JLLDS Ministries

My First Temple Endowment Experience

Whether the experience was good or bad, the first time going through the endowment ceremony is an experience that a Latter Day Saint will always remember. In an Ex-Mormon Christian Facebook group, I asked 3 questions regarding the first time they went through the temple endowment ceremony. Some people responded with details. Others answered with just a “yes” or “no.”

For each question, I’ll begin by listing the detailed answers and then end with the statistics of how many people answered “yes” and “no.” Let’s get to the first question:

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Question #1 – Did anyone try to mentally prepare you for your endowment ceremony by telling you something like, “Hey, it might feel strange…but that’s normal and expected.”

I took mental prep class. They told me I wouldn’t understand everything, but not that it would be uncomfortable.
Yes. We went through the Temple Advancement classes beforehand. These classes still didn’t prepare us for the experience.
Yes. Right before I went through, I had a very close family member say, “Now, I don’t want you to think about what they’re doing to you, where they’re touching you, or what they’re putting on you. I want you to pay close attention to the blessing she will be giving you.” I remember thinking, “What in the world is she going to be doing to me? And where is she going to touch me?!’
My son was told, “It might feel like a cult but it’s not.”
Yes, my sister leaned over to me and said, “Jenny, it may feel like you are joining a cult but just give it time.”
Yes, My mom had this conversation with me the day before I went through. I was grateful for that at least. Even though I went through a temple prep class, it didn’t actually prepare me for anything!
No one prepared me. They are embarrassed to really talk about what happens in the temple before someone goes. What they call “sacred” is just embarrassment. If one really knew what happened before entering, they would think twice about going.
Yes. I remember my older brother telling me that I will think I’m in a cult when I go through the temple.
No one warned me! I just remember people in the temple wearing robes and men wearing weird hats coming down the escalator. It was so strange and unexpected!

12 people indicated that, “Yes, to some degree, I did receive preparation before going through the endowment ceremony for the first time.” While 11 people indicated that, “No, I did not receive any kind of preparation.”

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Question #2 – At some point during the endowment ceremony, did you feel that it was strange and looked around to see if anyone else might be feeling the same way?

Yes!!! I wanted to raise my hand and march out, but my entire family was there. They totally do that on purpose for peer pressure!
Yes. I hated every minute of it. Made me sick to my stomach.
No, I never looked around because I was afraid God would think I’m not being serious about the temple.
Yes. The clothing is really weird. Why do I need to wear a fig leaf apron? Yes, I know it represents what Adam and Eve wore, but God removed the aprons and gave them animal skins to wear. Why does Satan where an apron? Why do I need secret handshakes to cross the veil in order to “be with the Lord?” That is the dialog at the veil.
No, because I was sweating bullets worried about getting things wrong. I had so much fear and anxiety and was frustrated that my mom didn’t try to help me.
Yes. It seriously freaked me out and I left the church shortly after.
Yes and I laughed at the men’s hats. My mom pinched me and held back a laugh.
No, I didn’t dare to.
Yes! I was sick. I grew up in Star Valley Wyoming where literally everybody is Mormon. I couldn’t believe that all my teachers and leaders and family and friends had gone through that. And that while I was doing baptisms for the dead, everybody else was in doing this whole weird ceremony! And then afterwords, I had to go to a luncheon with my entire extended family and act like everything was cool and totally normal. I spent my whole mission trying desperately to understand and attribute some meaning to it all. But it’s just utter nonsense!
Yes, I did look around to see if I could see others were freaked out. After going 2 or 3 times, I was done. I finally left the church 3 years ago and feel relieved.

15 people indicated that, “Yes, it felt strange and I looked around to see if other people were feeling the same way.” While 5 people indicated that, “No, I did not look around at other people.”

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Question #3 – After you went through your endowment for the first time, did anyone tell you, “It’s ok if you don’t understand it all right now…just keeping going through the ceremony and you will start to understand it a little better each time.”

My son was told, “It’s ok if you don’t understand. Continue to attend Temple and it will eventually make sense.” I was a born again Christian at the time and wanted to scream “does that really sound like it’s from God”?!
Yes. I was told that each time I went I would learn/understand more. I remember being told that prophet Spencer Kimball learned something new every time he went to the temple.
Yes. The mental concept is that if you don’t understand, you will learn later as you grow in the gospel. Yet, if you ask questions, they will can’t answer them because they don’t know the answers themselves.
Yes everyone said “Just keep going and it will become clearer.”
Yes. You just need to keep going and it won’t seem so weird.
No. I tried to ask and I got told that we can’t talk about it.

20 people indicated that, “Yes, I was told that I would need to just keep going through the endowment ceremony and I will understand it a little more each time.” While only 1 person said, “No,” and that was simply because none of her friends and family were allowed to talk about it.

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Other comments that were made

I just remember that at that point ALL I wanted was my “Eternal Family.” So I brushed all the weirdness under the rug.
I loved the endowment during my first time. I went only went maybe only a handful of other times over the next 16 years because it was boring and cut into my “me time”.
My husband and I were both born and raised LDS. After 17 years of marriage, my husband and I left Mormonism just last year. I hated the temple so much that I only went back a couple of times. I felt really freaked out by it.
I was shocked and felt a little disturbed. It was nothing like I had pictured. I had no idea the people I loved had this little secret life that they didn’t really talk about where they dressed up in weird clothes and did strange cultish things. I couldn’t sleep that night just thinking about it. I went back twice more in the next few weeks to see if I could make sense of it and I couldn’t! After that, I only went to sealing of close friends and relatives. I stayed 30 more years in the church but didn’t do temples during that time.
My entire temple experience of this was part of my “shelf.”
I remember always being bothered that women had to cover their faces. It made me feel like I was innately sinful to just expose my face. Nobody seemed to be able to answer why women had to cover their face. I would have this torn feeling of thinking I had to go to the temple to be a good little Mormon girl but I hated going. I hated the ceremony—it was boring and I hated tying all the dumb strings. I hated the clothes. I hated covering my face. The prayer circle was super weird to watch and I hated going through “the veil”. I remember after my endowments, my mom made me stop and look in the mirror with all my garb on. She told me that I looked so holy and I just wanted to vomit.
I never went through the endowment ceremony because I left the Church when I was a teen. I remember coming across a transcript of the various endowment ceremonies from over the years, and reading them a few years later. I remember thinking that I couldn’t believe that this is seriously what it was. I thought to myself, “I know my parents, siblings, and extended family to be logical, smart people…yet they did this ceremony and stayed?” It still perplexes me. My parents were temple workers for a few years also. So I know that they know all the things that go on, including many of the names being the same for people. It’s a real head scratcher for me. In the early years of leaving, especially before I came to Christ, I remember being jealous that I would never have a forever family. After reading this endowment transcript, my jealousy quickly vanished. Now I just feel sad that my family believes that a few handshakes are required to get you into God’s presence.
It was the first time I understood why people called Mormons a cult. It was during the prayer circle specifically. It did not phase my beliefs at the time unfortunately, but I ended up getting out five years later.
My temple experience caused me to pick up the Bible and start reading it cover to cover over the next year to learn who this God is, that would have us saying and doing such awful things. I went through in 1979 when all the oaths and penalties were still in the ceremony. The Christian minister portrayed as working for the devil was in there as well.
I was so excited to learn what my new name was going to be. I expected that the name I would be given would be so unique and special. As I walked into one of the rooms, there was a whiteboard with a name on it. When the temple worker saw me, he quickly erased the name. When the temple worker revealed my name to me, he rewrote the same name on the board that he had just erased. I later found out that every girl who went to the temple that day got that same name. There apparently is a calendar cycle where on each day of each month, it is scheduled that every guy receiving their endowments on that specific day all get the same name and every girl receiving their endowments on that specific day all get the same name as well. There is nothing unique or spiritual about it.
Even though I thought it was weird, I never really questioned it because my dad loves the Lord and I never thought he’d follow something that wasn’t right or true. Obviously, I found out the church isn’t true. I pray that my mom and dad will one day come to know what I know.
Everything you stated in the group post was said to me. I left the temple for the first time completely underwhelmed and wondering what I missed. It wasn’t a spiritual experience like I was told it would be. It wasn’t deep and full of amazing spiritual knowledge or insight. But like a true Mormon, I convinced myself that I probably just didn’t see or understand the deep stuff and I needed to go to the temple more often and then I would understand. After years and years of going to the temple, it was still the same. Of course, many LDS are going to say I still didn’t see the deep spiritual meaning in the session. No, I actually do see what it is teaching. The thing is, it’s just not that special and when you know the gospel in the Bible, you begin to see that the endowment ceremony is full of false teachings.
I converted to LDS in high school and went on a mission. At the beginning of my mission when I was at the missionary training center, I went through the temple ceremony for my very first time. It freaked me out. It was so bizarre. We did these blood oaths, making signs to slash our throats, not to reveal the secrets or anything about the temple. We had secret handshakes, signs, and were given a secret name. We approached this huge curtain/sheet where temple workers were behind the curtain. You’d stick your hand through a small hole in the sheet to do special handshakes with the temple worker. I can’t remember everything of course because it’s been about 45 years. I remember you’d touch knees with the person behind the curtain (5 points of fellowship). You’d also whisper the secret name you had to say to get into heaven. The temple worker was supposed to represent either Joseph Smith or Jesus…one of them would let you into heaven. This first experience is what caused me to start having doubts about the truthfulness of this Mormon religion that I was spreading. As I studied the KJV Bible while on my mission, Gods Holy Spirit led me out if the cult. After about a year into my mission. I ran towards the loving saving GRACE of the true Biblical JESUS. THE ONLY GOD THAT SAVES US.

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The purpose of the two pictures below is not to embarrass or disrespect LDS members. But rather to inform those who are not aware of these specific details, people who might be considering joining the LDS Church and anyone else who is interested. Everyone should have a right to this information that is allegedly a very important part of the gospel of Jesus and also a requirement to receive eternal life and enter into God’s presence according to LDS doctrine. If these things are true, it should not be kept a secret from anyone.

For each ordinance, members used to be required to recite the following oaths to secrecy:

1st token of the Aaronic Priesthood: “We, and each of us, covenant and promise that we will not reveal any of the secrets of this, the first token of the Aaronic priesthood, with its accompanying name, sign or penalty. Should we do so; we agree that our throats be cut from ear to ear and our tongues torn out by their roots.“

2nd token of the Aaronic priesthood: “…Should we do so, we agree to have our breasts cut open and our hearts and vitals torn from our bodies and given to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field.“

1st token of the Melchizedek priesthood: “…Should we do so, we agree that our bodies be cut asunder in the midst and all our bowels gush out.”

