Am I a Mormon?

Other than a great sadness that I feel when I hear his name because of how effective he has been at leading thousands astray, I generally couldn’t care less about anything Joel Osteen has to say. However, today I read an article written after he was interviewed about Mormonism and was struck as I considered the larger implications of what he was saying as essentially he said the Mormons are Christian and then of course implicit in that is that Christians must be Mormons. Due to the abject spiritual poverty that has befallen this nation many if not most are routinely taken in by the hellish doctrines espoused by charlatans given a platform by which they may more effectively disseminate their perversion. In light of this may I say in no uncertain terms, Mormonism is not Christianity nor does it have any semblance of our Lord’s holy calling. Although the LDS organization talks about Jesus, they do not bow before the promised Messiah but have only pilfered His sacred name in violation of the third commandment and attached it to their pagan sex god that supposedly bandies about the universes making “children.” This abomination dares to sully the holiness of the Creator of the universe by saying that He is nothing more than a well behaved alien that has worked His way up the “celestial corporate ladder” such that He is CEO of this universe in which He wiles away the days engaging in sex as it fancies Him for the purpose of producing “spirit children.” The first of these is purported to have been Jesus with Lucifer not far behind and all of the rest of us soon followed. This is the same repackaged chicanery offered up by every cult that acknowledges Jesus; reduce Him down to our level so we can get at Him. I would submit that we (collectively) had our chance with Him as He in His great mercy came to take on Himself that which was not His that we might have the opportunity the receive His mercy. Therefore when you hear Mitt Romney talk about Jesus you can distinguish that it is not the Jesus that you may know. There is no other antidote for what has befallen our world but for you, if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, than to know the Word of God for yourself. By this I do not mean knowing about it, oh there is plenty of talk about the Word but ignorance of it is rampant. If you are to stand for the truth then you must know it. May I encourage you to get you Bible and study to show yourself approved and be ready to give an answer for the hope that lies in you? If you have never trusted Christ as your Savior or are unsure of whether you will go to heaven when it is your turn, I will encourage you to read on. In the Bible we learn that …”all have sinned” (Romans 3:23). Sin is anything you think, say or do that breaks God’s laws. Things like lying or stealing or even having bad thoughts about someone are all sin and everyone has sinned. God has also said that there is a punishment for sin, “For the wages (or punishment) of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). That means that some day when it’s your turn you will not be able to go to heaven with God but will be separated from God forever in a place of suffering called hell. God doesn’t want you to be punished for sin because He loves you so very much. The Bible says that “God so loved the world” (John 3:16). That means that He loves you and because of that love He did something very special for you. God sent His perfect Son Jesus to be born into this world. He lived here on earth and never once sinned. One day some men put nails in His hands and feet and hung Him on a cross to die. Jesus did this to take your punishment for sin and you can have your sins forgiven because the Bible says that without the giving of blood there is no forgiveness of sin. (Hebrews 9:22) The Bible says, “As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” John 1:12 This means that you can have your sins forgiven. You need to admit to God that you have sinned and want to turn away from those sins. Believe that Jesus is God’s Son and that He died for your sins and rose again. Choose to receive Him as the Lord of your life. Right now you can simply talk to God and tell Him that this is your desire and you will be saved.

Are People Saved Who Never Heard the Gospel?

Recently I read an article by a man in a leadership position in a particular Christian organization in which he attempted to answer this question. Tragically, his response took what has become all too familiar as an alarmingly increasing number of supposed defenders of the faith have chosen to lay down arms and take what they feel is a, kinder and gentler approach. I suppose that like many in our world today uncomfortable with the forthrightness of God’s Word they seek to chip away and ignore the parts they find distasteful in a misguided and vain attempt to “Win people to Christ” without their knowing it. The effects of this strategy, which is actually antithetical to God’s clearly stated plan, are evident by the lukewarm “Churchianity” that has substituted the truth of God for a lie. In light of this pervasive slide toward anything goes, may I share God’s perspective from His Word?

