Ok fine. As I said, I don't really know what to make of the LDS, but I'm reasonably confident that there is no angel Maroni, nor do I believe for a second that the resurrected Christ ever visited the Americas, (that actually contradicts scripture) though an Apostle or later disciple certainly could have. Carnality is a common trait of false teachers and its difficult for me to see legitimized polygamy as anything but carnal, however the Lord can save anyone He chooses out of any religious system on Earth. The gospel is God's power unto salvation, not the church, nor sacramental works, but that is the point of contention with a large portion of the professing Christian world.
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You're free to ask whatever you want. I'm not one much to respond to barbs.
If you say that you believe in Christ's divinity, I believe you because scripture tells me to. If you also believe in His resurrection then scripture informs me that you shall be saved. I only have 2 questions about the LDS.
1 Why do you have temples which exclude nonmembers when the scripture clearly defines the body of all believers as the spiritual temple of God?
2 And what's the deal with "Holy underwear " or is that just worldly slander?
jaybird
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So you don't have to actually do anything, just say you believe this or that and remain stagnant in life. Good luck with that
how in the world did you get that out of his post ?
He quoted Ephesians 2 which states your former life prior to being made alive was living in the desires of the flesh, but now as believers you no longer live after the desires of the flesh because we are new creations in Christ, the old has passed and all things have become new.
hope this helps !!!
jaybird
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He said it's not about being a better person. So no matter what your do there is no improvement because according to him that's not the goal. If there is no improvement than your left with stagnation.
Sorry about that- typing on phones is awkward some times. Addressing 1 first:
You or anyone else are 100% welcome to attend weekly worship services at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. You’re welcome to come, join in, partake of the Lord’s Supper, share your love of Christ from the pulpit on open mic week, attend Sunday School, potlucks, ladies meetings, midweek youth groups, etc. Those things all happen at your local “chapel”.
You aren’t a allowed to become a priest in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints without first being a believing member. That should be pretty obvious. “Temples” are where a person goes through becoming-a-priest-focused rituals. And that’s it: there’s no weekly services, or anything like that. It’s considered to be a special private thing, not a spectator event, even for for active LDS Christians.
Part 2:
LDS Christians very strongly believe that your body is a temple and should be treated with such sacredness and respect. This actually ties into modest stress, healthy eating, mindful conduct, etc. And yes, temple garments.
“Temple garments” as they are properly known are a religious prince of clothing to help a person remember God, just like many other faiths/denominations have religious garbs. Rather than being displayed outwardly for everyone to see, temple garments are a more inward thing (aka underwear and an undershirt) as that person’s personal devotion. There aren't “magic” or anything like that.
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Addressing a few other points in here:
- Religious rituals: (i’ll Use baptism as a example). Faith and repentance come before baptism. The act of getting dunked itself doesn’t magically save a nonbeliever. Rather, a believer should indeed be baptized as part of their walk with Christ.
- Polygamy: we could talk old historical stuff, but I’ll focus on the last century+. If anyone takes a second spouse, that’s a ticket to excommunicatation. Sexual relations are reserved for a married husband and a wife. Nothing else.
- Jesus Christ is my Savior. No one else. Other men & women can be His flawed disciples and interstremts in His hands, but He alone is the Savior. My Lord and King.
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It sounds like you're entirely unfamiliar with sound doctrine, but yes YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING TO BE BORN AGAIN. Did you assist your mother when she gave birth to you? Christ would never have used the term "born" if you had anything to do with it other than being there. That change in spirit that comes from receiving the "breath" of God, the ruach ha kodesh, makes the spiritually dead come alive. It turns "hearts of stone" into " hearts of flesh", and changes the direction of our lives. It takes you off of the broad road that leads to hell and sets you on the way to eternal life. Religion does not do that and can not do that. God does that.
25 When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?”
26 But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
What is it about "impossible" that you don't understand?
I don't need luck, because I know God and He's more than just my friend, He's my father by adoption. I've received His Spirit within me and He's given me power and understanding. If there really were any such thing as luck, it seems like you're the one who needs it.
Thank you for the explanation. Having been raised as a Catholic I completely understand pointless ritual and useless tradition, it's called " religious practice", but does absolutely nothing in establishing a relationship with God. Salvation is by relationship with God, not by magic and ritual is magic, it changes chemical states in the brain and alters perception thereby causing delusion, magic. The closest things to ritual in biblical Christianity are marriage, baptism, and communion but all three are professions of faith and relationship to God by word and works, and aren't traditional magic, but spiritual commitments. We will be judged by our words and will give account for them. Our words bind us to our works and when they don't match up we fall into that category described broadly as hypocrites. Christ gave a great deal of warning about this. God is zealous for His word and He expects those made in His image to reflect that zeal.
"And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."
I like your attitude, but baptism, at least water baptism, isn't a ritual in the traditional sense of that word, but superstition makes it that. Water baptism as described in scripture is a physical profession of faith and identification with Christ in His death and resurrection to new life. It symbolically represents death to self and new life in Christ and is a public declaration that you've partaken in the invisible process of surrendering to God and being born again of His Spirit. Ritual is supposed to accomplish something, but Baptism is the way of publicly announcing that something has already been accomplished in you.
The superstitious make it ritual, but it is a profession of faith.
“Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. Matthew 10:32
Yes, though it is different than the Catholic Priesthood. Pretty much every active LDS Christian is a priest, with men and women serving different roles. Service is volunteer is volunteer, with nobody getting paid at the local level. People live regular lives, with families and regular day jobs.
Relationship first, then ceremony.
Akin to marriage: have a relationship first then actually get married (which does include the ceremony).
Having a ceremony with no relationship is ... just no.
Polygamy: the historical stuff was sin and carnality, even when it was men like King David and Solomon, though it doesn't quite break marriage as a type of the relationship between Christ and his church, but New Testament scripture is explicit in the one man, one woman requirements for church "offices" such as elder or deacon. However it gives no explicit reason for the requirement. Jesus Himself, however, explicitly described God's intent in marriage
I was using the term “ritual” genetically.
Yes, baptism is an outward thing, symbolizing the death of the old sinner and rising of the new believer.
Just like just going through a marriage ceremony doesn’t magically make you fall in love, rather is outwardly proclaiming your love.
I think that you're referring to modern marriage. Most cultures including the ancient Jews arranged marriages as contracts or covenants. Ideally this would be with someone that you knew and cared for, but love was never a requirement. In the case of ancient Judaism, marriage was a covenant with God representing the joining of two into one. Women were considered possessions of their husbands and likewise men were the possessions of their wives. The same is true of the biblical relationship of marriage in the church, but it is in opposition to modern thought and "liberated" independence. Under the law of Moses a father had the right and responsibility of validating or nullifying the vows of his daughter, and this responsibility was to pass to the husband after the consummation of marriage. The man is the "head" of the relationship as Jesus is the head of the body of Christ. It's not a popular doctrine in our time, but it's straight out of scripture and based upon the idea that Eve was deceived by Satan, while Adam made deliberate choice.
Yes: because you and I are both people speaking & living in the modern era. I wasn't referring to old ways.
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