The roots Mormonism shares with Rome (part 2)

While I and my brothers over at DefCon stand in opposition to what the Romish church teaches, I find it rather ironic that the early leaders in the LDS church were even more venomous in their attacks on the Vatican than Rome could ever accuse Luther or Spurgeon of being. That said, Salt Lake City shares more with Rome than Brigham or Joey Junior would ever want to admit. Here is part 2 in the series laying Mormonism alongside Romanism and comparing the two.

Besides what they have written in their official declarations, Mormonism and Papism share one other thing in common--they both know how to play the "It's not official doctrine" card. What I mean is this: whether it's the Catholic Pope or the Mormon Prophet/President, the authoritative voice of the respective religion (and the teaching arm thereof) will teach something over and over and over and over again, year after year after year, decade after decade after decade, century after century--but they will never publish it in any of their "Scriptures" (the Romish Catechism; the Mormon BOM/PGP/D&C). Therefore, since it is not "officially canonized", whenever we bring this teaching to the attention of a Catholic/Mormon, they can reach into their wallet and pull out their trusty "They may have said that, but it was never an official teaching of the church" card, stick out their tongue, and say--



So, let's look at some more of the parallels between Mormonism and Catholicism.

They both teach that salvation is a result of the combined effort of God's grace and our own vile, human works.

--The Roman Catholic Church teaches "grace plus works/merit":

Council of Trent, Sixth Session, Canons Concerning Justification, Canons 11-12--"If anyone says that men are justified either by the sole imputation of the justice of Christ or by the sole remission of sins, excluding grace and charity which is poured into their hearts by the Holy Spirit and inheres in them, or also that the grace which justifies us is only the favour of God, LET HIM BE ANATHEMA. If anyone says that justifying faith is nothing else than confidence in divine mercy, which remits sins for Christ's sake, or that it is this confidence alone that justifies us, LET HIM BE ANATHEMA."

Council of Trent, Sixth Session, Canons Concerning Justification, Canon 24--"If anyone says that the justice received is not preserved and also not increased before God through good works, but that those works are merely the fruits and signs of justification obtained, but not the cause of its increase, LET HIM BE ANATHEMA."

Council of Trent, Sixth Session, Canons Concerning Justification, Canon 32--"If anyone says that the good works of the one justified are in such manner the gifts of God that they are not also the good merits of him justified; or that the one justified by the good works that he performs by the grace of God and the merit of Jesus Christ...does not truly merit an increase of grace, and eternal life, provided that one dies in the state of grace, the attainment of this eternal life, as well as an increase in glory, LET HIM BE ANATHEMA."

Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), paragraph 2027--"No one can merit the initial grace which is at the origin of conversion. Moved by the Holy Spirit, we can merit for ourselves and for others all the graces needed to attain eternal life, as well as necessary temporal goods."

--Mormonism teaches the we are saved by grace "after all the we can do":

Book of Mormon, 2nd Nephi 25:23-24--"For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do. And, notwithstanding we believe in Christ, we keep the law of Moses, and look forward with steadfastness unto Christ, until the law shall be fulfilled."

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They teach that they are either the continuation (Roman Catholicism) or the restoration (Mormonism) of what the apostles taught.

--Catholicism teaches they alone possess the "Apostolic Succession"

CCC paragraph 817--"The sole Church of Christ [is that] which our Savior, after his Resurrection, entrusted to Peter's pastoral care, commissioning him and the other apostles to extend and rule it...This Church, constituted and organized as a society in the present world, subsists in the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the bishops in communion with him."

The Second Vatican Council's Decree on Ecumenism--"For it is through Christ's Catholic Church alone, which is the universal help toward salvation, that the fullness of the means of salvation can be obtained. It was to the apostolic college alone, of which Peter is the head, that we believe that our Lord entrusted all the blessings of the New Covenant, in order to establish on earth the one Body of Christ into which all those should be fully incorporated who belong in any way to the People of God."

----Mormonism teaches that they possess the "restored" gospel that was lost after the age of the apostles.