God is a God of wrath and judgment!
I recognize that this does not sit well with those convinced that the contemporary American Churches biggest problem lies in better “marketing,” but if we would humbly allow God to be God and quit trying to dress Him up so He will be “respectable” that we might take Him around our friends we would actually see sinners humble themselves before Him and know that He is also merciful. Here are a few examples:
1. You do not even get three chapters into the Bible before you see the judgment of God fall upon Adam that resulted in literally billions of deaths. Every person who has ever and will ever die testifies to the fact that God judges sin!
2. Only three chapters later and we see every person on the planet killed with the exception of eight and realistically according to 2 Peter 2:5 and Hebrews 11:7 the others got to go along because of Noah’s righteousness. So one guy got saved and seven people get to ride his coattails, everyone else dies.
3. In 1 Samuel 15:3 God said through the prophet Samuel, “Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey."(NASB) God was so serious about judging the Alalekites that when Saul failed to kill everything he lost the kingdom and it was given to David.

This could go on and on; however, I trust that most people are familiar with this from the Old Testament. On the heels of this argument typically comes the rebuttal that those passages are from the Old Testament and we now have the New Testament and Jesus only taught love and forgiveness. To that I would submit that Jesus is the God of the Old Testament, in addition to the fact that God doesn’t change Mal 3:6 “"For I, the LORD, do not change”(NASB); His Word doesn’t change Ps 119:89 “Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven.”(NASB); God never changes His standards of right and wrong Ps 119:138-144 “You have commanded Your testimonies in righteousness And exceeding faithfulness. My zeal has consumed me, Because my adversaries have forgotten Your words. Your word is very pure, Therefore Your servant loves it. I am small and despised, Yet I do not forget Your precepts. Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, And Your law is truth. Trouble and anguish have come upon me, Yet Your commandments are my delight. Your testimonies are righteous forever”(NASB).

Furthermore, I would add that in the first book of the New Testament alone Jesus Himself no less than 17 times talks about the wrath and judgment of God. (Matthew 5:22, 29-30; 7:22-23; 8:12; 10:15, 28; 12:36, 41-42; 13:40-42, 49-50; 16:26; 18:34; 22:7, 13; 23:33-36; 24:50-51). We are all familiar with the theme of Revelation as being the judgments of God poured out on the world. Is there any place in that book that we find that those who were never evangelized escape judgment? The New Testament is bookended with this idea of the wrath of God and as you look through the pages you clearly see that the subject is dealt with over and over as none of the writers seek to “soften” the reality. The wrath of God is a fearful thing and they work hard to get the point across because anyone who doesn’t specifically and individually put their trust in Christ alone will fall under this judgment.

The only way out is through Christ.

I will not belabor this point as I am directing my comments toward the Church and my hope is that there would be no question about this. Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”JN 14:6 (NASB) There is no other way that Jesus taught and there is no other way that the Apostles taught. For example, in Acts 16:31 when asked by the Philippian jailer what he needed to do to be saved Paul said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (NASB) There is no other way and any insinuation that a person could be saved outside faith in Jesus Christ alone prior to death (“And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment” Heb 9:27 NSAB) is contrary to the clear teaching of Scripture.


What is it that God says?
Although there are others, I would like to submit one passage that unquestionable answers this issue and that is found in Romans 1. The theme of Romans could be summarized as being about the righteousness that comes from God through Jesus Christ. Paul opens the letter with a greeting in the first 17 verses and then in verse 18 he answers everyone’s question about what happens to anyone who has not trusted Christ as Savior when he writes, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” I really don’t know what more God could have said to make this any clearer. “wrath of God is revealed from heaven,” this is very clear as to what is coming, “wrath” and who it is from, “God.” That wrath is directed at “all” and Webster’s says of all: 1a : the whole amount, quantity, or extent of. b : as much as possible. 2: every member or individual component of. 3: the whole number or sum of. Then there’s the “ungodliness and unrighteousness,” that would be all who are not saved by “believing in the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Paul then goes on for the rest of the chapter to address the issues that will undoubtedly be brought up by people. In verse 19 we see what we already know, everyone already knows all about God because “God has shown it to them.” He has shown everyone “His invisible attributes” which are “His eternal power and divine nature” as we see explained in verse 20 meaning that there is no person who has their mental faculties that doesn’t know that there is a God and that He is all powerful. Why did He do this? Paul goes on in 20 to say He did it so that everyone is “without excuse.” So those people that are in question, the ones who have never heard, they already know and if they would respond to the light that God has given to everyone He would have made sure that they got more; just as He did with Lydia, the Ethiopian eunuch, and Candice the Queen of the Ethiopians because, “For there is no partiality with God.”(Rom 2:11NASB) However, you can know that all those people we’re talking about are no different than the ones who have heard the good news and reject it because in verse 21 we see that “although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give Him thanks.” They disregard and disrespect Him no differently than anyone else and they will be judged just like everyone else who isn’t in Christ.

