Mormon Coffee

I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.-Romans 16:17-18-

Some years ago a non-denominational church invited a popular “Christian” group of musicians to make a guest appearance and lead worship. But there was a problem. Unbeknownst to the church leadership, this particular group of musicians held to a faith that did not affirm the essential Christian doctrine of the Trinity. Rather than being “Christian,” they fell into the category of “heretic”; therefore, according to the church’s codified principles, these musicians could not occupy the pulpit or platform of the church.The musicians, when questioned about their beliefs, dealt deceitfully with the church’s leadership. They deftly sidestepped direct questions and answered others with carefully crafted sentences that employed liberal use of double entendre.

The church investigated the charges of heresy brought against the musicians over a period of several weeks, examining strong, documented evidence that clearly supported the allegations. Eventually, church leadership reached the conclusion that the charges were false. Ignoring the documented evidence they had seen, they reasoned thus: The musicians were nice folks, they sang of Christ, and they insisted they’d been falsely (and maliciously) accused; nice people who sing of Christ don’t lie. Therefore, since these nice musicians were telling the truth — that they were orthodox in their beliefs — they were welcomed to lead worship at the church.

I was reminded of this experience today as I viewed this five-minute portion of a sermon by John Piper. Preaching on the Bible passage above, Dr. Piper explained that people who depart from true doctrine do not appear to us as monsters, mean and brash and pushy. Rather, the words Paul used in his description indicates false teachers win followers by appearing to bring a blessing. Their speech is pleasant, plausible and kind — totally winsome. They are nice, gentlemanly, fair-minded and humble.

In the scenario I wrote about above, it was these sorts of attributes that won the day for the non-Trinitarian musicians. Unwelcome evidence was set aside in favor of enjoyable fellowship. One church leader explained, “I don’t think they deny the Trinity. I’ve had dinner with them, and they are really nice people.”

Sometimes what we want to believe has such a strong hold on us that we turn a blind eye to what is truly evident. Someone is nice, so we trust him. Someone is a pleasure to listen to, so we automatically accept what he says. Someone is fun to be with, so along we go; wherever he goes, we follow.

“Watch out for them,” writes Paul. “Avoid them.” Because they don’t serve the Lord Christ; instead, they deceive the hearts of the naive (i.e., those who are undiscerning; those who ignore the evidence). It’s a warning to be heeded for, as Jesus taught, “if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit” (Matthew 15:14).

I appeal to you, friends: Watch out.

While reading the Book of Revelation I was struck by Jesus’ words regarding the final judgment of those whose names are not written in the Book of Life:

…the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. (21:8)

Jesus here draws a distinction between those who belong to Him — those who will “inherit all things,” who will forever enjoy Him as their God, who will be His sons and daughters — contrasted with those who will not receive blessings but will instead “have their part” in the lake of fire. These will not receive eternal life in God’s presence, but will receive the second death: eternal punishment.

The list of sinful behaviors and attitudes Jesus speaks of reminds me of another list, this one found in LDS scripture. Doctrine and Covenants says:

But [these] received not the gospel, neither the testimony of Jesus,… These are they who are liars, and sorcerers, and adulterers, and whoremongers, and whosoever loves and makes a lie. (76:101, 103)

Several items on the biblical list and the D&C list match:

• unbelieving/received not the gospel
• sexually immoral/adulterers-whoremongers
• sorcerers
• liars

It sounds like both passages are talking about the same group of people. But according to the Bible, Jesus says these people will be finally consigned to the “second death” in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, while Doctrine and Covenants says these people will inherit glory in the Telestial kingdom of God.

Some Mormon leaders, including 10th LDS President Joseph Fielding Smith, have suggested that sinners such as those listed above will spend limited time in the lake of fire and brimstone; they will be released as heirs of salvation after they have sufficiently suffered for their sins. However, Mr. Smith wrote:

Spiritual death is defined as a state of spiritual alienation from God — the eternal separation from the Supreme Being; condemnation to everlasting punishment is also called the second death. In other words, the second or spiritual death,…is the final judgment passed upon the wicked… (Doctrines of Salvation 2:217)

In Mormonism there seems to be some variance of opinion on exactly what “second death” is, who is deserving of it, and how long it lasts. But in Christianity — historically — the second death has been understood to be final, permanent, and hopeless. In Revelation Jesus contrasts the second death with eternal life. Those who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb receive the gift of eternal life, while those who have died in their sins receive their part — the consequence of being an enemy of God — which is eternal damnation.