New Name that you are given at your endowment ceremony: “I, ______, think of the New Name, covenant that I will never reveal the First Token of the Aaronic Priesthood, with its accompanying name, sign and penalty. Rather than do so, I would suffer my life to be taken.”

Around the 1990, the LDS Church sent out a survey of things their members liked and didn’t like. They also wanted to know why former members left Mormonism. These vile oaths were a common complaint. After examining the surveys, the LDS Church leaders allegedly received a “revelation” from God to remove the vile section of these oaths. Today, they are no longer part of the temple endowment ceremony. Interesting how the god of Mormonism changes and seemingly must give in to peer pressure in order to retain members of his one true church.

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As some of the former LDS members stated, members who go through the endowment ceremony are required to take an oath of secrecy regarding the ordinances and things that they do in the temple. But what did Jesus teach?

Matthew 18:20 “I have spoken openly to the world,” Jesus replied. “I always taught in synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret.”

If the temple endowment ceremony truly was part of the restored gospel, why did Jesus never teach anything in secret while the LDS Church has always said and taught things in secret inside of the temple? If Jesus truly is our example, shouldn’t we do as he did and teach nothing in secret? This indicates that the LDS Church should make the endowment ceremony and ordinances public knowledge for all to know about. But the fact is that if everyone was aware of these things, it would significantly decrease the number of converts to the LDS Church…and the LDS leaders obviously don’t want that to happen.

God never ceases to amaze me when He takes something evil and uses it for His good and perfect purpose. That He can use something like the endowment ceremony to wake people up, guide them out of a false religion and into his true gospel of grace. For more information about temples, check out the article, “Do We Still Need A Temple Today?” (Do We Still Need A Temple Today? – JLLDS Ministries)

If you have a friend who might benefit from this article, please pass it along and ask them what they think. Feel free to let me know your thoughts, things you appreciated or things that you disagreed with in the comment section below. Thank you for reading and God bless!

The Hook Of Pornography

Proverbs 7:21-23 “With persuasive words she led him astray; she seduced him with her smooth talk. All at once he followed her like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer stepping into a noose till an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare, little knowing it will cost him his life.”

When a fish sees that worm on a hook, it often gets tempted to bite it. Little does the fish know that biting that hook might very well lead it to its’ death. After a fish takes the bait and swallows the hook, it gets caught in the fish’s throat and can be very, very difficult to remove. Sin can be very similar to this. It can negatively take us farther to do and say things that we never imagined that we would ever do, and it can feel discouragingly impossible to break old habits.

I’ve have experienced the “hook” of pornography in my own life. Beginning in middle school and going through the first years of my marriage, it was a constant battle…but no one else really knew about it. I kept it to myself, hoping that I would be able to privately overcome this sin and avoid any kind of shame and embarrassment. I wanted to protect my self-image.

When I was in high school and college, I remember thinking, “Once I get married, I will be sexually satisfied with my wife and then I won’t struggle with this sin of lust anymore.” That is a lie straight from the devil. When it comes to sin, it always wants more. Regardless of however much you have or how frequently you get something, your flesh will never be satisfied and always tempt you to get more and more and more.

Not only does pornography damage the active person, but it also severely affects the significant other. The significant other might ask, “Why are they looking at these other people? Am I not attractive enough? Why can’t I satisfy you? There must be something wrong with me.” The sinful act of one spouse can lead to the incredible insecurity of the other. My wife was aware that pornography and lustful thoughts were something that men battle with. So she would lovingly ask me on occasion, “Have you ever struggled with this stuff at all? How are you doing in this area right now?” Not wanting to hurt her and most importantly, not wanting to damage my self-image, I would answer, “I used to struggle with that stuff, but I am over it now.” She was satisfied with this answer. After all, who would think that her “Prince Charming” who apparently looked holy and put together on the outside would have such a shameful problem on the inside? This kind scenario is far too common.

One summer day in 2014, my wife found out my secret as she somehow stumbled across one of the inappropriate websites I had previously viewed. She was devastated due to my lust addiction and my lies. My heart broke at seeing how terrible I made her feel. “How could I hurt my best friend so badly?” I asked myself. I damaged her trust, but she was willing to process things, pray for me, and in time, her heart would heal. I confessed my sin to her only because she found me out, but I still wasn’t willing to confess my sin to anyone else on earth. Even though this was one of the darkest, shameful, hopeless day in my life…I can now see that it was a tender mercy from God. Even while I was wallowing in my sin, God was at work in my life that day and this was the painful start of him breaking me free from my prison of lust.

After the first couple months, I was doing great. I didn’t have any setbacks, but then the guilt started to fade away. I learned that at this time, it was the feeling of terrible guilt that was preventing me from stumbling back into my lust. But that feeling only lasts for so long and after it slowly disappeared, it was back to the same situation as before. I didn’t understand. I would pray every time after I sinned, “Jesus, please forgive me and help me to never do this again.” Why wasn’t he answering my prayers? Why was He allowing me to continue in my sin that hurts both me and my wife?

Later my wife would check in with me and ask me how I was doing. Once again, I would lie and tell her that I am doing good. For more than the previous decade, I remember sitting in my seat on communion Sundays. This was always a time of confession and guilt for me as I would pray, “God, I’m done with that. I’m living for you and I’m not going back.” There might have been stretches of doing a better job of resisting the sexual temptation, but those consistent victories just never seemed to happen. I was still losing more battles than I was winning. Eventually, I became convinced that I was doomed to live with these heavy chains of sin and guilt for the rest of my life. But I was determined not to hurt my wife anymore. So chose that I would lie to her and take this sin with me to my grave. I believed the voices that were whispering in my ear, “You will never overcome this. You might as well accept it without hurting anyone else.” Another lie from the devil.

One night, I knew that God was telling me to confess my sin to my wife. Not only to her, but to other people as well. Preparing to make this confession, I walked around my neighborhood that night in prayer, then returned to my house, walked up the stairs and told her once again that I had been lying to her and I had been looking at things that are dishonorable to both her and God. Her heart broke once again. I praise God that she was willing to forgive me and work through this together. An example of God’s grace shined through her during this time.

The thing that changed this time around was that I was willing to bring forth my sin to her instead of her finding me out. Also, I was finally willing to confess my sin to other people: six of my closest godly friends. I was finally willing to humble myself and sacrifice my self-image by telling them, “I am broken right now and I need support, prayer and accountability. Will you please help me?” This was by far the biggest turning point in this journey. I finally died to this sin in my life and laid down my self-image, and Jesus began to give me more and more consistent victories in this area of my life.

One of the friends who I reached out to for help and accountability responded to me by saying, “Please wait…I need to do something.” I wasn’t sure what to make of this. The next day, he responded and said, “Your confession to me inspired me to confess my sins to my own wife. I have been guilty of indulging in pornography also. We can now pray for each other.” Have I stopped looking at pornography since that time? Yes! Have I been cured from my temptation to lust? No! To this day, it is still a battle and a choice every day. I still need to keep my spiritual guard up, but Jesus has faithfully never left my side and I now have the prayers, support and encouragement of brothers in Christ.

Recently, God brough Joseph and Potipher in Genesis chapter 39. Potipher trusted Joseph with his entire kingdom. When Potipher’s wife attempted to seduce Joseph, he faithfully fled. It was such an important responsibility to take care of everything that his master (Potipher) entrusted to him. The connection that God made to me that was this: “Paul, I have given you this woman to sacrificially love, to gently hold and to always cherish. I have entrusted her to you…and you’d better take good care of her. That is your responsibility.”

To the married men who are reading this: Regardless of how patient you are with your wife, how many things you have bought her, how great of a provider you are or how loving of a father you have been…if you are indulging your lust with pornography, you are not taking care of your wife.

If you are struggling with pornography today, tell someone who you trust. Confession, accountability and a willingness to change are always the first steps in conquering a long-term addiction. After doing this, you must come up with a gameplan and inform others who can support you in this sanctification process. The only way I was able to overcome this sin was because of the foundation of having Jesus as my best friend. To learn more about this, check out this article: Who Is Your Personal Mediator? Who Is Your Personal Mediator? – JLLDS Ministries

I hope this was of some encouragement. If God set me free from the “hook” of lust and pornography, I know that He can set you free as well. Thank you for reading and God bless!

The 3 Witnesses – Can We Trust Their Testimonies?

I was talking with some LDS missionaries on my back porch as we were finishing up dinner. I said something along the lines of, “I want to follow the evidence wherever it leads.” Then one of them challenged me and asked, “Well what evidence is there for the atonement?” I generally listed off a few pieces of evidence relating to the death and resurrection of Jesus, one of the pieces being the eyewitness testimonies of the disciples and them being willing to suffer for what they knew was true and saw with their own eyes. One of the missionaries laughed as he said, “Well that sounds familiar.” The claim he was making here is that the eyewitnesses of the resurrection were mocked and persecuted in a similar way as the eyewitnesses of the gold plates. This inspired me to take a closer look into this claim and see just how similar these two groups really are. Their were 3 specific witnesses who worked more closely with Joseph Smith, similar to Peter, James and John being in the “inner circle” of Jesus’ ministry.

According to LDS Church history, Smith already had possession the gold plates in his house when the first 3 witnesses “saw” the gold plates. But instead of leading them inside to see the gold plates, Smith chose to lead them into the woods to somehow show them the gold plates there. It’s described in The History of the Church 1:55 that Smith, Cowdry, Whitmer and Harris went into the woods to pray. Cowdry and Whitmer both saw an angel holding the gold plates, but Martin Harris had a “lack of faith” which was preventing him and oddly enough, was also preventing Smith from seeing the same vision. Harris leaves that area, then kneels down elsewhere and starts fervently praying. Smith finds Harris and only after this, the same vision then opened up to Smith and Harris. So the plates were not shown to all 3 of the witnesses at the same time as commonly believed. It is also important to note that this was a spiritual experience through prayer, not a physical one. And remember: Smith allegedly had the gold plates in his house the whole time and could have easily invited them in, lifted up the cloth to show them but chose not to for whatever reason.

Let’s examine the testimony of each of these men and decide if their testimonies are ones that should be trusted.