From the Mormon pamphlet entitled "The Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ," p. 8 (I received a copy of this pamphlet from a couple of young Mormon ladies who knocked on my door)--"Following the death of Jesus Christ, wicked people persecuted and killed many Church members, and other Church members drifted from the principles taught by Jesus Christ and His Apostles. The Apostles were killed and the priesthood authority—including the keys to direct and receive revelation for the Church—was taken from the earth. Because the Church was no longer led by priesthood authority and revelation, error crept into Church teachings. Good people and much truth remained, but the gospel as established by Jesus Christ was lost, resulting in a period called the Great Apostasy.

This apostasy led to the formation of many churches with conflicting teachings. Without the full gospel or the priesthood authority, people relied on human wisdom to interpret the scriptures and the principles and ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ. False ideas were taught as truth, and much of the knowledge of the true character and nature of God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost was lost. The doctrines of faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost became distorted or forgotten. Each generation inherited a state of apostasy, as people were influenced by what previous generations passed on, including changes to Christ’s gospel. Some inspired people, such as Martin Luther and John Calvin, recognized that practices and doctrines had been changed or lost and tried to reform the churches to which they belonged. Without the priesthood authority, however, Christ’s gospel could not be returned to its original form.

After centuries of spiritual darkness, a restoration of truth was needed. Under the direction of our Heavenly Father, the gospel of Jesus Christ was restored on the earth through the Prophet Joseph Smith. God has promised it will never be taken from His children again."

“The Message of the Restoration,” Ensign, November 2003, p. 73--"But again persecution, denial of divine identity, and rejection of Christ’s gospel and His authorized priesthood servants characterized the post-Resurrection era. And religious history shows us evidence of how rapidly the priesthood authority was superseded by the secular authority; how the divine doctrine was traded for shifting, distorted human philosophies; how the ordinances of salvation were altered or purchased for money; how revelation was replaced by a veil of obscurity leading into the ages of spiritual darkness.

However, there came a time during this great Apostasy, which had been prophesied before, when the religious quest surfaced again—the “Why is it so?” Men of great faith emerged to try to reform false doctrines and false spiritual authority. Their honest and sincere efforts only resulted in the creation of more churches carrying their names and their protest and adding more confusion and more divisions. In reality, two major elements were missing in the reform: revelation and authority, the Lord’s only way to communicate divine truth to mankind.

As we continue to move rapidly along this time line of religious history, we find a date and a name. The date is 1820; the name is Joseph Smith. Pondering about the total religious confusion and church division of his time, this young man asked himself, “If any one of [these churches] be right, which is it, and how shall I know it?” (Joseph Smith--History 1:10). Why such confusion? The prophetic model was to ask of God. Religious history suddenly repeated itself according to God’s scenario of how to answer mankind’s whys. Once again a vision came as an answer, this time a vision of the Father and the Son. Once again a divine testimony of the Father was given: “This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!” (Joseph Smith--History 1:17). Once again direct revelation answered Joseph Smith’s question: “Which of all the [churches] was right … and which I should join. I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong” (Joseph Smith--History 1:18–19). Once again apostasy was declared from the source of truth—by Jesus Christ Himself. And once again it had to be followed by a restoration, and indeed it was.

In the following years, by revelation, Joseph Smith received full divine doctrinal knowledge and the authority and the keys of the priesthood. Finally in 1830, the Church of Jesus Christ, with all the doctrines of salvation and the ordinances thereof, was restored. Joseph Smith qualified to be called the prophet of the Restoration in modern times."

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They both have wrong ideas about Mary.

--Catholicism teaches that our salvation depends on how we think of Mary.

CCC paragraph 969--"This motherhood of Mary in the order of grace continues uninterruptedly from the consent which she loyally gave at the Annunciation and which she sustained without wavering beneath the cross, until the eternal fulfillment of all the elect. Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation...Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix."

