Atonement for Sin
This is what breaks our hearts here at the ministry. One character marker we see time and again with the Mormon people is anger. Dr. Walter Martin once said that the lies piled upon the soul of the Mormon people cause frustration and anger. They’re usually argumentative and have been trained to provoke the anger in you to take away their guilt. This gives them a reason to verbally attack.
Pray for them.
The following example taken from Doctrines of Salvation is a good example of how the Church confuses its members and obviously causes quite the dilemma.
Doctrines of Salvation 1:130; “We speak of the passion of Jesus Christ. A great many people have an idea that when he was on the cross, and nails were driven into his hands and feet, that was his great suffering. His great suffering was before he ever was placed upon the cross. It was in the Garden of Gethsemane that the blood oozed from the pores of his body…” – Joseph Fielding Smith
Two pages later they said this;
Doctrines of Salvation 1:132; “…For what he has done, we should never fail him. He bought us with a price, the price of his great suffering and the spilling of his blood in sacrifice on the cross.”
And then three pages later they said this;
Doctrines of Salvation 1:135; “Joseph Smith taught that there were certain sins so grievous that man may commit, that they will place the transgressors beyond the power of the atonement of Christ. If these offenses are committed, then the blood of Christ will not cleanse them from their sins even though they repent. Therefore their only hope is to have their own blood shed to atone, as far as possible, in their behalf. This is scriptural doctrine, and is taught in all the standard works of the Church.”
Hebrews 9:28; “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.”
The state of Utah is unique in the sense that they are the only state in the Union which allows a convicted murderer on death row to choose the way they want to be executed. Their choices: lethal injection and firing squad. There are 5 people sitting on death row in Bluffdale, Utah awaiting execution by firing squad. In June 2010 there will be four men left. A man by the last name of Gardner will be executed for murdering a court bailiff while trying to escape during a sentencing hearing for another murder he committed.
Update: Gardner was indeed executed by firing squad and he was indeed a Mormon. How sad for this man to have lived a life of crime and then in the end not even know the difference between grace and the lies of the Mormon Church.