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#1 – David Whitmer

Summary:

He left the LDS Church because he received a revelation from God telling him to leave
He believed that Smith was intentionally changing God’s revelations
He received another revelation saying that the Mormons have polluted God’s name.
Admits that he did not physically see or touch the gold plates
He never returned to the LDS Church

Details:

David Whitmer left the church 8 years after it was established because he saw Smith changing divine doctrines. He believed that God had given the restored Church clear and true revelations. It concerned him when he saw the direction that Smith was taking the LDS Church as he started changing revelations as Whitmer states below:

“Some of the revelations as they now appear in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants have been changed and added to. Some of the changes being of the greatest importance as the meaning is entirely changed on some very important matters; as if the Lord had changed his mind a few years after he give the revelations…The revelations were printed in the Book of Commandments correctly! This I know,… Joseph and the church received it as being printed correctly. This I know. But in the winter of 1834, they saw that some of the revelations in the Book of Commandments had to be changed, because the heads of the church had gone too far, and had done things in which they had already gone ahead of some of the former revelations. So the book of ‘Doctrine and Covenants’ was printed in 1835, and some of the revelations changed and added to.” (Letter written by David Whitmer, published in the Saints’ Herald, February 5, 1887)

In 1838, Whitmer left the Mormon Church and claimed that God Himself told him to: “If you believe my testimony to the Book of Mormon; if you believe that God spake to us three witnesses by his own voice, than I tell you that in June, 1838, God spake to me again by his own voice from the heavens, and told me to ‘separate myself from among the Latter Day Saints, for as they sought to do unto me, so should it be done unto them.” (An Address To All Believers In Christ, by David Whitmer).

Other witnesses (part of the “eight”) who were still alive left the LDS Church during this time as well. Whitmer later gave a revelation in which the Lord told him that the Mormons have “polluted my name, and have done continually wickedness in my sight.”(The Ensign of Liberty, August 1849, pp. 101-4). This is incredibly similar to the first vision when God allegedly told Smith that, “All of the churches and their creeds are an abomination to me.” Was Whitmer attempting to copy and reproduce what Smith had previously done? In any case, there are two possibilities regarding Whitmer’s revelations that both leave Church members in a difficult position:

A. If his revelations truly are from God, then they demonstrate that Mormonism is false. After all, why would God command one of his followers to leave the true church?

B. If his revelations are false, then they demonstrate that David Whitmer gave either man-made or satanic revelations in the name of the Lord. And if this is the case, how can we trust his revelation of the Book of Mormon to be valid and trustworthy?

The LDS Church asks us to accept David Whitmer’s testimony to the Book of Mormon, but they reject different revelations from the exact same man stating that the LDS Church has “polluted” God’s name. This inconsistency is both concerning and confusing.

David Whitmer stated in the Saints Herald publication, “these hands handled the plates, these eyes saw the angel.’ Later on however, a leader in the church named Zenus Gurley interviewed Whitmer and asked him, ‘did you touch them (the gold plates)?’ David’s answer was, ‘We did not touch nor handle the plates.'”

John Murphy was another faithful latter day saint who also wrote about an interview he had with David Whitmer. Murphy asked Whitmer if his experience of the gold plates was similar to the experience as a quaker when they feel the spirit move or when a Methodist is having a happy experience. Whitmer’s response was, “Just so.” Meaning that “yes, my experience of the gold plates is just like when people of other religions have a spiritual experience.” It was a NOT physical experience where he literally saw and handled the gold plates.

Whitner went to his grave denying his testimony of Joseph Smith as a true prophet of God, but still affirmed his testimony of the book of Mormon. He never returned to the LDS Church, nor did he ever take back what he said about the LDS Church polluting God’s name and having done continually wickedness in His sight.

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#2 – Martin Harris

Summary:

Changed religion over a dozen times over his lifetime
Sold his farm for funds in order to publish the Book of Mormon
He was ex-communicated from the LDS Church
Joseph Smith condemns him, saying that Harris has given into all kinds of lying, abominations and other sins
Other leaders in the early church attest that Harris admitted that the testimony of the gold plates was false and never physically occurred
Harris later returned to the LDS Church before his death

Details:

Martin Harris was known for changing religions. Over his lifetime, he changed his religious affiliation 13 times. Prior to joining Joseph Smith and the Mormon Church, Harris was a Quaker, a Universalist, a Restorationist, a Baptist, a Presbyterian, and then a Latter Day Saint. This gives off the vibe of someone who is very insecure in their beliefs, easily gullible, and always changing their mind. After his excommunication in 1837, he changed his religion 8 more times and then finally converted back to the LDS Church.

After Harris joined the Strangites, the Mormon leaders stated of Harris’ new religious group, “A lying deceptive spirit attends them… they know that they are of their father, the devil.” Apparently, Harris was part of a lying and deceptive religious group which would greatly discredit the validity of his testimony.

At another point, Harris joined the Shakers who believed that “Christ has made his second appearance on earth in a chosen female known by the name of Anna Lee, and is to be acknowledged by us as our Blessed Mother in the work of redemption.”

Martin seemed to have a habit of hopping from one “prophet” to another and also claimed to have a great testimony of the Shakers being the most true religion. Phineas H. Young [Brigham Young’s brother] wrote a letter to Brigham Young stating: “Martin Harris is a firm believer in Shakerism, says his testimony is greater than it was of the Book of Mormon.”

In August 1838, Joseph Smith denounced Martin Harris as “so far beneath contempt that to notice him would be too great a sacrifice for a gentleman to make. The Church exerted some restraint on him, but now he has given loose to all kinds of abominations, lying, cheating, swindling, and all kinds of debauchery.”

Martin Harris later testified that he did not see the plates literally with his physical eyes: He said he saw the plates with “the eyes of faith and not with the natural eyes”, that is, with spiritual eyes. He also stated, “I never saw the gold plates, only in a visionary or entranced state. …In about three days I went into the woods to pray that I might see the plates. While praying I passed into a state of entrancement, and in that state I saw the angel and the plates.” (John H. Gilbert interview, 1838)

Warren Parrish was an LDS leader, baptized by Prophet Brigham Young and also assisted Joseph Smith in translating the Book of Abraham. Parrish states, “Martin Harris has come out at last, and says he never saw the plates, from which the book purports to have been translated, except in vision; and he further says that any man who says he has seen them in any other way is a liar, Joseph not excepted.” (Letter From Warren Parrish, 1838)

Stephen Burnett was ordained an elder by John Whitmer and ordained a high priest by Oliver Cowdry. Burnett wrote a letter to Lyman E. Johnson in 1838 and makes mention of Martin Harris. In this letter, Burnett reported that Harris once told him: “he (Harris) had hefted the plates repeatedly in a box with only a tablecloth or a handkerchief over them, but he never saw them only as he saw a city through a mountain. And said that he never should have told that the testimony of the eight was false.”

Burnett went on to say, “I am well satisfied for myself that if the witnesses whose names are attached to the Book of Mormon never saw the plates as Martin admits that there can be nothing brought to prove that any such thing ever existed.”

Although Martin Harris changed his mind about religion many times, when he was eighty-eight years old, he did ultimately return to the Mormon Church in Salt Lake City.

#3 – Oliver Cowdry

Summary:

Was one of Smith’s scribes who wrote the translated Book of Mormon
Accused Joseph Smith having an affair with 17 year old housemaid, Fanny Alger
Smith ex-communicated Cowdry, calling him a thief, liar and scoundrel of the deepest degree
Cowdry is ashamed of his former connection with Mormonism
Rejoined the LDS Church before his death
Still rejected much of the Doctrines & Covenants that came from Joseph Smith and viewed him as a fallen prophet

Details:

Oliver Cowdery was sometimes referred to as the Second President because of how much influence he had in the LDS Church. He worked very closely together with Joseph Smith and was a scribe for the BOM.

He was one of the first people to become aware of Smith’s relationship with Fanny Alger (17 year old house maid living with Joseph and Emma), which he called a “dirty, nasty, filthy affair.” Smith responded by calling Cowdry a “a thief, liar, perjurer, counterfeiter, adulterer and leader of scoundrels of the deepest degree.” Fanny Alger was later accepted as being Smith’s first plural wife. This leaves us with the impression that Cowdry may have been speaking the truth and Smith was trying to cover it up by throwing Cowdry under the bus.

Because Cowdry called out Smith for his alleged affair with Fanny, this was the primary reason that led to his excommunication. Cowdry then became a member of a Methodist Protestant Church. At this time, he “admitted his error and implored forgiveness, and said he was sorry and ashamed of his connection with Mormonism.” (Affidavit of G. J. Keen, 14 April 1885, in Charles A. Shook, The True Origin of the Book of Mormon (Cincinnati, OH: Standard, 1914), 58-59.)

There is evidence to suggest that for a time, that he even denied the Book of Mormon. Here is written in a poem in the “Times and Seasons – Mormon publication, pg 482”

“Or prove that Christ was not the Lord Because that Peter cursed and swore? Or Book of Mormon not his word Because denied, by Oliver? Or prove, that Joseph Smith is false Because apostates say tis so?”

After Joseph Smith’s death, Oliver Cowdery was rebaptized into the Mormon Church. David Whitmer, however, maintained that Cowdery died believing Joseph Smith was a fallen prophet and also believed that Smith’s revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants must be rejected:

“I did not say that Oliver Cowdery and John Whitmer had not endorsed the Doctrine and Covenants in 1836. They did endorse it in 1836; I stated that they “came out of their errors (discarded the Doctrine and Covenants), repented of them, and died believing as I do to-day,”…Now, in 1849 the Lord saw fit to manifest unto John Whitmer, Oliver Cowdery and myself nearly all the remaining errors in doctrine into which we had been led by the heads of the old church. We were shown that the Book of Doctrine and Covenants contained many doctrines of error, and that it must be laid aside;.” (An Address to Believers in The Book of Mormon, 1887, p. 1-2)

This is a very big statement considering that Joseph Smith was the author of the vast majority of revelations and doctrines that are contained in the Doctrines and Covenants. That last quote is important as we see that David Whitmer, John Whitmer and Oliver Cowdry all rejected the D&C and ended up losing faith in Joseph Smith as well.

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Additionally, on December 16^th, 1838 after a number of the 11 witnesses left the LDS Church, Joseph Smith made known his disgust for them when he stated that “John Whitmer, David Whitmer, Oliver Cowdry, Martin Harris are too mean to mention and we liked to have forgotten them.” (History of the Church, vol. 3:232)

The Mormon Church also classified both David Whitmer and Oliver Cowdry as “a gang of counterfeiters, thieves, liars and blacklegs of the deepest dye to deceive, cheat, and defraud the saints out of their property, by every act and stratagem which wickedness could invent, using the influence of the vilest.” (Senate Document 189, Feb. 15, 1841, 6-9)

To put it simply: with witnesses like these, who needs enemies?

