Bible Study for Mormons
In Part 1, we have tried to present what Mormonism teaches regarding salvation from sin. Now let us examine what the Bible teaches on this subject, and see if the two agree on every point. Since the Bible is God's truth, and though written over many years by different ones inspired by the Holy Spirit, and proven by the Dead Sea Scrolls that it is basically the same material as when first written, if it should disagree with Mormon doctrine in any way, then we can justly and rightly follow the Word of God in the Bible.
1. Does the Bible teach two levels of salvation?
Ephesians 2:8, 9; Romans 3:20, 28
Answer:
a. "For by ________________ are ye saved through
________________; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of
God: Not of _______________, lest any man should boast."
Ephesians 2:8, 9
b. "Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be _____________________ in His sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin....Therefore we conclude that a man is __________________ by __________________ without the ________________ of the law." Romans 3:20, 28.
The word, "justified," means to be acquitted of guilt, counted righteous by God Himself, even though a person has sinned and come short of the glory of God in his past. There is no need of justification if a person has never sinned! The law of God does not hold a person guilty if he has never sinned at all! But Romans 3:23 says, "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Jesus Christ alone did no sin, and therefore, had no need of justification and did not have any guilt of His own. But because He became sin for us and took on Him all the guilt of our sins, then He must also take the necessary steps of salvation from sin that we need to take as our perfect example of overcoming sin, so that we might overcome sin with Him! The Bible says, "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but [He] was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4:15, 16. This text also shows that temptation is not sin, for Jesus was tempted in all points, yet was without sin. He never yielded to temptation! See Matthew 4:1-11, showing how Christ overcame some very strong temptations by His faith in God's word. Quoting from Elder Cornforth's book, Meeting the Mormon Challenge With Love, (I will be quoting from pages 142-150 throughout this lesson)--
"In contrast, Mormon teaching on salvation plainly contradicts these clear statements of God's Word. Mormons 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. This they plainly admit:
"'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.)"
Ephesians 2:8, 9 says that it is not of ourselves that we are saved! It is by grace, through the exercise of our faith! Yet Mormons believe that it is not grace alone that saves us! Quoting Cornforth,
"The ONLY salvation the Bible teaches is salvation by grace alone--God's unchanging love for us accepted by faith and lived out in the life by faith. However, in Mormon teaching, salvation depends on obedience to the law at least as much--if not more so--as it does on faith in God and acceptance of Jesus as Saviour. The following quotations from Mormon sources demonstrate this clearly:
"'One of the most pernicious doctrines ever advocated by man is the doctrine of "justification by faith alone," which has entered into the hearts of millions since the days of the so-called "reformation." (Joseph Fielding Smith, The Restoration of All Things, p. 192).'
"'Why is it so important for you to live the commandments?....If I keep the commandments, the Lord removes my sins.' (A Uniform System for Teaching Investigators, p. 62)'
"'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)'
"'We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel. (Articles of Faith, No. 3).'
"In all fairness, Mormons insist that in order to be saved one must have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet, as these statements clearly show, Mormons also believe that salvation does not come by faith in Christ alone; it must be accompanied by obedience to God's law. For Mormons, salvation is by faith PLUS works, with the emphasis on the works. The main focus in the Mormon doctrine of salvation is on obedience to God's law. It is by faithfulness in obedience that one qualifies for the individual [salvation], rather than the general, salvation. It is by one's faithfulness in obedience that he qualifies for the celestial kingdom and the opportunity to progress toward godhood.
"The Word of God, the Holy Bible, knows nothing of two degrees of salvation or of three levels of glory depending upon one's fiathfulness in keeping God's commandments. Instead, it points us toward a Saviour who has promised to accept all who come to Him in faith, trusting in HIS merits--not in their own righteousness by keeping His law."
2. Is there not anything that we can do that will cleanse
ourselves from sin and that we can gain ourselves eternal life?
1 John 1:9; John 3:16
Answer:
a. "If we _______________our sins, he [Jesus] is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse 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
3. Does faith in Christ's forgiveness of our sins exempt us
from keeping God's law, or does it enable us to keep His law?
Romans 3:31
Answer:
"Do we then make void the law through faith? God
_____________: yea, we ______________________ the law."
Romans 3:31
The whole Bible teaches the subject of salvation from sin by grace through faith in the merits of Jesus Christ. It is not just in one or two passages of the Bible, but all through the Bible! For example, see Isaiah 53:1-12, especially verse 11; see also Hebrews, chapter 11, how it is by faith that we are saved, and this faith produces obedience to God's law which is righteousness. Therefore, there can be no mistranslation on this point of doctrine. We must believe the Bible, and accept the truth that there is only salvation from sin by grace alone, and that is through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, not of works, lest any of us should have anything to boast about. "Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law." Romans 3:27, 28.
