Biblical Gospel vs Mormon Gospel

Biblical Gospel vs Mormon Gospel
Hello! I’m Danny and I was an active member of The Corporation of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for 60 years. Today, I want to compare the biblical gospel with the Mormon gospel.
If I was to ask Latter-day Saints what the gospel is, how would they respond? I’m certain I’d get a variety of responses – mostly about the “restored” gospel of Mormonism. If I was to ask Christians what the gospel is, I think most would respond with what they know the Bible teaches about the gospel.
To make it simple – Apostle Paul has already defined the gospel for us? He declared in, Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.”
We know the Greek word for “Gospel” is “Good News.” And this good news gospel is “the power of God unto salvation.” Why didn’t Paul say that YESHUA “is the power of God unto salvation”? Is Paul teaching that – the gospel and Yeshua are somehow separate – yet entirely connected?
Even, Yeshua appears to distinguish between Himself and the gospel when He said in, Mark 8:35 “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake AND the gospel’s, the same shall save it.”
Yeshua later commissioned His disciples in, Mark 16:15 “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Why? Because the gospel is “the power of God unto salvation.”
Paul even tells us that we will be judged according to his gospel. Romans 2:16 “In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.”
Paul specifically describes and defines the Gospel in a very concise statement containing THREE vital components: 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, (past tense – saved) if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that (one) Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And (two) that he was buried, and that (three) he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.” That’s the gospel!
Let’s examine the first vital component of the gospel – “Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures.” Through, Yeshua’s death the world has been reconciled to God. What does it mean to be “reconciled?”
As fallen human beings, we are separated from our Holy God because of our sin nature. In order to be brought into relationship with God, Paul explains in, 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 “And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; Meaning, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them: and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.”
Everyone, everywhere for all time – had their sin-debt paid for by Yeshua on the cross. Since Yeshua paid for the sins of ALL people by His death on the cross, ALL have been reconciled to God. Romans 5:8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
This loving act of Christ’s suffering and dying on our behalf is called “substitutionary atonement.” It refers to Christ dying as a substitute in our place as sinners. Paul sums it up in, Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death;” (then he concludes) “BUT the GIFT of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” The payment for sin is death – that is the wage for our sin. Christ loved us so much, He paid the wage of our sin for us. And in return, He offers us a gift called “eternal life.”
Paul explains beautifully in, Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” No works given in exchange for this gift of God. It is FREE! All we have, to do is believe on Christ and gratefully receive the gift of salvation. Meaning, eternal life with God.
As a member of the LDS Church, I always thought THAT seemed too easy – TOO simple. Just believe and receive? Come on now! Especially as I knew this “gift of God” came at such an enormous price. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” God gave His Only Betton Son as a sacrifice for our sins that we might have eternal life. That is amazing! It is a “gift of God,” and we didn’t have to do ANYTHING to earn “eternal life” – just receive it. How great is that?
Yeshua’s substitution makes it possible for us to become righteous before God. 2 Corinthians 5:21 “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” This is known as “The Great Exchange.” Our sins in exchange for His righteousness.
Second component of the gospel as listed in 1 Corinthians 15 – “He was buried.” Following His death, Yeshua’s body was buried in a tomb. Why was this part of the Good News? Because it was a fulfillment of a prophecy that the Messiah would be buried following His death. Isaiah 53:9 “And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death.” This is referring to the tomb that was owned and donated by Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy Jewish follower of Yeshua.
His burial has an application in our lives too. When we give our lives to Yeshua, we must allow our sinful man or woman to die and be buried along with Him – figuratively speaking. We do that when we choose not to walk in the ways of their former flesh anymore. The natural man or woman eventually disappears out of view. Our old ways, thoughts, and language fade away. Our old selves have died and are buried in Christ.
Paul makes, reference to this process in, Ephesians 4:22-24 “That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man (or woman), which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man (or woman), which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”
Final component of the gospel – Yeshua “rose again the third day according to the scriptures.” He defeated death. Since Christ paid for our sins with His blood on the cross, there has been a death to sin in our lives and a burial of the old man or woman. Then we too rise from the grave of our former lives to new life by the same power that God raised Yeshua up from the grave.
But here is a caution! This final event is optional for us. There are those who will believe in Yeshua’s death for sin, but whose former man or woman is never truly buried and therefore is never raised to new life as Yeshua did. Some people take their salvation for granted and continue to live in the ways of the world in, spite of what they know Yeshua did for them. They lack faith.
The Gospel, which is “the power of God unto salvation”, must include the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ in the lives of those who truly believe on Him.
Paul added in, 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if any person be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new.” The new woman or man, figuratively speaking, cannot remain dead and in the grave. They will rise to new life in and through Yeshua and the power of His resurrection. When we accept Christ, we become new creatures. We are spiritually “born again.” But we must die to ourselves first to be born again – spiritually.
God also promises to give us a new heart and a new spirit. Ezekiel 36:27 “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.” I have experienced this blessing in my own life. It is a supernatural miracle that anyone can experience if you put your trust in Yeshua.
Paul wrote in, Colossians 3:1-4,10 “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. And have put on the new man (or woman), which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him (or her).”
