“For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” - James 2:10
I used to live in Mesa, Arizona. It is a warm, suburban desert that sits right outside of Phoenix. Fun fact: it was once home to Jodi Arias and it is also home to a large Mormon population.
Mormons are nice people, moral people. In fact, I even have a relative who is Mormon.
For a long time I did not know a lot about Mormonism. I only knew information based off of rumors I had heard. However, last semester that all changed. I was enrolled in a class called “Apologetics,” where I had to study other religions.
Majority of my life I never understood Mormonism. While there are similarities between Mormonism and Christianity, there are …show more content…
Mormons believe salvation is earned by grace, but not entirely. Mormons also believe salvation requires good works. The Book of Mormon in Nephi 25:23 says , “For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.”
The difficulty with this version regarding salvation is that is places too much pressure on sinful human works. As much as I want to critique their view on good works, I hesitate; because, you see…I too have been legalistic in my life.
I love to follow rules. I love to appear good on the outside. Forget about how my heart and mind are, as long as I am outwardly “good.” This is how I lived much of my life until college and I still struggle with this mindset. Much of high school I believed if I obeyed God, then He would bless me and I obeyed Him for the wrong reasons. I believe He “owed” me something.
Have you ever had an “A HA!” moment? The moment where the lightbulb goes off? In high school I thought I was a good Christian, a good person because I did not partake in sins that many of my classmates did. I was blind to my sin of …show more content…
While I have repented of my legalistic ways, I still struggle with this sin. I was able to grow even more in this area when I took Apologetics.
So what exactly does this have to do with Mormons? Well, here is the thing. Just like Mormonism can be entirely too focused on good works, we too as Christians can be too focused on good works.
God loves when we obey Him, but it cannot be just to appear outwardly “good.” In fact, our human efforts at morality are still never enough to earn salvation. That is why James 2:10 says, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”
We cannot live a perfect life, but how sweet the offer Jesus gives us instead. Jesus was the only one who lived a perfect life, fulfilled the entire law and was the ultimate sacrifice.
I would encourage my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to research and study other religions. Personally, I went to websites that were created by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, so I could learn what they actually believed from their perspective. Knowing other religions, strengthens us as believers to better witness to them, so that they too may come to personally know the one, true God that
I used to live in Mesa, Arizona. It is a warm, suburban desert that sits right outside of Phoenix. Fun fact: it was once home to Jodi Arias and it is also home to a large Mormon population.
Mormons are nice people, moral people. In fact, I even have a relative who is Mormon.
For a long time I did not know a lot about Mormonism. I only knew information based off of rumors I had heard. However, last semester that all changed. I was enrolled in a class called “Apologetics,” where I had to study other religions.
Majority of my life I never understood Mormonism. While there are similarities between Mormonism and Christianity, there are …show more content…
Mormons believe salvation is earned by grace, but not entirely. Mormons also believe salvation requires good works. The Book of Mormon in Nephi 25:23 says , “For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.”
The difficulty with this version regarding salvation is that is places too much pressure on sinful human works. As much as I want to critique their view on good works, I hesitate; because, you see…I too have been legalistic in my life.
I love to follow rules. I love to appear good on the outside. Forget about how my heart and mind are, as long as I am outwardly “good.” This is how I lived much of my life until college and I still struggle with this mindset. Much of high school I believed if I obeyed God, then He would bless me and I obeyed Him for the wrong reasons. I believe He “owed” me something.
Have you ever had an “A HA!” moment? The moment where the lightbulb goes off? In high school I thought I was a good Christian, a good person because I did not partake in sins that many of my classmates did. I was blind to my sin of …show more content…
While I have repented of my legalistic ways, I still struggle with this sin. I was able to grow even more in this area when I took Apologetics.
So what exactly does this have to do with Mormons? Well, here is the thing. Just like Mormonism can be entirely too focused on good works, we too as Christians can be too focused on good works.
God loves when we obey Him, but it cannot be just to appear outwardly “good.” In fact, our human efforts at morality are still never enough to earn salvation. That is why James 2:10 says, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”
We cannot live a perfect life, but how sweet the offer Jesus gives us instead. Jesus was the only one who lived a perfect life, fulfilled the entire law and was the ultimate sacrifice.
I would encourage my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to research and study other religions. Personally, I went to websites that were created by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, so I could learn what they actually believed from their perspective. Knowing other religions, strengthens us as believers to better witness to them, so that they too may come to personally know the one, true God that