Posted by
flagwaver on Thursday, December 20, 2007 12:45:06 PM

Mitt Romney’s run for the presidency of the United States has brought forth once more the question of what role religion has in the political process, especially in judging the qualifications of a candidate. Many have put forth the idea that we are not electing the Clergyman in Chief, but are electing a Commander in Chief, and furthermore the Constitution holds that there can be no religious test applied to a candidate for office. A person can be of any faith or no faith at all and still run for office in this country…just see Keith Ellison of Minnesota, the first Muslim to be elected to the Congress of the United States. And I agree with those sentiments, but they have a flaw in them from where I sit.
As stated in a post at Town Hall yesterday, those are all legal arguments but should have no influence in how individuals decide whom they will support. I even wrote about it here a while back, and I stand by that to this day. What you believe shapes who you are, and if your faith is genuine it will influence everything that you do in your life. Faith is not a part of a person that can be put on the back burner for certain periods of time, if that faith is honestly a part of you.
Which brings me to the question of having qualms about supporting a Mormon candidate because of his religious faith; many have a fundamental misunderstanding of just why Christians are so opposed to the Mormon faith. Many Christians, in fact have been deluded into thinking that because Mormons are family oriented, patriotic, and generally conservative that they are just another Christian denomination. They hear the words “Jesus Christ” in the official name of the church, they see the past alliance of the LDS Church with groups like the Moral Majority, and assume that LDS are just a different ‘brand’ of Christians. But nothing could be further from the truth; bear with me and I will give just a few reasons why Christians should not be fooled by the claims of Mormons that “we are Christians too!”
As I have stated elsewhere, the major belief factor in determining if a person or group is honestly Christian is what they teach about who Christ is, and in this area the LDS church proves itself to be anything but Christians. The Bible teaches, and every Christian denomination…Baptist, Methodist, Episcopalian, Lutheran…accepts that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, born of a virgin who never knew a man until after the birth of the Christ, that He is eternal, and that He is very God, and the savior of all mankind. John 1:1-3 states that The Word (Christ) was God, was with God, and through Him were all things made. John 4:42 says that Christ is the savior of the world, and Acts 5:30-32 states “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.” (NKJV)
In stark contrast, the LDS church teaches that Jesus is the begotten son of a “God” who had sexual relations with Mary, and that Jesus is the brother of Lucifer. In fact, Jesus only became Savior of this world by presenting a better plan of salvation to “God” than Lucifer, thus being chosen to save the world. This is nothing like a biblical understanding of the nature of whom and what Christ is; further it lowers Christ from his rightful position as God to the status of just another man. And it begs one interesting question: How can Mormons claim, with a straight face, that this “Jesus-brother-of Lucifer” is the same Jesus of the Bible, when he could not be? The Jesus of the Bible cannot be Lucifer’s brother because He is the Creator of all that was made…including the fallen angel Lucifer!
Another concern that Christians should have about the LDS religion is its stance on salvation. The Bible teaches that salvation is a free gift, bought and paid for by the sacrifice of Christ at Calvary; we can do nothing on our own to earn it or merit it…we can simply choose to accept it or not. The Bible in John 3:14-18 tells us that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son to die in our place, so that we might be saved. Acts 16:30-31 tells us that belief in Christ is enough to save us, and Ephesians 2:8-10 tells us that it is by grace that we are saved and not by our own hands, so that we do not become boastful.
But Mormonism teaches a different standard for salvation, mainly that it is works driven. The sacrifice of Christ is apparently not sufficient, and if we are to be saved then we have to do it ourselves through works and obedience to all of Mormonism’s commandments. Former Prophet, Seer, and Revelator Spencer W. Kimball stated it best when he said, “This progress towards eternal life is a matter of achieving perfection. Living of all the commandments [of Mormonism] guarantees total forgiveness of sin and assures one of exaltation through that perfection which comes by complying with the formula the Lord gave us” (taken from Commandments and Promises of God by Bernard P. Brockbank, published by Deseret Book Co. 1983, p. 208. Italics mine).
That teaching is in no way compatible with what the Bible teaches about salvation, and is not…as many Mormons like to claim…anything like what was taught by the 1st century church! That is a different gospel of salvation from what the Bible so clearly teaches, and is enough on its own to convince the discerning Christian that Mormonism is definitely NOT Christianity!
Finally, there is the question of what the foundation of faith is. For the Christian, the foundation for all that we do, say, and believe lies with Jesus Christ…period. There is no other source from which we derive our faith, there is no other road that leads to salvation, and there is no other stable foundation for us to build upon save the Rock of Ages. For the Christian, Jesus is the Alpha and Omega; He is our all in all.
The Mormon Church, however, does not rest on that foundation. The Mormon Church rises or falls on the claims of Joseph Smith to be a prophet chosen to restore the Gospel to the world in 1830s New York. Putting aside the fact that this claim of a worldwide apostasy directly contradicts Christ’s words to Peter that “…on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matt 16:18, NKJV), it puts Joseph Smith in the position of being the rock and not the fact that Jesus is the Christ! Take these words of President Joseph Fielding Smith and tell me who is the foundation of the LDS church, Joseph or Jesus:
[There is] no salvation without accepting Joseph Smith. If Joseph Smith was verily a prophet, and if he told the truth when he said that he stood in the presence of angels sent from the Lord, and obtained the keys of authority, and the commandment to organize the Church of Jesus Christ once again upon the earth, then this knowledge is of the most vital importance to the entire world. No man can reject that testimony without incurring the most dreadful consequences, for he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
If that doesn’t convince you, then maybe this statement by Joseph Smith’s immediate successor to the post of Prophet, Brigham Young had to say:
…no man or woman in this dispensation will ever enter into the Celestial Kingdom of God without the consent of Joseph Smith.
From the day that the priesthood was taken from the earth to the winding-up scene of all things, every man and woman must have the certificate of Joseph Smith as a passport to their entrance into the mansion above where God and Christ are—I with you and you with me.
I cannot go there without his consent. He holds the keys to rule in the spirit world and he rules there triumphantly, for he gained full power and a glorious victory over the power of Satan while he was yet in the flesh.
Those sentiments should apply only to Christ and the salvation that he freely gives, not to Joseph Smith of Palmyra, NY! But it is as I said, Joseph Smith is the foundation of the LDS church…even if the name “Jesus Christ” appears on the official letterhead; this is not Christ’s church, but Joseph’s.
And these are just a few of the reasons that Christians question the Mormon religion. There are very serious breaks from Christian orthodoxy in the LDS faith that the LDS will not argue or refute; instead they attack any who question their religion as bigots or claim the well worn mantle of persecution. I do not question Mormonism from a place of hostility; for years I and my 3 brothers were active Mormons, with my two older brothers serving missions in Brazil and Bolivia. Many of the nicest people I have met in my life were Mormons, and those that I met and befriended have a special place in my heart. So, no, I do not “hate” Mormons nor do I misunderstand their teachings and beliefs. I simply must question those beliefs, and what they say about a man that is pursuing the most visible and powerful single elective office in the land. His religion is a part of him, and it is fair game to be questioned just as the faith of Mike Huckabee or Rudy Giuliani is fair game. We don’t change the rules for Catholics, Baptists, or Muslims who run for office…so we shouldn’t change the rules for Mormons either.
I hope that I have expressed myself clearly and I anxiously await all comments.