Sunday, 19 April 2009

• In response to newguy153@xanga :
  
  I think you're absolutely right on many of the points you mentioned, and I too, do not doubt the sincerity of your heart in what you believe.  I also agree that our sincerity has nothing to do with truth because truth exists no matter what we believe or how sincere we are about it.  One can be just as sincere in believing lies as they can in believing truth and not know the difference.  However, I also believe that in order to discover or find truth we must search with an open mind because if we limit ourselves to what we want to hear then we may never come to the full knowledge of truth.
  
  If you are happy in what you believe, and the church you attend brings you joy in your heart, peace in your soul, and comfort in your needs, then by all means, embrace it and enjoy it.  Like I said, many churches do a lot of good in the world and many have saved people from a life of drugs, crime, poverty, and death.  That they do a lot of good in the world, I have no doubt.
  
  But to me, it's kind of like going to a banquet where there's turkey, pot roast, ham, cakes, pies, vegetables, and all other kinds of food that will feed and nourish us. We can pick and choose from whatever we want to eat, and even though the food is good there still seems to be something missing.  The turkey has no stuffing, the pot roast is dry, the ham has no glaze, the cakes are without frosting, the pies are skimpy on the filling, the vegetables have no seasoning, etcetera.  Then I go to another banquet where turkey is stuffed full of dressing with all the trimmings, the pot roast is so moist and tender it falls apart in the broth and juices it was cooked in.  The ham has the most delicious glaze I've ever tasted, the cakes are elegantly decorated with the finest of frostings, the pies are bursting with filling, and the vegetables are perfectly seasoned so as to bring out the best of flavor.
  
  I have been where you are, and I do understand where you're coming from, really I do. But I also realize the reality of things by the research I've done on the history of Christianity.  Things are not consistent and as I've pointed out, there are many things that contradict each other, things that the majority of Christian pastors cannot explain which, in my opinion, if they had the gift of the Holy Ghost they should be able to explain and all agree upon the same thing as the apostles taught.  We cannot single out or pick and choose whatever scriptural verses we want to believe and ignore the rest. This is the point I'm trying to make. God is the same now as He was back then, He is a living God, not a dead one who will never intervene or interact with His children again.  To say that He will never speak again or that the heavens are closed and there will never be prophets or new revelations ever again means that He is NOT the same God.  That thinking is a limitation that men have placed on God because of their own ignorance in not understanding the scriptures, which is why they argued and debated over things while compiling these writings.
  
  From the very beginning God has always spoken to men, even when mankind fell through Adam He continued to communicate to men through His chosen servants, prophets and later apostles, and others who were called, ordained, and set apart to do His work.  He has said that He would do nothing except it be through these servants the prophets.  Proverbs 29:18 also points out that where there is no vision (revelations) the people perish.  If you have read the Bible over and over again I would think that you would discover that the only times that God has turned His head and left people to themselves, is when they were NOT keeping His laws and commandments, when they were NOT obedient to His words, but instead, followed after their own will and desires.  These are the only times that He did NOT speak to them because they were disobedient.
  
  Again, what were they doing when they were arguing and debating over the doctrines?  They were NOT following the counsel of Paul, Peter, and the other prophets when they were warning the saints of these of these things and to not follow after these vain teachings; in other words, they were disobedient to the counsel of the apostles, they ignored the promptings of the Spirit, and followed after their own desires.  The apostles of God were all killed, men continued to debate over doctrines, even daring to make changes to them to suit their own greedy agendas for power and status in the eyes of the world.  This again is documented history by many traditional Christian authors, not LDS ones.  Because of this disobedience, the power and authority of God was withdrawn and men were again left to themselves, only this time, it was to be for a long period of time; no more prophets, no more revelations.  This has been the state of the world ever since and is why there are so many different denominations, each following after their own beliefs and desires according to how THEY interpret the scriptures.  But again, without the Spirit of God, or the gift of the Holy Ghost, the true meaning of the scriptures cannot be interpreted by men because without the Spirit they are unable to discern spiritual things.
  
  Imagine that you have a couple of teenagers of your own.  They want to go out with their friends to a party at one of their houses.  Some of these friends are rather wild and you don't approve of them so what do you do?  You lay down some rules; the party has to be supervised by an adult, they can go if there's no alcohol consumption or drugs, etc., they need to be home by midnight, and so on.  Let's say that your kids decide not to follow your rules and they end up drinking and doing foolish things, and someone gets killed because your child drove home while intoxicated.  You may be angry, and your kid must pay the consequences for his behavior and actions even if he is sorry for disobeying you.  He is still responsible for his own actions and must be held accountable for them, whether or not he realizes he was wrong and is sorry for them. 
  
