by Jeff Spencer "WHO DO MEN SAY THAT I AM?"
Nearly two-thousand years have passed since the day Jesus questioned His disciples about the thoughts of men concerning His identity. On the road with His disciples that day, Jesus found out that there was already a wide range of opinions concerning who He really was. The fundamental pattern that He discovered was that the men of the world had come to erroneous conclusions while His followers knew His true identity. This pattern continues in the world today. His followers claim that He is the Son of the living God. He is God Almighty, the eternal Second Person of the Trinity who has taken on the additional nature of man. Jesus is the God-Man, who humbled Himself to the position of a servant, lived a perfect, sinless life, died on the cross for the sins of the world, and resurrected in victory over sin and death. He ascended to heaven where He is now enthroned at the right hand of the Father. Consequently, He freely offers eternal life to those who simply believe that He is the Christ (John 3:16; John 4:10; John 20:31; Eph. 2:8-9; 1 John 5:13; Rev. 22:17). On the other hand, the world offers various aberrant theories concerning the identity of Jesus of Nazareth. For example, some say that Jesus is merely legend. Others, such as the Muslims, present a Jesus that is "no more than an apostle" because God "cannot have a son." Oneness Pentecostals teach that Jesus Himself is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Jesus Seminar, a group of modern liberal "scholars," claims that Jesus is an entirely different figure than is presented in the Bible and early Christian creeds. Yet others hold that Jesus was simply a man who survived the crucifixion and, therefore, could not have risen from the dead. The list goes on and on. From the time Jesus walked the face of the earth, there never has been a shortage of aberrant theories concerning His identity. Even today many continue to re-invent the identity and redefine the work of Jesus of Nazareth. Included in this group of deviant "scholars" who have redefined Jesus are the various cults of Christianity. These are the myriad of groups who claim to be Christian, yet deny one or more of the essentials of the Christian faith. They are especially deviant regarding the person and work of Jesus Christ. With followers who number anywhere from a handful to many millions, these cults are presenting a false Jesus to the world. Since a faith is only as good as the person in whom it is put, a false Jesus means a false faith and, therefore, a false salvation, which yields eternal damnation. The Christology of Mormonism will be examined below. Mormonism decisively presents a Jesus that is far from the true Jesus. The Jesus of Mormonism will be compared and contrasted with the Jesus found in the Bible. In the midst of all the cultic theories and speculations, this activity will help the Christian and the cultist alike come to a better understanding of the true identity of the Lord Jesus Christ. In reality, there can be no more important question that needs to be answered than the one Jesus Himself asked His disciples on the road to Caesarea Philippi: "Who do you say that I am?"
THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS
The Mormon church is "unquestionably one of the largest and most influential cults in the United States. It is a multibillion dollar institution with over ten million members worldwide. The cult was founded by Joseph Smith, Jr., in 1830 in Fayette, New York after a supernatural vision which he had in 1820. The vision was one in which God the Father and Jesus appeared to young Joseph and told him to join none of the existing churches because they were all an abomination. Eventually, out of this experience, the Mormon church originated. Today, the church has approximately 45,000 full-time missionaries around the world. Their subtle lies will bring in about 1,500 new members a day-all "fair and delightsome" people that will spread the news of a false Jesus, a false gospel, and thus, a false hope.
Who do men say I am?
From its inception, the Mormon church has confessed Jesus as Lord. However, we shall soon see that the Jesus of the Mormon church is not the Jesus of the Bible. It may surprise some to hear that the Mormon church proclaims that Jesus is God. Yet, in order to discover what they mean by that statement, it is necessary to explore in brief the Mormon concept of God. By seeing what they mean when they say "God," we can gain an insight into their claims regarding the deity of Jesus. Mormonism is a polytheistic religion. The church emphatically denies this, yet, in the book Mormon Doctrine, Bruce McConkie explains that "There are three Gods-the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost." More technically, Mormonism is henotheistic, which is a form of polytheism that stresses a central God-Elohim, God the Father. The other two Gods are Jesus and Holy Ghost. These three beings, who were all once men, are the principle Gods with whom Mormons are concerned. Although there are three Gods in this world, Mormonism also teaches that there are "an infinite number of holy personages, drawn from worlds without number, who have passed on to exaltation and are thus gods." Every Mormon is promised godhood, which is being "like him (God) in all respects." Mormon apostle McConkie states that "Those who obtain exaltation will gain all power and thus themselves be omnipotent." It is through obedience to the Mormon gospel that man can become an exalted man, or God. Therefore, every God was once a man! Joseph Smith explains:
God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens!. . . I am going to tell you how God came to be God. . . you have got to learn how to be gods yourselves, the same as all gods have done before you, namely, by going from one small degree to another, and from a small capacity to a great one; from grace to grace, from exaltation to exaltation.