But what about obedience to God's law? What will justified (forgiven) persons do then? "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid!...." Romans 6:1, 2. Christ's justification or forgiveness of our sins, enables us to be free from guilt, which enables us to start a new life in Jesus Christ, where we are given His grace also to overcome sin! Overcoming sin means, we no longer want to or disobey God's commandments, but instead, learn obedience through faith and love. Think about it! Do you really think that you can pay for your own sins? Never in a lifetime! Christ frees us from them, and gives us His victory! "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:23. Salvation is a gift!
I know from experience that it is futile for me to try to save myself from my pet sin by being good! I can never be good enough by myself. I may lay off sin for a short while, but unless overcome by the blood of the Lamb of God, it will rise up again.. Only Jesus Christ can give me the victory through faith in Him. I need God's help! I can learn from my mistakes, confessing my sins to God and asking God to forgive me and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness, in the name of Jesus. (1 John 1:9). The Bible says, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up..." James 4:7-10. Then since I believe in Him, I also trust that He will do this, and He gives me the supernatural strength to continue to resist the temptation and overcome. He asks for my cooperation of course. But without Him, I can do absolutely nothing! But with Him I can do all things! Isn't salvation amazing??? See John 15:5, and Philippians 4:13.
4. So who really is Lucifer? Where did sin originate?
Ezekiel 28:14, 15; Isaiah 14:12-14
Answer:
a. "Thou art the anointed ______________ that covereth; and
I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou
hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou
wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created,
till ___________________ was found in thee." Ezekiel 28:14,
15. Iniquity is another word for sin. Sin originated with Lucifer,
the perfect angel. What was his sin?
b. "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will _________________ into heaven, I will exalt my throne ______________ the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the height of the clouds; I will be _____________ the most High." Isaiah 14:12-14.
To exalt himself in the place of God, he had to spread dissatisfaction about God's government and God's method of handling things in the hearts of his angel companions. This was successfully done, and Satan (Lucifer) with about 1/3 of the angels who had sided with him, had to leave heaven, and they were cast out and came to this newly created earth with the evil intent to disrupt God's newest creation. (Revelation 12:4, 9).
5. How did sin then start on this earth, and did God purpose
that it should happen here?
Genesis 2:16, 17.
Answer:
"The Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of
the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt _________ eat of it: for
in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely __________."
Genesis 2:16, 17.
When I was a child, my parents would warn me, do not touch the stove, you will get burned! Have you heard that before? Since my nature has a tendency towards sin, it was my curiosity that caused me to get burned! But I have learned from that mistake. I only had to do it once. I no longer go around purposely burning my fingers on hot stoves! However, Adam and Eve were created perfect with a sinless nature. They were happy and loved God. But when tempted on a very small point, they failed to trust God and His word, they doubted God's goodness for them by listening to the serpent, Satan's method of tempting them, and ate the fruit, and became miserable with guilt and the knowledge of the sin they committed. They needed a Saviour from sin, and a way to be brought back to God or forgiven. But God was right, with their sin, death came to the world as a result (Genesis 4:8). Read Genesis 3:15 of the first intimation of the promised Redeemer, the Seed of the woman. Just as soon as they sinned, Adam and Eve had a Saviour from sin. Since God knew the risk which He was taking in creating Adam and Eve soon after Lucifer and the other fallen angels had been dismissed from heaven, He already put in place the plan of salvation should they sin. It was God's purpose from the beginning to thwart the purposes of Satan on this earth and rid the world of sin and death, and of Satan should the first parents sin, but only through Christ coming to our world and by His death, paying the price or wages of sin for us, so that we could be saved and have eternal life. Jesus Christ is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. See Revelation 13:8.
6. So what did God do for us to bring a way of escape from sin
and death?
John 3:16, 17; Romans 5:6-8; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21
Answer:
a. "For God so loved the world, that he ______________ his
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not
perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into
the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him
might be ______________." John 3:16, 17 Christ loved us more
than He loved Himself, and He was willing to die in our place
that we might be forgiven of our sins. The Father loved us just
as much as He loved His Son, because He allowed Jesus to become
one with us, that we might become one with Him through acceptance
of His blood sacrifice. We become one with Him by faith, we die
with Him on the cross, that He might live in us! See Galatians 2:20.
