Posted on 07/09/2011 6:52:15 PM PDT by T.L.Sink
I did see your post, although I was after I posted I think.
Exactly right, they always throw the prophets under the bus. If only the living prophet counts and only kinda then, what is the point?
At least the Bible (our standard) doesn’t change.
There is no evidence that these beliefs were ever retracted.
- - - - - -
The LDS never retract any teachings or beliefs. The closest was giving blacks the priesthood. If they were to retract any beliefs, then it would be admitting that their prophets were false.
Would it comfort you to know that before I became a Mormon I accepted Jesus Christ as my Saviour?
Or do you think my salvation had been undone by my baptism into the LDS church?
IIRC, accepting Jesus as your personal Savior begins a process whereby God’s Spirit enters your human spirit and begins to change you from the inside out. (He’s been working on me for almost forty years now.) Do you believe God’s Spirit would make you comfy while you troddle off into heresies and insults to God’s nature, The Son He provided for your salvation, and the Truth He has provided in scripture? ... Because that is what Mormonism does and if you were a born again Christian you would never be left by God’s Spirit to feel comfy in such heretical teaching as you receive in Mormonism.
>> Would it comfort you to know that before I became a Mormon I accepted Jesus Christ as my Saviour? <<
>> Or do you think my salvation had been undone by my baptism into the LDS church? <<
.
The real question is “If you really knew who Jesus Christ, the only begotten son is, and had accepted that Jesus completely, not just in words, would you have wandered into the mormon denial of who Jesus Christ is?”
The mormon doctrine says that Jesus is not the only begotten son, and is the brother of Lucifer/Satan.
I never posed the question of whether Mormons believe in God Almighty. The question is can there be a president who is not of an accepted Christian denomination? This all goes back to the hit piece that the Memphis Fox affiliate did on Romney.
Do Mormons have a top of the their pantheon?
That is a given with anything. I don’t understand where you are going.
Do Mormons have a top of the their pantheon?
- - - -
Not really. It is more of a Turtles all the way down thing. God has a God who has a God who has a God who has a God who has a God who has a God who, ad infinitum. They do not discuss where the first God came from.
When the LDS state they only believe in One God, they are misleading you. There are two caveats to that, first the 3 separate Gods that make up the Godhead [God the Father, God the Son (who got a body and earned his Godhood) and God the Holy Spirit (who really isn’t quite a God because he hasn’t gotten a body yet)] are only one God IN PURPOSE. The second caveat is that there is only one God (or Godhead) FOR THIS WORLD. Other worlds have their own Gods and Godheads.
With the LDS you need to watch how they use words because they use Christian terms but very different definitions. If you are interested, I can post a link to a Christian vs. Mormon dictionary that is sourced using the Bible vs. LDS scripture.
Would it comfort you to know that before I became a Mormon I accepted Jesus Christ as my Saviour?
Or do you think my salvation had been undone by my baptism into the LDS church?
- - - -
I echo the posts made by MHG and ES.
If you were really saved you wouldn’t have joined Mormonism. Or, along similar lines, you rejected Christ (and lost your salvation) by rejecting the Christ of the Bible and going after a false Christ of Mormonism and a system of works.
In short, either you were never saved, or you lost your salvation. I’m not part of the OSAS crowd, at least not as the LDS think what it means.
Salvation in Christ is belief in the grace of Christ through faith, not works. Salvation is predicated upon a RELATIONSHIP with Jesus. If I sin, I don’t lose my salvation, but if I no longer believe or go after a false Christ I terminate that relationship and thus am not saved. Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost (which is what Mormonism is) is the unforgivable sin.
In short, because you became a Mormon you divorced Christ.
I thought I was a Christian growing up, I wore a cross, listened to Stryper, went to vacation bible school and various churches. I thought I was a Christian when I was LDS. But only after as MHG put it I accepted Jesus as your personal Savior (by grace through faith alone) and God’s Spirit entered my life did I realized I never was a Christian before that. I was just thinking I was. I didn’t have a RELATIONSHIP with the Jesus of the Bible.
The same would apply to an athiest or a neo pagan.
