We cannot fully comprehend the Atonement and Resurrection of Christ and we will not adequately appreciate the unique purpose of His birth or His death—in other words there is no way to truly celebrate Christmas or Easter—without understanding that there was an actual Adam and Eve who fell from Eden, with all the consequences that fall carried with it. …
… That Atonement would achieve complete victory over physical death, unconditionally granting resurrection to every person who has been or ever will be born into this world. Mercifully it would also provide forgiveness for the personal sins of all, from Adam to the end of the world, conditioned upon repentance and obedience to divine commandments. …
So today we celebrate the gift of victory over every fall we have ever experienced, every sorrow we have ever known, every discouragement we have ever had, every fear we have ever faced—to say nothing of our resurrection from death and forgiveness for our sins. That victory is available to us because of events that transpired on a weekend like this more than two millennia ago in Jerusalem.” – Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles [emphasis mine]
Genesis 3:15; “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”
Ephesians 2:15; “Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace.”
This speech given by Mr. Holland at the last General Conference is crammed with filler words which, as we know by now, is done for the purpose of confusing people. Let’s take a look at a few important items he brought up and compare them with the precious words of our Lord!
1.As you may have noticed I emphasized the word atonement. I did this once again to bring attention to the way they misuse this word. Speaking of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross in such a manner reveals his detachment of why Jesus had to do this, and what purpose it ultimately served.
Another example of this problem is what Melissa shared on the phone with me yesterday. She was telling me about an experience she had when she was still heavily involved in the Church. You’ll see how an everyday, temple worthy Mormon comprehends Jesus’ sacrifice for us. Here in part is what she said –
“I was at one of my home-school support group meetings and asked one of the moms if she believed in the atonement, and she just kind of looked at me funny then said yes. She also said something like “you mean that Jesus died for our sins””
2.We want to take note of something vitally important this guy said because the words he used are a complete contradiction of what the LDS Church believes. When he said ‘all the consequences that fall carried with it’, he’s preaching against Mormon dogma.
Articles of Faith 1:2; “We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression.”
We must ask – what consequences?
3.Mormons don’t believe all sins are forgiven.
4.Jesus’ sacrifice for sins did not guarantee a resurrection for all people. The Bible tells us that unbelievers will stand before the Great White Throne – Revelation 20 – but it doesn’t say if that’s in bodily or spirit form. After that, they’ll be thrown into the Lake of Fire. Believers go on to live eternally with Jesus. Mormons believe everyone will be resurrected and are then sent to one of three levels of heaven, and this is unbiblical to the core.