For the Mormon, the perfect example of a man becoming a God through obedience to the Mormon gospel is Jesus Christ. He was once a man who became God "by obedience and devotion to the truth." The Mormon church teaches that, before coming to earth, each person pre-existed in the spirit sphere as a spirit child of the Heavenly Father and Mother. This pre-existent period was an "infinitely" long period of probation, progression, and schooling. The Jesus of Mormonism is a created being who was the firstborn (Col. 1:15) among the billions of spirit children that were born to the Heavenly Parents in the pre-existence. Accordingly, the Latter-day Saints believe that Jesus is the same in essence as all the other spirit children of the Heavenly Father and Mother. The only difference between Jesus and all other spirit children, whether men, Lucifer, or demons, is a difference of degree, not essence. He is greater by his achievements and position, not by his nature, or essence. Jesus is the "Elder Brother" of all. The Mormons also teach that Jesus, through "obedience and devotion to the truth," became God, "the Lord Omnipotent, while yet in this pre-existent state." The Father ordained the gospel principles so that "Christ his Firstborn Spirit Son and all the rest of his spirit offspring could progress to salvation." There was a time when he was imperfect, and thus, had to "attain" his own salvation through obedience. Jesus is "a saved being." Thus, Jesus, the elder brother of all spirit children, is the exemplar for all his little brothers and sisters leading the way to godhood through obedience to the Mormon gospel. Furthermore, the Mormons teach that when Jesus came to earth, he was the product of a literal sexual union between the Heavenly Father and Mary. The Mormons take the term "only begotten son" in the most literal way. They teach that Jesus was "begotten by an Immortal Father in the same way that mortal men are begotten by mortal fathers." However, Mary's virginity was preserved in the physical act with the Immortal Father because He is not a mortal man. Past president and prophet of the Mormon church, Ezra Taft Benson, explains:
Jesus Christ is the Son of God in the most literal sense. The body in which he performed his mission in the flesh was sired by the same Holy Being we worship as God, our Eternal Father. Jesus was not the son of Joseph, nor was he begotten by the Holy Ghost. He is the son of the Eternal Father.
Finally, the Latter-day Saints believe that Jesus Christ is the Redeemer and Savior. His plan of salvation, utilizing the free-will of man, was chosen in the pre-existence over the plan of his spirit brother Lucifer, which was "bereft of freedom to act and agency to choose." Jesus "was then chosen to work out the infinite and eternal atonement, to come to this particular earth as the literal Son of the Father, and to put the whole plan of redemption, salvation, and exaltation in operation." In order to be saved, one must first be a member of the Mormon church. McConkie explains, "If it had not been for Joseph Smith and the restoration, there would be no salvation. There is no salvation outside the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." The acceptance of Joseph Smith as a true prophet and subsequently, the Mormon church as the true church is the first step toward an individual's exaltation. Furthermore, an individual's salvation comes by "grace coupled with obedience to laws and ordinances of the gospel." The Mormons teach that the effect of Jesus' atonement makes it possible,
for any and every soul to obtain absolution from the effect of personal sins, through the mediation of Christ; but such saving intercession is to be invoked by individual effort as manifested through faith, repentance, and continued works of righteousness.
When Christ appeared to the Nephites, his message was that none shall attain salvation, save it be those who have washed their garments in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end (3 Ne. 27:19).
The booklet, What the Mormons Think of Christ, concurs:
Salvation in the kingdom of God is available because of the atoning blood of Christ. But it is received only on condition of faith, repentance, baptism, and enduring to the end in keeping the commandments of God.
