Mormon Church

This question is often asked by evangelicals, and is, in general, a misunderstanding of the Mormon teachings on what happens after death and how we control that.

Many evangelicals teach that a person gets to heaven by being “saved.” This involves the act of accepting Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. At the same time, they teach that acts cannot get you into Heaven. The Mormons also believe that a person must accept Jesus Christ as His Savior in order to return to God’s presence after death. Both groups agree that at least one act is required of all of us in order to be with God.

The confusion over the number of acts required to be saved comes from the differences in terminology used by Mormons. Mormons believe everyone is saved through the atonement of Jesus Christ, even if they never accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. However, grace and eternal life, to a Mormon, are not the same thing. To understand this complex issue, let’s look at several essential points.

What is grace?

The Bible Dictionary, found in LDS editions of the King James Bible, defines grace for us:

It is through the grace of the Lord Jesus, made possible by his atoning sacrifice, that mankind will be raised in immortality, every person receiving his body from the grave in a condition of everlasting life. It is likewise through the grace of the Lord that individuals, through faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ and repentance of their sins, receive strength and assistance to do good works that they otherwise would not be able to maintain if left to their own means. This grace is an enabling power that allows men and women to lay hold on eternal life and exaltation after they have expended their own best efforts.  (see Bible Dictionary.)

In other words, grace allows us to rise from the dead, receive our bodies back from the grave in a perfected form, and life forever. This is possible only because Jesus Christ voluntarily gave up His life for us after taking on the sins of the world. No fully  human being was capable of doing this for Himself. Had Christ not made this sacrifice for us, life would end with death because none of us could live a perfect life or satisfy the demands of justice fully. Only Jesus, with a mortal mother and a Heavenly Father could live perfectly and choose to die for us.

Each person then, is resurrected and given a place to spend eternity. However, living forever isn’t the total sum of our goals for eternity if we love God. We who love Him want to live with Him in His home forever. This requires a bit more. Again, it is grace that makes this additional gift possible. Without grace, we could not repent of the sins we commit here on earth.

Why does repentance matter?

For this, we need to search the Bible, where we find the following scriptures:

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 7:21, KJV of the Bible)

The Book of James, who is believed to be the brother of Jesus, took this thought even further, and answers the question without any room for doubt:

17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

  18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

  19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

  20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

  21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?

  22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?

  23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.

  24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

  25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?

  26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. (James 2, King James Version of the Bible)

James points out that believing in God is good, but even Satan believes in God. No, more is required that just to believe. He explains, using Abraham and Rahab as examples, that they obeyed the commandments because they had faith, and that faith was made perfect when they chose to not just believe, but to do what God taught them to do. It was the combination of faith and works that made them perfect in the eyes of God. Note especially the inclusion of Rahab. Rahab is a woman who was a harlot, so not a prophet or other person we might normally think to hold up as an example. If we looked only at that one aspect of her life, we’d see her as a lost soul, but God sees her as more and notes that she made courageous choices that helped to progress the work of God. She was, in fact, listed as an ancestor of Jesus Christ. This does not give her the right to sin as she chooses, but it demonstrates that the good works she did mattered and counted in the long run.

We see then, that faith and works must work together as a unified total in order for either of them to “get us into Heaven.”

Can Mormons (or anyone else) work their way into Heaven?

No. An evil person who did good works could not get himself into Heaven. A person who did good works every single day would not be admitted to God’s presence unless he had also accepted Jesus Christ as His Savior and unless His good works were an outward manifestation of the private faith in his heart.

A person who truly loves God will want to do His will. The greater our faith, the easier it becomes to make good choices. A person who says he has faith, who publicly proclaims that he has accepted Jesus Christ as His Savior, but who happily goes about his life robbing banks or hurting others, and who does not bother to repent is not going to be admitted into Heaven, as Jesus made clear, because his faith is not real and because no unclean thing can enter into God’s presence. Faith without works is a dead faith, but so is works without faith dead works. No one will live a perfect life, but we have a responsibility to repent when we do wrong, and to continually strive to keep the commandments.

The Book of Mormon teaches:

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. …

  26 And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.  (2 Nephi 25)

It is only through Jesus Christ that people can be saved. If we want to live with God, rather than to merely live forever away from His presence, we must have faith, and we must also keep the commandments, as Jesus Christ instructed us to do.

The Pope is the head of the Catholic Church, while the prophet leads The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose members are sometimes called Mormons. There are both similarities and differences between the two positions.

