ASSURANCE OF OUR SALVATION
You can memorize all the “instructions” I’ve written for you in this mentoring guideline, but that means nothing to the person you’re mentoring! What passages from the Bible are the most comforting for you and why? The Holy Spirit will be seen clearly with the passion you put behind the mood and tone of your voice. Mormons have an innate way of picking up on those who aren’t being completely honest with them in this genre. Now is the time to be as transparent as you possibly can be!
Ask any Mormon you know the following question: “If you died today do you know with certainty that you would go to heaven?” Ninety-nine percent of the time they will respond by telling you “I sure hope so” and then they’ll share Matthew 5:48 with you;
“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”
Never mind they’re taking it completely out of context and never mind they haven’t really looked up the meaning of the word for perfect in this tense. In their head they’re trying hard to be perfect so they can go to the Celestial Kingdom.
The Church’s role in propagating lies about salvation has been one of the keys to submission and confusion. If you can keep changing the rules by just tweaking one or two of the “ordinances” in addition to adding a word here or there to another word which means something else, well then by golly, you’ve got yourself a person who is unable to think independently. Confused again? Remember, you’re not alone!
Case in point: what does the term “gospel ordinance” mean to you (the ex-Mormon)? Write your answer below.
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To the Mormon its meaning encompasses everything having to do with their religion, in other words, “the plan of salvation”.
What is the plan of salvation according to the LDS Church?
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Because Christ only died to fill in the gaps after “all you can do”, there is never any assurance. If you really look back on your life honestly, can you say there wasn’t a day gone by that you weren’t lazy? What about the times you’ve forgotten about; or when you didn’t want to “be nice” to the neighbor and hurried inside before they saw you in the front yard?
The LDS Church teaches the gospel has been around since the time of Adam, and since this time there have always been ordinances and principles that are to be followed if you truly want salvation. In the book Gospel Through the Ages, intro pg. xvi it says;
“The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the “glad tidings” or “good news” concerning the Savior, the Kingdom of God, and the salvation of man. It consists primarily of the teachings of Christ and of the apostles as recorded in the New Testament and Book of Mormon…”
It goes on further to say; “Christians frequently use the word Gospel to designate their religion…” thereby letting everyone know the basics of their beliefs, i.e. “eternal nature of man, the atonement of Jesus Christ and the fall”.
This again is another place where you have to stop and clarify that man is not eternal, but created, and also to clarify what the word gospel means. In reality the word gospel is the Greek word “euaggelizo” meaning “to announce good news, evangelize or preach glad tidings or good message”. While the first portion of their “definition” of the word gospel is close to being correct, as we read further into their message you can see that they aren’t remotely close.
As a member of the LDS Church how did you define the “gospel”?
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As a Christian, what is the “good news”? Okay you have good news, what’s the news?
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The following is from the same book we used above and the section is called “Scope of the Gospel”. Gospel Through the Ages, pg. 3;
“[It] embraces every principle pertaining to life and salvation, for time and eternity, no matter who has it. If the infidel has got truth, it belongs to Mormonism. The truth and sound doctrine possessed by the sectarian world, and they have a great deal, all belongs to this Church. As for their morality, many of them are morally just as good as we are…Mormonism includes all truth. There is no truth but what belongs to the Gospel. It is life, eternal life; it is bliss; it is the fullness of all things in the Gods and in the eternities of the Gods.”
The entire point to the real gospel is, as you are well aware, the good news that a Savior has been provided for us; the sinners. We can now feel assured that we are saved by believing on Jesus’ name that we are found without blemish. And it is not by our own doing, but that of God’s, who gave the Ultimate Sacrifice; His Only Begotten Son. See John 2:25, 3:17-19; Romans 10:4; Hebrews 9:26.
Have the following verses either printed or written out by hand on a sheet of paper. Leave enough space between each for a place to write down what that verse means to them. If there’s time also have them write down the LDS equivalent that refutes what the Bible says.
Acts 4:12; Romans 10:9; Eph. 2:8-9; Gal. 2:20-1; Romans 1:16-7; Heb. 9:11-14, 10:9-14; 1 Cor. 1:18-9; John 14:23; Matthew 16:16-8; Col. 1:13-20…the list is endless because of how kind and generous our God is!
The good news is that we don’t have to worry about living under the Law! The good news is that this has been accomplished for the rest of our lives! And most especially the good news is that God raised His Son on the third day, while showing us that we will be raised with Him on that final day because death could not hold Him!
Oh, what an awesome God we serve! Who or what could ever be that powerful? How could we ever think that some earthly good deed could equal what God has done for us through His Son? Everything pales in comparison and quite honestly causes me to blush with shame for ever thinking I could participate in my own salvation.
How could there be any doubt of our salvation knowing that God raised Jesus from the dead? When Jesus said “It is finished” (John 19:30), He wasn’t referring to “just His work on earth”. He was referring to the works of the Law forever! There was no longer any need for works to be done because the Law had been fulfilled and God’s justice had been met! By this we can know and have assurance of our salvation as the writer of Hebrews 10:22 said;
“Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.”
To walk everyday of your life not knowing if you’re saved is a curse my friend and isn’t of God! The Lord Jesus would never want His people to be in doubt. Do you think He hung on that cross doubting His decision? Never before in history or since, has there been a more deliberate act of obedience and love!
© 2010 Life After Ministries, Inc.
Link for Chapter 14:
Chapter 14. Fundamentals of Mormonism: Is it a Lie or is it Biblical?
http://lifeafterministry.com/2010/10/22/mentoring-handbook-chapter-14/
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A few days ago Melissa told me about a post on a Facebook page that reminded me of what it’s like for members of the LDS Church. The post was a quote from a speech by Thomas Monson who was giving pointers on how to be perfect, and a Mormon scripture from 3 Nephi 12:48.
