WHO IS THE MORMON GOD?

Berean Baptist on February 16, 2020

This week I continue to be impressed with the salutation of Christ’s letter to the Laodicean church. I have discussed with you the likely issue of Laodicea’s faulty belief concerning the deity of Christ. The Colossian letter gave us a clue as Paul said the letter needed to be read at Laodicea. This may have been necessary because Laodicea experienced the same doctrinal problems as Colossae.

            I am prompted to think more on this issue and how the deity of Christ has been challenged throughout church history. In this article, I want to write a little about Mormonism and their teachings about God. Their official name is “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints” which suggests they are a branch of Christianity. Nothing could be further from the truth.

            The early controversies in church history about the nature of God scarcely encompassed the extreme heresies of Mormonism. Since I don’t have space to go in-depth concerning their many heretical beliefs, I need only mention one which is more than fair warning that Mormonism is pure paganism.

            The central question is this: Who is the God of Mormonism? As a Christian, you understand God is transcendent over His creation. God is of vastly contrasting character to humans. He is spirit and He is light. He is unapproachable light which speaks of the ineffability of His being. However, when you and I say God and when a Mormon says God, we are not in the same universe of meaning. Mormons believe God is as we are. They believe God is of the same species as us. He is a man that has reached a higher stage of development than we are. He is still a man but has attained a higher level.

            Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, said: “God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heaven…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…that 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…”

            This fantastical idea of God is only deeply worsened as Joseph Smith dilates. Mormons teach that the current iteration of God is one of a succession of other men who have attained the position. Further, it is possible that some Mormon today could likewise hold the position in the future and become for a time the most exalted man. If you ask a Mormon, “Who is the number one God?” he will not answer because he doesn’t know nor dares to ask.

            Without delving further into this deep darkness of deceit, is this not enough to demonstrate that Mormonism has nothing to do with Christianity? Be careful when you speak to a Mormon because they use the same language as you—grace, faith, sin, redemption—and God. The meaning of the terms is nothing like yours.

            First and foremost, remember when they say God, they are worlds apart from who we understand God to be. Salvation is impossible for them if they persist in their fantasy of unbelief. Are they good family people? Not really. They are horrible because they are taking their children to hell.

                                                                        Pastor V. Mark Smith

Passing from Death unto Life

Berean Baptist on May 28, 2018

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24)

The resurrection is an intriguing subject because it falls outside the realm of the physics of nature into the realm of the supernatural sphere of God. Science says that dead is dead. There is no scientist or any doctor who can revive a dead body and this is because humans do not have the power of life. But it is not so with God. God gave life, God can take away life, and God can restore life.

Jesus’ resurrection is proof positive that the dead can live, and they can do so in a body. Jesus’ bodily resurrection is the model for all resurrections both of believers and unbelievers. All dead bodies will arise, but when they arise and where they go when they arise is another matter.

John 5:24 is about a resurrection from death to life but it does not speak of the resurrection of the body. This is the resurrection of the spiritually dead. It matters right now, today, whether you have been called from spiritual death into spiritual life. Your status as a spiritually alive born-again believer in Christ or as a spiritually dead unbeliever determines where your body and soul will reside forever in eternity.

Those who hear the words of Christ and believe that God sent Him as a sacrifice for sins—those who desire to repent of their sins and trust Christ alone for salvation—are those who have passed from death unto life. These have been raised into spiritual life and in the resurrection their bodies will be called up to rejoin the soul and spirit in heaven.

If you have passed from death unto life, praise God! If not, trust Christ today. Repentance and faith in Him ensures that when your body dies, it will also be raised into a perfect, glorified body to live with Christ forever.

 

                                                                                                                Pastor V. Mark Smith