Tag Archives: salvation

Why Would a Loving God Demand Polygamy?

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Pat Chiu, Sketch of Salt Lake Temple

Pat Chiu, Salt Lake Temple

[This is the second post in a series. To read the series from the beginning, go to A Faithful Joseph.]

This week our home teacher stopped by to cheer us. For his lesson, he told us the Christmas story from memory. Two verses stood out in particular:

Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. [ref]Luke 2: 10-11[/ref]

Joy to All People

The manner in which we are to be saved is explained in the story of Nicodemus, recorded in the Gospel of John:

Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. [ref]John 3:3[/ref]

God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. [ref]John 3:16[/ref]

Throughout scripture, the Lord speaks of the salvation of all mankind, of whosoever believeth in God. Yet when Joseph knelt in the grove to pray, there was no theology that had a mechanism that might save all mankind. On that bright spring day in 1820,[ref]John Lefgren’s analysis of local weather patterns and the science of maple syrup place the date of this vision on Palm Sunday, 1820[/ref] all Joseph knew was that God lived and there was something about the religions of the day that was not right in God’s eyes.

I submit that it was the loss of the doctrines that would save all mankind that God mourned. Continue reading →

Grace, Obedience, Salvation

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I used to get very frustrated with my companions on my mission. Every time a Born Again Christian would announce that “Mormons believe they have to work their way to heaven” my companion would inevitably argue back “Well you believe that after you accept Christ you can commit any sin you want and still go to heaven.” Trying to separate the combatants and send them to their corners proved impossible. 

But Protestant Christians do not believe a person can accept Christ and then go out and commit unrepentant sin and still go to heaven [1] any more than Mormons believe they have to work their way to heaven. [2] But what is the difference between the Protestant Christian view of grace and works and the Mormon one?

Pat answers do not help here. Mormons claiming that that they are saved by grace “after all we can do” (2 Nephi 25:23) implies that Protestant Christians think one doesn’t really have to be serious about their commitment to Christ by putting in effort. But my direct experience with them contradicts this belief. Protestants usually do believe one must accept Jesus as Lord and begin to follow His commandments with sincerity. I believe Protestants and Evangelicals, while perhaps rejecting the language, in principle and practice accept the teachings of 2 Nephi 25:23. [3] Continue reading →