{"id":90769,"date":"2021-03-12T11:43:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-12T16:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/mormons\/"},"modified":"2023-10-07T22:21:53","modified_gmt":"2023-10-08T02:21:53","slug":"mormons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/mormons\/","title":{"rendered":"Mormons"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">&#8220;What is Mormonism? What do Mormons\nbelieve?&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Answer: The Mormon religion (Mormonism), whose\nfollowers are known as Mormons and Latter-day Saints (LDS), was founded less\nthan two hundred years ago by a man named Joseph Smith. He claimed to have\nreceived a personal visit from God the Father and Jesus Christ (Articles of\nFaith, p. 35) who told him that all churches and their creeds were an\nabomination (1 Nephi 13:28; Pearl of Great Price, Joseph Smith \u2013 History 1:18,\n19). Joseph Smith then set out to &#8220;restore true Christianity&#8221; and\nclaimed his church to be the \u201conly true church on earth\u201d (Mormon Doctrine, p.\n670; 1 Nephi 14:10). The problem with Mormonism is that\nit contradicts, modifies, and expands on the Bible. Christians have no\nreason to believe that the Bible is not true and adequate. To truly believe in\nand trust God means to believe in His Word, and all Scripture is inspired by\nGod, which means it comes from Him (2 Timothy 3:16).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Mormons believe that there are in fact four sources of\ndivinely inspired words, not just one: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"has-medium-font-size\">\n<li>The Bible \u201cas far\nas it is translated correctly\u201d (8th Article of Faith). Which verses are\nconsidered incorrectly translated is not always made clear;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Book of Mormon, which was \u201ctranslated\u201d by Smith and published in 1830. Smith claimed it is the \u201cmost correct book\u201d on earth and that a person can get closer to God by following its precepts \u201cthan by any other book\u201d (History of the Church 4:461);<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Doctrine and Covenants, containing a collection of modern revelations regarding the \u201cChurch of Jesus Christ as it has been restored;\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Pearl of Great Price, which is considered by Mormons to \u201cclarify\u201d doctrines and teachings that were lost from the Bible (Articles of Faith, p. 182\u2013185) and adds its own information about the earth\u2019s creation.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Mormons believe the following about God: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"has-medium-font-size\">\n<li>He has not always been the Supreme Being of the universe (Mormon Doctrine, p. 321) but attained      that status through righteous living and persistent effort (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 345);<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>They believe God the Father has a \u201cbody of flesh and bones as tangible as man\u2019s\u201d (Doctrine and      Covenants 130:22);<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Brigham Young taught that Adam actually was God and the father of Jesus Christ\u2014although this      teaching has been abandoned by modern Mormon leaders. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">In contrast, Christians know this about God: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"has-medium-font-size\">\n<li>There is only one\ntrue God (Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 43:10; 44:6\u20138); <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>He always has existed and always will exist (Deuteronomy 33:27; Psalm 90:2; 1 Timothy 1:17);<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>He was not created but is the Creator (Genesis 1; Psalm 24:1; Isaiah 37:16); <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>He is perfect, and no one else is equal to Him (Psalm 86:8; Isaiah 40:25);<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>God the Father is not a man, nor was He ever (Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel 15:29; Hosea 11:9); <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>He is Spirit (John 4:24), and Spirit is not made of flesh and bone (Luke 24:39).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Mormons believe that there are different levels or\nkingdoms in the afterlife: the celestial kingdom, the terrestrial kingdom, the\ntelestial kingdom, and outer darkness (Mormon Doctrine, p. 348). Where mankind\nwill end up depends on what they believe and do in this life (2 Nephi 25:23;\nArticles of Faith, p.79). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">In contrast, the Bible tells us that after death we go\nto heaven or hell based on whether or not we had faith in Jesus Christ as our\nLord and Savior. To be absent from our bodies means, as believers, we are with\nthe Lord (2 Corinthians 5:6\u20138). Unbelievers are sent to hell or the place of\nthe dead (Luke 16:22\u201323). When Jesus comes the second time, we will receive\nresurrected, glorified bodies (1 Corinthians 15:50\u201354). There will be a new\nheaven and new earth for believers (Revelation 21:1), and unbelievers will be\nthrown into an everlasting lake of fire (Revelation 20:11\u201315). There is no\nsecond chance for redemption after death (Hebrews 9:27).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Mormon leaders have taught that Jesus\u2019 incarnation was\nthe result of a physical relationship between God the Father and Mary (Journal\nof Discourses, vol. 8, p. 115; Mormon Doctrine, p. 547). Mormons believe Jesus\nis a god, but that any human can also become a god (Doctrine and Covenants\n132:20; Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 345\u2013354). Mormonism teaches\nthat salvation can be earned by a combination of faith and good works (LDS\nBible Dictionary, p. 697). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Contrary to this, Christians historically have taught\nthat no one can achieve the status of God\u2014only He is holy (1 Samuel 2:2). We\ncan only be made holy in God&#8217;s sight through faith in Him (1 Corinthians 1:2).\nJesus is the only begotten Son of God (John 3:16), is the only one ever to have\nlived a sinless life, and now has the highest place of honor in heaven (Hebrews\n7:26). Jesus and God are one in essence, Jesus being the only man who existed\nbefore physical birth (John 1:1\u20138; 8:56). Jesus gave Himself to us as a\nsacrifice, God raised Him from the dead, and one day everyone will confess that\nJesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:6\u201311). Jesus tells us it is impossible to\nget to heaven by our own works and that only by faith in Him is it possible\n(Matthew 19:26). We all deserve eternal punishment for our sins, but God&#8217;s\ninfinite love and grace have allowed us a way out. \u201cFor the wages of sin is\ndeath, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord\u201d (Romans\n6:23).