Speaking the Truth in Love to Mormons (bible study)
From Joey Day : Documentation
Prepared by Joey Day. Adapted from the book Speaking the Truth in Love to Mormons by Mark J. Cares.
Contents |
Why go over this topic again?
Many Anti-LDS publications, while good intentioned and mostly accurate, will merely teach you how to win an argument with your Mormon friend.
What are some approaches used by Christians to win their Mormon friends for Christ?
- The Bible Bashing Method — Memorize a lot of scripture verses and show your Mormon friend how unbiblical their religion is. Focus on such unbiblical teachings as Baptism for the Dead or the LDS concept of God.
- The Mudslinging Method — Bring up the oddities and inconsistencies in Mormon revisionist history. Show your friend that Joseph Smith and Brigham Young taught a lot of strange principles that are not widely known about today.
If they are used well, the above methods can be effective at bringing people out of Mormonism. I believe these methods are not as effective as they could be, however, because they do not focus enough on the saving work of Jesus Christ.
Mormons are taught from infancy that all other churches are apostate. Using the above methods, you may convince your friend that Mormonism is false, but he/she may still feel reluctant to accept the truthfulness of Biblical Christianity. Many ex-Mormons become atheist, agnostic, or uncomfortable with all organized religion. Others turn to various new age or cultic movements, and they are right back where they started from.
In Speaking the Truth in Love to Mormons, Pastor Mark Cares shares a witnessing strategy that is centered purely on the law (the measuring stick that demonstrates our sinfulness) and the gospel (the good news that justification is available by grace through faith). I believe it is entirely possible to convince a Mormon of the error of his ways using nothing more than the basic gospel message. I believe this because that is how I became a Christian.
So, what's this new witnessing strategy?
It starts with realizing that there are two kinds of Mormons:
- Self-righteous Mormons — These are Mormons who honestly believe they are living up to everything God expects of them. They know they are not perfect, but they believe they've done their best and God won't hold them accountable for the few sins they have committed in ignorance. These Mormons need to be taken to the law. They need to be shown the standard (perfection), and they need to realize that they aren't living up to it. If this is done properly, they will eventually transition to Stressed-out Mormons.
- Stressed-out Mormons — These are Mormons who realize they are lost. They are trying to stay above water keeping as many commandments as they can, but they know they are falling behind and they are scared. These Mormons need to hear the sweet message of the gospel. They need to hear that Christ has paid the price for them and will forgive them if only they will put their trust in him.
Reach Mormons with the Law
One of the most effective ways to begin your witness is to bring up Matthew 5:48. What makes this verse so effective?
- It is perhaps the most quoted Bible passage in Mormonism. Mormons know it and respect it. It is one of the few passages that serves as common ground on which to build a discussion.
- Trying to be perfect is the greatest point of stress for most Mormons. By talking about perfection, there is a much greater chance that they will listen to what we have to say. Many are looking for all the help they can get in this area.
- It summarizes God's law as few passages do. Fewer things reveal our sinfulness more than being commanded to be as perfect as our heavenly Father.
- It leads easily into a discussion of Hebrews 10:14 (see the next section), which points to the perfection of Christ for us, and thus is one of the best passages to bring the gospel to a Mormon.
More important than seeing why to use Matthew 5:48 is seeing how to use it. Everything hinges on th little word "be" and the fact that it is a present tense. The point we need to make with Mormons is that Jesus commands us to be perfect, not to become perfect as Mormonism teaches.
Reach Mormons with the Gospel
Pastor Cares claims that Hebrews 10:10-18 is the one passage of Scripture that most effectively presents the gospel to Mormons. Why is this?
- It deals with perfection, a point of great stress and emphasis in Mormonism.
- It does not employ many words that are defined differently by Mormons.
- Joseph Smith did not alter it in his translation.
- Most Mormons have never heard it, nor is it cited in any church manual. Their unfamiliarity with it means they have no canned response to it.
Hebrews 10:10-18 contains some powerful gospel statements. Three times the writer emphasizes that Jesus' one sacrifice was sufficient for all people (vv. 10, 12, 14). Verses 17 and 18 wonderfully describe the result of that one sacrifice for us. "And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin." The entire section shows us that "no more needs to be done, no more can be done" (Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible, New Testament, Vol. 2, p. 475). Jesus did it all. This is the message that Mormons need to hear.
Verse 14 is the verse that especially hits home: "For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." When witnessing to Mormons, the point we need to stress is that the tense of the verb "hath perfected" indicates that this is a completed, not a future action. More exactly, in the original Greek, it is a perfect tense which "expresses the continuance of completed action" (Robertson, A Grammar of the Greek New Testament, p. 893). In other words, we have already been perfected by Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.
Some common objections
When your Mormon friend raises an objection, the tempation can be great for you to meet it head on. Once again, though, it's important not to get ourselves off-track. We need to stick to the critical message of Jesus being perfect for us. Pastor Cares presents many common objections your Mormon friend may have, and shows what he has found to be the most effective ways of bringing the discussion back to the gospel.
