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

Goofy gods

Berean Baptist on April 3, 2017

Psalm 82

A few weeks ago I was sitting in my home office working on my Sunday sermon when I heard the doorbell ring. One of the reasons I work mostly from home is the lack of interruptions which greatly facilitates my productivity. I was not really pleased to go to the door especially when I could see through the sidelight of the doorframe there were two Mormons that were anxious to grab my attention. I related a little of this story before in some of my messages, but I was reminded again of my conversation with these two when I prepared Psalm 82 for our congregational reading.

I have always felt the best way to deal with Mormons is not to give them much chance to talk. Instead, I ask a lot of questions and as soon as I hear something a little odd I let them know they are way off track. When you keep hammering them, they begin to squirm. Many times one of them is in training and he’s the one I want to pick on. One of the questions I asked was, “Do you believe that you will become a god?”

Most Mormons do not like to have their doctrine exposed until they have had a chance to dupe their hearers into thinking they are orthodox Christians. Joseph Smith (no relation!), the founder of the Mormon cult, said that God was once a man just like us. His basic teaching was that people were pre-existent spirits that were sent to earth to learn and be enlightened and enlarged until they come to the place they can be gods.

I asked these two Mormon fellows if they believed that hellish doctrine to which they replied they did. The more inexperienced of the two went for his King James Bible to find his support verse but before he could find it, I quoted it for him. I knew where he was going because Mormons use Psalm 82:6 as a proof-text for their heretical teaching. The scripture says: “I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.” Last week I wrote of the danger of pulling scripture out of context, which is a common tactic of cults and others that have little to no support for their doctrines. Most people would look at this verse without knowledge of scripture and would think the Mormons are on to something.

What did God mean when He referred to His listeners as gods? This is actually a reference to the rulers of the people who stand in the place of God to mete out justice. This is explained in Exodus 21:6 where the Hebrew word for judges is the same as the word gods in Psalms 82:6: “Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever” (Exodus 21:6). Romans 13 also teaches that rulers are ordained by God. The point in Psalm 82 is that all rulers will give an account to God for their stewardship. If they have dealt unjustly (82:1-2), God will strike them down. In the 7th verse, God says they will all die like ordinary men.

I never got far enough with these Mormons to have them answer to the Hebrew text. By this time they were too flustered with forty other questions I asked. Mormon doctrine is easily exposed when you compare scripture with scripture. The unorthodox heretical teachings of the Mormons is blasphemy. If someone tells you it is possible to be God and God was a mortal like you, be ready to slam the door. Second John tells you how to deal with them: “If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.”

Most of us like to be nice to people. I prefer to make these charlatans as uncomfortable as I can. Do everything possible to discourage them.  Who knows—the next person may be caught in their trap. False prophets are not nice people. A clean-cut young man with a Bible under his arm may be a demon in disguise. Don’t fool yourself into thinking otherwise.

Pastor V. Mark Smith