We may not like it, we may not agree with it but it is a clear fact that cannot be reasonably denied. This is why it is incumbent upon us as the Body of Christ to take seriously the command to go and tell people. This is why we are here, what will you do about it?

A Call to Dogmatism

“Words mean something.” I think the first time I began to cogently reflect on the need for dogmatism was the day I heard Kirby Anderson, host of the radio show Point of View, say those words. I do not remember the exact context of that occasion, perhaps it was during a discussion on the Bible or maybe the Constitution but whatever it was those words jumped out and caught my attention like the “Hot Doughnuts Now” sign at Krispy Kreme. It is not that I had not at least obliquely thought about this from time to time but it was one of those moments when a conglomeration of stray thoughts were suddenly rounded up into one corral. Yes, words do mean something.

I am fascinated at studying cultural shifts that have taken place throughout history and how those changes have opened the door to radically different thinking. For example, there is no doubt that the life and work of Christ is unquestionably the most significant event in history to bring about a paradigm shift in human understanding. When Jesus walked out of that borrowed grave about 2,000 years ago, everything we collectively though was turned upside down and inside out and the way that we look at everything has changed because of it. There are, however, other things, all be they substantially less important, yet necessary to bring us to the point we are now. For example Alexander’s conquering of the known world, the bubonic plague, the invention of the printing press, and the list could go on. With each of these things people saw the world very differently after the experience and in some cases it was for the better and in others perhaps not so much. Another of those shifts in thinking that was certainly momentous at its time but has also grown in its impact through the years is Darwin’s fable of evolution. For so many this tale became a watershed moment when random hopes of there not being a Creator to whom they will answer were collectively brought together in one, albeit silly argument, but an argument nonetheless. Of course Charlie was not the first to postulate such fantasy, but he has become the poster-boy and his words mean something.

Tragically, what his words have meant to mankind continue to be devastating as his story about a mythical world that just magically appeared with mountains and oceans and 401k plans for all the monkeys to enjoy for a small number of days until they again disappear, has created an avalanche that is eroding the very fabric of humanity at an increasingly alarming rate. In this grinding down of civilization one of the casualties has been dogmatism and I believe we would do well to vigorously push back against those who would have us cast aside all axioms into a sea of relativity. Most recently I have noticed a trend toward ambiguity, in that many are careful to state their positions in such a way that perhaps a close friend to the speaker may know exactly what they are saying but to the casual observer there is tremendous latitude for interpretation. Why are we doing that? Why are we continually choosing through our words and actions to pretend that there is so much “middle ground”, so much “gray area?” With this I am most concerned with the Churches willingness to even embrace this wicked ideology of wishy-washiness that is the offspring of Darwin’s misguided notions.

We, as those entrusted to be the stewards of this time must in the name of Christ push back against this tide of the comparative. All roads do not lead to God and He is abundantly clear in His Word and we should be as well. We do no one any favors when we sheepishly refuse to say what we know to be correct. There is a way that seems right to a man but the end leads to death and to fail to be dogmatic is akin to a fireman unwilling to go into a burning building to get people out in the middle of the night for fear that they are sleeping and he does not want to wake them up. In the end it would be better for a Christian without the courage of his convictions to attempt to conceal his belief so as to not water down the gospel through his silence.