The True Vine Discipleship Program

Discipleship II Week 5

 

  A Christian response to Mormonism

 

As a Disciple of Christ you will encounter many different beliefs. Some  that believe theirs is the correct way and the only way and some that believe all roads lead to heaven. The question is: How are we as followers of Jesus Christ to respond to these other beliefs? We must first look at this from the veiwpoint of how Jesus would respond to them? How would Jesus speak of them or to them? In the Bible we learn of many times in Jesus' ministry that he had to contend for the faith and rebuke and correct. In the book of Jude verse 3 we read it is our duty to contend for the faith. "that ye should earnestly contend for our faith." In the daily Christian walk from time to time we will confront those of other beliefs such as Mormons. The question in which we must answer is : How shall we respond to them? Join me as we read the following passages with the emphasis of training and equipping the Christian believer to respond to the Mormon faith.

 

The first area of error that we will confront is the belief that there is more than one God and that the Trinity does not exist. Joseph Smith the founder of Mormonism believed and taught of the plurality of God. This is what he said:

 

"Mormonism is a polytheistic religion. Joseph Smith declared, "I will preach on the plurality of Gods. I have always declared God to be a distinct personage, Jesus Christ a separate and distinct personage from God the Father, and the Holy Ghost was a distinct personage and a Spirit: and these three constitute three distinct personages and three Gods"

 

Of course this is incorrect:

 

Read Isaiah 43:10,11, 44:6-8, 45:5,6,18,22, 46:9, 48:12, 1John 5:7 What questions do you have after reading these?

 

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Answer the following questions:

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How many Gods exists in heaven?

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Is there any other God besides the God that saves?

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How many persons make up the only one God?

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Who are the three persons of God?

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Next we must address the false teaching that Man is God. Here is what Joseph Smith says:

 

        GOD THE FATHER: Joseph Smith explained, "I am going to tell you how God came to be God. We have imagined and supposed that God was God from all eternity. I will refute that idea, and take away the veil, so that you may see. He was once a man like us; yea, that God himself, the father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ Himself did"

 

Joseph Smith says: How God came to be God as though He was not God at one place in history! Joseph Smith attempts to say that God was a man like us and dwelt like we do as a man on earth, but this is not true. In the book of Jofn it tells us "God is spirit, and those that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." John 4:24 The error in this belief that God was once a man attempts to lead people to belive that we too can be a God just like God was once man. God has always been spirit and never went from being a man into becoming God.

 

Read John 4:20-24 What questions do you have after reading this?

 

Answer the following questions:

 

How should we worship God?

 

Is it important to know what we worship?

 

Read 1Corinthians 6:14-20 What questions do you have after reading this?

 

Answer the following questions:

 

When you are together with Christ are you one?

 

Will you then be spirit as He is?

 

Why does your body and spirit belong to God?

 

Next we must address the false teaching that there are more than one savior. Here is what Brigham Young says:

 

GOD THE SON: Brigham Young stated, "The birth of the Saviours was a natural as are the births of our children; it was the result of natural action. He partook of flesh and blood, was begotten of his Father, as we were of our father" (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 8, p. 115). Mormon Apostle McConkie explained, "And Christ was born into the world as a literal Son this Holy Being; he was born in the same personal, real, and literal sense that any mortal son is born to a mortal father. He was begotten, conceived and born in the normal and natural course of events

 

With this the Mormon Brigham young denies the immaculant concepcion and claims that Jesus was born just like any other man and therefore is and was only a mortal. This is not true and it denies the deity of God. From the beginning of time even unto this day man has had a difficult time understanding the things of the spirit so they have repeated ly tried to state only what seems to be right to them and to lead others to believe it. 1Corinthians 2:14 states "the natural man cannot understand the things of the spirit of God."

 

Read Mathew 1:18-25 What questions do you have after reading this?

 

Answer the following questions:

 

How did Mary become pregnant?

 

While Joseph and Mary were engaged to be married did Joseph have sexual intercourse with Mary?

 

What did the Angel of the Lord say unto Joseph in a dream?

 

Read Genesis 1:26-28 What questions do you have after reading this?

 

Answer the following questions:

 

Who does the phrase"let us" in verse 26 include?

 

In whose image are we created?

 

For what purpose did God create us?

 

Next we must address the false teaching that Man is God. Here is what Joseph Smith stated:

 

 

GOD THE HOLY GHOST/HOLY SPIRIT: In Mormonism a distinction is drawn between the Holy Ghost and the Holy Spirit. As LDS Apostle Marion G. Romney stated, "The Holy Ghost is a person, a spirit, the third member of the Godhead" (Ensign May 1977, 43-44). The sixth LDS prophet, Joseph F. Smith explains that the Holy Spirit is not a person but rather an impersonal force. "You may call it the Spirit of God, you may call it the influence of God's intelligence, you may call it the substance of his power; no matter what it is called, it is the spirit of intelligence that permeates the universe"

 

 Joseph Smith beleived that our human intellegence is the Holy Spirit. This is not true.

 

Read 1Corinthians 2:6-16 What questions do you have after reading this?

 

Answer the following questions:

 

Is the wisdom of God a mystery?

 

How is the wisdom of God revealed to man?

 

Does any man know the things of God without the spirit of God?

 

What is the difference between man's wisdom and the Holy Ghost's wisdom?

 

The natural man cannot receive what?

 

So if a person is trying to convince others that Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and God the Father are not one what is their purpose? To lead others from the truth and thereby seal up the Kingdom of God. John chapter 3 states a specific requirement for entering the Kingdom of God, here is how it reads: "Verily, verily I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God. Verily, verily I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. To be born of water is to let His word wash your mind and heart and to be born of spirit is to ask God to come into your heart and live and to allow Him to live through you. This is "Born Again". Joseph Smith did not understand this because he believe only that Jesus was a mortal man and that the Holy Spirit was mortal man's intelligence and also that God was once a man like we are. This is the type of thinking that seems right to some men but leadeth to destruction! These teachers are thieves!

 

Read John 10:1-10 What questions do you have after reading this?

 

Answer the following questions:

 

What way does the scripture say that we must enter the Kingdom?

 

Who is the door?

 

Who is a thief and a robber?

 

What is the purpose of the thief and those who teach that you can get to heaven some other way?

 

 

 

 

 

 Thank you for participating in week 5 "A Christian response to Mormonism." If you have a response or any questions please contact us using the form below.

  

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Week Six: A Christian response to the Jehovah Witness

 

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