Are
Mormons Christians?
Be Ye Perfect
By Douglas K. Hollen
Many people have asked me why I continually ask the question, “Are Mormons Christians?” Others have asked me why God has called me to be a missionary to the Mormon people. After all, they believe in Jesus; they use the Bible; they worship God; they have good morals. Why would anyone say they are not Christian? Isn’t that being narrow-minded?
Yes, this is narrow-minded; but, Scripture is narrow-minded. Or, if I may be so bold, God is narrow-minded. Matthew 7:13-14 says, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” Yet, Mormonism teaches that the majority of mankind will go to at least some level of heaven; that hell is only temporary; and that only apostate Mormons and those that attack the Mormon church will go to outer darkness, which is the Mormon equivalent to what we as Protestants would call hell.
In John 14:6 Jesus said, “…I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.” However, Mormons teach a different way. They teach we must follow the teachings of Joseph Smith and the ordinances of the Mormon Church.
God, in His Word, tells us in Isaiah 43:10, “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.” Contrary to this, Mormonism teaches that God was once a man and man may become a god.
The Apostle Matthew, quoting Christ in Matthew
5:48, teaches that we must be perfect, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your
Father which is in heaven is
perfect.” Mormonism, however, teaches
that we must become perfect in our own strength.
Please note the following quotes from Spencer Kimball, as quoted in
Mark Cares book, Speaking the Truth in Love to Mormons, pp. 161-162; © 1998 Wels Outreach
Resources:
· “Nor is repentance complete when one merely tries to abandon sin… To try is weak.” (Spencer Kimball, quoted in Sharing the Gospel Manual, p. 94)
· “To every forgiveness there is a condition … The fasting, the prayers, the humility must be equal to or greater than the sin.” (Spencer Kimball, quoted in Gospel Principles, p. 252)
· “It depends upon you whether or not you are forgiven, and when. It could be weeks, it could be years, it could be centuries before that happy day when you have the positive assurance that the Lord has forgiven you. That depends on your humility, your sincerity, your works, your attitudes.” (Spencer Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness, p. 325)
Herein lies the problem. Mormons must achieve perfection in order to receive forgiveness, even though there is nothing in this life that is perfect. Life does provide us with examples of perfection, however. The perfect golf score would be 18, yet par is 72. In target shooting, the goal is to hit the bullseye; yet perfection would be hitting the same hole every time. As any golfer, or target shooter will tell you, they understand what perfection is; yet there is no pro-golfer on any tour that has ever shot a perfect 18. And, I know of no Olympic target shooter that has ever hit the same hole with every shot.
Perfection is definable, but not achievable. Yet Mormons teach they must achieve perfection in order to reach the highest degree of glory.
The Bible teaches we must be perfect in Matthew 5:48; and that we can only be made perfect in Jesus Christ:
· “He looketh upon men, and if any say I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not; He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light. Lo, all these things worketh God oftentimes with man, to bring back his soul from the pit, to be enlightened with the light of the living. Mark well, O Job, hearken unto me: hold thy peace, and I will speak. If thou hast any thing to say, answer Me: speak, for I desire to justify thee. If not, hearken unto me: hold thy peace, and I shall teach thee wisdom.” Job 33:27-33
· “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.” Psalms 32:1-2
· “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:” I Peter 3:18
What did Job, the Psalms, and Peter know about perfection? Simply that perfection comes from God to a repentant heart through the sacrifice of Christ. This is the doctrine of imputed righteousness. Not our righteousness; but the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, or credited to our account.
The Bible also teaches in Matthew 7:21-23 that there will be a time of judgment and many will stand before the Lord and hear these words, “Depart from me, I never knew you.”
· “Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out devils? And in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.” Matthew 7:21-23
At
the very heart of this issue, I believe Mormons are moral, devoutly religious
people; yet they follow another Christ – the brother of Satan; not the only
begotten Son of God. They worship
another god, who was once a man; not the God of the Bible who is Spirit and those that worship Him must worship Him in
Spirit and in truth. They work through
the law of eternal progression with works of the flesh attempting to achieve
perfection rather than accepting God’s free gift of imputed righteousness
(perfection) through the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross of
So why do I do this? The answer is simple – I love the Mormon people! It is my sincere prayer that they would all give up striving for self-perfection and worship the one, true and living God; and allow God to impute the righteousness of Christ to them so that on that day of judgment, they don’t say, “I did the best I could. I hit the bullseye 99% of the time. I followed the teachings of Joseph Smith and I kept the Articles of Faith;” only to hear Christ say, “Depart from Me, I never knew you.”
Witnessing point: Ask your Mormon friends how they are doing on their road to perfection. Don’t be surprised to hear answers ranging from, “I can’t do it,” to “I have already achieved perfection.” Simply explain to them that only through the imputed righteousness of Christ can man appear perfect in the sight of a Holy God.
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.