But according to Mormonism, after the wicked dead come to their senses and repent, after they suffer for their sins for a sufficient time, they will receive an eternal home in glory. This glory, which they have earned by personally paying for their sins (see Doctrine and Covenants Student Manual Religion 325-325, 204), is described in LDS writings. The inhabitants of the Telestial kingdom will delight in an existence of far greater comfort and enjoyment than anything available on earth; a glory beyond mortal understanding. There will be no death, disease, infirmity, taxes, wars, bills or menial labor. The people will be free to socialize, travel and learn (Victor Ludlow, Principles and Practices of the Restored Gospel,240-241). In fact, Joseph Smith reportedly said,

The telestial kingdom is so great, if we knew what it was like we would kill ourselves to get there. (see Richard Neitzel Holzapfel,The Heavens Are Open, The 1992 Sperry Symposium of the Doctrine and Covenant and Church History, 155)

According to Mormonism, those deserving of the Telestial kingdom have lived their lives in open rebellion against God. They have hearts that are hard and cold when it comes to Christ. They are not just misguided people who have given in to the temptations of sin more often than not; they have “refused to worship the true and living God” (LDS Apostle Bruce McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 778).

Even if it were possible for dead people to pay their own sin debt by suffering for a finite period of time (it is not), after their debt is paid they remain what they have always been at their core: enemies of God. This is something Mormonism misses. It’s not just about what we do, but about what we are.

Jesus did not come only to pay the penalty for our sins; He came to make us new creatures. He came to take away our guilt and bestow on us His righteousness. The Apostle Paul wrote,

• He made Him [Christ Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
• Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Because of Christ’s righteousness, the sinner who places faith in Him becomes righteous before God.

Spending time in prison does not change a hardened criminal into a law-abiding citizen. During his prison sentence he works off his debt to society; he may even resolve to “go straight” in order to avoid future punishment. But he isn’t changed from the inside out — not unless God intervenes and makes him a new creature.

And being a new creature is what Jesus talks about in the Book of Revelation. He says,

Behold, I make all things new…It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. (21:5-8)

Seeing how Jesus puts it, it doesn’t sound to me like that second set of people are bound for eternal glory. He who has an ear to hear, let him hear.

Along with about 60 of my senior students from the Bible classes that I teach at a private Christian high school, I recently traveled to three different religious venues for educational visits. We visited a conservative Jewish synagogue, a Hare Krishna temple, and an Islamic mosque, spending two hours at each venue. We had visited the Mormon Battalion Center in Old Town, San Diego several weeks before.

While driving home after the Sunday afternoon mosque visit, I suddenly realized how the groundwork for all four faiths was the same. This commonality goes beyond the fact that all three deny that Jesus was God in the flesh, that they think justification before God requires effort on our part to achieve, or that they teach how a person must belong to their faith in order to get the best God has to offer.

Let me give you some hints by providing you with real quotes of these leaders:

Mormon: “We believe it’s true, but we can’t be sure it’s translated correctly.”Jew: “It can’t be trusted historically. I believe in its spiritual nature, but I’m not foolish enough to believe in stories like the Creation account [the rabbi is an Evolutionist] or Noah.”

Devotee: “Christian leaders took the word reincarnation out of it at the Council of Constantinople in AD 550.”

Muslim: “Its stories about Jesus were written so late that we can’t be sure they are really true. In addition, Paul so tainted it with his personal philosophy.”

Can you guess what the “it” was? Were they talking about the Book of Mormon? The Talmud? The Bhagavad-Gita? The Qur’an? Guess again. In fact, all four spiritual leaders found time in their lectures to criticize the Bible and the lack of reliability they said it had. What is strange is that three of the four men (the Mormon, Jew, and Muslim) made a special point to tell the students how much they like the Bible!

Fortunately, our students have been well grounded on the pertinent issues surrounding the transmission of the biblical text. When I politely corrected the Krishna devotee about his facts and explained how it would have been impossible to have taken reincarnation out of the biblical text in AD 550 since we possess complete copies of the Bible that were copied several hundred centuries earlier, he fumbled around before finally admitting, “Well, I’m no expert on the Bible.”

I felt like saying, “No, sir, you’re not, but maybe you ought to do a little more study before stepping out on a limb and making statements to my students that have no basis in fact.” As for me, I am willing to put the Bible next to any of these religions’ writings, none of which could stand up to the historical/critical tests like the Bible. After all, it is the B-I-B-L-E, and that’s the book for me!

At last April’s General Conference, President James E. Faust (Second Counselor in the First Presidency) talked a bit about ministering angels (see “A Royal Priesthood”).

To understand President Faust’s comments, it’s important to first recognize that the LDS view of angels is different from the historic Christian understanding. According to the Bible, angels are created by God as angels–a specific created creature (see Psalm 148). Mormonism, on the other hand, teaches that angels are the spirits of human beings. Generally speaking, according to Mormonism, the angels who interact with people on earth are the spirits of human beings who have died and now reside in the Spirit World (see LDS Bible Dictionary, “Angels”). For example, in Mormonism the angel Michael is Adam, and the angel Gabriel is Noah.

