As you’re getting to know your new friend, they mention that they are a Mormon (part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS)). You ask them about their beliefs, and they say, “Oh, Mormons are Christians too. We believe in the same Jesus.” However, as the day goes on, the way they talk about Jesus seems off, even though it sounds right.
Is my Mormon friend a Christian? Let’s discuss it.
There are a plethora of views and beliefs that make Mormons and Christians separate. However, their answer to the simple question “Who is Jesus Christ?” effectively does not make them a Christian.
A Mormon will say that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, took our sins on the cross, and rose again on the third day. Without further thought, Christian and Mormon beliefs sound the same. However, just like homophones (‘no’ and ‘know’) sound exactly the same, they mean entirely different things. Christians know Jesus as the Son of God. Mormons know Jesus as a son of God. Big difference. The similar-sounding terminology makes evangelistic conversations with Mormons tricky. However, just focusing on the answer to “Who is Jesus Christ?” will reveal one of, if not the biggest, fundamental differences between Christians and Mormons, making them distinct and separate.
In LDS theology, Jesus Christ had to earn his divinity; he had to follow all the ordinances and commandments to become a god. A Christian may be thinking, “How do they get that from the Bible?” However, when looking at Mormon beliefs, they have various authorities and scriptures besides the Bible, like their prophets, the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. And from those authorities and their scriptures, a very different Jesus emerges.
For example, in Doctrine and Covenants section 93, it describes the nature of Jesus Christ and how he progressed in his fulness, or in his divinity, saying, “... I, John, saw that he [Jesus] received not of the fulness at the first, but received grace for grace…” (D&C 93:12). In the Mormon religion, Jesus was not always God but had to earn it!
Well then, one might be asking, if he isn’t in the Triune Godhead as the Bible depicts (Deut. 6:4; Isa. 43:10, 44:8; Jn. 1:1-3, Jn. 8:58, Jn. 10:30; 1 Cor. 8:4; Col. 1:16-17; Tit. 2:13 and more), what was Jesus, to a Mormon, before he earned his godhood?
Jesus Christ, in Mormon theology, is a son of God, a spirit child of God. He had to receive grace for grace; he had to exalt to godhood because he was a spirit child, just as Mormons claim we were. A natural question then comes about when using the Mormon framework: “If Jesus Christ is a spirit child, like I am, can I exalt and become a god?” Joseph Smith, the religion’s founder, in one of his most popular sermons, says, “You have got to learn how to be a god yourself in order to save yourself— to be priests & Kings as all Gods [have] done— by going from a small degree to another from exaltation to exaltation…” (qtd. in Clayton 14). The Mormon doctrine of becoming a god is called exaltation, and it is very unbiblical, yet it is what they strive for. There are many verses in their scriptures that talk about proving yourself and are works-focused (Doctrine and Covenants 98:12-15; 124:55; Book of Mormon Alma 12:14; 5:15; Mosiah 3:24; 16:10). They believe in Jesus Christ dying for our sins. However, for a Mormon, salvation does not end with faith in Jesus Christ. After putting their trust in him, they believe that they have to follow all the necessary commandments and ordinances to make it to the highest heaven (the Celestial Kingdom) to earn godhood.
With Christ’s nature and identity changed, a Mormon cannot have assurance in their salvation, especially because of the proclamation in Doctrine and Covenants 82:7: “…I, the Lord, will not lay any sin to your charge; go your ways and sin no more; but unto that soul who sinneth shall the former sins return, saith the Lord your God.” In striking contrast, a Christian can have assurance in their faith because of the work and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We can be confident in our faith because of who Jesus Christ is. He didn’t have to earn godhood. He is God, very God, which makes Him qualified to take on our sins! There is beauty in God, our Lord Jesus Christ, giving Himself for us. In Delighting in the Trinity, written by Michael Reeves, he describes the beauty of the Trinity and says, “However, when the Triune God gives his word, he gives us his very self, for the Son is the Word of God, the perfect revelation of his father… This God does not give us something that is other than himself; he actually gives us himself” (Reeves 80). How beautiful is God’s love for us! Furthermore, Paul says in Romans 5, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God” (Rom. 5:1-2, emphasis mine). There is no striving for salvation in the Christian faith, but a heart of gratitude and servitude to the One who saved us.
Then how do I share the gospel with a Mormon, you may ask, if it sounds like we’re saying the same thing? How can I show the differences in our beliefs? Just like we did in this post, start by asking them, “Who is Jesus Christ?” As you can see, this question is a simple yet powerful start to a great evangelistic conversation. If a conversation does start, speak the truth in love (Eph. 4:15), be prepared to give an answer for the hope you have (1 Pet. 3:15), and pray for their salvation. We desire that those of the Latter-Day Saint/Mormon religion come to a saving faith in the true Jesus Christ and rely solely on Him for their salvation.
Resources:
Clayton, William. “Discourse, 7 April 1844, as Reported by William Clayton.” Journal entry recording Joseph Smith’s discourse, April 7, 1844, p. 14. The Joseph Smith Papers, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/discourse-7-april-1844-as-reported-by-william-clayton/1.
Reeves, Michael. Delighting in the Trinity: An Introduction to the Christian Faith. IVP Academic, 2012.
The Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/bc/content/shared/content/english/pdf/language- materials/34404_eng.pdf. PDF.
Written by Grace Morris