christian?” I asked.

“Because we follow Jesus Christ, the son of the heavenly Father.”

“Have any of the Mormon beliefs changed in the last several years?”

“No,” he said, “not really.”

“Then I don’t think you’re any more Christian than you used to be.”

“Well, we believe the same things other Christians believe.”

He began to list out some bullet points of the Christian faith, things nearly every evangelical would agree with—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are all real persons, for instance. That Jesus died on the cross to atone for sins and rose again and ascended to heaven.

For a moment, I was sort of shocked. Maybe things actually were changing in the Mormon church. The desire to be considered evangelical seemed new, but maybe it brought with it some theological reforms, as in the apparent turnaround in the formerly heterodox Worldwide Church of God.

You may be inclined to think so too. Today in the evangelical marketplace, Mormon figures sometimes play subtle yet significant roles. Christians share videos of Mormon singers and teaching on social media. Mormon families participate in local Christian organizations (there are several Mormon kids in the “Christian youth theater” with which my daughter used to perform shows). And many Mormons, of course, stand side by side with Roman Catholics and evangelical Protestants in opposing many social ills like abortion and pornography, etc.

The push to be considered evangelical is a real push. But it comes at the cost of some doctrinal obfuscation. So are Mormons becoming evangelical Christians? What do we make of those sweet folks across the street with the awesome kids and neighborly spirit? If anybody is a Christian, wouldn’t they be?

I decided to go deeper with my LDS visitor, asking him pointed questions about distinct beliefs that have historically defined evangelical Christianity. Here are significant things Mormons have always and still believe:

1. Jesus isn’t God.

Mormons call Jesus the Son of God and say lots of things about him that the Bible says – that he was born of a virgin, that he died to atone for sins and rose again, etc. – but they also say he is a created being, directly contradicting biblical orthodoxy. They also say that he “inherited divine powers” from the Father. Mormons deny the historically Christian teaching that Jesus Christ is equal with the Father in essence and substance. On that note . . .

2. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit aren’t equally one God.

Mormons affirm a conception of the Trinity – what they typically call the Godhead, interestingly enough – but deny the traditional understanding of God’s triune nature. They say that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit share one purpose or will but do not share the same essence or substance. They say the three persons of the trinity are “separate personages” that share divine attributes, but deny that they are co-equally and simultaneously distinct persons who are together one God. Mormons believe God literally birthed the “spirit-children” Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

3. God was created.

You have to dig a bit deeper into their doctrine to get to some of the stuff they don’t widely publicize, like this key teaching for instance: the God we worship as our heavenly Father is not an eternal, uncreated being. Mormons believe God was once a man of flesh and blood, a created being, who ascended to divinity. Joseph Smith taught that there was even a “God” above the God we know as God the Father, who created the man who eventually became the God we know as Father. This is obviously in direct opposition to historical Christian orthodoxy, which affirms the Bible’s claim that there is no God but God and that before anything else ever existed, the great I AM existed.

4. Christ’s atonement redeems everyone and grace is a reward for those who obey him.

In a kind of strange two-part confusion about Christ’s atoning work on the cross, Mormons believe in a kind of universalism in which everyone who dies will be “saved” by Christ’s work, although they do teach that there are also four different eternal destinies for resurrected persons—godhood for faithful Mormons, a kind of lower heaven for unfaithful Mormons and people who only accept God after they die, a temporary place of suffering for wicked people who reject Mormonism, and an eternal place of suffering for the devil and people who received the Holy Spirit but then denied it. If you find that difficult to follow, you should consider what they teach about salvation. Mormons superficially affirm salvation by grace but how they define grace (and faith) muddles the biblical and evangelical understanding. 2 Nephi 25 (in the Book of Mormon) says that “we are saved by grace, after all we can do.”

In other words, for the Mormon, grace is a reward for faithful effort. For the biblical Christian, however, grace that is deserved is not grace at all. Grace is given to the undeserving, those who could never earn God’s favor or rewards. Grace empowers faithful obedience, yes, but grace also precedes it. Mormons get the gospel/law distinction wrong.

There are other interesting departures from orthodoxy to be found in LDS teaching—what they believe about the Bible and ongoing revelation, what they believe about pre-existing human beings, about Jesus coming to North America to minister to the Native Americans, etc.—and lots of questions to suss out about Mormonism’s prophetic and historiographical claims. (The historical record is not kind to the former, when you begin to honestly appraise the character of Joseph  Smith in particular, and the archaeological record is not kind to the latter.) But the bottom line is that on four very key points of Christian orthodoxy, Mormonism utterly fails the test.