With that background, let’s look at President Faust’s General Conference talk. He spoke about ministering angels (deceased human beings) and how they have appeared in both ancient and modern times to give “instruction, warnings, and directions, which benefited the people they visited.” President Faust continued by quoting sixth Prophet of the LDS Church, Joseph F. Smith:

“In like manner our fathers and mothers, brothers, sisters and friends who have passed away from this earth, having been faithful, and worthy to enjoy these rights and privileges, may have a mission given them to visit their relatives and friends upon the earth again, bringing from the Divine Presence messages of love, of warning, or reproof and instruction, to those whom they had learned to love in the flesh.”

President Faust then commented to his LDS congregation, “Many of us feel that we have had this experience.”

Indeed, there are many stories within Mormon circles that relate appearances of the dead to the LDS living. Many of these experiences take place in Mormon temples; Latter-day Saints consider each one sacred.

Christians have long been concerned over the way Mormons welcome and treasure communication with their deceased friends and loved ones, for God makes it abundantly clear that we are to have absolutely nothing to do with communing with the dead. He calls this behavior–and anyone who practices it–an “abomination” (see Deuteronomy 18:9-14). He says that by engaging in this forbidden pursuit people “prostitute” themselves, become “defiled,” and cause God to set His face against them (see Leviticus 19:26, 31; 20:6).

So the Mormon belief that it is a good thing to communicate with the dead raises red flags for Christians. But wait; there’s more.

As expressed above by President Smith, Mormons are taught that the dead who appear to them are sent by God, to complete a God-given mission; to bring them messages from the Divine Presence, messages of warning and instruction. Jesus’ parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man (Luke 16:19ff) casts doubt on God’s willingness to allow visits between the dead and the living. The parable says, “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.” Nevertheless, Mormon doctrine continues to encourage communication between the living and the dead.

But wait; there’s still more.

In his conference talk, President Faust went a bit further. He said,

“Many of us feel that we have had this experience [communicating with dead loved ones]. Their ministry has been and is an important part of the gospel.”

For Bible-believing Christians, this raises the question: What “gospel” is this?

How can something so emphatically denounced and forbidden by God in His Word be promoted as “an important part of the gospel”?

A bit further in the sermon quoted by President Faust (but not included in his conference talk), President Smith said,

“These are correct principles. There is no question about that in my mind. It is according to the Scriptures; it is according to the revelation of God to the Prophet Joseph Smith;…” (Gospel Doctrine, page 437)

The Scriptures say,

And when they say to you, “Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter,” should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living? To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. (Isaiah 8:19-20)

So is communing with the dead an “important part of the gospel”? Is it a correct principle according to the Scriptures? You be the judge.

Last week I wrote about “Trevor,” a man who took issue with a comment I left at a news web site (see Searching for Salvation: The Bible or TV Guide? My comment set Ephesians 2:8-10 (”For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves…”) against a Book of Mormon passage, (2 Nephi 25:23: “…for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do”). Trevor accused me of deliberately distorting what Mormons believe.

I can only guess at what Mormon beliefs Trevor thought I was distorting, because he gave no particulars. So let’s assume for the sake of argument that he thought I distorted the meaning of the Book of Mormon passage.

My proposition was this: In the Bible God offers sinful people eternal life as a free gift through Jesus Christ; the Book of Mormon promises salvation only after all we can do. There is no dispute regarding the wording of the respective passages; one does say we are saved by grace through faith, the other that we are saved by grace after all we can do. The question, then, would be in the interpretation. Therefore, take a look at what some LDS authorities and authors have said about the 2 Nephi passage and the LDS doctrine of salvation:

“What is meant by ‘after all we can do’? ‘After all we can do’ includes extending our best effort. ‘After all we can do’ includes living His commandments. ‘After all we can do’ includes loving our fellowmen and praying for those who regard us as their adversary. ‘After all we can do’ means clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, visiting the sick and giving ’succor [to] those who stand in need of [our] succor’ (Mosiah 4:15)—remembering that what we do unto one of the least of God’s children, we do unto Him. (See Matt. 25:34-40; D&C 42:38.) ‘After all we can do’ means leading chaste, clean, pure lives, being scrupulously honest in all our dealings and treating others the way we would want to be treated. (”After All We Can Do,” Christmas Devotional, Salt Lake City, Utah, Dec. 9, 1982; quoted in Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson.)” (”Savior accomplished atoning sacrifice through His grace,” LDS Church News, 02/03/96, page 14.)“President Harold B. Lee treated the topic of working out one’s salvation in one of his books, Stand Ye in Holy Places: ‘We hear much from some persons of limited understanding about the possibility of one’s being saved by grace alone. But it requires the explanation of another prophet to understand the true doctrine of grace as he explained in these meaningful words: “For,” said this prophet, “we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.” (2 Ne. 25:23.) Truly we are redeemed by the atoning blood of the Savior of the world, but only after each has done all he can to work out his own salvation.’”(”Work out salvation with fear and trembling,” LDS Church News, 09/14/91, page 14.)

