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Knowing the Real Jesus By Pastor Doug Cox In Matthew 7:15 Jesus gives
the warning ÒBeware of false prophets which come to you in sheepÕs
clothingÉ.Ó In Matthew 24:11 He
says ÒÉmany false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many,Ó and in Matthew
24:24 the warning Òthere shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and
shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they
shall deceive the very elect.Ó Reared in Mormonism I was
totally comfortable with the image of Christ I had been taught. I had no idea anything was amiss. After all Jesus was part of our life.
His name was used in our prayers and posted on the sides of our church
buildings. However a time was
coming to my life where my whole belief system and concept of faith would be
challenged by what seemed at first to be little differences about who Jesus
really is. In this vortex of time
I found that little things do in fact make a big difference. In this article I will share
differences between the Mormon Jesus and the Jesus of the Bible. It is vital that people be aware of
these subtle yet threatening differences.
The Apostle Paul writes in 2nd Corinthians 11:3 ÒÉI fear, lest by any
means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should
be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.Ó Christians must know that the financially powerful, well
organized ÒChurch of Jesus Christ of Latter Day SaintsÓ is on the move to fit
into main stream Christianity as if they carried the same simple gospel message
Christ intended. Yet both their message
and their Christ are counterfeits. It is said that knowing what
is real is the best way to identify what is counterfeit. ThatÕs one reason IÕm
not in Mormonism any longer. My
wife Jana had been taught by her grandma about the real Jesus and also had some
vacation Bible school under her belt, so when we began our venture into the
spiritual darkness of Mormonism, she was able to identify that there were some
things that were conflicting to the beliefs she was taught as a child. Thankfully she had the courage and
sense to hold on to those things and not give in to the new and strange ideas. In John 5:39-40 Jesus tells
the Pharisees Òyou diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by
them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me,
yet you refuse to come to me to have life.Ó(NIV) Christianity, unlike Mormonism finds its understanding of
Who Jesus is through the Old Testament scriptures. Everything from His supernatural birth, to His place of
birth is recorded there in detail including the means of His suffering and
crucifixion along with many other important identifying elements of His life,
including the resurrection. The Old Testament reveals who Christ is so that we
can come to Him once we identify Him as Lord (John 1:11-12). Sadly the Pharisees let their
traditions; their pride and power get in the way of having the real Jesus. Because of that many of them died in
their sins, separated from God (John 8:24). Mormons too want to hold on to their traditions. Like the Pharisees they have their own
ideas about who Jesus is.
Unfortunately wrong ideas can keep people, like they did me, from a
precious and vital relationship with God. Following are some
comparisons between the Mormon Jesus and the Jesus of the Bible. The Book of Mormon says in
Alma 7:10 that Jesus was born in Jerusalem. The Bible says in Micah 5:2 that the Everlasting One, Jesus,
would be born in Bethlehem, a small seemingly insignificant town of Judah. This discrepancy should cause any
serious seeker to know that something isnÕt right. Mormons believe God is an
exalted man and that he became God through good works and obedience to his
God. Their famous saying is Òas
man is - God once was, as God is - man may becomeÓ. This quote by their Apostle Bruce R. McConkie summarizes
what serious Mormons really believe about God and themselves. They are on a quest to someday be a god
themselves. In Christianity we know the position is filled and agree with
Isaiah 44:8 ÒÉis there a God beside me? Yea, there is no God; I know not anyÓ. Mormons believe that God, as
a man, came down and had sexual relations with Mary to conceive Jesus and that
Jesus Himself had wives (The Seer pages 158-159). This was taught early in the church and is not something
they promote heavily now. These
erroneous Mormon teachings were ploys to convince people that polygamy was
GodÕs will. Of course this too
contradicts what the Bible teaches about God. It John 4:24 Jesus tells us
ÒGod is a SpiritÓ and in Luke 1:34-35 and Mt. 1:18-23 we find that Jesus was
conceived by a virgin and by the Holy Ghost. Mormonism also teaches that
Jesus and Satan are brothers. It
is part of their doctrine of eternal progression. They believe all humans were first born as spirit babies in
heaven to the Heavenly Father through one of his many wives and then grew up as
spirits in heaven. Jesus, the
first born and Lucifer were among these spirit children. Both Jesus and Lucifer presented a plan
of salvation to God the Father for the earthly world to come. God the Father liked Jesus plan and
rejected LuciferÕs. He then
rebelled along with many other spirit children and all were cast out as fallen
angels. Jesus was then chosen to
come and show us how to live for God and shed his blood for the atonement of
all mankind. Their belief is that
all mankind is saved and have eternal life and that there is no hell. Those who leave the Mormon Church go to
outer darkness. The Bible clearly teaches us
that Jesus created all things including the angels. Jesus canÕt be SatanÕs brother and his Creator. (See Ps. 33:6; Heb. 11:3; Col. 1:15-17;
John 1:1-3, 14). It teaches that
Jesus is God, Who became flesh (John 1:1-3, 14; 2nd Cor. 5:19) to die on the
cross for our sin to give us eternal life so we donÕt have to go to hell. We can see there are obviously great
differences between their Jesus and the Bible Jesus. In closing I want you to know how thankful I am to be born again and off the treadmill of works. Because of my wifeÕs persistence and the fervent prayers of people from churches like ÒWord of LifeÓ I have been delivered from Mormonism and know the grace and saving power of the real Jesus. Please have compassion for people bound in these false teachings and pray for them. Witness to them as the Apostle Paul says Òspeaking the truth in loveÓ and believe that they too, as I did, will discover the true Jesus of the Bible. For a deeper study and understanding of Mormonism visit |