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Milk before meat? “A Christian would never do so.”

Then you are ignorant of what the Bible teaches:

1 Cor 3:1-3 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with MILK, and not with MEAT: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?

Heb 5:12-14 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of MILK, and not of strong MEAT. For every one that useth MILK is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong MEAT belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

1 Pet 2:1-2 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, As newborn babes, desire the sincere MILK of the word, that ye may grow thereby.

The principle of teaching people milk before the meat is biblical and is just common sense. Basics before deep concepts. You do not teach a child calculus until after he has mastered the basics of mathematics.

If you were a Mormon for 45 years then you should know better. Protestantism has NOTHING to offer other than a simplistic view of salvation using a criteria that, if applied honestly, saves the Mormon just as well as it saves the Protestant. After all if membership in a church doesn’t save, only an acceptance of Christ as one’s Savior; then Mormons are also saved because we fully accept Christ as God, as God’s only Begotten Son, as the only way to heaven, and so forth. There is NO biblical teaching about Christ we reject. Not one. And you, as one who supposedly lived as a Mormon for 45 years, SHOULD KNOW that.

As a Mormon, I’ve no doubt if you stay in your current Protestant church, worship and adore Christ, and strive to be a good person that you will go to your heaven when you die. Static eternal bliss is what you want and I’m sure you’re going to get it. That’s the MOST you can expect. For me, that’s the LEAST I can expect provided I stay a faithful follower of Christ as a Mormon. The MOST I can expect is exaltation. Thus, a Mormon has nothing to gain and the possibility of exaltation to lose by leaving the church. Why be upset at this? You reject outright the notion of exaltation, so surely, my portrayal of your heaven as static eternal bliss cannot be offensive. After all, if there’s a possibility of growth, given an open-ended eternity, exaltation is inevitable.

As for your suicide literalism of Second Isaiah’s exclusivity, why not acknowledge the three interwoven concepts of Isa 40-48:

(1) The falsity and uselessness of idols and the gods they represent (Isa 40:18-21; 41:22-24,26,29; 42:8,17; 43:12; 44:9-20; 45:20; 46:1-2,5-7; 48:5).

(2) The certainty of the uniqueness of Jehovah, who is the only God (Isa 43:10; 44:6,8; 45:5-7,18,21-22; 46:9).

(3) The fact that it was only Jehovah who created the heavens and the earth (40:12,26,28; 42:5; 44:24; 45:8-12,18; 48:13).

By arranging these three thoughts and their relationships with each other we find that in every single instance when Jehovah says there aren’t any gods beside him, before him or after him, or he doesn’t know of any other gods; these denials are always in close proximity with the other two main thoughts of these nine chapters.

What this means is it is dishonest to take the exclusivity declarations out of context. It is especially so when you use it in blithe disregard to the New Testament’s repeated claim that Christ’s true followers are transformed into replicas of him and share his oneness with the Father.

The New Testament’s description of the Sanctified, Christ’s true followers, leaves no other interpretation than deification (which is why the Church Fathers repeatedly taught it at least 150 times). Here are several hundred passages showing deification awaits Christ’s true followers (I can provide explanations why I selected each passage so if you don’t understand why I use them, feel free to ask and I’ll explain). Taken as a whole, it shows the LDS Doctrine of Exaltation to be overwhelmingly biblical:

1. The Sanctified Are Transformed into Replicas of the Glorified Jesus Christ

(1) Rom 8:29 The sanctified are molded into the same image as Jesus Christ. Whatever the glorious resurrected Jesus is; the sanctified become like him.
(2) 1 Cor 15:43,48-49 We are created after the image of the earthly man, Adam, but the sanctified will be further transformed into the image of the resurrected and glorified Jesus Christ.
(3) 2 Cor 3:18 When we [the sanctified] look in a mirror, we see reflected back the glory of God and are transformed into that same image, from glory to [additional] glory. We are changed into the same image Jesus is in, from glory to glory. If we are transformed into the same glorious image God is comprised of, we can become “God/Gods/gods” ourselves by receiving a “share”of the glory of God. (cf. Gal 2:20).
(4) Gal 4:19 Paul claimed to be like a woman in labor for the sake of these members until they reach the stage where they are transformed into images of Christ.
(5) Eph 4:11-15 The sanctified will become perfect based upon the template of the perfected Jesus. The glorious immortal Christ is the standard or measurement for those who will be perfected. Jesus Christ’s perfection make him “True God” and the sanctified are supposed to grow into the “die” or mold Christ is the template of, making themselves replicas of Christ.
(6) Eph 4:24 The new man is created after the image of God.
(7) Phil 3:20-21 Our citizenship is in heaven. Jesus will change our corruptible (lowly) bodies into replicas of his glorious body.
(8) Col 3:10 The sanctified [new man] is created after God’s appearance. The elect are holy and beloved by God. In other words, the sanctified in the next life resemble God, are glorious and holy beings, beloved by God (Col 3:4,10,12). “This transformation has God’s image for its model.”
(9) 1 Jn 2:29-3:3 The righteous are born of God and are called the children of God. They will resemble Jesus Christ at his coming. All who have this hope will purify themselves just as Christ is pure.
(10) Heb 6:12-20 Jesus is the forerunner. This isn’t about Jesus being the first to be resurrected since the book of Hebrews only discusses his resurrection at the end of the book (Heb 13:20). He is the first and pioneered the way for others to follow [just as he is the first to be resurrected (1 Cor 15:20)]. He is the first kind of “new humanity” that has both “God” and “Man” natures. The sanctified imitate Christ (1 Cor 11:1; Eph 5:1; 1 Th 1:6) and become what he became. This promise is the hope the true followers of Christ have.

2. The Sanctified Have the Same “God” Nature of the Father and Son

(John 15:1-11,16; Acts 17:29; 1 Cor 10:16-17; 1 Cor 15:43,48-49; 2 Cor 8:9; Gal 4:7; Heb 2:10-3:1; Heb 3:14; Heb 12:6-10: 1 Pet 1:23; 1 Pet 2:4-5; 2 Pet 1:3-4; 1 Cor 1:9; 2 Cor 13:14; Phil 2:1; 1 Jn 1:3-4; 1 Jn 1:6-7; 1 Jn 3:9-10; Rev 3:4-5)

3. The Sanctified become “One” with the Members of the Godhead

([cf. John 10:30; John 17:11; John 17:22] John 17:11,21-23; 1 Cor 6:17; 1 Cor 12:12-14,19-20; Heb 3:14; 1 Jn 1:3; 1 Cor 10:16-17)

4. The Sanctified Interpenetrate with the Members of the Godhead

([cf. John 10:38; John 13:31-32; John 14:7-13,20; John 17:21-23; 2 Cor 5:19] John 6:56; John 14:17-23,28; John 15:1-11,16; John 17:21-26; Acts 17:28; Rom 6:3-11; Rom 8:1-2,9-13; Rom 8:39; Rom 12:5; Rom 13:14; 1 Cor 1:9,30; 1 Cor 8:6; 1 Cor 10:16-17; 1 Cor 16:24; 2 Cor 5:15-21; 2 Cor 6:16; 2 Cor 13:3-5; Gal 2:20; Gal 3:27-28; Gal 4:6; Gal 4:19; Gal 5:6; Eph 1:6-11; Eph 2:5-6; Eph 2:10; Eph 2:13-18; Eph 3:17; Eph 4:6; Phil 2:1; Phil 2:13; Phil 3:9; Col 1:21-22; Col 1:27-28; Col 2:6-10; Col 3:3; Col 3:11; 1 Th 1:1; 1 Th 2:14; 1 Th 4:14,16; 2 Th 1:1; 2 Tim 2:1; Jas 4:5; 1 Jn 2:23-28; 1 Jn 3:24; 1 Jn 4:4-16; 1 Jn 5:12; 1 Jn 5:20; Jude 1:1)