Is it wise for us to trust the testimonies of these kinds of witnesses who the founding prophet has labeled as being liars and thieves? Not to mention that Martin Harris sold his farm in order to raise funds to publish 5,000 copies of the Book of Mormon. If anyone had a financial motive to lie and make sure that this book succeeded, it was Harris. All 3 of these primary witnesses were excommunicated from the LDS Church. At one point or another, all 3 denied the truthfulness of the LDS Church and converted to other religions. While, 2 of the 3 witnesses later returned to the LDS Church prior to their death, 2 of the 3 also believed Joseph Smith to be a fallen prophet.

Imagine Peter, James and John having these kinds of testimonies. You would be right to have questions and doubts if these people were some of your primary witnesses as the credibility of their testimonies are severely lacking. Thankfully, the apostles of Christ never waivered on their testimony that they physically saw the risen Christ. After the resurrection, they never left Christ, never doubted Christ, and never changed their testimony of what they saw. It wasn’t a visionary experience…it actually happened in reality. To learn more about the other group of 8 witnesses, check out the article: The 8 Witnesses: Can We Trust Their Testimonies?” (https://jllds.org/2023/12/22/the-8-witnesses-can-we-trust-their-testimonies/)

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Invitation for you: Get a Bible that has the words of Jesus written in red. Read all of the red letters and trust the words of Jesus.

For physical evidence that supports why we can trust the Bible as a historical document, check out this article: https://jllds.org/2023/12/22/geographic-evidence-the-bible-vs-the-book-of-mormon/

Please let me know your thoughts, things you appreciated or things that you disagreed with in the comment section below. Thank you for reading and God bless!

It’s Easter, so we should sing “Praise to ‘which’ Man”?

Palm Sunday, Good Friday, & Easter Sunday. The whole week is dedicated to remembering the atoning sacrifice of Jesus. He is the only man who deserves our praise because He alone paid the price for our sins and lived the perfect life on your behalf because he knew that you would miserably fail. But our worship and praises to Christ shouldn’t just be around this time of year. We should be worshipping Jesus all year round. We see this being displayed in the gospel accounts all through the Savior’s life:

The wisemen – Matthew 2:11 “And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him.”

The disciples – Matthew 14:33 “And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

The healed blindman – John 9:38 “Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him (Jesus).”

Mary and the other women – Matthew 28:9 “And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him.”

The angels – Hebrews 1:6 “He (the Father) says “Let all God’s angels worship him (Jesus).”

Jesus constantly received worship in the past, he continually is receiving worship today, and will eternally receive worship in the future. Yet in Luke 4:8, we read: “Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.”

If we are only supposed to worship God, as Jesus stated…why doesn’t Jesus ever rebuke anyone for worshipping Him? Why didn’t he ever say, “Stop worshipping me. It is only right for you to worship God!” Instead, we see him accepting all of these instances of worship.

Revelation 5:13-14 “Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!” The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.”

Here we read that at some point in the future, every single creature will worship both the one who sits on the throne and the lamb. This is referring to the Father and the Son. They will both be worshipped equally. Keeping in mind that only God alone should be worshipped, this only makes sense if both the Father and the Son are equally God…different persons of the same God. (For a more detailed explanation of the Trinity, check out this article: Is The Trinity Biblical or Manmade? https://jllds.org/2023/12/15/is-the-trinity-biblical-or-man-made/

But the LDS Church leaders and Scriptures teach that the Father deserves a much higher level of worship than Jesus:

D&C 20:19 “And gave unto them commandments that they should love and serve him, the only living and true God, and that he should be the only being whom they should worship.”

This verse is referring to God the Father, which is why apostle Bruce R McConkie stated, “We worship the Father and him only and no one else. We do not worship the Son and we do not worship the Holy Ghost…Worship in the true and saving sense is reserved for God the first, the Creator.”

Beginning with the doctrine that Jesus is just our elder spirit brother who we can eventually become just like, I can see where they are coming from. But this is a very incorrect starting point and assumption. In the Bible, we read that even God the Father addresses Jesus as His God and Lord:

Hebrews 1:8-11 “But about the Son he (the Father) says, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom…He (the Father) also says, “In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain;”

Throughout the Bible, we see how Jesus and the Father both address each other as God. Yet they also both agree that it is God alone who should be praised and worshipped. How can this be? Because they are both the same God…the 1 and only God who has ever existed and ever will exist. This is why praises are equally due to both the Father and the Son:

Psalm 150:6 “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.”

Psalm 117:1-2 ““Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol him, all peoples! For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!”

If any religion or church sings praises to any man other than Jesus Christ, that is an obvious sign that you should get out of there ASAP. Unfortunately, this is exactly what we have seen in the LDS Church.

During their time of worship and singing praises to God, they will occasionally sing a song called: “Praise to the Man.” What man are they singing praises to? It’s not Jesus. Sadly, they are singing praises in their church buildings to Joseph Smith. Below are some of the lyrics to this hymn:

“Praise to the man who communed with Jehovah…Kings shall extol him, the nations revere.”

“Praise to his mem’ry, he died as a martyr; Honored and blest be his ever great name! Long shall his blood, which was shed by assassins, Plead unto heav’n while the earth lauds his fame.”

Praising the “great name” of Joseph Smith. There is only one great name that deserves this kind of praise. Philippians 2:10 “So that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,”

“Hail to the Prophet, ascended to heaven…Death cannot conquer the hero again.”

There is only one hero who should ever be sung about and praised in church: Jesus.

“Great is his glory and endless his priesthood. Ever and ever the keys he will hold.”

This song attributes an endless priesthood to Joseph Smith while God’s Word attributes an endless priesthood only to one man: Christ alone. Hebrews 7:24 “because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood.”

“Earth must atone for the blood of that man…Millions shall know ‘Brother Joseph’ again.”

There is only the blood of one man that should ever be mentioned in a song of praise: the precious blood of Christ.

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Latter Day Saints will often attempt to downplay this song by saying, “We don’t worship Joseph Smith. This is just our way of honoring and revering him.” Here is the thing: the name of this song is, “Praise to the Man.” Latter Day Saints are literally singing praises to Joseph Smith when Jesus is the only man who rightfully deserves our praise. Below are a few songs by Christian artists that sing praises of Jesus that I encourage you to look up, listen to, and meditate on:

Your Great Name – Natalie Grant

Lost are saved, find their way, at the sound of Your great name
All condemned, feel no shame, at the sound of Your great name
Jesus, worthy is the lamb that was slain for us, son of God and man
You are high and lifted up, that all the world will praise Your great name

My Living Hope – Phil Wickman (my personal favorite)

Hallelujah, praise the one who set me free. Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me
You have broken every chain. There’s salvation in your name. Jesus Christ, my living hope.

What Can Wash Away My Sin – Roberty Lowry

What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Oh! precious is the flow That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know, Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Nothing can my sin erase – Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
Naught of works, ’tis all of grace — Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
This is all my hope and peace — Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
This is all my righteousness — Nothing but the blood of Jesus!

Hero – Abandon (perfect song for Easter)
His touch could heal the sick, but He was called a hypocrite
Laid behind the stone, his death was shortly mourned, He left the curtain torn
There He goes, a hero, a savior to the world, Here He stands with scars in His hands
With love He gave His life so we could be free, The savior of the world
He chose to take the cross, shed tears for the lost
The broken and the needy, forgiving those who were and will be

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This Easter, I pray that just one Latter Day Saint will wake up to how blasphemously sinful “Praise To The Man” is and never utter the words of that hymn again. If you are a Latter Day Saint, I invite you to repent, never sing this song again, and leave it at the foot of the cross where you can find peace and forgiveness for every single sin in your life. (To learn more about what it means to know Jesus as your personal mediator, check out this article: Who is Your Personal Mediator? Who Is Your Personal Mediator? – JLLDS Ministries)

Let this be the day when you decide to make a personal covenant with God, promising to never sing praises to another man other than the one who gave His life for you: the great God and savior, Jesus Christ.

Do We Still Need A Temple Today?

In the Old Testament, we read about the temple being a place of worship for the Israelites. The temple is intended to be a place where Latter Day Saints go to feel a stronger presence of the Lord and make higher level covenants with Him. Making these special covenants is required if someone desires to progress on their path and qualify for eternal life and live with God in heaven. There are over 300 LDS temples that have been built all around the world. A curious question we can ask is: How many temples were there in the Old Testament?

Is it true that God commanded the Israelites to build “temples?” The first temple was built by king Solomon. That temple was destroyed by the Babylonians, then God commanded Ezra to rebuild the temple and those were the only two times when God commanded people in the Old Testament to build a temple. There literally were only two temples that were built throughout the entire history prior to Christ. But another question is: what goes on inside of the temple and where did some of the rituals originate from?

Joseph Smith joined the free masons, he learned their masonic rituals, then shortly after this he created the temple endowment ceremony which conveniently has a number of similar rituals as the masonic ceremony. What exactly are some of these similarities?

Handgrips (token handshakes)
Key Words (similar to a secret phrase one must recite in order to enter into the celestial room)
Special clothing (white temple garments)

This realization that Smith copied rituals from free masonry and then put a religious twist on them has trouble many Latter Day Saints. The Free Masons were also into symbols, specifically the compass and the square. Below is a free mason building that is located near my house:

As you can see, the compass and the square symbols are on the building’s sign (with the G in the middle). These symbols are also used and considered sacred in the LDS Church.

Have the temple Ceremonies Remained The Same Over Time?

After Joseph Smith “restored” the temple endowment ceremony, rituals were eventually removed following Smith’s death. Prior to the 1990’s, members in the temple would be required to recite the following oath:

“We, and each of us, covenant and promise that we will not reveal any of the secrets of this, the first token of the Aaronic priesthood, with its accompanying name, sign or penalty. Should we do so, we agree that our throats be cut from ear to ear and our tongues torn out by their roots.”

Members mentioned how uncomfortable this made them feel. Seeking to prevent members from leaving, the LDS Church eventually removed this part of the endowment ceremony.

Up until 2019, women were required to “pledge obedience to their husbands” during the temple ceremony while their husbands “pledged obedience to God.” Women started to complain about this and said that they didn’t think this part of the ceremony was fair. Why are the woman pledging allegiance to men while the men are pledging obedience to God? Once again, the LDS Church edited this part in order to make the women happy and retain their members. Now, both genders pledge allegiance to God.

If Joseph Smith truly did restore the temple ceremonies to what they originally should have been, why do they keep changing? Is it right for the LDS Church to change God’s ordinances just because they want to make other people happy and to stop them from complaining?

