Mormon Church Research Paper

The Mormon Church
Over the centuries since Jesus walked on the earth, there have been many beliefs and doctrines that have been conceived. Many of these have not established their foundation in God’s Word, the Bible. This has caused a descent from how Christ initially established the Church those many years ago. Many religions today would claim to be the true Church of Jesus Christ. However, most have turned from Bible truths, and are therefore not the true Church of Jesus Christ. The Mormon Church is not the Church of Jesus Christ because they do not hold to the beliefs that the Bible is the complete, inerrant Word of God, salvation is by faith alone, and Jesus Christ has always been God.
First, the Mormon Church is not the Church of Jesus
Christ because they do not believe the Bible is the complete inerrant Word of God. The Mormon Church believes and follows the Word of God as far as they believe it is correctly translated. In their book Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Mormonism, John Ankerberg and John Weldon state, “The Bible is the Word of God as long as it is translated correctly. Wherever it disagrees with Mormon theology, it is considered incorrect due to textual corruption or false translation.” This shows that the Mormon Church does not believe that God would preserve His word from corruption through the many generations since it has been written. The Psalmist wrote in Psalms chapter 12 verses 6 and 7, “The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.” This passage of scripture makes it very clear that God Himself will preserve His word from corruption and imperfection. This belief that the Bible is not correctly translated has led to the belief that the Bible is not the only Word of God, but that their are other inspired books as well. The Mormon Church believes the Book of the Mormon and other writings are also a part of the Word of God. This belief stems from the idea that God has never stated in His Word that he would refrain from giving revelation to man. In their book Mormonism 101: Examining the Religion of the Latter-day Saints, Bill McKeever, and Eric Johnson claim, “Almost all of the doctrines of the gospel are taught in the Book of Mormon with much greater clarity and perfection than those same doctrines are revealed in the Bible. Anyone who will place in parallel columns the teachings of these two great books on such subjects as the atonement, plan of salvation . . . baptism, gifts of the Spirit, miracles, revelation, faith, charity, (or any of a hundred other subjects) will find conclusive proof of the superiority of Book of Mormon teachings.” Joseph Smith claimed that the only book that would cause one to draw closer to God was the Book of Mormon itself. The Bible states in II Timothy chapter 3 verse 16, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” This clearly points out that the Bible is given by God in order to draw near to Him and the Bible alone is how one is to draw near to Him.
Second, the Mormon Church is not the Church of Jesus Christ because they do not believe in salvation by faith alone. The Mormon Church believes that salvation is partly by the grace of God through faith. McKeever and Johnson state, “One of the most fallacious doctrines originated by Satan and propounded by man is that man is saved alone by the grace of God; that belief in Jesus Christ alone is all that is needed for salvation.” The Mormon Church believes that the doctrine of salvation by faith alone was created by Satan to cause Christians to miss salvation by diluting the gospel. Van Gorden claims, “Jesus Christ redeemed all from the fall; he paid the price; he offered himself as a ransom; he atoned for Adam’s sin, leaving us responsible only for our own sins.” In Romans chapter 10 verse 9, the Bible records otherwise, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” In this passage it states that faith in Jesus alone is how a person can come to salvation. Works do not have a part in the gospel.
The Mormon Church believes that salvation is partly through works of their own.
The Mormons believe that salvation must be accomplished with their working out of the laws and ordinances of the gospel. In their book, McKeever and Johnson state, “This progress toward eternal life is a matter of achieving perfection. Living all the commandments guarantees total forgiveness of sins and assures one of exaltation through that perfection which comes by complying with the formula the Lord gave us.” In the Mormon belief one must become perfect by complying with the laws that have been given in order that one can “earn” their salvation. Ephesians chapter 2 verses 8 and 9 record, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” This very clearly states that salvation is of faith, and works are not included in it because then men could become proud, thus taking the glory from
God.
Third, the Mormon Church is not the Church of Jesus Christ because they do not believe Jesus Christ has always been God. The Mormon Church believes Jesus Christ was created, and is not the Creator. Van Gorden states, “Implicit in his spirit birth as the Firstborn is the fact that, as with all the spirit children of the Father, he had a beginning; there was a day when he came into being as a conscious identity, as a spirit entity, as an organized intelligence.” Although the Bible clearly states otherwise that Jesus Christ is in fact God and He is the Creator of all things. Colossians 1:16 records Paul’s letter to the church at Colosse speaking about Jesus Christ, “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him.” This verse records the fact that Jesus Christ is the God who created the heavens, the earth, all creatures, and kingdoms.
The Mormon Church also believes that Jesus Christ was exalted as God through actions He had accomplished. John Ankerberg and John Weldon claim, “The Mormon Jesus Christ is, in almost all respects, rather like the rest of us -- at least as far as Mormons conceive of men. He just worked harder to exalt Himself in preexistence -- He had more ambition, devotion, and perhaps intelligence, but in basic nature He was no different from any of us.” In the gospel of John chapter 1 verses 1 and 14 the Bible records, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth.” These verses show us that Jesus Christ is indeed God, and always has been God, but became man to atone for our sins.
The beliefs that the Bible is not the complete, inerrant Word of God, salvation is not through faith alone, and Jesus has not always been God are all evidences that the Mormon Church is not the Church of Jesus Christ.
These beliefs have all been shown contrary to God’s own truths in His Word. God promised to always preserve His word perfectly as it was originally inspired. If this is the case, one can truly see that the doctrine of salvation through grace plus works is a fallacy, and that salvation is by grace alone. Also one can see many evidences in the preserved Word of God that Jesus Christ is and always has been God. Although religion has often been degraded, God’s Word has always proven
true.