5. The Sanctified Share Christ’s Transformation (Old Man/New Man)

(Rom 6:3-11; Rom 7:4-6; 2 Cor 4:10-17; 2 Cor 5:17; 2 Cor 13:4; Gal 2:19-20; Gal 5:24; Gal 6:14; Eph 2:5-6; Eph 3:16-20; Eph 4:22-24; Phil 3:9-10; Col 1:24; Col 3:1; Col 3:9-10; 2 Tim 2:11)

6. Christ is the “Head”; the Sanctified are the “Body”

(John 11:52; 1 Cor 12:12-27; Rom 12:4-8; Eph 1:22-23; 4:4,12-16,25; 5:23; Col 1:18-22; 2:10,19; 3:15; Acts 9:4-5; 22:8; 26:14-15 [Saul was persecuting Jesus when he was persecuting the church - Acts 7:58-8:3; 9:1-2; 22:4-5; 26:9-12]).

Does this imagery imply the head has an ontologically different nature than the body; or does it imply the members must have complete unity with one another and with Christ, with the church following the directions of Christ [just like a body follows the directions that come from the head]?

The head and the body of any creature share a common nature. One’s head can’t be more “human” than one’s body. A dog’s head isn’t more “dog” than its body. It isn’t possible for a head to be completely united to a body if their natures are irreconcilable. We know the “head” has a “God” nature and a “man” nature. We also know the “body” has a “man” nature. Despite having two different natures (God and man), the “head” has complete unity with the “body,” making the body share whatever nature the “head” has.

The imagery of Jesus Christ’s unity with his true followers as that of a head with a body implies whatever nature the head has, the body has. If the head has both “God” and “man” natures; so does the body, which is comprised of his true followers.

Having Christ in us and being in Christ means we have perfect unity and “oneness” with him, by having faith in him and by being completely obedient to him (1 Jn 3:24). The Holy Ghost is our constant companion and dwells within us. We are in the justified state and become sanctified, making the Father and Son dwell in us and we in them. We are then transformed into copies of what they are, having glorious, immortal bodies and sharing their “God” nature, power, authority, glory and attributes.

7. Christ is the “Groom”; the Sanctified are the “Bride”

Christ’s relationship with the church is described as him being the groom and his church is his bride (Matt 22:1-14; 25:1-13; Mark 2:19-20; Luke 5:34-35; 12:36; John 3:29; Rom 7:1-6; 2 Cor 11:2; Eph 5:21-33; Rev 19:7-9; 21:2,9; 22:17; D&C 58:11).

A husband and wife are “one flesh” (Gen 2:24; Mal 2:14-15; Matt 19:5-6; Mark 10:7-9; Eph 5:31). The woman was created from man’s side (Gen 2:21-23) to be his partner and equal, not to be an inferior creature in comparison to the man. No matter how wicked and adulterous a wife may be, it still doesn’t make her nature/species different from her husband. Marriage is only possible between members of the same species. Describing a particular person as being married to a member of another species is ridiculous since marriage brings the implication of ontological similarity and unity.
Despite the description of God being the husband of Israel or Christ is the groom of the church is metaphorical, it doesn’t change the fact that such a metaphor implies complete unity and similar nature, which isn’t possible if the nature of God and man were irreconcilable.

8. The Sanctified Have the Fullness of God

([cf. Col 1:19; 2:9] John 1:12-13,16; Eph 1:22-23; Eph 3:19; Eph 4:13; Col 2:9-10)

9. The Sanctified Will Be Glorified

(1 Sam 2:7-8; Ps 73:23-28; Matt 13:43; John 17:21-23; Rom 2:6-7,10; Rom 3:23; Col 1:27; Rom 5:2; Rom 9:23,26; 1 Th 2:12; 2 Th 2:13-14; 2 Pet 1:3-4; Rom 8:14-21,29-33; Rom 15:7; 2 Cor 3:7-18; 2 Cor 4:17; Eph 1:18; Col 3:4; 1 Cor 2:6-7; 2 Tim 2:10-12; Heb 2:10; 1 Pet 1:7; 1 Pet 4:13-14; 1 Pet 5:1-10)

