Tuesday, September 29, 2015

A Different Jesus


2 Corinthians 11:4

“For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.”

When we want to consider whether or not Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, was truly a prophet of God and therefore what he said and what Mormonism teaches is true or false, God gives us the means to determine this.  And as I have pointed out in a previous post, Joseph Smith fails the test of a prophet that was sent by God.

As I sought to publish that previous post around the internet, I ran into a defender of Mormonism who claimed that Joseph Smith did say that Jesus came in the flesh, therefore he was a prophet of God (though he had failed the other tests):

2 John 1:7, “I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.”

Well, he had me there.  For a time.  Then it occurred to me that when Joseph Smith taught about Jesus, and when Mormonism teaches about Jesus, they aren’t talking about the same Jesus  the Bible teaches us about. 

The Jesus that Joseph Smith saw (if indeed he saw him), and that Mormonism teaches, is an imposter, a different Jesus than the Biblical Jesus.  Through the remainder of this post I will compare Mormonism’s Jesus with the Biblical Jesus.  In reading the quotes about Mormonism’s Jesus compared with the Biblical Jesus, you will see that the Biblical Jesus is real and Mormonism’s Jesus is different and an imposter.

First, I’ll give you a quick summary of Mormonism’s Jesus and then a quick summary of the Biblical Jesus.  I’ll then follow that with quotes from Mormonism concerning their Jesus and quotes from the Bible concerning the Biblical Jesus.  To make this easier to read, the summary of Mormonism’s Jesus and their quotes on Jesus will be in blue, the summary of the Biblical Jesus and quotes from the Bible about the Biblical Jesus will be in red, and my words will be in black.

Mormonism’s Jesus was born as a spirit to God the Father and one of His wives and is the brother of Lucifer.  He worked His way to godhood.  He was and is a polygamist.  He is not able to keep His word and the darkness has the ability to overcome Him.  His blood may not atone for all of your sins.  His offer of salvation to you depends on your good works, and after all you can do, he may not be able to keep his promise.

The Biblical Jesus is God.  Everlasting.  The same yesterday, today and forever.  He was and is without sin.  Do you understand why Jesus was able to rise from the dead?  It was by the Spirit of Holiness.  Romans 1:4, “…and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.”  Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin (Romans 5:12).  Death could not hold Jesus because Jesus is without sin.  He went to the cross to pay the penalty for your sin and take it out of the way and offers to credit your account with His righteousness so that death will not be able to keep you down either.  By asking the Jesus of Scripture to apply what He did to you, you will receive the gift of eternal life.  The guarantee of eternal life.  Ephesians 1:13-14, “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.”  Everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved.  He is able to and does keep His Word.

Mormonism’s Jesus wasn’t always God:

The first spirit to be born in heaven was Jesus (Mormon Doctrine, p. 129).

•Milton R. Hunter: "Jesus became a God and reached His great state of understanding through consistent effort and continuous obedience to all the Gospel truths and universal laws" (The Gospel Through the Ages, p.51).

The Jesus of Mormonism had a beginning in heaven and progressed to become a God.

The Biblical Jesus has always been God:

John 1:1, 14, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

“The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.  We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

Isaiah 9:6

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given,

 and the government will be on his shoulders.

And he will be called

 Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

 Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

The Biblical Jesus is God, is the same yesterday, today and forever, and everlasting.  Therefore the Biblical Jesus has no beginning and has always been God.

Mormonism’s Jesus is the spirit brother of Lucifer:

Jesus and Satan are spirit brothers and we were all born as siblings in heaven to them both, (Mormon Doctrine, p. 163).

The Biblical Jesus created all things, including Lucifer:

Colossians 1:16-17, “For by Him all things were created; things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him.”

John 1:3, “Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.”

Mormonism’s Jesus was contaminated with a fallen nature and he was influenced by it:

“But while he was tabernacling in the flesh, he was more or less contaminated with fallen nature. While he was here, in a body that his mother Mary bore him, he was more or less connected with and influenced by this nature that we have received. According to the flesh, he was the seed of Adam and Eve, and suffered the weaknesses and temptations of his fellow mortals”( Journal of Discourses 6:95-96).

The Biblical Jesus is holy and without sin:

2 Corinthians 5:21, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

1 Peter 3:18, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.”

Hebrews 4:15, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet he did not sin.”

Colossians 2:9, "For in Him dwells all the fullness of deity in bodily form."

