Testing the words of LDS leaders with Biblical Truth:
Melchizedek Priesthood and Relief Society
February 2010
* Why did we need a Savior? What was Christ’s mission and purpose? (page 13):
Why do we need a Savior? … He knew we would need help, so He planned a way to help us. We needed a Savior to pay for our sins and teach us how to return to our Heavenly Father. Our Father said, “Whom shall I send?” (Abraham 3:27). Jesus Christ, who was called Jehovah, said, “Here am I, send me” (Abraham 3:27; see also Moses 4:1–4). Jesus was willing to come to the earth, give His life for us, and take upon Himself our sins. He, like our Heavenly Father, wanted us to choose whether we would obey Heavenly Father’s commandments. He knew we must be free to choose in order to prove ourselves worthy of exaltation.
(Page 16): By following His teachings, we can inherit a place in the celestial kingdom. He did His part to help us return to our heavenly home. It is now up to each of us to do our part and become worthy of exaltation.
Test these LDS Words with Biblical Truth:
LDS beliefs sound so close to Christian beliefs but they are so far off the mark. Compare the LDS teaching regarding the mission of the Christ with what is taught in the Bible:
The lesson claims: “We needed a Savior to pay for our sins and teach us how to return to our Heavenly Father.” Here we see the LDS teaching of Christ as our “Exemplar“.
The Bible teaches that mankind was so sinful that we needed a Savior. Christ is and was our substitute because our Savior not only paid for our sins, He also made us worthy. He did so by perfectly obeying all of God’s commands–for us and in our place. Through faith in Him, we get credited with His righteousness. Eternal life is a gift given to all who believe in Jesus.
To read more about Christ’s true purpose and mission, go to this blog Post: “Is Jesus Your Substitute or Your Exemplar?” written February 27, 2009; or, Click here:
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* The War in Heaven (page 15):
Because our Heavenly Father chose Jesus Christ to be our Savior, Satan became angry and rebelled. There was war in heaven. Satan and his followers fought against Jesus Christ and His followers. The Savior’s followers “overcame [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony” (Revelation 12:11).
Test these LDS Words with Biblical Truth:
There is no such thing as a Preexistence and the “War in Heaven” described in Revelation Chapter 12 does not support this false teaching. Reading this verse in context with the whole chapter shows that this war did not happen before the earth was created and man inhabited it:
“1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: 2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. 3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. 4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. 5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. 6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. 7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. 11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. 12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. 13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. 14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. 15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. 16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. 17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
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* 1/3 of Heavenly Fathers children made the wrong choice. Along with Satan, they will be punished for eternity in Outer Darkness (pages 15-16):
In this great rebellion, Satan and all the spirits who followed him were sent away from the presence of God and cast down from heaven. A third part of the hosts of heaven were punished for following Satan (see D&C 29:36). They were denied the right to receive mortal bodies. [36 And it came to pass that Adam, being tempted of the devil—for, behold, the devil was before Adam, for he rebelled against me, saying, Give me thine honor, which is my power; and also a third part of the ghosts of heaven turned he away from me because of their agency; 37 And they were thrust down, and thus came the devil and his angels; 38 And, behold, there is a place prepared for them from the beginning, which place is hell.]
Test these LDS Words with Biblical Truth:
I bring up this false LDS belief for this reason:
Jesus taught that there are only two eternal destinations in which a person will be sent on Judgment Day:
Either a person is judged as righteous and will live eternally in Heaven with God; or, a person is judged as evil and will live eternally in Hell with Satan. Many LDS members emphatically say this teaching is false. They claim that our loving Heavenly Father would never send so many people to live eternally in such a place of horrible torment.
Now, I come back to the false LDS belief which claims that 1/3 of Heavenly Father’s Spirit children were cast out of heaven. According to LDS teaching, these spirit children merely made one wrong choice during the supposed Premortal War in Heaven! They used their agency unwisely and followed Satan’s plan instead of Christ’s. According to LDS teaching, these spirit children were cast out of heaven and sent down to earth as demons. They will never have an opportunity to receive a body, nor can they ever repent for that one wrong choice they made. After Judgment Day, they will be cast into Outer Darkness to spend eternity in torment–in the very same domain as Satan.
I bring up this false LDS teaching to ask: If you believe that God would send 1/3 of His Spirit children to Outer Darkness simply for making one wrong choice, why is it so hard to believe that God will send to Outer Darkness all who are judged as sinful?