There is a somewhat hidden lesson in what Jesus taught regarding the Bride of Christ, but to apprehend it one needs to know something of the Jewish form for marriage. A betrothal period is counted as binding, as if one were married already. But the actual wedding is a future event anticipated during a betrothal period. I believe the ‘betrothal period’ is that span of life during which fidelity to The Christ is established. Following strictly the ten commandments? No, only Jesus was able to accomplish that. But following the two great commandments Jesus explained to the Pharisees, yes, that is what the trimming of the lamps int eh parable of the virgins is all about. You cannot earn salvation, but you can fall short of fidelity to your vows ... and God even taught that the unfaithful could repent and return to Him. Jesus taught on this notion with several of His parables and in the Sermon on The Mount. He also emphasized it with the churches spoken of in Revelations. The essence of OSAS is that remaining in a fideltiy with The Lord Christ assures salvation once one plights their troth with Him. even if it requires repentence and turning from sin long after the moment of His saving Grace applied to the human spirit. ... And at 65, having been saved in my twenties, I speak from deacdes of experiencing the Grace of God in Christ for I am a living sinner saved by His Grace. Thanks be to God.
Very well said. Thank you, brother.
Humbly yours, m’Lady.
The essence is, salvation is a relationship with The Grace of God in Christ. When one is born again, the human spirit is cleansed so that the Holy Spirit of God comes to be with your human spirit as the earnest of your inheritance. His indwelling presence guides and directs, gentely, ever so gentely, never pushing His Righteousness upon you, but offering it when you fail and repent and seek His forgiveness and renewal. And that’s the part Mormons don’t seem to get: He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins ... but if salvation only comes after all that we can do, why even bother an ongoing foregiveness for sin, yet that is precisely what God teaches us He does when we start a relationship with Him. And that again is something of the essence of once saved always saved (OSAS).
The essence is, salvation is a relationship with The Grace of God in Christ....but if salvation only comes after all that we can do, why even bother an ongoing forgiveness for sin, yet that is precisely what God teaches us He does when we start a relationship with Him. And that again is something of the essence of once saved always saved (OSAS).
- - - - -
Worth a repost.
Sadly, as we have seen here, the LDS seem to think (and I did as well when I was LDS) that OSAS means that Christians think they can sin all they want and still be saved. It doesn’t mean that at all.
It is hard when I see anyone abandon their relationship with the Grace of God and moreso when they trade in grace for salvation by works.
The absolutel fidelity of God’s Character is such that once His Spirit comes to the Mercy seat for the human spirit, it is His Integrity which is at risk over our infidelity! He has promised to never leave us or foresake us ... and that means He will be faithful to change us, even if He must allow our infidelity to lead us to physical destruction. If we doubt that bargain, just look at Jimmy Swaggert. Our FRiend Normandy is in a perilous condition ...
Hi Reaganaut, thanks for your response.
I’ll just say that after I first turned to Jesus and accepted him as my Saviour I wanted to find out I should best follow Him. When I came across the Book of Mormon and the LDS Church I rejoiced to find that the way was made clear. I found a new abundance of the Holy Spirit and happiness. It wasn’t a divorce, it was a greater communion.
Best to you,
Normandy
You followed a false Christ, that is a divorce.
The best way to follow Christ is to follow HIM, not an organization, espeically one that claims God’s word is in ERROR (like Mormonism) and that teaches things contrary to God’s word.
You aren’t following Christ, you are following a false prophet, Joseph Smith.
There is good news, you can repent, renounce Mormonism and come back to the Jesus of the Bible.
That link would be great.
First, it is my experience that every pantheon has a head deity. Secondly, as to where the first God came from, Christians believe that God always was. Then there is the caveat that God the Holy Spirit isn’t quite a God because of a lack of body. This would mean that God the Father wouldn’t be a God either for the same reason.
By-the-way, thank you for the mature and civil discussion. And understanding where I’m coming from.
Neither one of us is voting for Romney, but at least I’m learning something, so it isn’t a waste of time.
This would mean that God the Father wouldn’t be a God either for the same reason.
- - - - -
Mormons teach that God the Father has a body of flesh and bone. Gaining a body and living a good Mormon life (just like God the Father did) is required in order to become a God.
Here is the page with the terminology differences. The website as a whole is full of well researched and accurate info. When I was LDS, I spent most of a year trying to prove that these people, specifically, were lying, taking things out of context or misusing sources. I could not find a single instance, which is more than I could say for Mormon scholars and apologists. Also, if you would like more info, feel free to give them a call. Sandra always has time to help people and answer questions.
http://www.utlm.org/onlineresources/terminologymain.htm
http://www.utlm.org/navonlineresources.htm
http://www.utlm.org/onlineresources/ldsviewcontradictsbible.htm
Also, feel free to freepmail me with any questions you may have.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.