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Clearly, there is only one way to receive salvation\nand that is to know God and His Son, Jesus (John 17:3). Receiving salvation is\nnot done by works but by faith (Romans 1:17; 3:28). We can receive this gift no\nmatter who we are or what we have done (Romans 3:22). \u201cSalvation is found in no\none else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must\nbe saved\u201d (Acts 4:12).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Although Mormons are usually friendly, loving, and\nkind people, they are deceived by a false religion that distorts the nature of\nGod, the Person of Jesus Christ, and the means of salvation \u2013 Satan\u2019s very\nrecipe for damnation.&nbsp; Scripture is very\nspecific:&nbsp; \u201cHave nothing to do with\nirreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness\u201d (1 Timothy 4:7).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;What is Mormonism? What do Mormons believe?&#8221; Answer: The Mormon religion (Mormonism), whose followers are known as Mormons and Latter-day Saints (LDS), was founded less than two hundred years ago by a man named Joseph Smith. He claimed to have received a personal visit from God the Father and Jesus Christ (Articles of Faith, p. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[524],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Mormons - Grace Evangelical Free Church<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mormons - Grace Evangelical Free Church\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&#8220;What is Mormonism? What do Mormons believe?&#8221; Answer: The Mormon religion (Mormonism), whose followers are known as Mormons and Latter-day Saints (LDS), was founded less than two hundred years ago by a man named Joseph Smith. He claimed to have received a personal visit from God the Father and Jesus Christ (Articles of Faith, p. [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/mormons\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Grace Evangelical Free Church\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-03-12T16:43:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-10-08T02:21:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tony Raker\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tony Raker\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/mormons\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/mormons\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Tony Raker\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#\/schema\/person\/6785bcea471ae92fb3660d811c5c74ef\"},\"headline\":\"Mormons\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-12T16:43:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-08T02:21:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/mormons\/\"},\"wordCount\":986,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Opinions\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/mormons\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/mormons\/\",\"name\":\"Mormons - Grace Evangelical Free Church\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-12T16:43:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-08T02:21:53+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/mormons\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/\",\"name\":\"Grace Evangelical Free Church\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Grace Evangelical Free Church\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/gefc-logo-full-color-rgb.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/gefc-logo-full-color-rgb.svg\",\"width\":514,\"height\":259,\"caption\":\"Grace Evangelical Free Church\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#\/schema\/person\/6785bcea471ae92fb3660d811c5c74ef\",\"name\":\"Tony Raker\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/author\/pastor_admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mormons - Grace Evangelical Free Church","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Mormons - Grace Evangelical Free Church","og_description":"&#8220;What is Mormonism? What do Mormons believe?&#8221; Answer: The Mormon religion (Mormonism), whose followers are known as Mormons and Latter-day Saints (LDS), was founded less than two hundred years ago by a man named Joseph Smith. He claimed to have received a personal visit from God the Father and Jesus Christ (Articles of Faith, p. [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/mormons\/","og_site_name":"Grace Evangelical Free Church","article_published_time":"2021-03-12T16:43:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-10-08T02:21:53+00:00","author":"Tony Raker","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Tony Raker","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/mormons\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/mormons\/"},"author":{"name":"Tony Raker","@id":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#\/schema\/person\/6785bcea471ae92fb3660d811c5c74ef"},"headline":"Mormons","datePublished":"2021-03-12T16:43:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-10-08T02:21:53+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/mormons\/"},"wordCount":986,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Opinions"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/mormons\/","url":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/mormons\/","name":"Mormons - Grace Evangelical Free Church","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-03-12T16:43:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-10-08T02:21:53+00:00","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/mormons\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#website","url":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/","name":"Grace Evangelical Free Church","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#organization","name":"Grace Evangelical Free Church","url":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/gefc-logo-full-color-rgb.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/gefc-logo-full-color-rgb.svg","width":514,"height":259,"caption":"Grace Evangelical Free Church"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#\/schema\/person\/6785bcea471ae92fb3660d811c5c74ef","name":"Tony Raker","url":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/author\/pastor_admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90769"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90769"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90769\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":91307,"href":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90769\/revisions\/91307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}