INTRODUCTION

The aim of LDS missionaries is not to take the gospel of salvation to lost souls. Nor is it even their intention to share Mormon beliefs with them. On the contrary, they are instructed by their leadership to avoid discussing their exclusive doctrines. Their excuse for this, is that folk must only be given the milk of the gospel until they are ready for the meat. So prospective members are deliberately kept in the dark concerning their major teachings, particularly those on deity.

The sole purpose of Mormon missionaries is to persuade those whom they visit to be baptised into membership of the LDS church. Only after they have officially joined the church, are their exclusive beliefs revealed to them, in a carefully worked out and graduated manner.

In the real world we call this deception.

Why should the "true church" need to use deception as a standard practice in their evangelism?



THE "TRUE CHURCH" HAS GOD'S AUTHORITY?

The LDS's official teaching manual for 2010, Gospel Principles, claims in chapter 13 that "Our Heavenly Father shares his priesthood power with worthy male members of the [LDS] Church." But the God of the Bible is not a priest. He is Almighty God. A priest is an intermediary between God (who is holy), and fallen mankind (who are sinful). Under the Old Covenant the priests offered sacrifices to God on behalf of those who had sinned. And part of their duties was to intercede for them in prayer, because priests represented the people to God. On the other hand, the prophet, who was God's mouthpiece, represented God to the people. The LDS church reveals a great deal of confusion over the roles God assigned to these two groups.

Mormon teaching is that the Christian church went into total apostasy after the death of the apostles. They maintain that God had then removed his authority for the gospel from the earth. In these latter days He appointed Joseph Smith as His prophet and gave him the task of "restoring" the true gospel. He also gave the LDS church the authority to act in his name, through their priesthood. So in their eyes they are the only true, legitimate church. Consequently they insist that salvation is available only through their organization. (For a refutation of these claims see the articles The LDS Authority Teaching Has No Basis ; The LDS Priesthood is Unbiblical and The Apostasy is a Mormon Fallacy .)

There is no salvation outside The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (LDS Apostle Bruce McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, page 670).

There is no salvation without accepting Joseph Smith as a prophet of God. (Joseph Fielding Smith, 10th President and Prophet of the LDS church, Doctrines of Salvation, Volume 1, page 188.)

Besides claiming that salvation is only through their church, the LDS also teaches that forgiveness of our personal sins has to be earned through obedience to their laws and ordinances (c/f 3rd Article of Faith). What has happened here, is that the LDS has redefined the terms of salvation. And in so doing they have given their church and their prophet and founder, Joseph Smith, the preeminence; at the same time diminishing what Christ achieved in His atonement on the cross. (See The LDS Version of the Atonement is not Biblical .) The fact that they do everything "in the name of Jesus Christ," doesn't justify their actions in exalting Joseph Smith and the LDS at Christ's expense.



WHAT IS "THE CHURCH?"

The LDS has a wrong concept of what "the church of Jesus Christ" actually is. Never, ever, did Christ, His Apostles or any member of the primitive church, teach that salvation had to be through a church organization. (See the article What is Biblical Salvation? .)

In the New Testament, the term "the church" refers to the regenerated followers of Christ, not to a religious organization. The church is also described as "the body of Christ," and "the bride of Christ." And the one and only one way to become a member is through spiritual regeneration.

For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:12-13, KJV)

The word "baptized" was used in biblical times to denote immersion in a traumatic or a transforming experience. For instance, in referring to His forthcoming crucifixion, Christ said in Luke 12:50, "But I have a baptism to be baptised with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!" He was not referring here to water baptism, as He had been baptised in the Jordan River by John before He'd commenced His ministry — see Luke 3:21. He was referring to a baptism in suffering. Just so, our baptism into membership of the universal church of Jesus Christ, is through a transforming spiritual experience. (However, believers also undergo water baptism after they have trusted in Christ, in accordance with His instructions in Matthew 28:18-20.) For an easy to understand explanation of water baptism, see the article Baptism, Salvation and the Use of Biblical Symbolism .