  Now just because he disobeyed you and did something really terrible, does this mean you are going to be angry with him forever, never speaking to him again, never forgiving him.  Maybe some parents would.  But I can tell you this; I know that God, who is more loving than any of us are capable of, whose ways and thoughts are higher than our own; will NOT remain silent forever.  He may have been angry because of our disobedience, because we not only killed his Son, but also those whom he has sent to teach us by revelation (his prophets and apostles), but He will not leave us to ourselves forever.  He has ALWAYS spoken to men and who's to say He will never speak again?  I know He's a forgiving, loving, God and is perfectly able to speak again when HE wants to speak.  And He has said He would do nothing except through his servants, the prophets (Amos 3:7).  This is how He has ALWAYS communicated to men, especially after the death of Christ.  This is the purpose of a prophet, to act as a mouthpiece for God.  Without prophets, without vision and revelation, the world will perish.
  
  The atonement of Christ covers two things.  The DEATH of the Savior and the RESURRECTION of the Savior.  Traditional Christianity combines these two events into one and mistakenly teaches that we are saved from our sins and can automatically enter the kingdom of God because of it. This causes contradictions of scripture; they cling to the verses that say we are saved if we believe, yet totally ignore everything else that Christ taught regarding the fact that we will be judged according to our works.  There is no harmony in this and it causes confusion and misinterpretations.  The true meanings were lost during the debates and arguments after the apostles and surviving members were killed.  This is why there had to be a restoration of truth, the full truth, not just parts of it. They were essential to our eternal salvation and without the fullness of truth we cannot be saved.
  
  Part of the atonement covers the resurrection of Christ.  Because he was resurrected and lives again, we too, will be able to overcome death.  This is what we are saved from, DEATH; this is his free gift of grace to us; because he overcame death and was resurrected, we will also be resurrected thus overcoming death and live once again.  It is mentioned in the Bible that this free gift is given to ALL men both good and evil, not just to believers in Christ.  This is another error that we have been taught through the "traditions" of our forefathers; that only the believers are saved.  We are all saved from death and will have eternal life.  What TYPE of eternal life we'll have (HOW we'll live in the eternities) depends entirely upon us.  This is where the judgment comes into play after the resurrection.  We will live an eternal life of glory of some sort, or we will live an eternal life of damnation.
  
  The part of the atonement that covers the death of Christ is conditional.  Yes, he did indeed die for our sins . . . IF we would come unto him, IF we would follow him, IF we continue to keep and obey the commandments of God; THAT is the condition upon which our sins are covered; IF we believe, we will obey, period.  "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man." (Ecclesiastes 12:13).  Christ's death and resurrection are two different events, and each is covered in separate ways in the atonement.  THIS is the new and everlasting COVENANT of which Christ and his apostles speak of.  IF we believe in Jesus Christ we will enter into this new and everlasting covenant in which WE promise to not only repent of our sins (by no longer committing them), but to also keep and obey his laws and commandments and to continue living in righteousness.  In return our sins will be covered by the atonement of Christ.  This is a two-way covenant; we make a promise to do something to the Lord, and we receive a promise from him in return.  This is why the scriptures state that the only sins we are forgiven of are the ones that we have forsaken, and that if we continue in sin while knowing it's a sin then there is no atonement for that sin. (Romans 3:5; Hebrews 10:26).
  
  Everything I have stated is in the Bible and it doesn't cause contradictions, but rather it fills in the missing pieces to bring everything together in harmony so that there is no longer any more contradictions. This is why prophets and continuing revelations are necessary . . . to correct the mistakes of men who erred in their understanding of the scriptures and taught according to their own knowledge and learning.
  
  The difference is . . . while these early philosophers took it upon themselves to interpret the scriptures they were not inspired by the Spirit of God because they had not received the Spirit of God by the laying on of hands of those with authority.  They instead disobeyed the counsel of the apostles and went on to debate and argue over the doctrines after being warned NOT to.  The power and authority of God (His holy priesthood and the power of the Holy Ghost) were withdrawn from the earth because of the disobedience and unrighteousness of men.  If left in this state forever the whole world would perish.  Because God had not spoken since, we have been taught that He would NEVER speak again.  We have been given partial truths for centuries, but we cannot be saved without the fullness of truth and the saving ordinances that are required.  These things had to be restored by divine intervention because there was no one left on the earth who had the power and authority to act in the name of God.  That is something that one cannot just take upon himself, but God will choose whom He will choose, and just like in the ancient days, he does not choose the wise and learned men of the world because they are too caught up in their own wisdom and pride, but he chooses those who are insignificant in the world, the unlearned, the humble and meek.
  
