It is astonishing that you and other Mormonism Apologists can pick out points of the Church Age yet ignore the whole picture as taught throughout the New Testament. Your religion is based in temple ordinances and worship ... for what purpose? To give yourselves the form of godliness while denying the power thereof to set you free from the Law which saves no man! The Book of Romans makes plain the state of those in Christ, righteousified by faith not of works of the law! [Romans 3:28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.] Yet your false prophet set up an entire system of temple ordinances and worship which is required in order to step onto some fantasy road to higher heavens and belonging to the Mormonism church is to worship restored Christianity! What a clear heresy! Wherefore did Christianity take a 1400+ year break?
Your own Hinckley preaches the end of priesthood enslavements yet your religion is based entirely upon the reestablishment of this Christ-cancelled ordinance system. The irrational aspects of believing lies on top of lies never seems to awaken some of you. Many leave Mormonism when they realize how contradictory and downright heresy laden Mormonism is.
When Paul when to Temple and even went through ritual washings and cleansings for such, he did so to reach Jews still stuck in the ordinance religion which Christ ended! If Paul had not gone through the rituals of cleansing, etc. he would not have been received into their midst and could not have met them where they were in order to bring them to the freedom in Christ Jesus! That you refuse to understand that tells me you most likely are pridefully building up your righteousness with your ordinances rather than placing your immortal spirit at God's mercy and Grace in Christ Jesus.
Te veil was in place prior to Jesus coming amongst us to prevent God's shakinah glory from destroying the outer not to prevent the people from coming in. Death awaited any Priest who entered in to the Holy of Holies without the proper blood offering and cleansing. Was this to prevent God from being sullied? No, His Righteousness would consume the entire universe if exposed directly to It!
Just being in God's presence caused Moses's face to glow, and he wasn't allowed to see the face of God because the eyes of God would have instantly consumed him in his unrighteous state. I'm currently doing a study which will discuss the point of Whose body was Moses allowed to see the backside of on the Mountain? It was Christ, I'm convinced! And had Moses seen His face, the Glory of the Risen Lord walking to/in Moses's time would have burned up Moses instantly. But that's grist for another discussion. The point is that Paul went to the Jewish Temples at each city he visited, first, before preaching to the Gentiles, because of what Christ taught about the children's food (look that one up) and the necessity to not step on Jewish toes everywhere he went because Jesus of Whom Paul preached was a Jewish Rabbi! And if you will read Paul's letters you will see that he explained exactly that as his reason for entering the Jewish Temples.
You Apologists have to twist nearly every aspect of Christianity and Christian learning for the past 2000 years in order to fit it speciously into your cult. It gets tiring always having to correct your duplicitous, irrational, contradictory doctrines and ordinances and mischaracterizations of Scripture passages. Christ has freed us from the Law for the Law made no man righteous. And once saved, there isn't a work of any sort that can compare to what Christ in you portends as The Hope Of Glory. You cannot do a work to add even a speck to what Christ has already accomplished for you. To imagine you can insults God's Grace toward you.
You post this nonsense then get upset and spew 'anti-mormon' epithets when someone points out the foolishness of the teaching: "... all men become eligible to pass through the veil into the presence of the Lord to inherit full exaltation." sevebak, the priest went into the Holy of Holies with the blood to be sprinkled for an atonement, not for any exaltation or pact of goodness to allow exaltation of the mortal, but to obtain the Mercy of God! PERIOD!
You and your Mormonism Apologist friends and apparently your presidents and 'prophets' do not divide the Word of God correctly but twist it to fabricate lies not there but ones you and the spirit of your cult want to be there. Exaltation indeed! Just how blasphemous do you want to get? How much do you think you can do to bring God into an 'God owes you' relationship? And that's you cue to deny your ordinances and doctrines aren't designed for that purpose, but your own false prophet says they are and that has been reinforced ever since the establishment of Mormonism.
Take a lesson from the first Church Council at Jerusalem and the final decision issued from them to be carried by paul and Barnabas on their missionary journeys. Stop trying to judaize the Grace of God in Christ which has the power to make one a new creation, not for that one's exaltation but to just enter into the family of God. Take a lesson fromt he Book of Ruth, that once in the family, gleaning is no longer needed because all that is in the barn is yours as a member of the family. Take a lesson from Esther, that you enter in to seek God's mercy, and if you perish you perish, but you can expect only Mercy through His Grace and not exaltation from your efforts.
MHGinTN, while I appreciate what you are trying to do (save my soul from your definition of my “ordinance based religion”) I should point out that what the Apostles did following the resurrection of Christ was not strictly for outward principles to be accepted by nonbelievers. Quite the contrary:
Acts 2:
41 ¶ Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
43 And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.
44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common;
45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.
46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,
47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.