Before Me There Was No God Formed
By
In last month’s article, we talked
about the Jesus of Mormonism versus the Jesus of the Bible and came to the conclusion that Mormon’s preach a different
Jesus and therefore, another gospel as warned about in Galatians 1:8. This month, let’s focus on God -- the God of
Mormonism versus the God of the Bible and
answer the question: Do Mormons worship
the God of the Bible?
Who
is the god of Mormonism?
One of the most prominent teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter Day Saints (LDS) is that god is an exalted man and that in like manner,
man can become a god. President Kimball
said, “What man is, God has been and what God is, man
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seeks to become.”
(Salt Lake Tribune April 3, 1977) Joseph Smith himself said, “God himself was
once as we are now…if Beyond being polytheists, the LDS church teaches that God is a god of flesh and bones. “If our Father and God should be disposed to walk through one of the aisles, we should not know him from one of the congregation. You would see a man, and that is all you would know about him….” (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses Vol. 11 pg. |
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In contrast, who is the God of the Bible?
The
God of the Bible is a jealous God (Exodus 34:14) who has been very clear: “Ye
are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and My servant whom I have chosen: that ye
may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He: before Me there was no
God formed, neither shall there be after Me.” (Isaiah 43:10) “Look unto Me
and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God and there is none
else.” (Isaiah 45:22)
God’s
dealings with those who have tried to become gods, or become like God have been
extreme. Satan was cast out of heaven in
Isaiah 14:12-14 for wanting to be
like the Most High. “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the
morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my
throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the
congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the
clouds; I will be like the most High.” Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden
of Eden because they ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. When Eve was tempted, the serpent said, “Ye shall
not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your
eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4b-5)
I
find it quite fascinating that this whole god-man idea dates back to Genesis and a quote from Satan himself
who is the father of all lies.
In
contrast the Bible would teach that
God is a jealous God and desires our worship of Him and Him alone. “For thou
shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous
God:” (Exodus 34:14). There is no mention of any council of gods,
or man becoming a god in this thought.
We are not gods in training.
In
addition, the New Testament addresses
the contrast between the ‘godhead’ of Mormonism -- the three separate
personages being the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost – and the trinity of
the Bible which, as I John 5:7 claims, are one person: “For
there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, The Word, and the Holy
Ghost: and these three are one.” There
is only ONE GOD!
Flesh
and bones? The Bible, quoting Jesus Himself in John
Then,
to make sure we weren’t confused, Jesus reminded us in Luke 24:39 what we know about a spirit “…for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye
see Me have.”
Witnessing
point
Once
they have acknowledged their belief in the god-man theory during a conversation
with our LDS friends or neighbors, I like to ask: “Who comes first in order of
importance – Jesus, Joseph Smith, or Brigham Young? ” Any answer other than “Jesus is the most
important” is a denial of His deity.
Then I ask if they agree that Joseph Smith, Brigham Young and The Book of Mormon teach that God was
flesh and bones and if they agree that the Bible
teaches that God is a spirit? If so, who
is right? Joseph, Brigham, and the Book of Mormon; or Jesus and the Bible?
They can’t have it both ways. Someone
is wrong. Is He flesh, or is He
spirit? Not even a Mormon will want to
call Jesus a liar!
This
may not win them to Christ on the spot, but it will definitely tie their
theology in a knot. From here you’ll
have to get them into the Word and let the Holy Spirit take over.
Through
this brief comparison, we have been reminded that: “…The Lord our God is one
Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all
thy soul, and with all thy might.” (Deuteronomy
6:4-5) Our LDS friends teach about a
different god(s) than the God of the Bible
and we must be diligent to know what God’s Word says that we are not confused,
or deceived into thinking that we believe the same thing just because they call
themselves ‘Christian.’ We should heed
Paul’s warning in Galatians 1:6-10
against those who would try to pervert the gospel, or preach another
gospel. If the LDS god(s) is different
than the God of the Bible, then their
claim to Christianity must be false.
As Christians, we should be reminded, as we are told in I Corinthians 8:6 – “But to us there is but one God, the Father, of Whom are all things, and we in Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom are all things, and we by Him.” May we be faithful to pray for our Mormon neighbors and share with them the living God of the Bible and the gift He gave in sending His son, the Lord Jesus Christ to pay the penalty for our sins that we, through repentance, may have eternal life.
