I've Got To Get To Bed, So Forgive My Not Giving A Proper, Thoughtful, Full Response. I'd Like To Say

I've got to get to bed, so forgive my not giving a proper, thoughtful, full response. I'd like to say that I'll get back to this in the morning, but I know myself and it would be just like me to get distracted

Regardless:

I am one of the people y'all are talking about; a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints ("LDS").

I really, really appreciate this thoughtful, well-sourced doctrinal discussion. It's incredibly classy of you. I hope you will forgive me not responding in kind (with such thoughtful length and depth of consideration); again, I have an early wake up tomorrow and am already staying up too late to type this out.

Suffice to say there is so much that we agree on. I worry that as I try to type out my beliefs and share my experiences that I will fall short of expressing myself with the clarity that sacred topics deserve. In fact, that is virtually guaranteed, that I will fall short.

With patience on your end, I present my own ineloquent summary of a response:

I do believe in Jesus Christ.

C. S. Lewis had a rather lovely quote about Christianity being the light by which he sees the world. I would echo that sentiment. I feel that in my own experiences of falling short, and failing, and suffering and mourning (as one does in life), I have come to, at least in a small way, forge a real relationship with Him. Jesus Christ, His Atonement, and His grace has made all the difference in my life.

(I have a strong idea of the sort of person I would have become without Him; suffice to say she would have made herself and all around her miserable, and we're all better off without her ever having existed).

I suppose I cannot decide for everyone what the ultimate, true-iest definition of "Christian" is. I do however think that at least for myself, since I have been so changed and uplifted by Him, and I sure do intend to keep trying to be changed by Him, that I will keep on thinking of and calling myself a Christian.

The LDS Church is not Christian because their beliefs about God and salvation do not line up with the Scriptures, the divinely inspired and inerrant Word of God.

Joseph Smith was approached by an angel, claimed to have been given tablets and wrote the Book of Mormon from them, and said he was told to restore the one, true church that was lost for around 1,800 years.

The LDS Church believes that Jesus is separate from God the Father, that God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit are not one God but 3 totally separate persons. A lot of bible believing churches will use the language of one God, 3 persons and will refer to Jesus as being fully God and fully man. The LDS Church, however, does not say that. Instead, they say:

We believe Jesus is the Son of God the Father and as such inherited powers of godhood and divinity from His Father, including immortality, the capacity to live forever. While He walked the dusty roads of Palestine as a man, He possessed the powers of a God and ministered as one having authority, including power over the elements and even power over life and death. https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/what-mormons-believe-about-jesus-christ

The implication is that Jesus is not, in fact, one with the Father as the Bible says.

John 1: 1-5 ESV

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it

In this passage, and throughout John and the rest of the Gospels and the New Testament, Jesus is referred to as being one with God and God himself. And if Jesus and God the Father are of the same nature, the Spirit is of the same nature as them and is one with them as well.

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭3‬:‭17‬ ‭ESV‬‬

This, and the entire work and ministry of Jesus, contradicts the idea that Jesus came into being separately from God the Father, and that the Spirit is a separate entity altogether, which is part of the message that Joseph Smith received from the angel.

The LDS Church also believes that we must work to our own salvation before God will save us.

The Lord cannot save men in their sins but only from their sins - Spencer Kimball, Miracles of Forgiveness, pg166

For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do. - 2 Nelphi 25:23

This is in direct contradiction to the belief that we are saved through faith alone.

Ephesians 2: 8-9 ESV

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Romans 5: 6-8

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Throughout the Bible - Old and New Testaments - the fact that we are not saved through our own works, or anything we can do, is forefront in the plan of salvation. The Israelites were instructed to perform continuous sacrifices to remain in right standing with God. God continually saved Israel from their enemies. Paul and New Testament writers continually talk about the fact that we cannot save ourselves from our sin at all. We cannot even work to be saved. It is God alone, and God alone, who saves us.

The unity of God, otherwise known as the Trinity, and saving power of God are central aspects of Christianity. The "Gospel" that the LDS Church teaches is a false gospel, distorting God's Word and God himself.

There is a true Gospel and it has been around for over 2,000 years. Jesus, Son of God and God himself, lived a perfect life as fully man and fully God, fulfilled the Law and the Prophets, suffered and died as a complete and total sacrifice for our sins. He rose again 3 days later, according to the scriptures, and offers us eternal life and salvation, resulting in the perfect resurrection and restoration of our bodies when he comes back.

My friends, I pray for all who are being lead away from Christ by the LDS Church and I ask you to pray for them as well. They deserve our love and compassion and they deserve to know the truth. The Bible is the true Word of God and has been preserved, along with the Church, for our salvation and for us to develop a relationship with God.

And to any members of the LDS church who read this, I want you to know that I want only the best for you. I want you to know the truth of God. And, finally, I ask that you read the Bible and compare it with what you’ve been taught by the LDS Church, because you will find differences. Ask questions. Of the Bible and of the LDS teachings.