
                MORMONISM'S "SALVATION BY WORKS"
                               vs.
               SALVATION BY GRACE THROUGH CHRIST

     The entire BIBLE points in all directions to the cross. Upon 
it  God's only begotten Son died that we might have eternal  life 
from God. Only through Christ can this separation be bridged.
     On the other hand, MORMONISM points in all directions to the 
"Law  of Eternal Progression".  We have seen that Mormon doctrine 
states that God was once a man.  He progressed to become God. The 
same law states that man may become God!
     Let's go to the authorities of the church and hear what they 
have  said,  first  on the subject of man's  pre-existence  as  a 
spirit in a "spirit world" prior to taking a body here on earth:

                     DID WE PRE-EXIST?

BRUCE R. McCONKIE (Apostle); MORMON DOCTRINE, page 589 

     "Pre-existence is the term commonly used to describe the 
pre-mortal existence of the spirit children of God the Father ... 
All men and women are in the similitude of the universal Father 
and Mother, and we are literally the sons and daughters of Deity; 
as spirits they were the offspring of celestial parentage ... 
Unless God the father was a personal Being, He could not have 
begotten spirits in His image, and if there had been no self-
existent spirit element, there would have been no substance from 
which those spirit bodies could have been organized."

     The basis of the Mormon law of progression in Mormonism is 
that "intelligences" are eternal. On the other hand, God is not! 
He started as a spirit child in another 'spirit world' long ago; 
entered a body on another earth as a man; apparently was able to 
follow the law of progression perfectly; after death He became 
God in the 'celestial kingdom' of that other earth; brought (or 
was given) many wives; through sexual union in our spirit world 
had billions of spirit children : The first was Jesus, the second 
Lucifer, the third and on and on were to enter the earth as you 
and me.
     No organic difference in the parentage between us and Jesus 
and Lucifer! We all have the same literal "Heavenly Father". Note 
how those in Mormonism generally refer to Him as "Heavenly 
Father" -- they mean just that - LITERALLY!! Just remember that 
they could say also; "Heavenly GRANDFATHER", "Heavenly Great-
Grandfather", and so on ...!

MILTON R. HUNTER (1st Council of 70); GOSPEL THROUGH THE AGES; 
pages 127-129 (1958)

     "In the first stage, man was an eternally existent being 
termed an intelligence ... The next realm where man dwelt was the 
spirit world."

     According to Mormon concept eternally existing intelligences 
were clothed with spirit bodies in the mansion of their eternal 
Father... "numerous sons and daughters were begotten and born of 
heavenly parents into that eternal family in the spirit world ... 
There ... they were reared to maturity, becoming grown spirit men 
and women prior to coming upon this earth ... Following his stay 
in the spirit world, man comes to earth in a probationary state 
... receives a physical body and undergoes the experiences of 
mortality .. Eventually; however, mortal death comes upon all. 
The eternal spirit goes to the spirit world to wait resurrection 
and judgement ... there they shall be assigned to the glory that 
they have merited ... Some will receive celestial glory; others 
terrestrial, while those who are recorded in the 'Lamb's Book of 
Life' will enter celestial glory. There some of them will become 
angels and others priests and kings, or, in other words, Gods."
     On page 12, Hunter states a basic "truth" of Mormonism, that 
God is subordinate to the law of eternal progression.: "Our 
Eternal Father has attained His position of exaltation and 
Godhood by obedience to the great law of progression."

JOSEPH FIELDING SMITH;  DOCTRINES OF SALVATION; Vol 1, pg 12

     "The intelligent part of man was never created but always 
existed. That is true of each of us as well as it is of God, yet 
we are born sons and daughters of God in the spirit and are 
destined to exist forever. Those who become like God will also be 
from eternity to eternity."
     The BIBLE states explicitly that there are no intelligences 
co-eternal or co-existent with God. Anything that exists, other 
than God, is a "thing". COLOSSIANS 1:16-17 and JOHN 1:1-3 state 
that ONLY Jesus is co-eternal with God as the "WORD WAS GOD" 
(John 1:1). He is before all "things" and created all "things". 
His creation did not pre-exist Him! God knows the beginning and 
end of all things before they exist. There are several scriptures 
stating HE "knew" us before we were born. They do not imply we 
existed before we were born.
     "The burden of the word of the Lord of Israel, saith the 
Lord, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the 
foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within 
him." (ZECHARIAH 12:1)

                 SALVATION BY GRACE VERSUS WORKS

     The BIBLE states over and over that we do not merit 
salvation (eternal life in God's presence) by our own goodness 
and system of good works from or for any organization. You need 
only to study the Old Testament and see the hopelessness of a 
system whereby man was to live within God's laws with the system 
of prophets - temples - priests and ordinances. The purpose of 
Jesus coming to earth to die for us was to make provision for our 
own inability to bridge this separation of man from God and 
brought a new covenant. If you choose Mormonism as your plan of 
salvation, you have regressed to the old covenant of the prophet, 
temple and ordinance which produce only "dead works" in an 
attempt to obtain righteousness on your own. If you trust the LDS 
church and its prophets; here is what is said:

