Are Mormons Christians?
Is the Atoning Sacrifice of Christ a Gift,
or a Loan?
By
Douglas K. Hollen
Have you ever
tried to witness to a Mormon and felt as if they were being deceitful with
you? You would say, “I believe in Jesus,” and they would say, “I do,
too.” Yet, if you’ve studied much Mormon
teaching at all, it doesn’t take long to see that the Mormon Jesus is a
different Jesus. You might say, “I believe in salvation by grace,” and they
would reply, “So do I.” As you continue to bring up things about the Bible you believe in, you’ll find your
Mormon friends agreeing that they believe the same things, even though, deep down, you know they don’t. Others of you have experienced this and come
to the conclusion that maybe Mormons ARE Christian.
The problem is not
that they are lying to you, but that you are both speaking English, and yet you are speaking a different language. For
example, when I first met my Australian brother-in-law, he would say, “the
luggage is in the boot,” or “let’s go to dinner and I’ll shout for it.” Every word is English, yet I had no idea what
he meant. If only he would have said,
“the luggage is in the trunk” and “I’ll buy dinner,” I would have understood
him. You see, when witnessing to
Mormons, you must understand that they are as sincere about their beliefs as
you are. The problem is that we speak the
same language, yet use a different dictionary.
This is what makes them both dangerous to young believers and hard to
witness to. Over the next few months, I
will endeavor to help you learn parts of their dictionary.
This month, let’s talk about Mormon atonement versus biblical atonement. I will be using their definition of atonement, as presented in The Gospel Principles, copyright 1997; pg 71-75. This is the Mormon family devotional book. On page 74, “The Savior’s atonement makes it possible for us to overcome spiritual death.” This even sounds biblical, if only they would stop there. On page 75 they say, “Christ did his part to atone for our sins. To make his atonement fully
|
effective in our lives, we must strive to obey him and repent
of our sins.” Did you see the
subtle shift? Christ did his
part … now we have to do our part. Elder Boyd K. Parker,
of the Council of Twelve, goes on to tell a story.
The gist of the story is this – Man has a debt he cannot pay.
God demands justice and calls in the note.
Christ steps in and offers to pay our debt to the father if we
will accept Christ as our creditor.
God is happy the debt was paid. Christ is a more forgiving creditor
and sets more favorable terms. In
other words, Christ sets up a payment plan we can live with. In short, Mormon
atonement is a loan, not a gift. Grace
then, is when we have done all
we can do, and if we have
done all we can do, Christ will forgive the balance. This is kind of
like your bank calling you and saying, “We see you’ve been faithful
in making your mortgage payment for the last 20 years, and now that
you’re retiring, we understand your income is going to go down.
We understand you’ve done the best you can do, so we’ll forgive
the last 10 years of your mortgage so you can enjoy your retirement.” |
 |
gift. Let’s take
a quick look at what the Bible has
to say about atonement and how it compares with what the Mormons teach.
Biblical
atonement stresses reconciliation (re-establishing a close relationship
or restoring harmony with God); propitiation (appeasing the wrath of God –
our sin demanded death, but Christ’s atonement appeased His wrath); and substitution
(God accepted the sacrifice of Christ on my behalf as an acceptable substitution
to pay the price for my sin). Now when
God looks at me, He sees the righteousness of Christ instead of my sin. Hallelujah!
What a Savior!
We
can readily see this outlined in the Bible. In Romans
5:6-10, we can see that Christ’s substitutionary death reconciled us to God, and that His blood saved us from the wrath of God -- “For when we were yet without strength, in
due time, Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one
die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth His love toward us in that
while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified
by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were
enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being
reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”
When God looks at me, He no longer sees my sin, but rather sees Christ’s
righteousness. This is most clearly
noted in II Corinthians 5:21, “For He hath made Him to be sin for us, Who
knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”
The
Bible is clear that Christ’s atoning sacrifice paid our sin debt in full
-- I Peter 2:22-24, “Who did no
sin, neither was guile found in His mouth: Who, when He was reviled, reviled
not again; when He suffered, He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him
that judgeth righteously; 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 were healed.” It is also clear from Scripture that works have
no part in paying the price for our sins – Ephesians 2:8-9, “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.” Isaiah 64:6 is probably the most
concise passage that teaches us how God views our ‘works,’ or ‘righteousnesses’
– “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as
filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind,
have taken us away.”
This entire thought is probably summarized best by Paul in Galatians Chapters 2 and 3. Galatians 2:16-21 addresses the idea: if not by the law (works), then what part does the law (works) play? “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” Galatians 3:24 says the law is our school master to bring us to our knees, recognizing that without Christ, we died in our sin; “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” Yet, the promise of God to Abraham was fulfilled through His Son, Jesus Christ; Galatians 3:26, “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.”
In closing, Mormons clearly teach a works-based salvation and the Bible clearly teaches that it is not of works, but ALL through Christ and the price He paid on our behalf. Mormon atonement is a loan, and biblical atonement is a FREE GIFT.
Witnessing point: Instead of telling your Mormon friends, “I believe in the atoning sacrifice of Christ,” ask them what they have to do to get to heaven. Get them to define Mormon atonement/ Mormon grace, then simply say, “That’s very interesting, but that’s not what the Bible teaches. Can I share with you a few verses?” Then, simply take them to Galatians and start reading.
The Mormon Church was not around in Paul’s day, but in Galatians Paul was writing to stop false doctrine. In a way, it’s kind of funny, and in a way it’s kind of sad that after 2,000 years, the Church is still dealing with the same issues. Get your Mormon friends into God’s Word.
Let us pray that our Mormon friends would come out from under the burden of the law and feel the love of God under grace, and receive Christ’s death, burial and resurrection as the atoning sacrifice, PAID IN FULL, payment for their sins.
Douglas
K. Hollen is a financial consultant and is attending Midwestern Baptist Theological
Seminary. God is in the process of using
Doug’s investment planning business to support and underwrite his “eternity
planning” business – serving our Lord…building His kingdom…taking the gospel of
Christ to the front lines. He is available to speak at your church or small Bible study group about the dangers of
Mormonism. Please contact him at (314)
691-5418 for scheduling.