General Conference, ‘Always Retain a Remission of Your Sins,’ Saturday Afternoon Session, April 2, 2016 “As members of the Lord’s restored Church, we are blessed both by our initial cleansing from sin associated with baptism and by the potential for an ongoing cleansing from sin made possible through the companionship and power of the Holy Ghost. …
… The act of partaking of the sacrament, in and of itself, does not remit sins. But as we prepare conscientiously and participate in this holy ordinance with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, then the promise is that we may always have the Spirit of the Lord to be with us. And by the sanctifying power of the Holy Ghost as our constant companion, we can always retain a remission of our sins.” — David A. Bednar
Hebrews 9:14 “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”
Hebrews 10:10 “By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
Philippians 1:6 “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ”.
1 Corinthians 11:26 “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.”
The four verses listed above were a shocker for me coming out of the Church. We’ve no doubt they’ll be useful when witnessing to your Mormon friends/loved ones.
Mr. Bednar lied numerous times in his talk. For the sake of time, we’re looking at just a small portion of this talk to compare it with what our Lord has said.
- Mr. Bednar lied by telling members they’d always have the Spirit of the Lord with them when they take the Sacrament. Jesus told us that when we call upon Him, He’d come and make His abode with us and never leave – John 14:23. This has nothing to do with taking Sacrament!
- Mr. Bednar lied, and caused a lot of confusion about Communion. As you can see in 1st Corinthians, Paul stated taking Communion means you’re proclaiming the Lord’s death. While believers do take that time to remember His loving sacrifice for us, this isn’t done so we can ‘always have the Spirit of the Lord with us’. As the author of Hebrews stated, we are sanctified through the offering of Jesus’ body. He didn’t sacrifice Himself over and over again!
- Mr. Bednar used biblical terms to sound godly, but his words held no substance. It’s reminiscent of someone who’s a name dropper. Mr. Bednar stated,
‘…by the sanctifying power of the Holy Ghost as our constant companion, we can always retain a remission of our sins’.
The sanctifying power of God’s Spirit is revealed as people grow in the Lord, and become spiritually mature as it says in 2 Peter 3:18. The phrase, ‘retaining a remission of sins’ isn’t in the Bible anywhere. John said when we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive us of our sins. 1 John 1:9.
This talk was anything but hopeful for Mormons. He took people on a wild goose chase leading nowhere fast. Moreover, the title he chose for this sounded like a reminder to retain a receipt for something purchased at a store. Remember beloved, the only One who’s purchased something is Jesus – He paid the price in full for our sinful selves.
Please, share the truth with a Mormon today, and lovingly explain the steps of forgiveness, and purpose of Communion!
For more info on God’s sanctifying power, see these two great articles at GotQuestions.org, and DesiringGod.org.
With Love in Christ;
Michelle
Thank you Mr. Bednar…I’m thoroughly confused.
Hey Michelle…Do any of these guys (G.A.’s) have any kind of degrees in theology, divinity, religious studies, history, original languages (reformed hieroglyphics)??? Anything? I know Nelson was a heart surgeon, but that doesn’t qualify him as any kind of biblical scholar.
So how can they make blasphemous accusations about the Bible and orthodox Christianity without ever studying anything about it?
I couldn’t find anything.
As a quick response before I forget to answer your question! Your question also reminded me I need to update something on our blog about this topic. Man, there’s always something, right? 🙂
Here’s a ‘brief’ (cough, cough) rundown of my research on this. 🙂 https://lifeafterministry.com/2015/07/lds-apostles/ if for some reason the link doesn’t work, let me know! You can find it at Past & Current LDS Apostles.
And BTW, the reply above by soldiermp is spot on – unfortunately…sigh.
Pres Nelson along with all the General Authorities are well educated men. In today’s world, Jesus Christ would not qualify to be a General Authority. :That your faith should not stand on the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:5). :Which things we also speak, not int he words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.” (1 Corinthians 2:13)
Mormons need to quit listening t their leaders ans start listening to the spirit if God which is manifested through the Words of the Bible.
Melissa: The General Authorities, including Bednar, say the things they do because they feel they have been anointed by God, to say anything they want, to include words that are contrary to God’s own Word.