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Saturday, November 12, 2011

Will the real Jesus please come forward?

     You may think the title of this blog is weird, please let me explain. Due to a conversation I had with a friend of mine, I planned to do this blog to clarify some things. During this conversation, he answered a question I had asked him. The question was. "Is the Jesus of the LDS Church, Jehovah's Witnesses and Muslims the same as the Traditional Biblical Jesus (i.e. the same as what Baptists, Methodists, so on)?" He stated yes the Jesus of these various religions is the same as what Baptists believe. 
      I would like to list the view of the Church of LDS concerning their Jesus:

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'" (LDS Church News, week ending June 20, 1998, p.7).
"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" (LDS Seventy Bernard P. Brockbank, Ensign, May 1977, p.26 ).
"The First Presidency of the Church has written, 'God the Eternal Father, whom we designate by the exalted name-title Elohim,' is the literal Parent of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and of the spirits of the human race" (Messages from the First Presidency 5:26).

Here is a quote that states that jesus had to become a god, meaning he did not start out as God. 
"He is the Firstborn of the Father. By obedience and devotion to the truth he attained that pinnacle of intelligence which ranked him as a God, as the Lord Omnipotent, while yet in his pre-existent state" (Mormon Doctrine, 1966, pg. 129). Notice how it says he became "a" god. You may ask then how many gods are there according to the LDS teachings?

 Brigham Young, "Sin is upon every earth that ever was created ... Consequently every earth has its redeemer, and every earth has its tempter; and the people thereof, in their turn and time, receive all that we receive, and pass through all the ordeals that we are passing through" (Journal of Discourses 14:71-72). 

Consider also the fact that Young taught, "How many Gods there are, I do not know, But there never was a time when there were not Gods and worlds, and when men were not passing through the same ordeals that we are passing through. That course has been from all eternity, and it is and will be so to all eternity" (Journal of Discourses 7:333). 

So according to their leaders there are untold numbers of gods and redeemers (Jesus). Does this sound like the Biblical Jesus and God? Let's look at the Biblical Jesus.

I. DIVINE NAMES ARE GIVEN TO HIM.
  1. He is Called God. John 1:1—"The Word was God." Heb. 1:8—"But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever." John 1:18—"The only begotten Son (or better "only begotten God")." Absolute deity is here ascribed to Christ. John 20:28-"My Lord and my God." Not an expression of amazement, but a confession of faith. This confession accepted by Christ, hence equivalent to the acceptance of deity, and an assertion of it on Christ's part. Rom. 9:5—"God blessed forever." Tit. 2:13—"The great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." 1 John 5:20—"His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God." In all these passages Christ is called God.
  2. He is Called the Son of God. The references containing this title are numerous. Among others see Matt. 16:16, 17; 8:29; 14:33; Mark 1:1; 14:61; Luke 1:35; 4:41. While it may be true that in the synoptic Gospels Jesus may not be said to have claimed this title for Himself, yet He unhesitatingly accepted it when used of Him and addressed to Him by others. Further, it seems clear from the charges made against Him that He did claim such an honor for Himself. Matt. 27:40, 43—"For he said, I am the Son of God." Mark 14:61, 62 —"Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed" (Luke 22:70—"Art thou then the Son of God? And Jesus said, I am." In John's Gospel, however, Jesus plainly calls Himself "the Son of God" (5:25; 10:36 11:4). Indeed, John's Gospel begins with Christ as God: "The Word was God," and ends with the same thought: "My Lord and my God" (20:28). (Chapter 21 is an epilogue.)

According to the verses above we see that Jesus IS THE GOD (just one), He never had a beginning or ending. We also see that the Bible states that Jesus is THE SON OF GOD, meaning the only one, not untold numbers.

So the question is when we hear the Bible says "9That if thoushalt confess with thy mouth theLord Jesusand shalt believe in thineheart that God hath raised him fromthe deadthou shalt be saved.. " Romans 10.8" we have to ask which Jesus? This verse is not talking about the Jesus of the LDS Church but the one taught about in the Word of God. These two "Jesus' are NOT THE SAME."

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