A number of Latter Day Saints claim that masonic practices can be traced all the way back to Solomon’s temple. Yet throughout the entire Bible and the Book of Mormon, you don’t see any mention of spouses being sealed (temple marriages) nor do we read anything about token handgrips and special phrases you must memorize if you wish to enter into the celestial room. There is no evidence to suggest that Moses, Solomon or any other prophet practiced these rituals. In fact, masonry wasn’t even invented until the 1,400’s and the LDS Church acknowledges this:

The best explanation is that the LDS Church as to offer is that free masonry was a catalyst or tool that God used to give Joseph Smith revelation to restore the temple ordinances to what they should be.

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What did Jesus say on this matter in regard to the temple?

Matthew 12:6 “I tell you that something greater than the temple is here.”

Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

These verses along with others tell us that Jesus perfectly fulfilled all 613 laws of the Old Testament, and because of that, he is greater than the temple. The animal sacrifices in the temple were how our sins were atoned for under the old covenant. But the cross is how our sins are atoned for under the new covenant. In other words: JESUS IS THE NEW COVENANT. When it comes to eternal life (living in the presence of God in heaven), there is no need for temples because Jesus is enough.

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We read in Acts 17:24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands.”

1 Corinthians 6:19 “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you.”

We see that God doesn’t dwell inside of temples or any other building that was made on this earth. Furthermore, Christians today have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of them. So under this new covenant of grace, our bodies are temples of God (the Holy Spirit). This would be another Biblical reason for why we no longer need physical temples today.

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Revelation 21:22 “I DID NOT SEE A TEMPLE in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the LAMB ARE ITS TEMPLE.”

John 4:20-21 “Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.”

God’s Word clearly states that there will be no temple in Zion when God establishes the new heaven and the new earth. Jesus also told the Samaritan woman that there would be a time when we will worship God neither on the mountain nor in Jerusalem (where the temple was located). That time is began after Jesus died on the cross and the temple veil was torn from top to bottom.

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When the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD, the apostle John and his own disciples (Ignatius and Polycarp) were still alive. There is a reason why none of them weren’t franticly writing letters about the need to rebuild the temple. It’s because they realized that temples were under the old covenant and that Jesus is the new covenant and Jesus is enough. After Christ ascended back into heaven, the apostles still went to the temple for worship. The temple was traditional and convenient…but no longer necessary. Remember when Jesus prophesied that the temple would be destroyed? Why didn’t He follow that up with: “and make sure to rebuild it if you want to live with me in heaven.” He said that it was going to be destroyed and never said anything about the need to rebuild it.

Since the death and resurrection of Christ, we now have the cross that permanently atones for the sins of those who have fully trusted in Jesus as their Lord and savior apart from works. Receiving eternal life has nothing to do with saving ordinances because it is Jesus alone that saves. But according to LDS doctrine, temple works are required for us to qualify for eternal life and live with God in heaven. If the gospel was truly restored to what it once was, why are today’s temple ordinances so different than what was practiced by the prophets of the Old Testament? Yes, we read about the prophets in the OT and Jesus and his apostles in the NT going to the temple to worship…but why don’t we ever read about Jesus or the apostles doing any of the saving ordinances? It’s because none of them ever taught the LDS saving ordinances.

In 2 Corinthians 11:4, the apostle Paul warns us about following after a false Christ, accepting a false gospel, and listening to a false spirit. Any organization that professes the need for temples or the mandate to do temple works in order to receive eternal life and live with God forever in heaven is preaching a different gospel that is not the new covenant of grace. According to Galatians 1:6-9, it is a cursed gospel that can’t save anyone.

I pray that you would critically think about these things and ask yourself the following questions:

Am I under the new covenant of grace that was taught by Jesus and his apostles?
Or am I under a gospel of temple works?

Please let me know your thoughts, things you appreciated or things that you disagreed with in the comment section below. Thank you for reading and God bless!

Grace vs Grace

Beginning in September 2023, I started meeting with a Latter Day Saint at my work on my lunch breaks. We had a number of fruitful and enjoyable dialogues in the following months as well. He attended my church a few times during this period and one day said to me, “Paul, by everything I have experienced from you and your church, it sounds like our beliefs on grace are the same.” This inspired me to dig deeper into what precisely the LDS Church teaches on grace. Allow me to walk us through what I discovered.

The gift of grace is the enabling power from God the Father to help us live out the gospel of Jesus Christ. This gift of grace is also responsible for the resurrection and everyone being saved from spiritual death and instead are given the gift of immortality.
There apparently are different levels of God’s grace that are given to individuals. Everyone is a recipient of God’s grace…but if you want the fulness of God’s grace that will get you into his heavenly kingdom, then that burden rests on your own shoulders.
According to the LDS Church, the degree of grace which you are given completely depends on the degree of effort you have put forth. But let’s dig a little deeper. What exactly must one do if they wish to receive enough grace to enter into the presence of God?

We gain access to God’s grace by making covenants and receiving ordinances inside of the temple. It is also through these temple ordinances that one becomes “born again.” What exactly are some of these required ordinances that I must receive so that I can live with God forever in heaven?

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At a minimum, you must get baptized, receive the priesthoods (for men), and also receive your endowments (go through the endowment ceremony). But there are also pre-requisites that one must first perform in order to become “worthy” to enter into the temple. In order to be declared worthy to enter into the temple and progress along the path that leads to eternal life, you must meet with your bishop and go through a temple recommend interview. Below are just a few of the questions the bishop will ask:

If you do not give 10% of your financial earnings and you say, “no” it’s not big deal because the bishop will then ask a follow up question: “Would you like to make a tithing settlement?” This has recently been changed to the more positive wording of, “tithing declaration.” At this point, if you say “sorry, I can’t afford to give that much money to the Mormon Church,” then you will not be worthy to enter the temple and make the required higher-level covenants. All of your progress towards eternal life will come to a complete halt until you choose to pay the 10% to the LDS Church.

If you are not consistently wearing your sacred undergarments, you are not keeping one of your temple covenants and are therefore not worthy to enter into the temple.

This is a big dividing line. Bible based Christians know they we are sinful human beings, guilty of breaking God’s law on a daily basis (whether we realize it or not), and are therefore unworthy. Whereas the vast majority of Latter Day Saints will answer “yes” to this question. On the basis of what? Outward actions such as tithing, consistently wearing their garments, and keeping the laws and ordinances. When boiled down, whether or not someone is worthy to enter the temple and progress towards eternal life is based individual efforts and works. This is neatly summed up in the 3rd Article of Faith:
“We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.“

Keep in mind that making covenants and ordinances are the things we must do if we want to be given access to God’s grace and become born again.

Our eternal life and the degree of grace that we receive is critically based on works/the things we must do. Ultimately, your status of your eternal life rests in no one else’s hands but your own. This makes sense in light of the statement that Dallin Oaks made at a general conference in 2003 (Repentance and Change) when he said, “The plan of the Father and the Savior is based on individual choice and individual effort.” Later, he also states, “The gospel plan is based on individual responsibility.”

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What Does The Bible say About Grace?

Romans 5:1-2 “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.”

Access into God’s grace is by a genuine and sincere faith/trust in Christ. It has nothing to do with works or ordinances we must perform. Grace will result in good works and giving God our best efforts. But the LDS Church has reversed this in stating that the more effort you put forth and the more covenants you make, the more grace you will receive. This is not so.

Romans 11:5-6 “So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.”

You have to make a choice of which gospel you are claiming to be under: the gospel of grace or a gospel of works. It cannot be both because if even one little work is required, it can no longer be categorized as grace. The precise thing that makes grace what it is, is the fact that it is given freely and apart from any works. Grace is something that is completely undeserved and not dependent on anyone’s effort. It is something you fully receive when you are completely unqualified to receive it. That is how loving and compassionate this God of the Bible is.

Romans 3:24 “All are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

Grace is indeed an enabling power to do what is right. But it is so much more than that. It is grace alone that justifies us before God on judgement day. Grace is the only thing that qualifies us for eternal life and entering into his presence. Because according to Romans 6:23, eternal life is a free gift! That’s what makes eternal another example of grace, rather than something you have to work/progress towards.
What does it mean to be justified? It means to be fully pardoned of all the wrong that you have done. While being justified and being forgiven are two different terms, they happen simultaneously and their end result is identical. When someone sincerely places their faith in Jesus, they are immediately both justified and forgiven of all their sins. One definition of forgiveness I’ve heard is: “when God removes everything that keeps you from enjoying Him completely.” When one is justified, another gift that a person is immediately given the assurance of living in the presence of God after this temporary life is over. It by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone that has justified me and has given me that peace and joy of knowing that my eternal life is securely in His hands and sealed by the Spirit, no matter what. Good works and obedience are simply the evidence demonstrating that I have truly been justified. But works do not play any role in how one is justified or how much grace one is due.

Ephesians 2:8-9 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works.”

Only those who have faith will be saved. How do they become saved? By obedience to the law and ordinances/works? By our own efforts + God’s grace? Or by grace alone?

Titus 3:3-7 “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.”

Do our righteous deeds and personal obedience play any role in our salvation, eternal life and justification? No! We are justified and saved from hell by grace alone. Contrast this with Alma 5:35 “Yea, come unto me and bring forth works of righteousness, and ye shall not be hewn down and cast into the fire.”

According to this passage in the Book of Mormon, our righteous works play a crucial role is saving us from the fire of hell. But according to the teachings of Jesus and his apostles, we are saved from hell fire when we are justified by God’s grace which is not given on the basis of works, covenants or ordinances. Having faith and trust in God’s grace alone is sufficient for your eternal life! This is what truly makes it “amazing grace.”

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How are you seeking to be justified and receive eternal life?

By grace through faith? Or By grace through works?

For a better understanding on the differences between the LDS gospel and the gospel that was taught by Jesus and his apostles, please check out my other article, “Which Gospel Are You Under?”

https://jllds.org/2024/01/12/which-gospel-are-you-under/

Please let me know your thoughts, things you appreciated or things that you disagreed with in the comment section below. Thank you for reading and God bless!

Which God Is More Forgiving?

When I open God’s Word and read, I take so much comfort in knowing how forgiving, merciful and full of grace God truly is. Jeffrey Holland once said at general conference (Title: We Are All Enlisted), “Whoever you are and whatever you have done, you can be forgiven.” This indeed is the God that we read about in the Bible. But the question now becomes: is this true for all people according to LDS doctrine? Is elder Holland referring to everyone or speaking in a general sense to most people? Let’s take a closer look at some specific sins and verify if God truly does forgive all sins.