The moment we trust in Christ for salvation, the Holy Spirit takes up residence in our beings. This introduces a new transforming spiritual dimension into our lives, known as the new birth. (See the article The New Birth, Biblical and Mormon Viewpoints .) And because His Spirit lives in us, we become the temple of God:

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16, KJV)

The church came into being at Pentecost, after Christ had been resurrected from the dead and had ascended to heaven (see Acts chapter 2, when they were filled/baptized with the Holy Spirit).

Matthew 3:11
I [John the Baptist] indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire. (KJV)

John 7:37-39
37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) (KJV) (Editor: Note that the terms Spirit and Holy Ghost are used interchangeably.)

At that early stage all the Christians were Jewish. And it was the custom for Jews to address one another concerning the scriptures in the courtyard of the temple at Jerusalem, as well as in their synagogues. So members of the church took the opportunity to do this on the Jewish sabbath, in order to spread the gospel of Christ. (It was their task to take the gospel to the Jews first, and then to the Gentiles.) But they also met in one another's homes on Sundays, which had become the Christian sabbath, as that was the day that Christ had risen from the dead. And it was there that they broke bread and drank the cup of wine, in remembrance of Him, and encouraged one another in Him. They had no temple, synagogues or chapels of their own.

Some Christians still continue the practice of meeting in one another's homes. They call their meeting places "house churches." But no matter where individual members of His church meet, they all have one thing in common. And that is a deep, abiding love for, and commitment to their Head, the Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. He alone is their reason for gathering together as a body, and they unashamedly worship Him. This is how it has always been, ever since He rose from the dead:

And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him. (Matthew 28:9, KJV)

And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. (John 20:28-29, KJV)

And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. (Acts 7:59 KJV)

'They were in the habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before it was light, when they sang in alternate verses a hymn to Christ, as to a god and bound themselves by a solemn oath, not to any wicked deeds .....' (Extract of Letter 10:96 from Pliny the Younger, written in 112AD to Emperor Trajan, concerning the Christians.) (Editor's emphasis.)

The universal Church of of today still follows the teachings of the primitive church, that are recorded for us in the pages of the New Testament. And although individual members attend Sunday services at various venues, they are still one, in the body of Christ. They all use only the Bible as the basis for their doctrines. And so a Christian feels at ease when worshipping at any of the church denominations.

On the other hand, the mark of a cult is that they follow the exclusive beliefs and teachings of their own leader or prophet. Their doctrines come from his teachings, scriptures or books that he has written, revelations emanating from himself, and so on. And they interpret the Bible to fit in with his teachings. So the beliefs of each cult differs from those of others, and also from those of the Christian church.

Because LDS doctrines, teachings and practices all stem from their prophet and founder, Joseph Smith, and are exclusive to themselves alone, Mormonism falls into the category of a cult. To this day, the LDS instructs their membership to use their own scriptures and revelations as the standard of truth against which to compare the Bible:

"The most reliable way to measure the accuracy of any biblical passage is not by comparing different texts, but by comparison with the Book of Mormon and modern-day revelations." (Church News, June 20, 1992, page 3, quoting a letter from the First Presidency [Presidents Benson, Hinckley and Monson] dated May 22, 1992, to all of the Church)

THE CHURCH FALLS UNDER THE NEW COVENANT, NOT THE OLD

The New Covenant for forgiveness of sins was ratified by Christ's shed blood on the cross at Calvary:

For this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. (Matthew 26:28, NASB)

The fact that the ratification of the New Covenant was confirmed by the supernatural renting of the veil in the Old Covenant temple, tells us that this veil had symbolised a barrier between the presence of a holy God and fallen, sinful man.

Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom (Matthew 27:50-51, KJV)

Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh (Hebrews 10:19-20, KJV)

Under the Old Covenant, the worshippers would go to the temple because that was where the presence of God dwelt. The Priest would act as an intermediary between fallen men and God, and offer sacrifices on their behalf. But under the New Covenant, the one who has trusted in Christ for salvation has his sins forgiven, the barrier (veil) has been removed, and God indwells him through His Spirit. (See the article What is Biblical Salvation? .) The church falls under the New Covenant, not the Old. The Old Covenant was between God and the nation of Israel. The church and Israel are two different groups, under two different covenants.

When I (a Christian, under the New Covenant) go to a worship service, I don't go there to meet with God. I take God with me, because His presence dwells within me. He's with me all the time, and has promised that He will never leave me (Hebrews 13:5-6, Matthew 28:20).

When Christ's shed blood ratified the New Covenant, the Old Covenant with its temple, priesthood and sacrificial system, was rendered obsolete.

In that He saith, A new covenant, He hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away. (Hebrews 8:13, KJV)

No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse. Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved. (Matthew 9:16-17, KJV)

The temple, the sacrificial system and the priesthood all belonged to the Old Covenant. The purpose of the priest was to serve at the temple where God's presence was, and act as an intermediary between God and man. So under the New Covenant there was no need for the priesthood and it fell away, other than for our great High Priest, Jesus, who alone represents us before the throne of God. The prophet spoke in God's name and was His representative on earth, not the priest, as the LDS wrongly teaches. The priest represented the people to God, not the other way around. Nor was there a need for a temple. We (the members of the church of Christ) are the temple of God:

In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:22. KJV).

There is no record of the New Covenant church ever building a temple. Other than the Jewish temple in Jerusalem, the only other temples that were mentioned in the New Testament, belonged to idolaters. And nobody in the primitive church of Jesus Christ, including the Apostles, ever held the priesthood. Christ alone is our intermediary (1 Timothy 2:5-6).

Yet, the LDS, who claims that they are the only true church, have built themselves temples all over the world, have reintroduced the priesthood, and claim that salvation is through obedience to their laws and ordinances. The problem here is that they have one foot in the Old Covenant, and the other in the New. But how then can they be the "true" church? The church of Jesus Christ falls under the New Covenant, not the Old.



THE "TRUE CHURCH" AND ETERNAL PROGRESSION

The LDS has always referred to themselves as "the only true church." Yet ever since their inception, their doctrines have changed (sometimes radically) on a regular basis. This means either that their belief system was wrong at the time the church began, or else their present beliefs are wrong. But how can the "true" church teach wrong doctrine? Mormonism of today bears little resemblance to what it did at the start. This fact can be verified by examining their early teachings, that have been preserved in their archives. Also, the Book of Mormon, that was written by Joseph Smith shortly before the LDS church came into existence, contradicts his other, later scriptures, that were written after he had changed his theology. (See the article Contradictions in Mormon Scriptures .)

At the start, LDS teachings on deity were similar to those of Protestants. (See the article The Mormon Gods, Past and Present .) But then, some years down the line, Joseph Smith changed his ideas on theology. At that stage he introduced eternal progression, which has now become the foundational doctrine in Mormonism, on which all their other teachings rest. This involved changing their entire belief system.

Eternal progression is absolutely unbiblical. And it determines the God they worship, the Saviour in whom they trust, the type of salvation they believe in, and so on. It has affected every single one of their major doctrines, as well as the gospel they preach. Consequently, none of the major LDS doctrines are biblical. And although they call their gospel, "the gospel of Jesus Christ," it is in fact Joseph Smith's gospel, a gospel of eternal progression, where instead of an eternal God creating man, man existed first and then he evolved into a God. (See the article LDS Pre-existence is Disproved by the Bible .)



CONCLUSION

Truth is eternal. It never changes. It's main ingredient is its consistency. That's why we can always rely on it. Whilst all else around us may be subject to change and decay, truth will always stand firm. How then can a church whose teachings have changed consistently over the years, claim to be "the only true church?"

The reader will be able to access a comprehensive index of articles comparing various aspects of Mormonism with what the Bible teaches, by clicking on the "home" button at the bottom of this page.

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