MILTON R. HUNTER; THE GOSPEL THROUGH THE AGES; pg 115 JOSEPH F. 
SMITH; TEACHINGS OF THE PROPHET JOSEPH SMITH; pg 348

     "Thus all men who ascend to the glorious status of Godhood 
can do so only by one method - by obedience to all the principals 
and ordinances of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (another way of 
saying "Mormonism")... Men are saved no faster than they gain 
knowledge. The Prophet Joseph described the process of going 
toward Godhood as follows: When you climb a ladder, you must 
begin at the bottom, and ascend step by step, until you arrive at 
the top; and so it is with the principles of the Gospel - you 
must begin with the first, and go on until you learn all of the 
principles of exaltation. But it will be a great while after you 
have passed through the veil before you will have learned them."

JAMES E. TALMAGE; ARTICLES OF FAITH; pg 480

     "The sectarian dogma of justification by faith alone has 
exercised an influence for evil."

II NEPHI 25:23 (BOOK OF MORMON)

     "For we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after 
all we can do."

                WHAT THE MORMONS THINK OF CHRIST

LDS CHURCH TRACT; pg 32,46,47

     "Christians speak often of the blood of Christ and its 
cleansing power. Much that is believed and taught on this 
subject, however, is utter nonsense and so palpably false that to 
believe it is to lose one's salvation. Many go so far, for 
instance, as to pretend, at least, to believe that if we confess 
Christ with our lips and avow that we accept Him as our personal 
Savior, we are thereby saved ... And no man can pick the fruit of 
eternal life off the branches, as these are tied to the vine, 
without accepting both Christ and His prophets ... If it had not 
been for Joseph Smith, the Prophet, the perfect knowledge of 
Christ would not be had in the world in this day. If it had not 
been for him and his mission there would be no legal 
administrators now on earth to administer in the ordinances of 
salvation."

BRUCE R. McCONKIE; MORMON DOCTRINE; pgs 84 & 745

     "The second birth begins when men are legally baptized in 
water by a legal administrator ... Those who receive the Gospel 
(Mormon Doctrine) and join the church of Jesus Christ of Latter 
day Saints have power given them to become sons of God."
     (Compare to John 1:12 -- "But as many as received Him, to 
them gave He power to become sons of God..")

BRUCE R. McCONKIE; MORMON DOCTRINE; pg 149

     "Those things which men are directed to do to attain peace 
in this life and gain eternal life in the world to come are 
collectively called the commandments."

BRUCE R. McCONKIE; MORMON DOCTRINE; preface to 1966 Edition; pg 
118

     "Man is saved no faster than he gains knowledge -- (See I 
Corinthians 1:17,20-23,2:1-5) -- To gain salvation after baptism 
it is necessary to keep the commandments of God and endure to the 
end ... The most important things that any member of the church 
of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints ever does in this world are: 
1. To marry the right person, in the right place, by the right 
authority (Mormon Temple marriage); and 2. to keep the covenant 
made in connection with this holy and perfect order of matrimony 
- thus assuring the obedient persons of an inheritance of 
exaltation in the celestial kingdom."

CHURCH NEWS-EDITORIAL; November 8,1975; page 16

     "There is only one way to become sanctified and perfected, 
and thus prepared to live with God. That is by obedience to His 
laws. There is no other way ... When will we learn to obey him 
with all our heart, mind and strength?
     (Compare with Luke 10:27 - "Thou shalt love the Love the 
Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with 
all thy strength, and with all thy mind....")

MILTON R. HUNTER, GOSPEL THROUGH THE AGES; pgs 118-120

     "If men and women obey all the other laws of the gospel 
except that of celestial marriage (Mormon Temple Marriage), they 
are appointed angels ...."

BENNET; WHY I AM A MORMON; pg 170

     "Once we have been resurrected, it will be our own efforts, 
and not Christ's sacrifice, that will be the deciding factor ... 
A man can be saved only so fast as he gains knowledge of the laws 
of God." Prophets ... temples ... Obedience to the Law ... 
Aaronic Priest .. Legalisms ... Dependent on our own efforts and 
good works ... 

     Sound familiar? Old Testament in a new wrapping? Wrapped in 
Christian terminology? Mormonism calls the unsuspecting back 
under what amounts to the old covenant. If righteousness could be 
obtained, earned or gained by our own efforts to be perfect under 
the law, there would have been no need for a "NEW" covenant. If 
all Christ's death meant was to conquer death - to pay for Adam's 
sin as Mormonism teaches - why are the following among the great 
number of God's words declaring the TRUTH of the NEW COVENANT of 
salvation through Christ, by faith, not works of the law. Look up 
these scriptures and review their full context:

               THE LAW AND WORKS DO NOT SAVE

JOHN 6:28,29,39,40 ... What must we do to be doing the works of 
God? This is the work of God that you believe in Him whom He 
sent.

ROMANS 3:21,22 ... No one is justified by the works of the law. 
Now righteousness of God is manifested apart from the Law.

ROMANS 4:13-16 ... If it is adherents of the Law that are to be 
heirs, then faith is NULL and the promise void.