Note: Murder is unforgivable only if the person has already received the gift of the Holy Ghost and has divine “light and knowledge” being fully aware of what is right and wrong as king David was. If someone in this position murders someone else, they will have no choice but to live in the lowest heavenly kingdom and will never be able to live in the presence of God or with their families.

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D&C 42:18 “And now, behold, I speak unto the church. Thou shalt not kill; and he that kills shall not have forgiveness in this world, nor in the world to come.

– King David is someone who made a big mistake and chose to commit murder. LDS doctrine states that this is why he will never be forgiven of that sin and fell from his exaltation, losing his eternal life forever. He is currently in the telestial kingdom and has no hope of ever living in God presence in heaven or with his family.

– LDS Prophets have confirmed multiple times that murder is an unforgiveable sin. Not just murder of adults. This would include murder of babies as well (abortion). But murder is not the only sin that God won’t forgive:

D&C 42:25-26 “But he that has committed adultery and repents with all his heart, and forsaketh it, and doeth it no more, thou shalt forgive; But if he doeth it again, he shall not be forgiven, but shall be cast out.”

Regarding one who has the similar level of spiritual “light and knowledge” as king David: If they commit adultery once and repent by never doing it again, they will be forgiven. But if they commit adultery again at a later point in time, God will never forgive them even if you are sincerely repentant and are filled with regret. What is done has been done and there is no way to undo it. According to the LDS Church, there a couple sinful lines that you simply cannot cross…and if you do, you are eternally disqualified from living with God and your forever family. What if at some point down the road after you have received “light and knowledge,” you have a moment of weakness and make a serious mistake like David? That sounds stressful if you haven’t committed these sins and hopeless if you have.

Below is a quote from President Joseph Fielding Smith related to forgiveness for the most grievous sins and how they cannot be covered by the blood of Christ:

“Man may commit certain grievous sins—according to his light and knowledge—that will place him beyond the reach of the atoning blood of Christ. If then he would be saved, he must make sacrifice of his own life to atone—so far as his power lies—for that sin, for the blood of Christ alone under certain circumstances will not avail. Joseph Smith taught that there were certain sins so grievous that man may commit, that they will place the transgressors beyond the power of the atonement of Christ. If these offenses are committed, then the blood of Christ will not cleanse them from their sins even though they repent. Therefore their only hope is to have their own blood shed to atone, as far as possible, in their behalf.” (Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 1, pp. 133-138.)

This prophet is saying that if you have received God’s divine light and knowledge and are fully aware of your actions, yet still choose to commit a serious sin (murder), then the blood of Christ is not enough to atone for your sins, even if you sincerely repent. The blood of Christ is not strong enough. Your only hope of being forgiven of these serious sins might occur if you voluntarily lay down your own life in addition to Christ laying down his. Field Smith wasn’t the only prophet who taught this. Prophet Brigham Young had some things to say as well:

“There are sins that men commit for which they cannot receive forgiveness in this world, or in that which is to come, and if they had their eyes open to see their true condition, they would be perfectly willing to have their blood spilt upon the ground, that the smoke thereof might ascend to heaven as an offering for their sins; and the smoking incense would atone for their sins…And further more, I know that there are transgressors, who, if they knew themselves, and the only condition upon which they can obtain forgiveness, would beg of their brethren to shed their blood, that the smoke thereof might ascend to God as an offering to appease the wrath that is kindled against them, and that the law might have its course. I will say further; I have had men come to me and offer their lives to atone for their sins.” (Journal of Discourses 4:53-54)

Since this time, there have been more recent LDS leaders (Bruce McConkie) who have denounced the doctrine of “blood atonement” for serious sins, stating that, yes it may or may not have something that was practiced during the time of Moses, but it has never been practiced or taught by the LDS Church. For one, we know that it was taught for a time, but as to whether or not it was actually practiced, we can’t say for sure one way or the other. However, the last sentence of Brigham Young’s quote above seems to allude to the practice of this doctrine. In any case, what has been formerly taught by LDS prophets is there and it always will be part of LDS history. At least for a time, it was a doctrine that was proclaimed by prophets of God and must be taken into consideration. Were some of the prophets in the past wrong about the doctrine of God’s forgiveness for the most grievous sins? If the doctrine they are teaching is not true, then it is false. But if this is the case, might they or the current leaders be wrong about other essential doctrines today as well? It can be a very slippery slope and leaves us with the question of: What is the point of having a prophet if they can be (and have been) so wrong on many essential things related to God and the gospel?

After taking these things into account, there are a couple options that we are left with:

Regarding those who have received the divine light and knowledge as king David had but still made the mistake of committing a serious sin: God willingly chooses to withhold his grace and forgiveness from them even if they return to Him and sincerely repent with all their heart.

OR
God would forgive these people if He could, but unfortunately the blood of Christ just is not strong enough to cover the most serious of sins and God can’t forgive them.

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Below is a Psalm that David wrote after he committed this terrible sin of murder and adultery:

Psalm 51:1-4 “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.²Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. ³For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. ⁴Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.”

We can see how heartbroken and repentant David is for the terrible sins that he committed. His was blinded by his sin and knows that he made some HUGE mistakes. In this passage, we see that he is desperately seeking forgiveness from God. This desire and hunger for God is one of the reasons why he is the only person in history whom God has ever called, “a man after my own heart” (Acts 13:22). But according to the LDS Church, God basically looked at David and said, “Yes David, I know that you are truly sorry. Yes, I know that you are a man after my own heart. And yes, I do have the power to forgive your all of your sins, including murder…but I am NOT going to. And because of my decision to not forgive your sin, you will never be able to live my presence or in the presence of you family.” David wanted nothing more than to be with God. Isn’t it ironic God called David “a man after my own heart,” yet David will spend eternity being separated from God? Is this really the same God of love, mercy and grace that we read about in the Bible?

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Below is a verse that took place shortly after David murdered Uriah the Hittite:

2 Samuel 12:13 “Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.”

According to God’s Word, the God of the Bible actually DID forgive David of his terrible sin of murder!

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1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

If we repent in our hearts and sincerely confess our sin to God, He will forgive us of ALL our sins, regardless of how big or small they are. Because David repented and sincerely confessed his sins to God, doesn’t that mean that he was forgiven of ALL his sins as well?
Imagine that you found yourself faced with the heart wrenching decision of whether or not to abort your child that was conceived out of wedlock. To kill your unborn child or to maintain your good standing with friends and family. Suppose that you had a moment of weakness and went through with the abortion, fully knowing it was wrong. Following that decision, how crushed and depressed would you feel knowing that you are guilty of murder and will never be forgiven of that sin?
Or imagine that you had a moment of weakness and committed adultery once and repented. Then you found yourself in the same situation and committed adultery a second time. In all of your sorrow, you turn to God and cry out with a truly repentant heart, begging God for His forgiveness…yet according to the LDS Church, you are now hopelessly faced with the realization that you will never dwell in the presence of God or any of your family members.

Colossians 1:13-14 “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.”

According to God’s Word, is the forgiveness of my personal sins achieved in the blood and sacrifice of Jesus? Or partially by my own efforts, works, and ordinances?

Is the blood of Jesus strong enough to cover the sin of murder? Or was the brutal, agonizing, and life changing sacrifice of Christ insufficient and not strong enough to cover that sin?

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Is The LDS Gospel Good News For All?

This part of the LDS gospel teaches that a “man after God’s own heart” messed up big, he was temporarily blinded by his sin, and now has NO HOPE of ever living with God in heaven and will be forever separated from his family. And I know that David isn’t the only person who has ever made this kind of mistake. Put yourself in his shoes for a moment: Would feeling joy even be a possibility knowing that your family members are in presence of God while you are stuck in the telestial kingdom and eternally separated from them? That sounds like torment and outer darkness to me.

This is a not a gospel that is good news for all, but actually gospel of sadness and hopelessness for some. However, the gospel that I read about in the Bible is indeed good news for ALL PEOPLE who turn to God, regardless of any sin they have ever committed and regardless of however much “light and knowledge” they have previously received!

Luke 2:10-11 “But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.”

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Anyone who sincerely confesses their sins to God, believes in the one true Jesus and turns their heart toward Him will be forgiven of ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS. Not only are their sinful burdens removed from their back, but they also receive the promise of eternal life, which is the absolute assurance of living in the presence of God.

1 John 5:13 “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

This gospel just brings an indescribable amount of joy, comfort and peace! Regardless of how serious your sins are and how much “light and knowledge” you have received, it is never too late to repent, trust in Jesus, receive his full forgiveness and receive His free gift of eternal life. If king David was forgiven for his grievous sins, you can no doubt be forgiven as well.

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Between the two gospels you just read about, which one is the “best news?”

Bible – A God who will always forgive the any and all sins of a repentant sinner

LDS Church – A God who will NOT always forgive serious sins of a repentant sinner

Please let me know your thoughts, things you appreciated or things that you disagreed with in the comment section below. Thank you for reading and God bless!

To Fathers: Be A Positive Force

As the title alludes to, this message is directed towards fathers, but there are some aspects that can be applicable to mothers as well. I have only been a father for 10 years and my kids are still fairly young. So I am not in the least bit qualified to be giving any kind of parenting advice, but here is some wisdom that has been passed on to me that might be helpful reminders for other current fathers and it might be insightful for future fathers-to-be:

1. Demonstrate by your words and actions that you are sincerely devoted to God and madly in love with your wife. One of the things that will bring a child the most comfort and security is knowing that their mom and dad are committed to each other and not going anywhere.

2. Say you are sorry to your kids: When you get upset and raise your voice too loudly, ask for their forgiveness. When you say something mean or in a condescending tone (this will happen at some point), demonstrate humility by letting them know that you have areas in your life that you are still working on and trying to improve at.

3. “Put” your kids to bed, don’t “send” them to bed: Spend 5 minutes (or more) a night, just laying next to them in their bed every night. This is a good way to end the night on a personal and positive note with your child. Sometimes they will randomly ask you a serious question. As a parent, you can’t really plan for when those kinds of deep discussions are going to happen. While in bed, play with them. Wrestle with them. Tickle them. Give them back scratches. Draw letters on their back (see if they can guess the word you are spelling). Hug them. Kiss them goodnight (yes, dads…kiss your son also). Say, “I love you” every night. At a marriage conference my wife and I went to a decade ago, I still remember one of the speakers telling us, “My dad often told me he loved me, but still…I could never hear it enough.”