The Biblical Jesus is God.  He had no sin, was not influenced by sin and is the righteous who died for the unrighteous.  Jesus, who is the same yesterday and today and forever, being deity, did not become contaminated with a fallen nature and therefore become different.

How did the birth of Mormonism’s Jesus come about?

"The birth of the Saviour was as natural as are the births of our children; it was the result of natural action. He partook of flesh and blood--was begotten of his Father, as we were of our fathers," (Journal of Discourses, vol. 8, p. 115).

“... I believe the Father came down from heaven, as the apostles said he did, and begat the Saviour of the world; for he is the ONLY-begotten of the Father, which could not be if the Father did not actually beget him in person.... I believe the Father came down in His tabernacle and begat Jesus Christ.”

- Prophet Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, v. 1, p. 238

“Christ Not Begotten of Holy Ghost... Christ was begotten of God. He was not born without the aid of Man, and that Man was God!”

- Prophet Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, v. 1, p. 12, 1954

“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints proclaims that 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 that some Holy Being we worship as God, our Eternal Father. Jesus was not the son of Joseph, nor was He begotten by the Holy Ghost.”

- Prophet Ezra Taft Benson, The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p. 7

Mormonism’s Jesus was the result of God the Father having relations with Mary.  Mormonism’s Jesus was not begotten of the Holy Spirit.

Is this true of the Biblical Jesus?

Matthew 1:20, ‘But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.”’

Luke 1:35, “The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.”

The Biblical Jesus was begotten of the Holy Spirit.

Mormonism’s Jesus is not able to cleanse from all sin:

Jesus' sacrifice was not able to cleanse us from all our sins, (murder and repeated adultery are exceptions), (Journal of Discourses, vol. 3, 1856, p. 247).

Brigham Young said: "It is true that the blood of the Son of God was shed for sins through the fall and those committed by men, yet men can commit sins which it can never remit...there are sins that can be atoned for by an offering on the altar...and there are sins that the blood of a lamb...cannot remit, but they must be atoned for by the blood of the man" (Journal of Discourses, vol.4, p.53-54, also published in Deseret News, p.235, 1856).

•Bruce McConkie explains: "But under certain circumstances there are some serious sins for which the cleansing of Christ does not operate, and the law of God is that men must then have their own blood shed to atone for their sins" (Mormon Doctrine, p.92).

•McConkie continues: "Christians speak often of the blood of Christ and its cleansing power. Much that is believed and taught on this subject, however, is such utter nonsense and so palpably false that to believe it is to lose one's salvation. Many go so far, for instance, as to pretend, at least, to believe that if we confess Christ with our lips and avow that we accept Him as our personal Savior, we are thereby saved. His blood, without other act than mere belief, they say, makes us clean" (What the Mormons Think of Christ, p.22).

But what about the Biblical Jesus:

1 John 1:7, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”

1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

The Bible, unlike Mormonism’s teachings, tell us that the blood of Jesus purifies a person of ALL sin, and if we confess our sins God will purify us from ALL unrighteousness.

In Mormonism, you have to accept Joseph Smith as a prophet of God in order to be saved (even though Joseph Smith fails the Biblical tests to be considered a prophet of God).  This teaching, of course, usurps the authority of Christ.

There is no salvation without accepting Joseph Smith as a prophet of God (Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 1, p. 188).

No man or woman in this dispensation will ever enter into the celestial kingdom of God without the consent of Joseph Smith. From the day that the Priesthood was taken from the earth to the winding up scene of all things, every man and woman must have the certificate of Joseph Smith, junior, as a passport to their entrance into the mansion where God and Christ are"

(Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, vol. 7, p. 289)

But what does the Bible say?

Acts 4:12, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved."

1 Timothy 2:5, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus,”

There is only one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.  Mormonism’s Jesus takes a back seat to Joseph Smith.

Mormonism’s Jesus was crucified because of his belief in the plurality of wives:

Orson Pratt (LDS apostle) stated: "the great Messiah who was the founder of the Christian religion, was a polygamist...marrying many honorable wives himself…God the Father had a plurality of wives…the Son followed the example of his Father…both God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ inherit their wives in eternity as well as in time" (The Seer, p.172, 1853).

•Jedediah M. Grant (second counselor to Brigham Young) stated: "the burst of public sentiment in anathemas upon Christ and his disciples, causing his crucifixion, was evidently based on polygamy…a belief of a plurality of wives caused the persecution of Jesus and his followers" (Journal of Discourses, vol. 1, p.346).