CCC, paragraph 971--"The Church's devotion to the Blessed Virgin is intrinsic to Christian worship." The Church rightly honors "the Blessed Virgin with special devotion. From the most ancient times the Blessed Virgin has been honored with the title of 'Mother of God,' to whose protection the faithful fly in all their dangers and needs...This very special devotion...differs essentially from the adoration which is given to the incarnate Word and equally to the Father and the Holy Spirit, and greatly fosters this adoration." The liturgical feasts dedicated to the Mother of God and Marian prayer, such as the rosary, an "epitome of the whole Gospel," express this devotion to the Virgin Mary."

--Catholicism teaches that Mary was born sinless.

CCC, paragraphs 491, 493--"Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, 'full of grace' through God, was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854: 'The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin'...The Fathers of the Eastern tradition call the Mother of God "the All-Holy" (Panagia), and celebrate her as "free from any stain of sin, as though fashioned by the Holy Spirit and formed as a new creature." By the grace of God Mary remained free of every personal sin her whole life long."

--Mormonism teaches that Mary was impregnated by God the Father Himself (This is another one of those "It has been taught for over a hundred years but it 'isn't official doctrine'" issues).

Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p. 7--"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints proclaims that Jesus Christ is the Son of God in the most literal sense. The body in which He performed His mission in the flesh was sired by that same Holy Being we worship as God, our Eternal Father. Jesus was not the son of Joseph nor was He begotten by the Holy Ghost. He is the son of the Eternal Father!"

Joseph F. Smith, Box Elder Stake Conference Dec. 20, 1914 as quoted in Brigham City Box Elder News, 28 Jan. 1915, pp. 1-2--"We must come down to the simple fact that God Almighty was the Father of His Son Jesus Christ. Mary, the virgin girl, who had never known mortal man, was his mother. God by her begot his Son Jesus Christ, and he was born into the world with power and intelligence like that of His Father. . . . Now, my little friends, I will repeat again in words as simple as I can, and you talk to your parents about it, that God, the Eternal Father, is literally the father of Jesus Christ."

You can read more quotes from Mormon leaders over the last 150 or so years here. And here. And here as well.

Join us for the thrilling conclusion next week!!

Systematic Theology--Lesson 7, Salvation (part 3)

Salvation. We’ve been talking about it now for three weeks. We've seen where it comes from, who begins it, who saves us, how we are saved. We have seen all these things. But what do they mean? I mean, I’m saved—now what? Do I go about living my life as if nothing happened? Do I have to be always afraid that if I make one false step that I will be cast out of the kingdom of God? When it comes to salvation and what it means, we could come up with a thousand questions. Can I lose it? Oh, I can answer that one real quick—ABSOLUTELY NOT!!

There are some systems, some organizations that will tell you that outside of their group there is no salvation. That if you do not belong to this particular man-made group, you cannot be saved. The Roman Catholic system makes that claim, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. Let me make this abundantly clear. Salvation does not come about by joining a particular “church.” Even this one. Salvation is a work of God. Period. I cannot save anyone. This church cannot save anyone. It is God who works in a person’s life to bring their dead spirit to life, to make that person righteous in His eyes, to redeem them from the kingdom of death and into the kingdom of God’s dear Son, to reconcile that lost sinner who wanted nothing to do with God, and it is only by His grace that he forgives sins so that He might make us able to enter His rest.

We begin today by discussing The Particulars of Our Salvation. What is involved in our salvation? How does God save us? First, by Regeneration. Our pastor calls this, "A secret act of God in which He imparts new spiritual life to us." He has to! He has to breathe life into us because we are dead. We are born dead. When God warned Adam about eating from the tree in the Garden, He said “In that day you shall die.” The Hebrew literally means, “Dying, you will die.” Basically, God was telling Adam that if he ate of that tree, he would begin to die—not only physically, but spiritually as well. Did he die physically that day? Well, yes, in a way. He started to die--he began the dying process; cells in his body began to die. That death is passed on to all of us. Ephesians 2:1; Colossians 2:13 both tell us that we were dead in trespasses and sins. We are dead. We are born dead.

