Bible Study for Mormons
Referring back to Lesson 8, we learned that Mormonism believes
that almost everyone will be saved, but the works that a person
does will determine which level of heaven a person will be saved
to. The better the life, the greater the reward. Again, all the
selfish people will end up at the lowest level of the three
heavens. Consider their belief--
"Only those in the highest kingdom--the celestial--can have
children and achieve life's ultimate goal--exaltation to godhood.
Those in the two lower kingdoms of glory must remain unmarried
and childless. They can never visit those in the celestial
kingdom. However, life even in the lowest of the three
kingdoms--the telestial--will be so much more glorious than
anything we can imagine on earth that it will surpass all
understanding (see Doctrine and Covenants, 76:89). Those in the
lower kingdoms will never be able to advance to a higher one.
That is why Mormons place such emphasis on obedience during this
life--one's position in the coming kingdoms of glory depends on
the degree of faithfulness and obedience achieved here on
earth." Meeting the Mormon Challenge With Love, by
Leon Cornforth, p. 142.
1. The first question we should address is, will nearly all
people be saved in God's kingdom? What is the plain teaching of
God's word?
Matthew 20:16; Matthew 7:14; Matthew 13:47-51
Answer:
(a.) "So the last shall be first, and the first last: for
____________ be called, but _________ chosen." Matthew 20:16
(b.) "Because ___________ [is] the gate, and narrow [is] the
way, which leadeth unto life, and ___________ there be that find
it." Matthew 17:14
(c.) "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that
was cast into the sea, and gathered of ___________ kind: Which,
when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered
the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at
the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the
_____________ from among the just, And shall cast them into the
furnace of ___________: there shall be wailing and gnashing of
teeth. Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these
things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord." Matthew 13:47-51
2. Does the Bible teach that salvation is by works (or deeds) or
is salvation by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and
not of works?
Ephesians 2:8, 9; Romans 3:20, 28
Answer:
(a.) "By _____________ are ye saved through _____________;
and that not of yourselves: it is the _____________ of God: Not
of _______________, lest any man should boast." Ephesians
2:8,9
(b.) "By the _____________ of the law there shall no flesh
be __________________ in His [God's] sight: for by the law is the
knowledge of sin....Therefore we conclude that a man is
______________ by faith without the ____________ of the
law." Romans 3:20, 28.
3. I believe that God wants me to be good enough. It seems
that just to have faith and not works would destroy the Law. Is
that true?
Romans 3:31; James 2:17-26
Answer:
(a.) "Do we then make void the law through __________? God
forbid: yea, we __________________ the law." Romans 3:31.
(b.) "Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being
alone. Yeah, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works;
shew me thy faith __________________ thy works, and I will shew
thee my ______________ by my works....For as the body without the
spirit is dead, so faith without __________ is dead also."
James 2:17-26.
While salvation is a free gift, and there are no amount of good works that we can do to atone for our sins (this is the key!), our faith in Christ to save us is proved by our works, and it is shown in all that we do. Jesus says, "If ye love me, keep My commandments." John 14:15. If we love Jesus, we will show it by our good works. The more we behold Him living a perfect life without sin though severely tempted and tried, and then dying in our place on the cross for our sins, the more we want to love Him and serve Him! When we see that He will freely forgive us regardless of how bad we may have been, by dying on the cross for us, when we tell Him our heart sorrow for our sins, then He freely forgives us just as He has promised. This is salvation! When we exercise faith in Christ for salvation, we also believe that He will help us overcome sin, teaching us from His word the steps we are to take as we open it up in daily study and prayer. See Psalm 119:133.
4. Let's ask the question this way: Do Mormons teach that we are saved by Jesus Christ alone or must we work first to be saved? Here is what Mormons answer--
Answer:
"Salvation in the celestial kingdom of God is not salvation
by grace alone. Rather it is salvation by grace coupled with
obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel."
(McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 671) "...Here Mormon
teaching on salvation plainly contradicts the clear statements of
God's Word (see question number 1 above). They believe that in
order to be saved in the celestial kingdom--the highest level of
salvation possible to human beings--a person must exceed the
experience of salvation by grace." Cornforth, p. 166.
Remember the story of Noah and the Ark, how he and his family and the animals and birds, etc. survived the flood waters that covered the world? Noah built the Ark according to God's direction. Then God protected Noah in the Ark (that only Noah had built) from the raging waters outside which would have easily smashed the Ark. Now, tell me, who ultimately saved Noah? Did he save himself by building the Ark and getting into it? No! He could not save himself or the Ark from the raging torrential waters that broke forth upon the earth. OR did God bless Noah's faith of building the Ark according to God's direction, and getting into the Ark according to God's direction, by keeping the boat afloat on the waters until the Flood receded from the earth? So it was a cooperative effort, but in the end, who gets all the glory, God or Noah? Definitely God, because there was nothing that Noah could do well enough to save himself from being destroyed by the relentless thrashing of the seas that would have destroyed the most sea-worthy vessel that could be built. Noah did all he could on his part which was a result of his faith. But God must ultimately save him. So the fact of salvation was grace alone on God's part. But Noah must obey God on his part. He must cooperate and follow God's instructions implicitly. In the same manner Jesus died to save us from our sins, for there was nothing we could do on our part to pay the death penalty for our sins, and yet live. We needed a Saviour from sin and death! Praise the Lord for He is well able to save us! But we must do our part and follow our Saviour's instructions implicitly. And He has promised us that we can do that through faith in His power!