ROMANS 7:4-6 ... Died to the Law through the body of Christ. 
Discharged from the law, dead to that which held us captive, so 
that we serve not under the old written code but in new life of 
the Spirit.

ROMANS 8:1-4 ... God has done what the law could not do!

ROMANS 9:30-32 ... Israel who pursued righteousness based on the 
law did not succeed. WHY? They did not pursue it through faith, 
but as if it were based on works.

ROMANS 10:1-4 ... A zeal for God - but not enlightened. Seeking 
to establish their own righteousness. Christ is the end of the 
law. Romans 14:1-23 and Colossians 3:8-23 are clear refutations 
of the point made by Joseph Smith in "Words of Wisdom" to not 
drink and eat certain things is nothing more than MAN'S 
regulation and NOT from God. Read and see what God said through 
the Apostle Paul!

GALATIANS 2:16 ... Man is not justified by works of the law but 
is through faith!

GALATIANS 2:19-21 ... Died to the law, that I might live to God. 
I do not nullify the Grace of God; for if righteousness were 
through the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

GALATIANS 3:10 ... As many as are under the works of the law are 
under the curse!

GALATIANS 3:23-28 ... Before faith came, we were under the law - 
our schoolmaster (Custodian) until Christ came. Now that faith is 
come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

GALATIANS 5:18 ... If led by the Spirit, you are not under the 
law.

II TIMOTHY 1:8-10 ... Who saved us, not according to our works, 
but according to His own purpose and grace.

TITUS 3:3-9 ... He saved us, not by works of righteousness which 
we have done, but according to His mercy. Being justified by 
grace.

                   HOW IS MAN (or WE ) SAVED ?

     If salvation is not by works of our own under the law and 
ordinances, HOW IS MAN SAVED? Just a few of the scriptures God 
has given us are:

JOHN 3:1-18 ... YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN! In context Jesus, 
Himself, explains that, not only do we have a natural birth 
(Flesh) but a spiritual birth! "Whosoever believeth in Him shall 
not perish but have everlasting life (ETERNAL)!

ROMANS 5:1-11 ... Christ died for us, sinners, who are now 
justified by His blood. We are reconciled through Him.

ROMANS 5:15-17 ... The free gift of righteousness by the grace of 
God.

ROMANS 10:9-17 ... Confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and 
believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead, you will be 
saved.

GALATIANS 2:16-21 ... We are justified by faith. Our old nature 
is crucified with Christ; Christ now lives in us; we live by 
faith --- not the law!

EPHESIANS 2:8-10 ... "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. For we are His workmanship, created in 
Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that 
we should walk in them."

     Works have nothing to do with our justifying eternal life. 
The Mormon will be quick to point out James 2:17 - "Even so 
faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone." AMEN! That is 
not denying salvation by faith. What it is saying is this: "You 
say you are saved? Saving faith will naturally flow into a life 
that will show evidence of it. Your 'works' will testify of your 
faith. If none, there is reason to question whether there really 
was a saving faith to start with." To quote Ed Decker in his 
tract "To Moroni with Love"; You do not bark to become a dog nor 
"baa" to become a sheep. You bark because you are a dog or "baa" 
because you are a sheep! Christians, when born-again and indwelt 
by the Holy Spirit, have a never ending desire to follow the Lord 
Jesus in their daily life behavior. "Works" is not an appropriate 
name as it suggests payment after the work has been done. Christ 
made the payment IN FULL for our sins by His blood for us; if 
only we REPENT of our sins and ACCEPT Him by faith. It is 
available only through God's grace for an eternal life.

I JOHN 1:7 ... Blood of Jesus cleanseth us from all sin.

HEBREW 9:23-28,10:10-18 ... Jesus was the sacrifice, once, to 
perfect forever those who are sanctified.

ROMANS 5:6-11 ... We are reconciled by His blood.

ISAIAH 53:6-11 & I CORINTHIANS 5:17-21 ... Our iniquity was laid 
on Jesus; to die for us; that we might be made the righteousness 
of God in Him.

I PETER 2:24 ... "Who his own self bare our sins in His own body 
on the tree, that we, being dead to sins should live unto 
righteousness: By whose stripes ye are healed."

     You will never (Well, We won't say never because God may 
have His plan for their salvation that We are not aware of at 
this moment) see a cross on a Mormon structure. They will say 
call it a "graven image"; yet "Moroni" stands on top of their 
temples. Moroni didn't die for them. Joseph Smith, Jr. didn't die 
for them. The church didn't die for them. JESUS DIED FOR THEM, if 
they would only cling to His cross and reach out to claim His 
blood for their sins. They're told they can earn their own 
righteousness based on the law of the church which is based on 
"prophets, seers and revelators" proven -TIME AND AGAIN- to be 
false. Wouldn't you rather lay your eternal life in the hands of 
the ETERNAL GOD; the SON who, personally, died for you - than, 
say, a "prophet" in Salt Lake City?
     Our prayer is that this comparison of the Bible vs: the LDS 
Mormon church will show you the LIGHT of CHRIST.

Computers For Christ


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