Thomas S. Monson

To understand the role of a prophet, one must first understand how the highest levels of the Mormon church is organized. At the head of the church is the prophet. He is assisted by two counselors (advisors) who share the workload and are chosen by the prophet himself. No one seeks for the position or campaigns for it. The prophet alone makes the choice through prayer and inspiration. These three, known as the First Presidency, oversee the workings of the worldwide church. Read the rest of this entry »

Mormons are rather known for being a meeting people. They have meetings and they have meetings to plan meetings. But what do they do at all these meetings?

Passing The Sacrament

The most important meeting is Sacrament Meeting. This is held each Sunday and is the primary worship service. Because Mormons are run by a lay clergy, the bishop, who is the equivalent of a pastor, does not give the sermon each week. Every part of the meeting is done by someone donating his time and talents. Read the rest of this entry »

People often ask why Mormons don’t have female priesthood leaders. Today, there are still many churches, including The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, that do not have women in the priesthood, having noted from their study of the Bible that this was not the way it was done. Jesus had many women who followed Him, and whom He pointed out as outstanding examples of gospel living, but He didn’t select any of them to be His apostles. It was not that He considered them unable to do the work, or unworthy of the role; it was simply not the role assigned to women by God. Read the rest of this entry »

In the Catholic faith, canonization is the official recognition that someone is a saint and was so even prior to the

Girl Being Baptized

 official recognition. A process is followed to allow the church to determine who is a saint.

Mormons (the nickname for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) do not follow this process. The term saint is used in the official name of the church and denotes, as used in the Bible, a community of people who followed God. Read the rest of this entry »

Stations of the Cross is a Catholic tradition that grew out of a desire to replicate pilgrimages to Jerusalem. Today, they help Catholics remember the final days of the life of Jesus Christ as they move through a series of wooden crosses that have been blessed by a person with the authority to do so and pray. Some consider it reparation for the suffering and loneliness of the Savior’s personal Via Dolorosa. Pope Pius XI considered it an obligation for Catholics and John Paul II praised those who make an effort to stand by the endless crosses the Savior endures even today through abuse and mistreatment from those who do not honor the Sacrifices He made for them.

It Is Finished – Liz Lemon Swindle

Although Mormons don’t participate in a formal ceremony, they do teach the principle behind it. As Pope John Paul II said, we must stand beside the Savior. Read the rest of this entry »

Mormons are sometimes known as belonging to a church with a lot of rules. While it might seem like there are a great many of them, they are generally very basic rules of decent life. They were taught by the Savior during His ministry on earth, and those that were revealed in the latter-days are those that keep us safe, happy, and mora

Service

The Book of Mormon teaches that men are that they might have joy. (See 2 Nephi 2:25.) The Savior, Jesus Christ, gave us commandments that, when practiced for the right reasons in the right spirit, would allow us to live a joyful life even in times of trials. Read the rest of this entry »

The Law of Moses, to Mormons, was a lesser law, given because the Jews at that time were not living in such a way as to be able to live a higher law. This was a strict law that could be followed in exactness. It didn’t replace the fullness of the gospel. It was simply provided to keep them in remembrance of God and to prepare them for a return to the higher law. (See Mosiah 13:30 in the Book of Mormon.)

Moses and the Burning Bush- Jerry Thompson

“Strictly speaking, the Law of Moses consists of the first five books of the Old Testament-what the Jews call the Torah. These five books of Moses (Genesis; Exodus; Leviticus; Numbers; and Deuteronomy) are also called the Pentateuch, but in the New Testament they are usually just “the Law.” Sometimes the term “the Law” was used for the whole Old Testament, but usually a distinction was made between the books of Moses (the Law) and those of subsequent prophets (the Prophets); hence, the custom in Jesus’ time of referring to the Hebrew scriptures as “the Law and the Prophets” (for example, Matt. 5:17; Matt. 7:12). Read the rest of this entry »

Joseph Smith received very little formal education as a child and young man. He was largely educated by his parents, due to a lack of schools available. In all, he attended formal schooling only about three years. In addition, he was tutored by an angel named Moroni in spiritual things for several years prior to beginning his work. Despite this, by the time of his early death, he had become well-educated in many fields, including Hebrew. Read the rest of this entry »

The journey to prove God’s existence is a personal journey. He cannot be proven through a scientific study, although some studies have hinted at the existence of God. Each person must take the journey for himself and find in his own way that God is real. Read the rest of this entry »