In other words, Jesus brings salvation to those who cooperate with him through their faith, repentance, complete obedience and faithfulness to the end. Those who desire to become exalted must first exercise faith in Jesus Christ, the Heavenly Father, and the Holy Ghost. Faith includes doing everything we can to bring about the things we hope and pray for." Second, the Mormon must repent of his sins so that the soul "may be cleansed and conditioned for eternal life." The signs of a true repentant person are "a conviction of guilt, a godly sorrow for sin, and a contrite spirit. He must desire to be relieved of the burden of sin, have a fixed determination to forsake his evil ways, be willing to confess his sins, and forgive those who have trespassed against him; he must accept the cleansing power of the blood of Christ as such is offered through the waters of baptism and the conferral of the Holy Ghost." McConkie further explains, "Repentance is essential to salvation; without it no accountable person can be saved." Third, the Mormon is expected to endure until the end if he wants to be exalted. This involves getting on the "straight and narrow path" by perfect adherence to the laws and commandments of the LDS church. In other words, "Full obedience to the full law is required." Only then may one progress to the celestial kingdom and begin a new level on the quest for godhood. In summary, the Jesus of Mormonism is Savior only after one becomes a member of the Mormon church, places true faith in him, cleans up his life by repenting of sins, desires to be relieved of his burden of sin, forsakes his evil ways, confesses sin, forgives others, accepts the cleansing of the blood, receives baptism, receives the Holy Ghost, gets on the straight and narrow path, perfectly adheres to the full laws and commandments, and endures to the end of his life. Nephi summed this process up when he wrote, "Be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do" (2 Ne. 25:23). We see an entirely different Jesus in the biblical record.
Who do you say that I am?
Despite the clean-cut image and excellent outreach program, the Mormon church faithfully presents a false Jesus to the world. In this next section, answers will be given that prove that the Jesus of Mormonism, who has been discussed above, is not the Jesus of the Bible.
Jesus is God
As seen above, the Mormon concept of God is entirely incompatible with the Biblical concept of God. Although they claim that Jesus is God, they affirm that he was a man who became God. This is highly problematic and utterly impossible. First, the Bible tells us Jesus is eternal (John 1:1; Rev. 1:17). Louis Berkhof defines this attribute as "that perfection of God whereby He is elevated above all temporal limits and all succession of moments, and possesses the whole of His existence in one indivisible present." Unlike the Mormon view of Him, Jesus, the Second Person of the Trinity, God the Son, had no beginning, period of growth, or end. There never was a time when Jesus did not exist as God or developed into God. Second, the Bible tells us that Jesus is immutable (Heb. 1:11; 13:8, John 8:58; ). This simply means that Jesus, in His divine essence or nature, does not change. He cannot increase because He is absolutely perfect and He cannot decrease because He would then cease to be God. He is devoid of all change, not only in His Being, but also in His perfections, and in His purposes and promises. Jesus, the Son of God, is "the same yesterday, and today, and forever"(Heb. 13:8). Therefore, the Jesus of Mormonism, who is an imperfect being that progressed through many stages and eventually reached godhood bears absolutely no resemblance to the eternal, unchanging Jesus of the Bible. The very fact that the Mormon Jesus was created and goes through change disqualifies him from becoming God, since being God means being eternal, immutable, infinite, and perfect in all attributes. The Mormon God possesses none of these qualities. Third, the Bible tells us Jesus, God the Son, is the infinite (John 1:1; Rev. 1:11). No limitation can be assigned to His essence. Consequently, He cannot be our "Elder Brother" in the way that the Mormon church claims. They claim that Jesus is the same in essence, or being, as all other spirit children and greater only in achievement and position. This is a ridiculous statement. The Biblical position on this matter is that Jesus, in essence, is an infinite Being whereas all created beings, including the Jesus of Mormonism, are finite (limited). The difference between an infinite and a finite being is infinite. A finite being cannot progress into an infinite being because it is impossible to traverse an infinite. Also, the very fact that the Mormon Jesus came into being disqualifies him from becoming infinite. Furthermore, the fact that a being can progress in any way shows that it is lacking in some perfection, thus, it is forever finite. Therefore, the difference between the Jesus of the Bible and the created, progressing, imperfect, "saved" Jesus of Mormonism is the difference between God and man-infinity. It is philosophically and mathematically impossible for the finite Jesus of Mormonism to become infinite God.
The Virgin Conception
The Mormon church teaches that the birth of Jesus came about after the Father had a literal sexual union with Mary. Therefore, Jesus is the literal "son" of God the Father. This is yet another lie forwarded by the LDS authorities that keeps Jesus nicely bound inside their theology. The Scripture, though, tells a different story. First, God the Father cannot have sexual union with Mary because He is Spirit (John 4:24), and a spirit "hath not flesh and bones" (Luke 24:39). For the Mormon position to be true, God would have to have a body of flesh and bone, which would contradict Scripture. Moreover, if God the Father had a body, He could not possibly be God, because body is limited and subject to change. However, we have already seen that God is infinite and immutable, therefore, God cannot have a body. Second, the Mormon position that Jesus was conceived by the Father flatly contradicts Scripture. Luke 1:35 distinctly tells us that Mary conceived, not by the Father, but by the Holy Spirit. The angel told Mary, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee." Also, Matthew 1:18 states, "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost." Jesus' human body was a special creation of the Holy Spirit. The perfect seed was non-sexually implanted in the womb of Mary by the Holy Spirit. Thus, Mary remained a virgin until after the birth of her Child. This is a far cry from the blasphemous Mormon claim that God the Father performed a literal sex act with Mary. Furthermore, this act would make God an incestuous polygamist and Mary a bigamist because, beside Joseph, she "had another husband [i.e., God]."