  Joseph Smith, on the other hand, was not seeking for his own followers, he was merely trying to find out which of the existing churches he should join. Because of the sincerity of his heart and other reasons known only to God, he was chosen to lay the foundation for the restoration of all things that had been lost because of the disobedience and errors of men. This event was also prophesied of in the Bible (Acts 3:21; Matthew 17:11).  He, like the apostles of old, was not chosen by men, he did not take it upon himself to do this work, but he was chosen, called, and ordained by God because of the sincerity of his heart and the humbleness of his soul.  This is the difference between Joseph Smith and those early Christian philosophers who compiled the Bible.  They did not have the Spirit of God because they had never received it from one who had the authority to give it.  Joseph was given not only the gift of the Holy Ghost by Peter, James, and John, who restored this power and authority upon Him, but also the everlasting priesthood of Christ as well as all the keys of the kingdom to bind and seal all things on heaven and earth, just as the early apostles had.  The early philosophers used their own wisdom and knowledge to decipher the scriptures and doctrines; Joseph went to the Lord and asked him.  The early philosophers changed the doctrines and ordinances; Joseph restored them according to the requirements of God as he was prompted and taught by the Spirit (by revelation just as the ancient prophets were taught).
  
  Given the history of the Bible and the things we have been taught, I find that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints comes closer to the truth than any other church could ever hope to.  Again, everything I have stated is also in the Bible.  If you truly believe the Bible to be the word of God, then everything must be in harmony and you must also believe everything, not just the sections that you want to believe.  I'm sorry, but after thoroughly researching things, as well as praying with an open and honest heart, I can tell you that I had been prepared to die in order to find the truth, I had some very spiritual experiences that led me to this church.  If you'd like to hear about it, I'd be more than willing to share those experiences.  When a person has an open and sincere heart and is willing to give up his/her own life in order to find truth, who is WILLING to accept ANYTHING that the Lord would reveal to us instead of what we WANT to hear; then I don't believe that the Lord would lead that person astray or would allow Satan to do so as well.  There is a difference in seeking to defend our own will and desires and seeking to find God's will and desires.  The only way is truly asking God to search our own hearts, to ask what His will is, and to let go of ours no matter what they are.
  
  If you're going to base your eternal salvation on a few specific verses of the Bible that have been interpreted by men, who did not follow the counsel of the apostles, then that is certainly your right and your decision.  However, I consider my eternal salvation to be so important that it's worth investigating and researching all claims of truth, not just what we have been taught for centuries by others who claim their teachings are right.  The more research I've done, the more I'm certain that I am that we have been led astray, just based on the history of it all.  God is not a God of confusion, He wants us to know truth, He wants us to know Him, but as long as we blindly cling to traditions, we will never come to the knowledge of real truth.
  
  He sent prophets for a reason . . . to speak on His behalf through and by the power of the Holy Ghost so that we would not be deceived by the traditions of men.  He would do nothing except through the mouth of prophets whom He has called and ordained.  No one can take this power and authority upon themselves; it must be given to them by God.  When there are no prophets it's because of the wickedness of men when they refuse to listen to God, when they kill the prophets he has sent and refuse to obey the laws and commandments of God.  This has been the case for hundreds and hundreds of years, but He has promised that He would restore all things once again in the latter-days. There would be a time of refreshing when He would restore prophets once again so that the world would no longer be led astray by the teachings of men.  The power, authority, and keys of the kingdom of God have all been restored in their fullness so that we today can have the fullness of truth, the everlasting doctrines and ordinances that are necessary for our eternal salvation.  It is the final preparation before Christ comes for the last time to gather the righteous.
  
  I too, believe that this is a serious matter.  However, unlike you, I don't believe that you are going to Hell, but that you will have some degree of glory, just not the best; heck, I still may not even get the best myself despite all I've done.  But I do know that we are at least saved from death through the grace of Christ, but we must earn our own salvation in one of the many mansions which has been prepared for us.  If it were NOT true, then Christ would not have preached it all throughout his ministry and neither would his apostles.
  
  Again, I wish you the best, and while I do believe in the sincerity of your heart, I hope that you will dig in and do some more research on things because you're eternal salvation is that important too.  But with all due respect, the decision is yours and yours alone, and you can believe whatever you will.  Nothing I nor anyone else can say will compare to what you can discover on your own when you ask God in all humility of heart.  I thank you for your courage and for your willingness to share your point of view.  I think you are a wonderful person and have no doubt that you do a lot of good despite whether you believe it's necessary or not.  None of us are perfect, that's for sure, and we're all here to help one another and the more we can get along the better the world will be.  I may be LDS, but I did go to Easter Service with my husband over at the First Baptist Church because a lot of his friends (who are also my friends) attend church there and invited us.  They had a great music program and I enjoyed talking with the pastor.
  
  

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