“As is the case with all gospel principles, the doctrine of individual accountability grows out of the atoning sacrifice of Christ. Teaching these principles, Nephi testified that we are saved by grace, but only “after all we can do.” (2 Nephi 25:23.) It is by the grace of Christ that we have granted to us the materials of life with which we can build, but God does not do the building for us. The responsibility of building with those materials is ours. The plan of salvation is in a large measure a do-it-yourself project” (Joseph Fielding McConkie, Seeking the Spirit, page 99.)

“In the plan of salvation God does for human beings only what they cannot do for themselves. Man must do all he can for himself. The doctrine is that we are saved by grace, ‘after all we can do’ (2 Ne. 25:23)” (Robert J. Matthews, A Bible! A Bible!, page 186.)

“To explain how much confidence we should have in God, were I using a term to suit myself, I should say implicit confidence. I have faith in my God, and that faith corresponds with the works I produce. I have no confidence in faith without works. My faith is, when we have done all we can, then the Lord is under obligation, and will not disappoint the faithful; he will perform the rest” (President Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young, page 155.)

It’s clear from these teachings that the LDS doctrine on salvation is that it is given through grace only after all we can do—which is how I presented it in the Willamette Week comment. It’s pretty hard to see how that could be compatible with Ephesians 2:4-9:

“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

Since I did not “deliberately distort” this point of “what Mormons believe,” perhaps Trevor was referring to the comment that Arthur Kane “decided to jettison the Bible in favor of the Book of Mormon.” I’ll blog about that later this week.

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I have previously blogged about the LDS doctrinal claim which states Jesus makes up the difference between our innate or self-achieved righteousness and the righteousness God requires. To read about this take a look at Insurmountable Debt.

I was reading Matthew 18, the parable of the unforgiving servant. I was really struck by this:

“Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.” (Matthew 18:22-27)

I don’t know why I’ve never thought about it before, but today I recognized what Jesus was saying.

A talent was equal to about 20 years’ wages for a laborer. The servant in the parable owed a sum equal to 200,000 years’ worth of labor. Let’s put that into 2006 dollars. If a years’ salary was $30,000, the servant owed his master $6 billion!

Jesus’ point in using such a huge sum in the parable was to show us how utterly impossible it is for us to pay our enormous sin debt. Though the servant implored his master to be patient until the servant could pay up, the master knew better. Where would a servant ever get that kind of money? The master had pity on the servant and graciously cancelled his debt.

This all got me to thinking about Mormonism and the way Latter-day Saints understand their sin and God’s grace. I can’t count the times I’ve read and been told by Mormons, “We don’t believe in salvation by works alone. We believe that good works are necessary, but not enough. We do all we can, but still fall short. That’s when God’s grace kicks in. Jesus makes up the difference.”

LDS Apostle Dallin Oaks said it this way: “When we have done all that we are able, we can rely on God’s promised mercy…He is our Savior, and when we have done all that we can, He will make up the difference…” (October 1993 General Conference, quoted in Church News, 1 April 2000, page 14)

A friend of mine uses a boat analogy when talking with Mormons about salvation. An individual’s good works are the planks of wood that make up the hull of the boat (salvation). Latter-day Saints believe the grace of God given through Christ is the pitch that fills in the cracks between the planks, making the boat safe and seaworthy. But there’s a problem here.

Take a look at how God describes natural man in Romans 1:

“They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.” (Romans 1:29-31)

You see, the sin debt for each of us is enormous! Six-billion dollars. Two-hundred-thousand years’ worth of labor.

Some might say, “Well, we have eternity to work it off. We can do it if we just have enough time.” Sorry, folks. The master in Jesus’ parable is already entitled to all the labor his servant can provide. The debt owed is above and beyond normal labor. It is impossible to pay.

And what makes us think that anything we do would be pleasing and acceptable to God anyway? Look again at the qualities He finds in us! How can our sin-tainted good works be used to build a sound boat? In my friend’s analogy the truth is that the planks of the boat are all rotten. There’s nothing there firm enough to be patched by God’s grace. Instead of floating on the water this boat sinks like a stone—and takes anyone relying on it to the bottom of the sea.

No, there’s nothing we can contribute to the building of our boat. Like the servant in Jesus’ parable, our only hope is grace and mercy. God must provide both the planks and the pitch. And He does. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!