The Golden Question

It’s astounding how many Mormons claim to be Christians but deny Christ’s word and his power. Case in point? What Mormonism believes about the extent to which Jesus forgives sins.

In August 2009, after presenting a paper titled “Your Bosom Shall Burn Within You: An Evangelical Christian Examination of the LDS Testimony” at the Sunstone Symposium in Salt Lake City, a man from the audience approached me.

“Do you believe Jesus can forgive all your sins?” he asked.

“Yes,” I replied. “All of them. The Bible says so.”

“But Matthew 12:31 and 32 say the sin against the Holy Ghost won’t be forgiven in this world or the next,” the man added. “Hebrews 6:4–6 suggests the same thing.”

“Those verses refer to people present when Christ preached and performed his miracles, who had a sure knowledge of his divinity and put him to an open shame,” I explained. “The verses don’t refer to people of our day.”

When Mormons and other religious legalists claim Jesus can’t forgive all our sins, it denies God’s consummate mercy and power. “I do know there are sins committed of such a nature,” Brigham Young claimed, “that if the people did understand the doctrine of salvation, they would tremble because of their situation. And furthermore, I know that there are transgressors, who, if they knew themselves, and the only condition upon which they can obtain forgiveness, would beg of their brethren to shed their blood” (Journal of Discourses 4:53, italics added). What a grand denial of Christ’s atonement.

I recently corresponded with an ex-Mormon who doesn’t believe in the New Testament doctrine of justification by faith. “What about a child molester or mass murderer?” he queried. “I can’t buy that he can be forgiven simply by believing in Jesus Christ as his Savior.”

However, this position limits the power of God and contradicts his word. I don’t profess that insincere confession of sin and superficial belief in Christ cleanse one from spiritual soot. But scripture testifies that when we truly confess our sins and wholeheartedly come to Christ, all our sins will be wiped away.

“ . . . If we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light,” John affirmed, “we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us” (1 John 1:7–10, italics added).

Similarly, Paul maintained, “When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, [Christ] made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions” (Colossians 2:13). And after David committed adultery with beautiful Bathsheba and had her husband, Uriah, murdered, he asked God for complete forgiveness. “Hide Your face from my sins,” he prayed, “and blot out all my iniquities” (Psalm 51:9, italics added).

  

How naive to think that what we could do supersedes Christ’s eternal sacrifice on the cross. How misleading to call yourself a Christian while denying the godly power exercised at Calvary.

Scripture avows that the work of Jesus Christ, not our own efforts, lifts man from his fallen and sinful mortal state to the joy, peace and righteousness of everlasting life. For example, Paul said the Savior abolished the need for commandments and ordinances. “For [Jesus] is our peace, who . . . broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances” (Ephesians 2:14, 15).

Consequently, peace with God, including forgiveness of all our sins, results from faith in Christ, not from our attempted obedience to laws and ordinances (Romans 5:1). Jesus eliminates all sin in believers’ lives. We can’t obey and earn the righteousness that results from faith (Romans 3:21, 22). “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” Paul wrote (Romans 8:1). And the author of Hebrews confirmed that Jesus “put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (Hebrews 9:26).

So does Christ forgive all our sins when we receive him? That’s the Golden Question. And for Christians, the answer is yes. If you don’t think so, you’re not a Christian.

Comments or questions? Write loren@gco4lds.org.

Visit our Web site at www.gco4lds.org.

Global Christian Outreach is an IRS-approved 501(c)(3) Christian ministry. We need your prayerful financial support. Donations are completely tax deductible under applicable law and help us defend and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the earth. To be part of this important work, visit www.gco4lds.org/donate.html.

Talents and Heaven

Does developing your talents help get into heaven? Throughout my ten years as an active Mormon, the LDS church said yes. Really . . . our individual abilities to act, dance, sing and play musical instruments helps determine if we receive God’s fullest blessings?

Through a biblical lens, let’s take a look.

Gospel Doctrine?

The requirement among Mormons to develop one’s talents isn’t merely the opinion of a few church leaders. The tenet is in fundamental LDS church manuals. For example, the book Gospel Principles sets the stage, explaining that “our Heavenly Father has said it is up to us to receive the gifts he has given us (see D & C 88:33). This means we must develop and use our talents” (1997 edition, p. 218).

Further linking talent to eternal life, the manual continues: “The Lord is pleased when we use our talents wisely. He will bless us if we use our talents to benefit other people and to build up his kingdom here on earth. Some of the blessings we gain are joy and love when serving our brothers and sisters here on earth. We also learn self-control. All these things are necessary if we are going to be worthy to live with our Heavenly Father again” (ibid., p. 220, italics added).

However, this is existentialism, not the gospel of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1–4).

A Parable Misunderstood

Unfortunately, as do other religious legalists, Mormons misunderstand the Parable of the Talents. The often-quoted story describes three bond servants who receive a portion of their master’s money before he leaves on a journey (Matthew 25:14–30). The amount of money is staggering. Each talent equals about 20 years of a laborer’s wages.

The first bond servant receives five talents. He garners five more and readily surrenders them to upon his master’s return. Receiving two talents, the second bond servant gains an additional two and likewise gives them to his lord. But the third bond servant, who receives only one talent, buries it in the ground and simply returns it to his master when they meet again. The first two bond servants were commended and placed “in charge over many things [and entered] into the joy of [their] master” (Matthew 25:21, 23). However, the third was condemned severely (vv. 26–30).

Bible scholar John MacArthur explains the Parable of the Talents from a biblical perspective. “A talent was a measure of weight, not a specific coin,” MacArthur writes, “so that a talent of gold was more valuable than a talent of silver. A talent of silver (the word translated ‘money’ in [Matthew 25:18] is [literally] silver) was a considerable sum of money. The modern meaning of the word ‘talent,’ denoting a natural ability, stems from the fact that this parable is erroneously applied to the stewardship of one’s natural gifts” (The MacArthur Study Bible, 2006, p. 1409)

A Parable Explained

Like many of Jesus’ analogies, the moral lesson of the Parable of the Talents is provided at its end. After describing the actions and respective fates of the three bond slaves, the Lord concludes, “For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away” (Matthew 25:29).

Commenting on verse 29, MacArthur elaborates: “The recipients of divine grace inherit immeasurable blessings in addition to eternal life and favor with God (cf. Ro 8:32). But those who despise the riches of God’s goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering (Ro 2:4), burying them in the ground and clinging instead to the paltry and transient goods of this world, will ultimately lose everything they have (cf. 6:19; Jn 12:25)” (MacArthur, p. 1410).

The Way to Life

The Bible clearly shows the way to eternal life and full favor with God—and that way is Jesus Christ—not a church, its leaders or its assumed priesthood and ordinances. “I am the way, and the truth, and the life,” the Savior sovereignly declared. “No one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6) “I am the resurrection and the life,” the Savior adds. “He who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die” (John 11:25, 26). “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved,” Paul affirmed (Acts 16:31).

Therefore, the ability to sing, dance, act, paint a picture and play the piano is irrelevant.

 Comments or questions? Write loren@gco4lds.org.

Visit our Web site at www.gco4lds.org.

Global Christian Outreach is an IRS-approved 501(c)(3) Christian ministry. We need your prayerful financial support. Donations are completely tax deductible under applicable law and help us defend and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the earth. To be part of this important work, visit www.gco4lds.org/donate.html.