To read the truth about what Jesus taught regarding Judgment Day, go to this blog Post: “Have LDS Prophets Changed God’s Definition of Hell?” written May 29, 2009; or, Click here:
Link to LDS Lesson:
https://www.lds.org/manual/gospel-principles/chapter-3-jesus-christ-our-chosen-leader-and-savior?lang=eng
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2009 Gospel Principles revisions (changes from 1997 edition):
* Changed concept of Heavenly “Parents” to Heavenly “Father”:
Page 13—2009 edition; page 17—1997 edition:
We understood that we would have to leave our heavenly home for a time. We would not live in the presence of our heavenly parents {Father}. While we were away from them {Him}, all of us would sin and some of us would lose our way. Our Heavenly Father knew and loved each one of us. He knew we would need help, so he planned a way to help us.
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* Took out LDS teaching that Satan and Jesus are brothers:
Page 13—2009 edition; page 17—1997 edition:
We needed a Savior to pay for our sins and teach us how to return to our Heavenly Father. Our Father said, “Whom shall I send?” (Abraham 3:27). Two of our brothers offered to help. Our oldest brother, Jesus Christ, who was then called Jehovah, said, “Here am I, send me” (Abraham 3:27{see also Moses 4:1-4}).
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*Added concept that Satan’s proposal would have frustrated our purpose for coming to earth:
Page 15—2009 edition; page 18—1997 edition:
Satan wanted to have all the honor for our salvation. {Under his proposal, our purpose in coming to earth would have been frustrated (see Teachings of Presidents of the Church: David O. McKay [2003], 207).}
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* In regards to the supposed Preexistent war in heaven; added that the Savior’s followers overcame Satan by the blood of the Lamb. (This war supposedly occurred before the earth was created):
Page 15—2009 edition; page 18—1997 edition:
Because our Heavenly Father choose Jesus Christ to be our Savior, Satan became angry and rebelled. There was war in heaven. Satan and his followers fought against Jesus Christ and His followers. {The Savior’s followers “overcame [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony” (Revelation 12:11).}
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* Wording changes for the one-third of Heavenly Father’s spirit children who were cast out:
Page 15 & 16—2009 edition; page 19—1997 edition:
In this great rebellion, Satan and all the spirits who followed him were sent away from the presence of God and cast down from heaven. One-third of the spirits in {A third part of the hosts of} heaven were punished for following Satan {(see D & C 29:36)}. They were denied the right to receive mortal bodies.
{D & C 29:36 And it came to pass that Adam, being tempted of the devil—for, behold, the devil was before Adam, for he rebelled against me, saying, Give me thine honor, which is my power; and also a third part of the ghosts of heaven turned he away from me because of their agency; 37 And they were thrust down, and thus came the devil and his angels; 38 And, behold, there is a place prepared for them from the beginning, which place is hell.]
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* Changed wording from “choosing the right” to following and accepting…
Page 16—2009 edition; page 19—1997 edition:
Because we are here on earth and have mortal bodies, we know that we chose to follow Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father. Satan and his followers are also on the earth, but as spirits. They have not forgotten who we are, and they are around us daily, tempting us and enticing us to do things that are not pleasing to our Heavenly Father. In our premortal life, we chose the right {to follow Jesus Christ and accept God’s plan.} We must continue to choose the right {follow Jesus Christ} here on earth. Only by following Jesus {Him} can we return to our heavenly home.
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* Changed concept of living eternally with Jesus and our heavenly parents in the celestial kingdom:
Page 16—2009 edition; page 19—1997 edition:
By following His {the Lord’s} teachings, we can return to live with him and our heavenly parents {inherit a place} in the celestial kingdom. He was chosen to be our Savior when we all attended the great council with our heavenly parents. When he became our Savior He did his part to help us return to our heavenly home. It is now up to each of us to do our part and become worthy of exaltation.
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* Additions and deletions to the “Additional Scriptures” section:
Page 16—2009 edition; page 20—1997 edition
• Moses 4:1–4; (Council in Heaven) {(Savior chosen in premortality)}
• Abraham 3:22–28 (Council in Heaven) {(Savior chosen in premortality)}
• Revelation 12:7–9, {11} (War in Heaven) {(Savior’s followers in the War in Heaven overcame Satan by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony)}
• 2 Nephi 9:6–26; 3 Nephi 27:13–20 (purpose of the Atonement)
Link to LDS.org:
https://www.lds.org/manual/gospel-principles/chapter-3-jesus-christ-our-chosen-leader-and-savior?lang=eng
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