Jesus is the Savior
"What must I do to be saved?" is a crucial question that many fail to answer correctly. The Mormons, as seen above, give a long list of things that the person must do to be saved, while salvation in the Bible comes through simple belief. The main focus on salvation in Mormonism is "You must do," while salvation in Christianity is offered because "It is done." Jesus completed the work for our salvation upon the cross (John 19:30). The main difference between the Jesus of Christianity and the Jesus of Mormonism in the area of salvation is that the true Jesus saves those who simply believe in Him and the Mormon Jesus needs man to cooperate with him so that they might move toward salvation. The salvation offered by the Jesus of the Bible is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. The salvation offered by the Mormon pretender is admittedly a works oriented salvation. The Biblical proof that works have nothing to do with justification is abundant. Ephesians 2:8-10 states, "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." This is a clear statement that works are not involved in justification. Similarly, Titus 3:4-5 says, "But after that the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us." Again, righteous works are excluded from the justification of man. Furthermore, Romans 3:28 declares, "Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law." The Mormon contention that works are necessary for salvation goes against the entire Word of God. Biblically, all that is necessary for one to be justified before God is that they simply believe in Jesus Christ. The Apostle John summed up the purpose of his Gospel by stating, "But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name" (John 20:31). Many theological truths are packed into this statement. To believe that Jesus is the Christ, one is, in effect, believing that Jesus is the Anointed One sent from God, the long-awaited Messiah who has come to atone for the sins of the world. Also, implied in this concept of believing that Jesus is the "Christ" is the realization that one is a sinner in need of a Savior, and Jesus is the only one able to fulfill the role. In other words, one is trusting that Jesus, the Christ, will do what He claims-save those who believe. Likewise, one must believe that Jesus is the Son of God. "Son of God," when used of Jesus, is a term that denotes deity. This is a clear statement that one must believe in the deity of Christ to be saved. Since the purpose of John's Gospel is evangelism, it is not difficult to find several clear statements about the conditions for salvation within its pages. The only condition found is that one must believe. The term believe, pisteuo, is found 98 times in the Gospel of John, and its significance is that it is presented as a response to the revelation that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. One pastor stated it well:
"Pisteuo". . . denotes trust in something or someone. It assumes assent to the truthfulness and trustworthiness of a person or what is claimed. In John, faith is trustful reliance on Christ's promise to give eternal life to those who believe.
The Jesus of the Bible, therefore, offers a salvation that is by simple child-like faith. One need not repent, commit, submit, obey, be baptized, or join any specific church. The Jesus of the Bible offers salvation freely to those who will simply believe (John 1:12; 3:16; 5:24; 6:40; 8:24; 12:36; 14:1-4; 20:31). Revelation 22:17 states, "And the Spirit and the bride say, 'Come.' And let him that heareth say, 'Come.' And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." This free offer of salvation is a completely different offer than the spiritual bondage proclaimed by the Jesus of Mormonism. It cannot be stated strongly enough that the Jesus of Mormonism is a counterfeit Jesus. This means that their gospel is one that cannot save. The Mormon gospel is one of the many "gospels" that fall under the Apostle Paul's pronouncement of anathema in Galatians 1:8-9 (KJV):
But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preaches any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
CONCLUSION
Discernment is at an all time low in the Christian church. Because of an abysmal lack of biblical literacy, the sheep have lost the ability to distinguish between the True Shepherd and an impostor, Living Water and deadly venom, the truth and a lie. As a result, the cults, through their massive outreach programs, are pulling scores upon scores of Christians out of the true church and into false religious systems. The Apostle Peter warned the church of these deceitful disciples of the devil in 2 Peter 2:1-2:
But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.
Jesus and the Apostles commanded the Church, which had been bought with the blood of Christ, to "earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints" (Jude 3). Even though we may seem divisive and intolerant in the refutation of cultic theology,
The difference between Jesus and His cultic impostors is the difference between the truth and a lie. For the seeker, it is the difference between eternity in heaven and eternity in hell. As Walter Martin once said, "The Jesus of the cults is a poor substitute for the Incarnate God of the New Testament."
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CULTIC IMPOSTORS OF THE TRUE CHRIST