10. The Sanctified Will Be Perfected

(Matt 5:48; 2 Cor 13:11; Matt 19:21; 2 Cor 13:9; Gal 3:3; Heb 10:14; Eph 4:11-15; Phil 3:10-21; Col 1:21-23,27-28; Col 4:12; Jas 1:4; Heb 7:11,19; Heb 9:8-15; Heb 10:1; Heb 12:23; 1 Pet 5:10)

11. The Sanctified are Heirs

([cf. Matt 21:38/Mark 12:7/Luke 20:14; Heb 1:1-4] Luke 12:32; Luke 22:29; Rom 8:17; Gal 4:1-7,28-31; Eph 1:11-14,18; Heb 6:12-20; Acts 20:32; Acts 26:18; Gal 3:29; Eph 3:6; Eph 5:5; Col 1:12; Col 3:24; Tit 3:7; Heb 3:14; Heb 6:12; Heb 9:15; Heb 11:7-9; 1 Pet 1:3-5; 1 Pet 3:7,9; Rev 21:7)

12. The Sanctified Receive “All Things”

([cf. Matt 11:27; John 3:35; John 13:3; John 16:15; John 17:10] Luke 12:41-44; Rom 8:32; 1 Cor 3:21-23; 2 Cor 4:15; 2 Cor 6:10; 1 Tim 6:17; 2 Pet 1:3; Rev 21:7)

13. The Sanctified Will Rule and Reign

(Luke 12:32; Luke 22:29-30; 1 Cor 4:8; Eph 2:5-7; 2 Tim 2:10-12; 2 Tim 4:8; Jas 1:12; 1 Pet 5:4; Rev 1:6; Rev 3:20-21; Rev 5:10; Rev 20:4; Rev 22:5)

14. The Sanctified Are Holy, Pure, and Sinless

(Heb 12:10; Lev 11:44-45; Rom 6:19; Rev 22:11; 1 Cor 1:2,30; 2 Cor 5:21; Eph 2:19-22; Eph 5:26-27; Col 1:12; 2 Th 1:10; Heb 2:11; Heb 3:1; Heb 10:10,14; Heb 10:19)

15. The Sanctified are Adopted by Christ

(Rom 8:9-39; Rom 9:3-8,22-26; 2 Cor 6:14-18; Gal 3:26-29; Gal 4:5-7; Eph 1:5)

16. The Sanctified are Known as the Children of God

(Matt 5:9; Matt 5:44-45; Luke 20:36; John 11:52; Rom 8:16,21; Rom 9:8; Gal 3:26; Eph 2:19; Phil 2:15; Heb 3:6; 1 Jn 2:29-3:3; 1 Jn 3:9-10; 1 Jn 5:1-4; Rev 21:7).

17.The Sanctified can receive this Transformation because we are the Spirit Offspring of God, with Christ as the Firstborn of us all

(We are the offspring of God: Heb 12:5-9; Acts 17:29; Luke 3:38; Ps 82:6; John 20:17; Heb 2:10-12; John 15:1-11,16; Rom 8:29; Col 1:15; Heb 1:6. Christ is the Firstborn [prototokos]: Rom 8:29; Col 1:15; Col 1:18; Rev 1:5; Heb 1:6; Heb 11:28; Heb 12:23; Matt 1:25; Luke 2:7. We are his Brethren: Rom 8:29; Heb 2:11-12,17)

There is NO biblical teaching about Christ we reject. Not one. And you, as one who supposedly lived as a Mormon for 45 years, SHOULD KNOW that.