After I quizzed my new missionary friend on these key tenets and finding that we believed some very, very different things about them, he still wasn’t willing to admit Mormonism should not be considered Christianity in any theologically meaningful sense of the word. He wanted to call his companion (who was stationed at the front porch of the house next door) for backup. I encouraged him to do so. Because I knew if these Mormons were to be considered Christian, they’d need to believe the biblical gospel, and I was eager to share it with them both.

I know too many Christians are prone to throwing around the “heresy” word in a willy-nilly fashion at anyone who disagrees with them. Preachers who talk about social justice or have rock-and-roll worship on stage are called “heretics.” But the word has an historical legitimacy. It does apply to some beliefs that depart from the faith once delivered. And the historical record of creeds and councils of the Christian church is clear, as is the word of God from which they are deriving their theological guardrails: if you deny the traditional doctrines of the deity of Christ and of the triune Godhead and mess with salvation by grace, you are indeed a heretic.

Are Mormons Brothers and Sisters in Christ?

Article “Dear Mormon—I Can’t Call You a Brother in Christ” by Josh Buice (original source here)

Yesterday I had lunch with a very kind and gracious man in our community. This man is a committed member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. In short, my friend is a Mormon. He was respectful, gracious, and I enjoyed our conversation very much. However, at one point the conversation shifted and he asked me if I was willing to call him a brother in Christ?

I explained that we both hold to very different doctrines that cannot stand in harmony—especially the teachings about the person and work of Jesus Christ. He said that he was offended by that statement. I acknowledged how that would be offensive, but I must stand upon the gospel of Christ. The most loving thing I could do would be to point him to the truth. The most unloving thing I could do would be to ignore the differences and embrace him as a brother in Christ.

The devil is the father of all lies and he is really good at causing people to embrace error as truth. How do you determine the difference between denominations of Christianity and other religions outside of Christianity? In other words, we know that Baptists and Methodists are quite different on many theological levels, but they’re both Christian denominations. Today, a growing number of people continue to purport the idea that Mormonism is just another denomination like Methodists within the family of orthodox Christianity.

How can we determine if Mormonism is Christian or cult? Based on foundational doctrinal evidence—I can’t embrace Mormons as fellow Christians.

Mormonism Rejects the Sufficiency of the Bible
If you can add to the authoritative body of teachings of the church each year by a vote—it would make the religion more fluid and apt to change with culture or adapt over time based on pressures from the culture. This is true of the Roman Catholic Church regarding their belief regarding the RCC’s official tradition. The same thing is true of the Mormon religion. At one point polygamy was defended as permissible, but later it was changed.

Christians stand upon the absolute sufficiency of God’s Word—something that does not change with time, circumstances, and geographic location. Not one other source from church history is needed outside of God’s Word alone as the sufficient guide for God’s revelation of himself to humanity. For the Mormons, they hold to a group of writings called the “Four Standard Works.” This body includes the King James Version of the Bible (as properly translated), the Doctrine and Covenants, the Pearl of Great Price, and The Book of Mormon.

Anytime a religion adds books to the same divine level as God’s Word—that should cause an immediate red flag to be raised. Consider what Joseph Smith said, “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book” (History of the Church,4:461).

Mormonism Rejects the Deity of Jesus
While the Mormons do uphold Jesus as “a god”—they do not embrace Jesus as “very God of very God” who is one with the Father (John 10:30; John 8:58). Mormons believe Jesus is a god, but they also believe it’s possible for any human to become a god (Doctrine and Covenants 132:20; Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 345–354). In John 10:33, we find these important words:

The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.”

The driving reason that Jesus was nailed to a Roman cross was on the basis of his teachings—which threatened the authority and teaching of the religious establishment of the day. Jesus made it clear that he is God. If Jesus is the Creator of all things—how can he be a created being? That does not make sense and it certainly doesn’t align with the Word of God. Mormons claim that Jesus was the first of the spirit beings begotten through a physical relationship between Elohim and one of his many heavenly wives. This is in clear violation to Matthew 1:20, but nevertheless, they maintain aberrant doctrines about God the Father existing in flesh like a perfect man who would be capable of such a relationship.

