Journal of Discourses 10:114; “It is not fully comprehended why it was necessary that Jesus Christ should leave the heavens, his Father’s abode and presence, and come upon the earth to offer himself up a sacrifice; that he should, according to the Scripture saying, “Take away sin by the sacrifice of himself;” why this should be, why it was necessary that his blood should be shed is an apparent mystery. It is true that we are told that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins; but why this? Why should such a law exist?…Jesus Christ is spoken of in the Scriptures as “The Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world.” What sins of the world did he take away? We are told that it is the sin which Adam committed. We do not know much about Adam nor what he did; but we know that this sacrifice took place and that we are in the position we now occupy, and we are ready to believe…it was the will of God…” – John Taylor, Salt Lake City, February 22, 1863
Luke 2:11; “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.”
Isaiah 53:5; “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”
I wish I was articulate enough to have come up with the title for our dilemma today, but I’m not! I borrowed the phrase from part of my pastor’s sermon when he preached on the shepherds who were visited by the angels while out in the field.
When I saw Mr. Taylor’s speech I knew immediately that I wanted to incorporate what my pastor said into my response for today’s posting.
Whether he was asking the questions he did rhetorically, or as another way to slam God and the Bible, I can’t say. Either way, it’s noteworthy to point out that by and large Mormons don’t believe they’re sinners in need of God’s intervention.
They believe everyone needs to work for his/her individual salvation and Jesus’ atonement was purposed for Adam’s sin alone, not all of mankind.
They reject biblical dogma man is born with a sin nature and will slip a biblical verse into their agenda to make it look Christian. Don’t be fooled my friends, the devil is sneaking around looking for people he can devour – 1 Peter 5:8.
The bottom line is this –
Shalom was vandalized and God put on human flesh to come down here and rescue us. Peace, He said, is what He leaves with us (John 14:27), not confusion, nor broken promises as the Mormons have accused Him of.
It’s all very simple when you think of it. Peace was broken so Jesus came to fix it for us.
Would clarify this further for me? You are saying that Mormons reject original sin (being born with or into sin) and don’t believe that they are sinners in need of salvation, is that correct? What exactly do they believe about sin, then?
Hey there Miss Sue!
Mormons do not believe in original sin in the sense that Adam’s sin nature isn’t passed down to mankind. They believe they’re only held accountable for sin beginning at the age of 8 yrs old. Everything before that time is clear and free, so to speak.
To complicate matters further they’re not told they’re sinners as other believers are taught. They believe they sin, but aren’t inherently evil.
They believe that when Jesus made the ‘atonement’ for sin, He did so in the Garden of Gethsemane.
When he did this he paid for the sin Adam committed and the price he paid there also paid for them to be able to repent of their sins in the future and make reparations for any offense they may incur in their lifetime.
This topic is actually a dilemma I’ve written that’s scheduled for January 1st. 🙂 If you’d like to read the LDS reference for all this you can find it on their website – https://www.lds.org/ensign/2014/11/saturday-morning-session/the-reason-for-our-hope?lang=eng
I know it’s confusing and doesn’t make any sense whatsoever, thus our attention paid to it. 😉 All believers must be diligent so they’re not tricked!
Michelle
There is no ‘age 8’ in the Bible. There is the verse here that says,”…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” (Rom 3:23) and more verses that attest to that.
You answered my question and I’ll await to find out more from your post later. I agree that it is a dilemma.