4. This too shall pass: Being a parent is a great opportunity to grow in patience and grace. It is common having to repeat yourself and to be tested in these areas. “Please get your shoes on.” “Go brush your teeth.” “Remember to go potty if you need to go.” Over and over and over again. There was a time when one of my kids was in the potty-training phase. They were literally 5 feet away from the toilet…and decided that it was better to let the floodgates break loose in the hallway rather than taking 3 more steps into the bathroom and using the toilet as previously discussed 100 times. A good opportunity for me to build my patience, right?

Another time was when I walked into the bathroom and saw one of my kids sitting on the toilet. I’m gonna be real…it looked like they had just finished an intense wrestling match with a big #2. I can certainly say that in all my life, I have never seen a human being or a toilet covered in so much poop. But guess what? “This too shall pass.” They are going to grow out of this phase in due time. It’s common for our living room to be a mess. For stuffed animals to be in hallway. To step on Legos in bare feet. To get into my bed to find a plastic toy lodged under my back. But in a really weird way, I am going to miss the messes. I’ve come to realize that you can take joy in cleaning up after your kids (not to the point of spoiling them). Because if you’re cleaning up their messes…that means that you still have the joy of them currently being in your presence.

5. Piggy-backing off of the previous point, one of my favorite quotes of all time is from the Robbin Williams’ movie, “Hook.” Williams (Peter Pan in the movie) is a father who is a work-a-holic and has just missed his son’s baseball game after promising that he was going to be there to cheer his son on. Instead, he got held up in a work meeting. His wife has the wisdom to inform him of the reality of the situation as she gently says,

“Your children love you. They want to play with you. How long do you think that lasts? Soon Jack (son) may not even want you to come to his games. We have a few special years with our children, when they’re the ones that want us around. After that, you’re going to be running after them for a bit of attention. It’s so fast, Peter. It’s a few years, then it’s over. And you are not being careful. And you are missing it.”In the past, there were times when my oldest son would come into our bedroom at 2 AM because he had a bad dream. He would come over on my side of the bed and hop in under the covers with me to be comforted. After five minutes, he would hop back out and return to his bed. Then a few hours later, my youngest son would call for me and want me to come into his bed for a few minutes (sometimes I wonder if they have a secret night schedule and are intentionally taking shifts to make sure that I am sleep deprived). It was a lightbulb moment from God that changed my perspective when He helped me realize that these “middle of the night cuddles” will only happen for a year or two with each kid…then they will never call for me ever again. I suddenly received a lot more patience and started viewing it as a blessing that they want me to comfort and cuddle with them. As weary as you might feel…as repetitive as it might seem…as inconvenient as it may be…try to appreciate every moment of these golden years while they last, because when they’re gone, they’re gone.

6. 1-On-1 Time: Build a relationship with your child as early as possible. Try to find ways to do things just the two of you. It could be something simple: doughnut date, Jamba Juice run, a walk around the block, a drive to Home Depot, play at a nearby park, or breakfast at McDonalds. Just do something. My dad was an amazing example to me growing up. He was so intentional and tried every day to do something with me and my brothers. I remember during my summer years in high school, I would be at home and my dad’s work was about 10 minutes away. On his 30-minute lunch break, it was common for him to drive 10 minutes home, play a video game with me for 10 minutes, then drive 10 minutes back to work and eat at his desk. Here are a few things that have worked well for me and have really strengthened my relationship with each of my kids.

Camping: Once a year in the summer, I will use a day of paid vacation to go camping with each kid. The first night with one kid, swap kids the next day and then stay another night with my next kid.

Birthdays: On their birthday week, I take a half day off from work to hang out with them and do whatever they want. Some years we will go watch a movie they want to see. Other years, we will go roller skating. For my son, we will just stay home, eat pizza, and play video games and board games all day. I know that not every father has the opportunity to take days off from work in this manner, but if you can, it will send the message to your kids that, “You are more important than my job.” They will never forget these days.
Daddy-Daughter Dance: Look around online and try to find a place that does Valentines or Spring Daddy-Daughter Dance. You both will treasure those times for the rest of your lives.

To all of the dads out there, I hope this was helpful. I encourage you to be the involved father and leader that God has called you to be. Thank you for reading and God bless!

Was There Really A Great Apostasy?

While there are a number of things that Bible based Christians and Latter Day Saints agree on, the foundational topic of the Great Apostasy is not one of them. Let’s examine both sides and see where we end up.

The LDS article above states that the Church of Jesus will never again be destroyed. This implies that the Church of Jesus was destroyed at a previous point in time. And now that Joseph Smith restored the Church of Jesus Christ in 1830, it will never be destroyed again. When boiled down, the LDS Church is basically making the following claim:

“The church that Jesus built was destroyed…but the church that Joseph Smith built will last forever.”

When put this way, it is very easy to see why Bible based Christians would view this claim to be so blasphemous.

In the Old Testament times, God’s people had a historical cycle of rebelling against God, entering into apostasy, then another prophet would come along, get the people back on track by restoring the church and reestablishing priesthood authority. Joseph Smith permanently established God’s church on earth as it would never again be destroyed and fall into apostasy. This alleged accomplishment made Smith feel like he had reasons to brag which is why he stated:

“I have more to boast of than ever any man had. I am the only man that has ever been able to keep a whole church together since the days of Adam… Neither Paul, John, Peter, nor Jesus ever did it. I boast that no man ever did such work as I. The followers of Jesus ran away from Him; but the Latter-day Saints never ran away from me yet.” (History of the Church, 6:408–409)

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When asking Latter Day Saints if there are any Biblical passages to support this idea that the church of Jesus was destroyed, there are two primary passages which they believe are prophecies about the Great Apostasy that was to come. Below is a screenshot from the missionary guide (Preach My Gospel) for the first lesson that they will typically teach investigators:

Amos 8:11-12 “The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “when I will send a famine through the land—not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. ¹²People will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not find it.”

2 Thessalonians 2:3 “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;”

Are Amos 8:11-12 and 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3 truly referring to the Great Apostasy?

When reading the Bible, we ought to study the context of the passage to make sure that we are being faithful interpreters of God’s Word. When striving to do this, it is important to read the previous verses and the following verses to make sure we have a good understanding of the surrounding context. Let’s take this approach and study these two passages to verify what they are talking about.

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2 Thessalonians 2:1 “Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters,”

This beginning verse tells us that the contextual timeframe is in reference to the return of Jesus.

2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 “Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.”

Christ will not return until the “rebellion” or “falling away” and the man of lawlessness/sin is revealed. These two events are directly connected because it will be the man of lawlessness who is leading the rebellion. That man is the anti-Christ.
Some posit that the man of lawlessness is Satan. However, we can be certain that this is not the case because in verse 9 we read that this man will be “in accordance with how Satan works.” The anti-Christ and Satan are two separate beings, and they are going to be a tag-team.

This great rebellion/falling away will only happen AFTER the anti-Christ is revealed. That hasn’t happened yet. Since this anti-Christ figure has not yet been revealed, we can be certain that this great rebellion has not yet occurred either. Therefore, we can conclude that this passage in 2 Thessalonians cannot be referring to the Great Apostacy that allegedly took place after the death of the apostles in the following centuries.

Clarification: Do I believe that an apostasy has ever taken place? Absolutely! It all began in the garden of Eden with Satan deceiving Eve and that same apostasy continues to this day. Apostasy can be defined as a deceptive action or a false belief. Even though there is apostasy and false teachings all around us today, that doesn’t mean that the Church of Jesus is absent today or was ever destroyed at a previous point in time. There has always been a general apostasy, but there has never been a complete apostasy. Rest assured that Christ is strong enough to protect his church, even in the midst of apostasy.

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Amos 7:8-9 “And the Lord said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, “A plumbline.” Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more: And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”
- Here in Amos chapter 7, we read that Amos has a vision and God tells Amos that he will not “pass by” the people of Israel any longer. God is going to bring judgement and destruction upon the house of Jeroboam, who was king of Northern Israel at this time. This is a specific prophecy of judgement on the Israelites and it continues into chapter 8:

Amos 8:1-2 “This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: a basket of ripe fruit. ²“What do you see, Amos?” he asked. “A basket of ripe fruit,” I answered. Then the Lord said to me, “The time is ripe for my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.”

God is once again proclaiming that the time is ripe for His judgement against the Israelites. This begs the question: why would God judge the Israelites? The end of the chapters gives us the answer.

¹⁴Those who swear by the sin of Samaria— who say, ‘As surely as your god lives, Dan,’ or, ‘As surely as the god of Beersheba lives’— they will fall, never to rise again.”

The end of verse 14 sums it up and helps us understand that the Israelites in Samaria were guilty of idol worship. This chapter describes what God’s judgement on the Samaritans is going to look like when it happens:

– Verse 8: The land will tremble and everyone will be afraid
– Verse 9: The days/times will be very dark and hopeless
– Verse 10: It will be a time of mourning and sorrow
– Verse 11: There will be a famine of hearing the words of the Lord
– Verse 12: People will look for the word of the Lord but He will remain silent during this time because of their sin

Amos chapters 7, 8 and 9 are all a prophetic warning of what is going to happen to the Israelites if they don’t repent and turn away from their idol worship. Then roughly, 15 years after Amos prophesied this, God used the Assyrians as his tool of judgement who destroyed Jerusalem and carried them off into exile.

Sequence of events:
– 755 BC (roughly) – Amos was written
– 740 BC – The Assyrians began attacking Northern Israel
– 722 BC – The Assyrians captured Samaria

Amos 8:11-12 is a specific prophecy about a specific group of people who God judged for a specific sin that they were unrepentant of. And we read the fulfilment of this prophecy in 2 Kings 17:5:

“Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years.”

Once again, this passage is not referring to the LDS Great Apostasy that allegedly took place in the early Christian church.

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A quick example from the Jehovah’s Witnesses whose doctrine states that Jesus is not Jehovah of the Old Testament but is actually Michael the archangel. They start with this doctrine then go to passages like 1 Thessalonians 4:16

“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God,”

They will explain that Jesus has the voice of the archangel because he is the archangel. We can agree that their starting doctrines have caused them to misunderstand the Word of God in this instance. They doctrines have blinded them to what the Word of God truly says.

Bringing it back to the Great Apostasy, Amos 8 and 2 Thessalonians 2. The LDS Church has also started with the doctrinal assumption that there was a Great Apostasy. Then going to these two Bible passages, taking them out of context and incorrectly using these passages to support their doctrine. This is backwards and not how we are to be faithful interpreters of God’s Word. We should never start with our doctrines and then twist God’s Word to make it line up with our doctrines. Instead, we need to start with God’s Word, then change our doctrines to make them line up with God’s Word. The reality is that there is no verse in the entire Bible that contextually references the event of the Great Apostasy.