According to the Articles of Faith on the Godhead, the LDS doctrine of God consists of a God who possesses a physical body. In comparing the LDS beliefs with Christian doctrine, their Articles of Faith read, “But where Latter-day Saints differ from other Christian religions is in their belief that God and Jesus Christ are glorified, physical beings and that each member of the Godhead is a separate being.” Jesus said something quite different in John 4:24, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Mormons are not Christians based on several key teachings. Some of those troubling teachings include the spirit brotherhood of Satan and Jesus, the baptism for the dead, a racial problem, a polytheistic view of many gods, and a clear denial of the Trinity. These teachings stand in clear contradiction to the teachings of God’s Word—and have never been embraced as merely another Christian denomination.

Mormons have a troubling past with Joseph Smith Jr.—the founder who had multiple wives—one of whom was only 14 when he was 39. Their troubling past also includes a lengthy letter by Professor Charles Anthon of Columbia University who was said to validate the translation of Jospeh Smith’s writings (Book of Mormon) from the “Golden Plates.” According to Professor Anthon, “The whole story about my having pronounced the Mormonite inscription to be ‘reformed Egyptian hieroglyphics’ is perfectly false.” While all of these things are troubling—none are more troublesome than their rejection of the deity of Jesus Christ as second Person of the Godhead who is co-equal and co-eternal with the Father and the Spirit.

In short, the Mormons have one Jesus and the Christians have a very different Jesus. Make no mistake—they aren’t the same Jesus. For that reason—I can’t call my Mormon friend my brother in Christ. I want to, but I simply can’t. Therefore, I will continue to have such gospel conversations praying that God will open his eyes to the truth.

What the Mormon Church Teaches about Jesus Christ

by Alpha and Omega Ministries (original source: http://www.aomin.org/aoblog/1984/03/01/what-the-mormon-church-teaches-about-jesus-christ)

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormon Church, speaks often of Jesus Christ. To most people it would seem that Mormonism is just another Christian denomination that teaches Jesus Christ. Is that true? What do the Mormons really teach about Jesus? Following is a list of some of the major points about Jesus as taught by the LDS Church. The references to Mormon scriptures, Mormon apostles and prophets and their books will be found at the conclusion of this tract.

The Mormon Jesus –
* is God the Father’s firstborn spirit-child in heaven.
* Since, according to the LDS Church, each one of us was begotten in the same manner, the difference between us and Jesus is simply one of degree.1
* is the spirit brother of Lucifer, also known as Satan.2
* was begotten here on earth by God the Father by natural means – just like any other man – and not by the Holy Ghost.3
* “sweat” his blood for our sins in the Garden of Gethsemane,4 and his blood cannot cleanse from all sin.5
* is now one amongst many millions of other gods.6

You may be shocked at these things. We invite you to look these references up for yourself. A lot of Mormons may not be familiar with one or two of these points, but most will admit them to be true. The vital question, then, is this: is the Jesus of Mormonism the Jesus of the Bible? The answer to that is an emphatic, NO!

Here, briefly, is what the Bible says about Jesus:

The true Jesus of the Bible –
* is eternal.7 He never had a beginning, nor will He have an end. * He is one with the Father,8 the only true God.9
* created all things.10 Everything that exists Christ created, including Lucifer, who became Satan.11
* was begotten on earth by the Holy Ghost.12 His earthly mother was the Virgin Mary.
* is able to cleanse from all sin through the blood He shed on the cross of Calvary.13
* rose from the dead and has returned to heaven, from which He will return to judge the earth.14

Let’s ask a few questions:

1. Where does the Bible say that God has a wife, and that He begets children? The Bible says that God creates the spirits of men, not that He begets them.15
2. Since the Bible says Christ created all things, how can the Mormon Church teach that God the Father was once a man who lived on another planet?16 Who created that planet? Remember, Jesus created all things, which would include every single planet in existence anywhere in the universe. If Mormonism is right, how could Jesus create a planet before he was even begotten and before his father had become a god?
3. The Bible teaches the virgin birth of Christ. The miracle of the virgin birth is that Mary was a virgin at the time of the birth. The Mormon Church denies the virgin birth by saying that God the Father in a physical body begot Jesus in the same way we are begotten by our fathers.17 How can this blasphemous teaching be reconciled with the Bible?
4. The Mormon Church says Jesus is a god, one among many, and that we, too, can become gods, just like Jesus is.18 Why then does God say, “Before me there was no God formed, and neither shall there be after me.”? (Isaiah 43:10).19 Which would you rather believe – a man-made church or God Himself??
5. Why did Brigham Young, the second Prophet of the Mormon Church say, “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 can never remit…they must be atoned for by the blood of the man.”20 How can a sinful man’s blood be more effective than the precious blood of Christ? Listen to this recent Mormon teaching contained in a widely distributed pamphlet: “Christians speak often of the blood of Christ and its cleansing power. Much that is believed and taught on this subject, however, is such utter nonsense and so palpably false that to believe it is to lose one’s salvation. For instance, many believe or pretend to believe that if we confess with our lips and avow that we accept him as our personal Savior, we are thereby saved. They say that his blood, without any other act than mere belief, makes us clean.”21 Possibly, when this pamphlet referred to the “many” who believe this, it was referring to the Apostle Paul when he said, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” (Romans 10:9). Or when he said, “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” (Romans 4:5). Certainly, the Mormon teaching concerning the blood of Jesus is not Christian!