1. Edward, since when do Lds in general focus on Jesus unilaterally dying for their personal sins? [Who says “no, He doesn’t” – Lds apostle Jeffrey R. Holland, etc., who makes it all "conditional" -- not unilateral] Biblical verses rejected: 1 John 1:7; 1 John 2:2; 1 Peter 2:24; Heb. 1:3

2. Since when do Lds pray directly to Jesus? Verse rejected: Acts 7:59 (Stephen)

3. Likewise, Lds reject Jesus Christ as Creator of ALL "thrones...principalities, or powers" (Col. 1:16) and "All things came into being through Him [Jesus]; and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being" (John 1:3) by claiming one of those principal powers -- Lucifer/Satan -- was Jesus' "brother" in the pre-existence. (How can THE Creator -- Jesus Christ -- possibly be the spirit-brother of His own creation? Impossible!)

4. Lds reject Jesus Christ being divine from eternity past -- and say instead it was something he had to attain. Edward Watson's Reality check: Mormons flat-out deny the teaching found in John 1:1, 18 and Micah 5:2, because they claim Jesus was part of a past creation process – (obviously if Jesus’ Mormon “father” was once a man, then Jesus was at some point “less” in stature at that “time”) • "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...the Word became flesh and dwelt among us [Jesus]" (Jn. 1:1,18). • ”But thou, Bethlehem Ephrata, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. (Micah 5:2)

5. Lds reject Jesus Christ as the ONLY begotten son (practical rejection of John 1:14 as uniquely begotten of the Father). [Note: Oh sure, D&C 76:23,25 labels Jesus as the “Only begotten Son” – but sandwiches those verses around v. 24, teaching that “well, no He isn’t”: “That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God.” [I mean if the worlds are full of "begotten sons...unto God", how is Jesus universally unique as "the only" begotten Son? What, by way of Mormon doctrine, makes Him an "only" begotten Son?]

Lds leaders say Jesus, the author of salvation, was a created being of another god – and that He needed to advance to being a "saved being."

6. Lds reject Jehovah is our Elohim, and that the Father is in Jesus Christ, and by teaching that the Son of God was denied the fullness of God “at first” (D&C 93:13-14) in sharp contradiction to the Bible’s teachings that the fullness/volume of the deity resides/resided in Jesus Christ. This is a rejection of…
(a) James 2:19: Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well…” and replaces Him with multiple gods;
(b) Exodus 34:14 – only one God can be worshiped!
(c) Deut. 6:4: Jehovah is our Elohim. Gen. 27:20: “The Jehovah, your Elohim.” Ex. 3:6-7: “I the Jehovah, your Elohim.” (Elohim used to describe the Messiah in Isaiah 9:6 and 40:3). Cf. Jer. 32:18, 27. [Mormons even thereby reject plain Book of Mormon passages as well, such as “Jesus IS THE eternal God” (2 Nephi 26:12) and “Jesus [is] THE VERY GOD! (Mormon 3:21)].
(d) the true union of God the Father and God the Son teaching found in the Bible, and reduces the union between God the Father and God the Son to one a mere will and purpose, when the Bible never limits the union to those terms or descriptors.

7. Lds reject Jesus Christ being the unique and ONLY universal Savior. How? Why?
(a) Brigham Young taught both that Joseph Smith was Jesus’ “co-consenter” as to who would enter eternal life;
and (b) he also taught that many worlds existed – and that “every earth has its redeemer” [meaning other saviors on other planets].
Edward Watson's Reality check: Mormons flat-out deny the teaching found in Acts 4:12 and 1 Tim. 2:5: "There is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12) "For there is one God and one mediator also between God and men: the Man Christ Jesus" (1 Tim. 2:5). [Brigham Young indeed taught other names & other mediators & other redeemers exist!]

8. Lds reject the blood of Christ as being completely "salvific" for the sins of mankind by adding works of the law into the magic Mormon "formula." Lds also reject the cross as the key component of the very gospel. Although I’ve found the word “cross” in the D&C, it isn’t even in the D&C index! It’s missing! Edward Watson's Reality check: Mormons flat-out deny the clear and dominant teaching found in numerous verses. I’ll highlight four verses for brevity sake: "I do not frustrate the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died needlessly" (Gal. 2:21); "For not knowing about God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God" (Romans 10:3); "He saved us not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to his mercy." (Titus 3:5); "For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified" (Heb. 10:14).