Description
Mormons agree with most Christians that faith in Christ grants salvation as a free gift, but they qualify this salvation by defining it as as only the first level of salvation. Claiming that this first level of salvation (or “general salvation” as they call it) is given to all mankind in the form of guaranteed resurrection after death they do not believe that this “salvation” is complete in the the way that protestant Christians have always affirmed. The problem with the LDS view is that most members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe that good works (such as marriage for eternity in an LDS temple) are necessary to earn the highest level or degree of glory in heaven. So while Mormons may tell the Christian believer that they believe in salvation as a free gift, they do not subscribe to the Christian belief that full justification to the highest degree of glory is given to the Christian believer apart from any works or deeds of righteousness (Ephesians 2:8-9). As a result, they skew James 2:20: “…faith without works is dead” and other passages that speak of rewards granted in heaven, to claim that the Christian Gospel of grace alone is “too easy.” They then claim that while sectarian Christians have “some truth” in their churches, the LDS religion is the only one that contains the fullness of the everlasting gospel. In this documentation packet, we examine the official teachings of the LDS Church and consider how difficult this “gospel plan” described in Mormonism is to fulfill. Is it possible for LDS to truly be assured of total forgiveness in Mormonism? Or is this so-called “restored gospel” in reality an impossible gospel–“another gospel”– warned about by Paul in the Bible?