His blood does more than make provision for forgiveness of our
sins. When we die to sin with Jesus, we rise to new life with Him,
He living His life in us!
b. "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not ______________ sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.." Romans 5:6-8. If you read the rest of Romans 5, there will be seen what is meant....we reckon ourselves to be dead to sin. When the temptation to sin comes along, we count ourselves dead to that temptation, by looking to the cross of Calvary to see that Jesus died for my sins. We reason, why should I want to keep "crucifying him afresh?" I will die to sin with Him, and keep the old man of sin buried, and walk to the new life with Jesus. I can't do it alone. I can ask the living Christ for His grace to enable me to be obedient. (Hebrews 4:15, 16)
c. "If any man be in Christ, he is a _________ _____________________: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us unto himself by Jesus Christ....God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them....He [God] hath made him [Jesus] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." 2 Corinthians 5:17-21.
If we truly love God, don't you think that we will want to be new creatures in Christ Jesus? Amen and Amen! I pray that you will come to Christ just as you are with all your heavy burden of sin and let Him work in you to relieve you of your burden of guilt and sin, and then enable you to walk in paths of righteousness for His names sake (Psalm 23). We cooperate with Him, believing that His grace is saving us, and changing us. We may not see it or feel like it at first, but by faith we believe it because His word says so!
So what have we learned so far in these studies? We have studied not only what Mormons believe regarding salvation which is by obedience to the law of God foremost, but also what the Bible teaches about salvation which is only by grace through faith which produces Christ's own righteousness in us. We found out also that the Bible does not teach that we were created spirits first which were in need of bodies to advance to godhood, nor that sin was necessary for our happiness! That is the lie of the serpent, that old Devil, called Satan. We have found out why we are here...quoting Elder Cornforth, "We are here to respond to God's great love by accepting His Son as our Saviour. We are here to love Him and live lives for service unto Christ. Jesus 'died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.' (2 Corinthians 5:15). In other words, we are here to live for Jesus in harmony with all ten of God's commandments--not that this is how we earn salvation, because we can't earn salvation, but willingly, because we want to obey Him who loved us so much." Cornforth, p. 148.
7. So where are we going then? Are almost all men and women
going to be saved and live eternally?
Matthew 7:13
Answers:
"Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and
broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and ____________
there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and
narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and ____________
there be that find it." Matthew 7:13.
8. Will the wicked live eternally in hellfire or suffer some
form of punishment for their sins eternally?
Malachi 4:1, 3 Revelation 20:9
Answer:
a. "Behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and
all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble:
and the day that cometh shall _________ them ________...it shall
leave them neither root nor branch....And ye shall tread down the
wicked; for they shall be ______________ under the soles of your
feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts."
Malachi 4:1, 3
b. "Fire came down from God out of heaven, and __________________ them." Revelation 20:9
"So the wicked will be destroyed, never to exist again. This is the second death, eternal death.
9. But what about those who are saved, where will they go?
John 14:2, 3; Revelation 21:1-4
Answer:
a. "I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare
a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself;
that where I am, there ye may be also." John 14:2, 3
b. "I saw a new _____________ and a new ______________: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away....And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them,and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." Revelation 21:1-4
"The saved are going to live forever in God's glorious kingdom. All the results of sin will be completely abolished. The Bible knows nothing of our becoming gods of other worlds. It knows nothing of celestial marriage and populating other worlds with our descendants. In fact, Jesus said that in the future life there will be no marriage:
"'The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage: But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection form the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage.' Luke 20:34, 35.
"The Bible says nothing of three levels of kingdoms--celestial, terrestrial, and telestial. There we will all be children of the same King. We will all owe our salvation solely to the merits of our Saviour Jesus Christ. We will realize beyond any doubt that we have not been saved because we were good enough, because we kept the commandments faithfully enough, or because we deserve salvation in any way. We will all be there only because of God's grace to us.
"'God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved).' Ephesians 2:4, 5.
"We will live on this world throughout eternity in the way God planned for us to live before sin entered. We will continue to be His people, serving Him, loving Him, living life to the full as we carry out our work and develop minds and hearts and bodies. And as the years of eternity continue, we will always be finding fresh delights, new challenges, greater opportunities to serve and bless others. This is God's will for us. This is the purpose for which He created us and for which He has saved us."
Our next study will be, The Priesthood and the Temple.