But when God sets out to save a person, the first thing He does is breathe His Spirit into that person to bring their dead spirit to life. Because He sees a person that has done so many wonderful things and so many good works that he has no choice but to save them, right? Uh...yeah. Titus 3:3-5—For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. We are regenerated, brought to life by the Holy Spirit. Check out what the verses following Ephesians 2:1 and Colossians 2:13 have to say. Ephesians 2:4-5—He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, [and] made us alive together with Christ. Colossians 2:13—He has made [you] alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses. Ezekiel 36:25-28—“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean…I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them…you shall be My people, and I will be your God.” Notice what God says here. “I will cause you to walk in My statutes.” We don’t just decide one day to follow His laws. He causes us to do them!

Why does He do that? Because He HAS TO in order for us to follow them! That’s why He brings our dead spirit to life—so that we can walk in a way that pleases Him. Regeneration. Next is Redemption. Where do we usually see the word “redeem?” Coupons. When I redeem my coupon for 25 cents off a loaf of bread, what do I do? I hand a little slip of paper to the grocery clerk and that clerk removes 25 cents from the price of that loaf of bread. When we talk about biblical redemption, it’s kinda the same, but a bit different. When we are born, we were under the curse of the law. Every single person, Jew or Gentile, when we are born we are born under the law of sin and death. Whose law? God’s law. We owed a debt to God. Why do we owe that to God? Because of our sins. If that debt is not paid in this life, what will the payment be? Eternal punishment in Hell. It will be paid one way or the other. No way around it.

When Jesus died on the cross, He died, He ascended to Heaven, He entered the Most Holy Place in the heavens with His own blood. That blood removed from us the penalty we were due—but only for those who believe. Christ offered His blood to the Father, and--contrary to what the Roman Catholic will tell you, contrary to what the LDS will tell you, contrary to what the Jehovah's Witnesses will tell you--He didn’t just knock a few dollars off of our debt. His blood completely removed from us the price tag that was on our heads—the handwriting of ordinances against us—that price tag was given to the Father, and He destroyed it. No, you're right--God isn't fair! Ephesians 1:7—In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace. 1st Peter 1:18-19—you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold… but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. Galatians 3:13—Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. Galatians 4:3-5—When we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. But…God sent forth His Son…to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. Titus 2:14—[Christ] gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. Christ offered His blood to the Father as payment for our eternal spirit, that He might remove from us the price tag of eternal Hell. It’s not fair.

Next, Reconciliation. We hated God. Period. There’s no, “Well, I haven’t really made up my mind yet.” A person either loves God or hates God. Period. If someone hasn’t made up their mind—then they have made up their mind. And because we hated Him, He counted us as His enemy. Romans 8:7-8—The carnal mind is enmity against God…those who are in the flesh cannot please God. James 4:4—Friendship with the world is enmity against God. But, guess what God did? He sent His Son. Think about that. If I broke into someone’s house, stole their TV and their stereo, poured lighter fluid on everything and set it on fire. Became their enemy. They come to me, wanting to reconcile our relationship. I ask them, “Well, what can I do?” They tell me there’s nothing I can do. The only way to reconcile the two sides is for them to allow their son to die. “No, no! There has to be some other way!” No, there is no other way. Their son has to die. That’s what God did. We broke into His house, stole His stuff, set His stuff on fire—but He allowed His Son to die to pay for our actions.

There is nothing we can do to repair our relationship with God. Except to believe that He has done everything that needs to be done by allowing us sinful humans to put His Son to death. He sacrificed His Son for our lawless deeds. God is not fair. Colossians 1:19-21—For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight. Romans 5:10-11—For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

We did not want to make peace with God. And if He had not sent His Son, there never would be peace between God and any man. The whole lot of the human race would burn in Hell. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (Romans 8:3-4). Reconciliation.