The Jesus of the Bible, the true, living Lord Christ, is like the Mormon Jesus in name only. Other than name, the Jesus of Mormonism is totally and completely different than the Christ who is worshiped by the Christian Church. As you can see, it was teaching like that of the Mormon Church that Paul warned the Corinthians about in 2 Corinthians 11:4 when he spoke about those who “preach another Jesus,” or when he warned the Galatians about those who would “preach another gospel.” (Galatians 1:8-9). Don’t be fooled! Some may try to tell you that these things are not pertinent to your salvation. Since salvation is only in and through Jesus Christ (John 14:6), isn’t it essential that we believe in the real Lord Jesus Christ? Can we be saved by a false Jesus?

The true Jesus wants to give you the free gift of eternal life if you will only turn your life over to Him (John 5:24). Read the following verses, and meet the real Jesus of the Bible, and make Him Lord of your life! John 3:16-18, 5:23-24, 14:6, Romans 3:23-28, 4:4-5, 5:1, 10:9-13, 11:6, Acts 16:31.

Footnotes:
1) “What the Mormons Think of Christ,” 1982, pages 6-7, 22. (Hereafter referred to as WMTC). Mormon Doctrine by Bruce R. MConkie, page 281. Jesus the Christ by James Talmage, pages 8-9. Doctrines of Salvation, volume 1. by Joseph Fielding Smith, page 18. Doctrine and Covenants 93:21.
2) Moses 4:1-4, Mormon Doctrine, pages 192, 281,590. Gospel Through the Ages, by Milton Hunter, page 15.
3) WMTC, page 6. Doctrines of Salvation, volume 1, page 18. Mormon Doctrine, pages 546-547 Answers to Gospel Questions volume 5, by Joseph Fielding Smith, pages 126-127. Journal of Discourses volume 1, page 50 (1: 50) 4:218, 11:268. The Seer, by Orson Pratt, pages 158-159.
4) WMTC, page 20. Doctrine and Covenants 19:17-18. Jesus the Christ pages 613-614.
5) Mormon Doctrine, pages 92-93. Doctrines of Salvation, volume 1, pages 134-135. Journal of Discourses 3:247, 4:49-54, 4:219-220.
6) Journal of Discourses volume 2, page 345.
7) John 1:1, John 8:58, Hebrews 13:8.,Revelation 22:13, Micah 5:2.
8) John 10:30, John 17:5.
9) John 17:3, Titus 2:13, 2 Peter 1:1, Revelation 1:8.
10) John 1:3, Colossians 1:16-17, Hebrews 1:3.
11) Ezekiel 28:13-15, Isaiah 14:12-15.
12) Matthew 1:18-20, Luke 1:35.
13) Colossians 1:19-20, 2:13-14, 1 Peter 1:18-19, 1 John 1:7
14) Matthew chapter 25. Revelation 20:12-15.
15) Zechariah 12:1.
16) Joseph Smith “The King Follett Funeral Discourse,” quoted in Journal of Discourses volume 6, page 3, or
Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, by Joseph Fielding Smith, pages 345-346.
17) Journal of Discourses volume,. page 115 The Promised Messiah by Bruce R. McConkie, pages 467-468.
18) Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith pages 346-348. Articles of Faith by James Talmage, page 430.
19) See also Isaiah 44:6-8, 24, 45:5-6, 14, 18, 21-22. 46:9.
20) Journal of Discourses volume 4, page 54, from September 15. 1856.
21) WMTC, pages 19-20.