- Joseph Smith: A true prophet of God — Before anything else, Mormons want to talk about Joseph Smith. They will not only claim that he was a true prophet of God, but also offer many "proofs" of this. None of this evidence stands up under scrutiny. Jerald and Sandra Tanner and others have published devastating studies on almost every aspect of his life. There will come a time when troubled Mormons will need to wrestle with this evidence, but citing it too soon can be counter-productive. It usually puts them on the defensive, and people on the defensive don't think clearly. Rather than debating the history or character of Joseph Smith, it is more effective to discuss his teachings. Galatians 1:8-9 can be an effective passage in this regard. If Joseph Smith taught a different gospel than the New Testament writers, he cannot be a true prophet. Therefore, we should study the NT gospel and contrast it with Joseph Smith's gospel.
- The need for a living prophet — To support this claim, Mormons will often cite Amos 3:7 or Ephesians 2:20. We can refute this argument in a number of ways. We can emphasize the meaning of "foundation" in Eph. 2:20 and talk about how foundations are laid only at the beginning of a building project. Or we can point to passages like Hebrews 1:1-2 and 2 Timothy 3:16-17 that talk about the all-sufficiency of the Bible. Neither of these two approaches, however, deflects their argument back to the main topic of eternal life. They can prove useful only if we don't spend too much time with them. It is best to handle this objection in the same way as the one about Joseph Smith. By using the same approach given above, we can compare the "gospel" of the living prophet with the genuine gospel of the Bible.
- Pray about the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon — It won't be long before your LDS acquaintance asks you if you have read and prayed about the Book of Mormon. The problem is that, in examining the Book of Mormon's message, the LDS usually will do nothing but rely on their feelings—the burning in their bosoms. Therefore, you probably will have to discuss with them the fickleness of feelings. One approach, at times, has proven useful. We can refer to the claim made in the Doctrine and Covenants that the Book of Mormon contains "the fulness of the gospel" (see D&C 20:9, 42:12, 135:3). We can then ask them to compare the Book of Mormon's message of eternal life with the biblical message. Ephesians 2:8-9 contrasted with 2 Nephi 25:23 may prove especially useful here.
- The Bible is incomplete — The Book of Mormon claims that "many plain and precious truths" have been taken from the Bible (1 Nephi 13:28), but many ancient copies of the Bible exist which demonstrate that nothing was removed. There are numerous books which discuss these ancient copies and the proof they offer. One such book is How We Got the Bible, by Neil R. Lightfoot. Ask your friend to examine this proof. Some Mormons will not be willing to do that. You can point out that until they are willing to look at such evidence, their refusal effectively puts that topic off-limit for discussion. Then resume talking about perfection: the LDS model versus the Christian model.
- Jesus didn't attack other churches — Some Mormons will claim it is not Christ-like to attack other churches. They maintain that the LDS church does not attack other faiths. It's tempting to react by citing chapter and verse illustrating how the LDS church attacks Christianity, but that usually creates more heat than light. It can be more beneficial to react to the premise that Jesus didn't attack other churches. Not only did he come down hard on the Pharisees and Sadducees (e.g. Metthew 15:1-9; Matthew 23), he also warned his disciples about them (e.g. Matthew 16:5-6; Matthew 7:15-23). Warning people about false prophets is the Christ-like thing to do! It is not loving to stand by and let other people go to "outer darkness" (the Mormon word for "hell") without trying to stop it. By pointing this out, you again get the conversation back where you want it: on the drastic difference between the LDS plan of salvation and biblical salvation.
- Mormons are Christians — Not much is gained by getting into a discussion with Mormons over whether they are Christians or not. Neither is it profitable to tell them that Mormonism is a cult. Like waving a red flag in front of a bull, all it does is enrage them. Sometimes, however, they will ask if we think they are a Christian. When that happens, tell them you don't like to discuss it because there are so many differing definitions of the word Christian. Usually they will want to know what your definition is. It can be effective here to say that your definition is "someone who is already perfect in Heavenly Father's sight through Jesus' sacrificial death (Hebrews 10:14)." By defining Christian in that way, it is usually quite easy to get the conversation back on the main track of how we can live eternally with Heavenly Father.
These are just some of the typical arguments for Mormonism that will confront you when you start witnessing to a Mormon. Often it takes just a little thought or study to uncover their faulty logic or false facts. It takes a little more thought, however, to devise the means of refuting their arguments in ways that will not turn them off, but rather turn the discussion back to the all-important topic of their living with Heavenly Father. Out of love, take that extra time.
Conclusion
Reaching Mormons for Christ takes much understanding and time. The more we understand Mormons, the more effectively we can minister to them with the gospel. The more time we spend with them, the more impact we can have on them. Latayne C. Scott summed it up quite well:
- People who are leaving Mormonism have two acute needs: solid Bible teaching and warm (even sacrificial) fellowship. (Ex-Mormons, Why We Left, p. 160)
In love, let's give them just that. In love, let's reach Mormons with the worderful truth of what Jesus has done for them.