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What Does God’s Word Tell Us About the Gospel and Church of Jesus?

Matthew 16:18 “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”

A common response is that the “rock” in this verse is talking about prophets and apostles. The point of this verse is to focus on the last half where Jesus states that nothing (not even the gates of hell) will overcome and destroy his church. But Joseph Smith taught that the devil did destroy Jesus’ church and that the fullness of gospel was lost.

Jude 1:3 “Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people.”

This verse clearly states that the faith and gospel message would only be delivered once. If the gospel was truly delivered once and for all, then that eliminates the possibility of the gospel being delivered a second time. In other words, there will never be a restored gospel because the gospel of Jesus will always endure.
Many LDS would prefer the King James Version for this passage in Jude which says that “the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” They will typically respond by saying, “My Bible doesn’t say ‘once for all.’ It only says, ‘once.’ I think this means that Jesus delivered the gospel once, and then after the great apostacy, Joseph Smith delivered it once again.”

Which Version Is Right?

Below is a Greek Bible that has the literal English wording above each Greek word.

We can see here that the literal words used are “once for all.” The King James Bible is fantastic for its time, but modern Bibles today are easier to understand and also utilize the earliest manuscripts that were discovered after the KJV was written.

Some serious/more scholarly Latter-Day Saints might push back and say that the Greek word in this passage is “Hapax,” which means “once.” And they aren’t wrong. Yes, “Hapax” can mean “once.” But it can also mean, “once for all” depending on the context. Below is a screenshot of the Strong’s concordance which breaks down each usage of “Hapax” in the Bible and splits them into two groups: passages where it contextually means, “once” and passages where it contextually means, “once for all.”

As we can see, the correct usage of “Hapax” in Jude 1:3 is “once for all.”

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According to God’s Word, how many times has the gospel been delivered to the saints?

Do you believe that God is strong enough to protect his church from being destroyed?

Taking free will and agency into consideration, do you believe that God is smart enough to figure out a way to protect his church from being destroyed?

If God is strong enough and smart enough to protect his church from being destroyed, why wouldn’t He protect it? The next time you open up a Bible, I invite you to put your doctrines on the shelf, read the New Testament without any LDS study guides/notes, and let the Word of God freely speak to you.

Please let me know your thoughts, things you appreciated or things that you disagreed with in the comment section below. Thank you for reading and God bless!

Who Is Jesus Really?

2 Corinthians 11:4 “If someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.”

Just to be clear…the apostle Paul is not complimenting the Corinthians when he says this. Apparently, there is another version of Jesus that is being preached and Paul is warning them to be on guard.

Who is Jesus according to the LDS Church? Their Church website says:

According to the LDS Church, LDS prophets and LDS apostles, Jesus was the firstborn spirit child of heavenly Father and heavenly mother in pre-existence. Just like us, Jesus had a beginning and was brought into existence by another being. At a certain point in the pre-existent life, the intelligence of Jesus was organized and that is when the person of Jesus began to exist.

Jesus was always sinless, but he was not always perfect, but became perfect AFTER his resurrection.

“Jesus became a God and reached His great state of understanding through consistent effort and continuous obedience to all the Gospel truths and universal laws. The Gospel of Jesus Christ teaches that God the Eternal Father is an exalted being…Mormon prophets have continuously taught the sublime truth that God the Eternal Father was once a mortal man who passed through a school of earth life similar to that through which we are now passing. He became God—an exalted being—through obedience to the same eternal Gospel truths that we are given opportunity today to obey.” – Milton R. Hunter (General Authority – Quorum of the Seventy).

“Christ worked out his own salvation by worshiping the Father. After the Firstborn of the Father, while yet a spirit being, had gained power and intelligence that made him like unto God.” – General Conference Bruce McConkie (General Authority – Apostle)

“Christ attained Godhood while yet in pre-existence, he too stood as a God to the other spirits” – Bruce McConkie (General Authority – Apostle)

The Jesus of the LDS Church was brought into existence and has not always existed. He worked out his own salvation and become one of many Gods through his own effort and obedience. He has not always been omnipotent and omniscient but gained power and intelligence as he progressed to godhood. And he is not the creator of all things. Remember: there are many other creator Gods out there who have created their own universe according to the LDS Church.

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Psalm 90:2 “Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”

Bible based Christians and Latter Day Saints both agree that Jesus is Jehovah of the Old Testament and that is who this verse is talking about. According to God’s Word/the truth, how long has Jesus been God for? From everlasting to everlasting. In other words, Jesus has always been God and has never been anything less than God.

John 1:1-3 “In the beginning was the Word (Jesus), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”

From the very beginning…not just from the beginning of our universe, but from literally forever ago and eternity past, Jesus has always been with God and has always existed as God. (This is a perfect passage that alludes to the Trinity. For more information on this topic, check out my Bible lesson, “Is The Trinity Biblical or Manmade?” https://jllds.org/2023/12/15/is-the-trinity-biblical-or-man-made/)
According to the truth, every single thing in every single universe and every single reality that has ever come into existence was created by who? That’s right…Jesus.

Colossians 1:16-17 “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.^”

According to God’s Word, was there anything (visible or invisible) in heaven or on earth that Jesus did not create? No! He literally created all things.
According to God’s Word, was there anything that existed before the person of Jesus? No! Jesus is God and God is the first being to ever exist.

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Is Jesus the Firstborn and Only Begotten Son of God?

Many Latter Day Saints immediately respond with, “The Bible clearly calls Jesus the firstborn and the only begotten Son of God. Obviously, he can’t literally be the first being to ever exist as mainstream Christians claim.” But let’s dig deeper into these topics to better understand these two titles that are attributed to Jesus.

The first question that might seem odd is: How many “firstborns” does God have?

Exodus 4:22 “And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:”

Psalm 89:27 “Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.” (Verse 20 clarifies that this is referring to king David)

Colossians 1:15 “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:”

Israel, David, and Jesus are all called God’s “firstborn.”

What does “firstborn” mean in these passages?

Israel – God’s special group of people whom he chose to be holy/set apart and that he promised to preserve. “Firstborn” here is in reference to rank or position. In the sight of God, the preservation of the Israelites is of greatest importance than any other people group because it would be through the bloodline of David (an Israelite) that the Messiah and savior of the world would come. If the Israelites were wiped out, God would have failed at keeping his promise. They are the only group of people that God covenanted with in the Old Testament. Therefore, protecting and preserving them was of the highest importance to God.

David – The last half of verse 27 helps us understand that “firstborn” is connected to David being the highest and most powerful king in the world. “Firstborn” here is also in clear reference to rank or position.

Jesus – In the same way, the following verses (Colossians 1:16-17) give us context to help us properly understand what “firstborn” is referring to: Jesus created absolutely ALL things and existed before absolutely ALL things. “Firstborn” for Jesus is also referring to rank and position. It is saying that Jesus is highest in rank and supremacy. This contextually makes sense: Jesus is supreme over every single thing that has ever come into existence because he is the one who cause all things to come into existence. The context clarifies that “firstborn” is not a reference to a chronological genealogy of Jesus being the literal firstborn or first birthed offspring of God the Father.

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What does “only begotten son” mean?

Hebrews 11:17 “By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,”

The term “only begotten” can mean “to be first produced” as a literal offspring. But it can also mean, “unique” or “one of a kind.” Was Isaac literally Abraham’s only begotten son? No. Abraham had Ishmael before Isaac. He also had other sons after Isaac. In this passage we can see that the phrase, “only begotten son” is not to be interpreted in the literal sense. What then might it be referring to here?

“Only begotten” in this passage means, “Unique” or “one of a kind.” Yes, Abraham did have more than one son, but Isaac was the only son he had by Sarah and Isaac is the son that God promised Abraham through His covenant. In this context, it makes sense for Isaac to be referred to as Abraham’s “only begotten son,” because of the unique/one of a kind son that Isaac was.

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

All throughout the New Testament, Jesus is called the Son of God. But there are also times where Christians are called sons and daughters of God by means of spiritual adoption (Romans 8:15). Adam, Solomon and angels are also called sons of God. Whenever we read that Jesus is the “only begotten” son of God, the Biblical writer is intentionally separating Jesus from the everyone else who is also called a son of God. The relationship that Jesus had/has with the Father is much more unique and intimate that our relationship with the Father. Another way to say this would be that Jesus is the unique son of God because of his unique relationship with the Father. This once again is not a reference to the person of Jesus being literally begotten or created in any sense.
- Not only is Jesus called “the son of God.” Jesus commonly referred to himself as “the son of man.” Why is only Jesus rightfully called “the son of man” if every human male is also a literal son of man? It is because this is a symbolic title.
Other titles belonging to Jesus are the lamb of God and eternal father. He is not literally a farm animal. Neither has he literally fathered children for all eternity. Therefore, we can understand that these are all symbolic titles to help us attain a better grasp of who this almighty savior is. It would be a mistake to interpret any of these titles in a hyper literal sense. Terms such as “Father” and “Son” are attributed to both God and Jesus in order to help us understand the relationship between the different persons of the Trinity.

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Why does this matter? Imagine this scenario:

You have a house and a pipe bursts. Water is starting to flood the bathroom. You have two friends who are both named “Joe.” One of them is a professional plumber while the other is a professional basketball player. Does it matter which “Joe” you call to save your house? The obvious answer is, “Yes, it absolutely matters” and this same concept applies to Jesus.

John 14:6 “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

There is only 1 way to heaven: that is to put your trust in the one true Christ.

There are many different versions of “Christ” today:
- Muslims believe Jesus was a prophet who did not die on the cross
- Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Jesus was God’s first creation and is also Michael the archangel.
- The LDS Church teaches that there was a point where the person of Jesus began to exist, that he was once just like us, then over time, he eventually became one of many Gods.
- Biblical Christianity teaches that Jesus has always been God and has never been anything less. That he has eternally existed with the Father and Holy Spirit. He is before all things and created all things.

A different Christ is a false Christ, and a false Christ cannot save anyone from their sins. If we put our faith in a false Christ, then we have also embraced a false gospel.

Here are our two options to choose between:

Jesus: the created offspring of heavenly father and heavenly mother who has not always been God but became one of many Gods over time, was not always perfect and needed to work out his own salvation

Jesus: the one who has eternally existed as the uncreated and self-sufficient God, who has never been anything less than God, He created absolutely all things, and has always been perfect
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Which Jesus are you going to call on to save you?

Please let me know your thoughts, things you appreciated or things that you disagreed with in the comment section below. Thank you for reading and God bless!