The Biblical Jesus was crucified to pay the penalty for our sin:

Isaiah 53:5-6, “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

Mark 10:45, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends.”

1 Peter 2:24, “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”

The Biblical Jesus did not go to the cross as a result of polygamy or polygamous beliefs.  He went to the cross to bear your sin, to lay down His life as a ransom for you.

At the following link we can see that Mormonism teaches that the true church of Jesus was lost from the earth and that  Joseph Smith is greater than Mormonism’s Jesus:


People changed his teachings so that the true Church was lost.”

From these scriptures, we can learn that Jesus restored the true Church through Joseph Smith.”

 

"Jesus made his appearance on the earth in the meridian of time, and he established his kingdom on the earth. But to fulfill ancient prophecies the Lord suffered that kingdom to be uprooted; in other words, the kingdoms of this world made war against the kingdom of God, established eighteen centuries ago, and they prevailed against it, and the kingdom ceased to exist. The great beast that John saw made war with it and prevailed against it, and human institutions, without prophets or inspired men, usurped the place of the ancient kingdom of God."

LDS Apostle Orson Pratt Journal of Discourses 13:125

Really?  The kingdoms of this world made war against the Kingdom of God and prevailed against it?  Impossible.  Unless you’re thinking of a different Jesus.  John 1:5, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.”  The darkness can never prevail against the light.

“I have more to boast of than ever any man had. I am the only man that has ever been able to keep a whole church together since the days of Adam. A large majority of the whole have stood by me. Neither Paul, John, Peter, nor Jesus ever did it. I boast that no man ever did such work as I. The followers of Jesus ran away from Him; but the Latter-day Saints never ran away from me yet"

(Joseph Smith, History of the Church, vol. 6, p. 408-409)

Such boastful words!

But the Biblical Jesus holds all things together by the power of His Word.  And the Spirit of Christ tells us that the church would continue throughout all generations.

Ephesians 3:20-21, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,  to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

Hebrews 1:3, “The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”

The Biblical Jesus holds all things together by the power of His Word and has made sure the church was never lost from the earth.

Mormonism’s Jesus takes a back seat to Joseph Smith and Brigham Young:

"What the world calls 'Mormonism' will rule every nation. Joseph Smith and Brigham Young will be the head. God has decreed it, and his own right arm will accomplish it."

LDS Apostle Orson Hyde  Journal of Discourses 7:53

But the Jesus of the Bible is the head over all things:

Colossians 1:18, “And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.”

Ephesians 1:22, “And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church,”

Ephesians 5:23, “For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.”

Colossians 2:10, “…and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;”

And if you still have questions as to whether or not Mormonism follows a different Jesus than the Jesus of the Scriptures, read on:

“As a church we have critics, many of them. They say we do not believe in the traditional Christ of Christianity. There is some substance to what they say” (Gordon Hinckley, “We look to Christ,” Ensign (Conference Edition), May 2002, p. 90).

“It is true that many of the Christian churches worship a different Jesus Christ than is worshipped by the Mormons or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” (Bernard P. Brockbank, “The Living Christ,” Ensign (Conference Edition), May 1977, p. 26).

"In bearing testimony of Jesus Christ, President Hinckley spoke of those outside the Church who say Latter-day Saints 'do not believe in the traditional Christ.' 'No, I don't. The traditional Christ of whom they speak is not the Christ of whom I speak. For the Christ of whom I speak has been revealed in this the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times. He together with His Father, appeared to the boy Joseph Smith in the year 1820, and when Joseph left the grove that day, he knew more of the nature of God than all the learned ministers of the gospel of the ages.'" (LDS Church News Week ending June 20, 1998, p. 7)

2 Corinthians 11:4, “For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.”

Is that you?  Do you put up with an imposter, a different Jesus?  This Jesus of Mormonism is not the Scriptural Jesus. 

John 16:7-9, “But I tell you the truth:  It is for your good that I am going away.  Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.  When He comes, He will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment:  In regard to sin, because men do not believe in me…”

If you have followed the Mormon Jesus, then you have not been believing in the Biblical Jesus, the true Jesus.  Considering the evidence, it’s time for you to reject Mormonism’s false Jesus and embrace the Biblical Jesus.  It’s time to stop following this “different Jesus” and to follow the Biblical Jesus, the Jesus who is able to save you from judgment. 

Go to the following link and learn how much Jesus did for you and His desire to save you from the coming wrath of God and how quickly He will give you the gift of eternal life, if only you’ll ask.