Finally, Forgiveness. I hope I can do this justice. Because this is the whole purpose of the gospel. That God forgives sinners. This, my friends, is the most important concept when it comes to understanding salvation. Because without God forgiving our sins, there is no regeneration; there is no justification, there is no redemption, there is no reconciliation. There is no way for our salvation to be possible without forgiveness of sins. In fact, without understanding forgiveness of sins, the gospel is not gospel. It is not “good news.” It’s just “news.” To hear some people talk, the only reason God sent His Son was just to show us how much He loved us, and to help us live in luxury. One fellow on TV had the audacity to declare that Christ came so you could pay your light bill and your phone bill. Quote--

“He said, ‘Because I live, you shall live also.’ He wasn’t just talking about breathing. He was talking about living an abundant life. Not a barely-getting-by life. Not a life filled with lack and mediocrity. No, because of the price He paid, we have a right to live in total victory. Not partial victory where we have a good family and good health—but we constantly struggle in our finances. That’s not total victory…He has paid the price so that we may be totally free…Free from poverty and lack. Free from low self-esteem…”

But that’s because Joel Osteen is afraid to talk about sin. Listen up my friends. The cross had nothing to do with your health, or your finances, or especially your self-esteem. In fact, if you were to ask the Lord Jesus Christ, He would probably say “To Hell with your self-esteem.” And I don’t say that to cuss, but that He would say, “Take your self-esteem and send it to Hell.” Because that’s where it belongs. God doesn’t care about your self-esteem!!!

Now, here’s the thing. Even though we are dead to God, even though we hate Him and reject Him at every turn, we still have the ability to do “good” things. “Wow, that Mr. Jingleheimer. He’s such a good person. He does so many good things. There’s got to be a special place in Heaven for him.” If he has accepted Christ as his Savior—there is. But if Mr. Jingleheimer has never asked the Lord to forgive his sins, has never called upon the name of Christ—then his place is not going to be in Heaven. That’s not my idea, folks. That’s the clear word of Scripture. Because without forgiveness of sins, there is no way for a person to enter into the Kingdom of God. Period, paragraph. Psalm 130:3-8—If You, YHVH, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared. I wait for YHVH, my soul waits, and in His word I do hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning…O Israel, hope in YHVH; for with YHVH there is mercy, and with Him is abundant redemption. And He shall redeem Israel from all iniquities. When those four men in the gospels brought their friend to Christ—their friend to who was bedridden with the palsy—when Jesus saw their faith, what did He say? "Thy sins are forgiven!" Kind of an odd thing to say. But that’s why Christ came. To forgive sins. Even that was only a part of His main goal.

His main mission was not to heal, was not to give sight to the blind and to heal lepers—and it sure as heck-fire was not to heal your bank account! Those things were part of His main goal which was what? To glorify the Father. Christ could have gone around restoring sight and healing lepers until the end of the age. But we would still be plagued by the curse of sin in our lives. See, the problem we humans have is not sickness, or poverty, or disease, or anything like that. Those are only symptoms. Just like a runny nose and a hacking cough are only symptoms of a cold. We can take cough medicine and stock up on Kleenex™ all we want. But until we get rid of our cold, we’re still going to have a runny nose and a hacking cough.

And I don’t care what Jesse Duplantis says, I don’t care what Kenneth Copeland say, I don’t care what Creflo Dollar says—just because a person is saved does not mean they will be free from this world’s troubles! It does not mean that we will stop having sickness and poverty and disease—because we live in a world and on a planet ruined by sin. Romans 8:20-24 (NLT)—Everything on earth was subjected to [the] curse. All creation anticipates the day when it will join God's children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as [if] in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering. We, too, wait anxiously for that day when God will give us…the new bodies he has promised us. Now that we are saved, we eagerly look forward to this freedom.

It is sin that separates us from God. It is sin that causes sickness and poverty and disease. And only when all things are made new will those things be done away with. We believers in Christ will always deal with these things. But, with forgiveness of sins—and only by the forgiveness of our sins—God can allow us into His kingdom. Habakkuk 1:13—You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness. Psalm 5:4-5—For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, nor shall evil dwell with You. The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity. We could not be brought to life, we could not be reconciled to God, and we could not be redeemed from the kingdom of sin without the forgiveness of our sins.