Originally Posted by
James Banta
Problem is that your answers are not making any sense..
Really you know better then the Prophet Joseph Smith who said he saw God? He said:
I will preach on the plurality of Gods. I have selected this text for that express purpose. I wish to declare I have always and in all congregations when I have preached on the subject of the Deity, it has been the plurality of Gods. It has been preached by the Elders for fifteen years. I have always declared God to be a distinct personage, Jesus Christ a separate and distinct personage from God the Father, and that the Holy Ghost was a distinct personage and a Spirit: and these three cons***ute three distinct personages and three Gods. If this is in accordance with the New Testament, lo and behold! we have three Gods anyhow, and they are plural: and who can contradict it! (History of the Church, Vol. 6, p. 473)
I would think that if Smith was indeed a prophet of God his knowledge of the number of Gods that exist would be superior to yours.. I think that if you are righton this point of doctrine that you would be the president and prophet of the LDS church.. I guess to align with the teaching of Smith and his church you should have ignored Jesus and the Bible and said THREE..
The Doctrine of the Trinity never says that the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit are three separate beings, Never does it say that they are separate Gods.. It teaches that they are separate Persons.. That the three Persons of the Trinity are the one true God.. You are telling me that that is a lie that the Bible and Jesus are liars as they teach that the Lord our God is one LORD.. Your statement shows a lack of education as to what is and is not Christian doctrine..
You are right you can explain your error by the logic of men.. I can only explain what God has said about Himself in His word. He said that there is one God who is our Lord. He said that He and no one and nothing else was ever a God in the past or in the future. To allow the thinking of mormonism to make sense of the Bible especially in this p***age additions have to be made to the p***age the wording if only in their thoughts. The phrase here must mean "For this world". Without the addition their doctrine of eternal progression is destroyed..
So can I explain the Trinity, YES, by what God gave us in His world that speaks to His nature.. He said that He is "Us" (Gen 1:26), Jesus is said to have been with God as well as being God in the beginning (John 1:1). Again to make it work for mormonism they add the article "a" to the meaning of the p***age.. Jesus much later describes the Father as God (John 20:17). Then after Jesus went to be with the Father, in His Kingdom, after the Promised Holy Spirit had come onto the Church, Peter calls Him God (Acts 5:3-4).. But still unless God lies, the Lord our God is one Lord.. The doctrine of the trinity retell the nature of God by what He has explained of Himself in the scripture.. You deny the scripture to believe that there are three different beings that are three Gods. Of course you believe that is incorrect and believe maybe that only the Father is God.. That would deny the divinity of Jesus and the Holy Spirit .. It is clear that you have no idea of who and what God is..
Really.. That is just one more denial of the scripture.. You doubt me then look for yourself Romans 3:23..
What is this a LDS admitting that we have a physical nature? But How did we get a divine nature.. Jesus said we must be born again. We were all born the first time with a physical nature then we had to be Born Again of the Spirit and take on a spiritual nature. Remember even your BofM teaches that the natural mane is an enemy of God.. And remember Jesus said that there is a nature birth and a spiritual birth. They must happen at two different times.. So how is one born spiritually (John1:12)? Again look it up..
I agree that God will bring judgment on all who reject Him but you didn't say how the "truth" teaches that we can gain Mercy.. I say that it comes by His grace through faith in Jesus and NOT OF WORKS so that no one, NOT ONE OF US can boast.. No Baptism, No laying on of hands, no priesthood, no endowments, no marriage.. Just faith in Jesus. You say that you believe that salvation comes as a product of God's grace through faith and then as soon as your ordinances, priesthoods, or endurance to the end are brought up you change to a 100% believer in works salvation.. Haven't you seen that Christians are 100% consistent in holding that salvation is by grace through faith plus nothing?
Did I say that you or any LDS teaching aligned with what I said? I asked a fair question..
In Romans 6:23 we are told that the wages of Sin is Death. The atonement for sin requires death. If you believed the Bible you wold see that and recognize that Jesus became the sacrifice for sin.. He became sin, He who knew no sin, that we can be made the righteousness of God in Him.. Because He became sin He had to die.. See all you can learn posting here?
Yes Jesus asked if there was another way.. There wasn't and Jesus went through the wrath of God that would be poured out on Him because of the sin He represented..
The difference is do you believe God or do you doubt Him.. He explained through His Apostle that He created all things visible and invisible.. Mormonism knows better than that and calls the elements eternal when It teaches that God was NOT always God, but that He became a God through obedience to laws and ordinances.. It's not bad enough that you deny God is the absolute creator but you teach that He was the creation of another older and therefore more powerful God. That is the difference.. Again it shows the world that you doubt God through His word..
Tell me then that Jesus was there with the Father as He was in His Father's Kingdom as a spirit child before He became the Savior of the mortal world His Father in heaven created. If at that time He was God just in a different form was Jesus there with Him in the form of an intelligence? He would have to be if you are willing to stand by your false doctrine.. And not just Jesus but all those who such a being would know who would also become Gods as He did.. I have often said this "It this wasn't so sad it would be funny"..
Good, let me tell you I don't know how God flooded the whole earth or how He parted the Red Sea but I believe He did those things.. I don't need to wait and ask Noah or Moses. Was Smith a true prophet or a false prophet? If he was a real prophet, a true prophet then His teaching of God's nature would be true, wouldn't? It only makes sense that a true prophet would offer only truth not lies.. The meaning is straight forward, He taught that there are three Gods.. That is in conflict with the Bible..
That is just what I was saying you will say that LDS doctrine agrees with the Bible, but when asked about the requirements for salvation you immediately revert to works based salvation.. You are making my point very clearly..
You have no problem with stateing the man invented doctrines but I noticed that other than a a yes and no you had nothing in your post that could be supported Biblically.. IHS jim