Here are more statements from Mormon writers that show their misunderstanding of the Bible teaching on salvation by grace alone through faith:
"The Saviour will forgive all those who learn to keep his commandments, and he will remove their sins." (A Uniform System for Teaching Investigators, p. 62). Note: The cart is before the horse here. We cannot keep the commandments of God unless God gives us His grace, and forgives us our sins and makes our record clean. Then He promises to give us power to obey His commandments. Otherwise, our efforts will not bear fruit! We must have God's help. It is still the divine plan of cooperation, we have our part to do, but only through faith in His strength which He promises to give us if we put forth the effort.
"We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gsopel." (Articles of Faith, No. 3). Note: Again, emphasis is on obedience, and not a hint that we are to have faith in Jesus Christ for obedience! But can mankind simply obey God's requirements? Will that pay the death penalty for sin? Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." No, we cannot pay the death penalty by dying for sin, for we cannot raise ourselves from the grave and, no, we cannot just obey God perfectly because there is something that must happen first. What must happen first? Think about this question:
5. What are we to DO to be cleansed from all sin or
unrighteousness?
1 John 1:9 and John 3:16;
Answer:
(a.) "If we ____________________ our sins, he [Jesus] is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to ____________ us
from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
(b.) "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever ______________ in him should not
perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16. We must just
go to Jesus, believing His promises for cleansing from our sins,
confessing our known sins to Him. Daily we come to Him for
cleansing, because as we get to know Jesus better, we seem to
realize how sinful we really are without Him working in our
lives, so we need His grace daily.
6. What part of ourselves needs to be cleansed? Will taking a
bath cleanse it, or just trying to be good?
Jeremiah 17:9; Luke 6:45; Jeremiah 13:23
Answer:
(a.) "The heart is _____________ above all things, and
desperately ______________: who can know it?" Jeremiah 17:9.
(b.) "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart
bringeth forth that which is __________; and an evil man out of
the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is
____________: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth
speaketh." Luke 6:45.
(c,) "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his
spots? [then] may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do
evil." Jeremiah 13:23.
When God cleanses the heart, the life becomes changed. Often the changes are imperceptible in the heart, but only as we see the life changing do we know that God is working in the heart.
7. Jesus invites us to come unto Him, not to anyone else, to
be cleansed. When we come to Jesus in faith believing, what will
He say to us?
Matthew 11:28-30; Matthew 8:1-3; John 5:14
Answer:
(a.) "Come unto me, all [ye] that labour and are heavy
laden, and I will give you _____________. Take my yoke upon you,
and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall
find ______________ unto your souls. For my yoke [is] easy, and
my burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30
(b.) "When he was come down from the mountain, great
multitudes followed him. And, behold, there came a leper and
worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me
clean. And Jesus put forth [his] hand, and touched him, saying, I
will; _______ ____________ _________________. And immediately his
leprosy was cleansed." Matthew 8:1-3.
(c.) "Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said
unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: _______ no more, lest a
worse thing come unto thee." John 5:14
Because Jesus has cleansed the heart, He then tells us to "Go! and sin no more!.." That is His promise that we can "Go and sin no more!"
8. With a new heart and a new mind, can we then keep God's
commandments, including the Ten Commandments?
Hebrews 8:8-12.
Answer:
"For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of
Israel [God's born-again people], after those days, saith the
Lord; I will put my________ into their mind, and write them in
their_____________: and I will be to them a God, and they shall
be to me a people." Hebrews 8:10. God wants us to keep His
Law found in Exodus 20:1-17. But here we find the key to keeping
the Law of God, through the promises of God to write them in our
hearts and minds, and that was made possible by Jesus dying for
sin, taking our place on the cross, and not giving the devil
victory over repentant sinners, but promising to give us
forgiveness and victory in Him through faith. Faith is the
victory, in 1 John 5:4. As we study God's word, we find strength
from Him to gain the victories.
Do you want this victory over every sin in your life on a daily basis, friend? I pray that you will come to Jesus today in faith, believing that He will cleanse you and give you a new heart and mind that you may begin growing up into Jesus, into His likeness, gaining victory after victory in your life over sin, finding that abundant grace to keep the Law of God faithfully because you love Him!
Our next study will be, "The Seventh-day Sabbath of the
Ten Commandments, Which Day Is It?"
Regarding the Seventh-day Sabbath of the Ten Commandments see
also the Appendix below. Thanks