And in all of this – Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Christ – we are, able to see and understand how when combined, they – as “the Gospel,” become “the POWER of GOD unto Salvation.”
All of this comes with a final warning, though. Paul cautioned the Jews and Gentiles then, and it applies to us today. He declares in Galatians 1:8 “But though we, or an angel from heaven (sound familiar?), preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.” In other words, anything added to, or subtracted from, Paul’s straightforward three-part message and meaning of The Gospel in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, Paul calls it an – “other gospel.” Remember, in 1 Corinthians 15, it mentions “according to the iscriptures” twice. Emphasizing that adding anything more and beyond what we already have in the Bible is a dangerous undertaking.
The big question: Is the Mormon gospel defined differently than the biblical gospel? The reason I ask that is because most if not all LDS also believe, as Christians do, that Yeshua was crucified, buried, and was resurrected. So, do Latter-day Saints trust that by believing in this biblical definition of the gospel that they are saved into everlasting life in the kingdom of God? Remember it states in, 1 Corinthians 15:1 “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved.” Paul is stating that if you believe the biblical gospel he preached – you “are saved.” You are guaranteed salvation in the kingdom of God.
But you see, in Mormonism, there is no assurance or guarantee in this life that an LDS member will ever be saved into the kingdom of God. Salvation is something determined after a Latter-day Saint dies. They are left wondering if they had done enough to be saved – to qualify for salvation in the celestial kingdom.
In the LDS training manual for missionaries, Preach My Gospel p.6 it declares, “The gospel of Jesus Christ defines both your message and your purpose. His gospel includes all the doctrine, principles, laws, commandments, ordinances, and covenants necessary for salvation and exaltation. Living this doctrine is how we come unto Christ and are saved.” It’s difficult as a Latter-day Saint, to keep track of all these required doctrines, principles, laws, commandments, ordinances, and covenants to be saved one day.
This goes along with the LDS, 3rd Article of Faith “We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.” This begs the question as to HOW obedient to the laws and ordinances of the Mormon gospel will a Latter-day Saint be during his/her lifetime that they “may be saved.” Never knowing if they did enough to be saved.
What is curious about the missionary manual, Preach My Gospel – is that nowhere is the reference to 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 printed for the LDS missionary to read and study. Why is that? Perhaps, it’s because it doesn’t match how the Book of Mormon defines the gospel and the church doesn’t want them to know.
Whenever I have a chance to talk with Mormon missionaries, I always ask them to show me in their four books of scriptures where the “gospel” is defined? Not one time has any of them had an answer for me. So, I gladly show them.
There is a specific passage in the Book of Mormon where following His resurrection, Jesus appears to the people in the Americas. During His visit, Jesus defines the gospel to the Nephites. I will have the missionaries turn to Paul’s definition in I Corinthians 15:1-4, and this one in the Book of Mormon to compare and, contrast the two gospels.
Here is what it says in the Book of Mormon,
3 Nephi 27:13-17 “13 Behold I have given unto you my gospel, and this is the gospel which I have given unto you—that I came into the world to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me. Okay, that sounds good.
14 And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil— This says nothing about how Jesus paid for their sins through His blood on the cross. Instead, it focuses on being judged by works.
15 And for this cause have I been lifted up; therefore, according to the power of the Father I will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their works. This is saying that he won’t judge them according to their faith in Him but according to their works. It’s almost like a revenge or a pay back for what they did to Jesus when they crucified Him. Remember, just days before Jesus taught this message to the Nephites, He gave Himself credit in 3 Nephi 8-9, for judging the people in the land of Bountiful and completely, destroying 16 cities along with thousands of men, women, and innocent children.
16 And it shall come to pass, that whoso repenteth and is baptized in my name shall be filled (filled with what?); and if he endureth to the end, behold, him will I hold guiltless before my Father at that day when I shall stand to judge the world. A Latter-day Saint won’t know if he or she did enough to endure to the end to be found “guiltless” until judgment day. Having been LDS, I personally know that living with that uncertainty is difficult and discouraging.
What does Book of Mormon Jesus mean by enduring to the end? If we consult the Preach My Gospel manual, we find on pg. 9 “We endure to the end as we continue throughout our lives to exercise faith in Christ, repent daily, receive all the ordinances and covenants of the gospel (Mormon gospel), keep those covenants, and have the companionship of the Holy Ghost.” It means keeping all the Mormon commandments till the end of your life. Not just trying your best but keeping the commandments perfectly. None of this was in Paul’s definition of the gospel. However, we should know that Yeshua is the only one who endured perfectly to the end.
17 And he (and she) that endureth not unto the end, the same is he that is also hewn down and cast into the fire, from whence they can no more return, because of the justice of the Father.” If you fall short, He who does not remain true to the commandments of God… which would be everybody other than Jesus Christ, right? This verse sends everyone to hell whose name is not Yeshua. And ironically, Mormonism doesn’t even believe in the hell of which the Book of Mormon teaches, here.
You clearly see the gospel as defined by the Book of Mormon Jesus is not the same as Paul’s gospel defined it 1 Corinthians 15:1-4. It’s “another gospel” as Paul warned about, delivered by “an angel” to Joseph Smith.
I believe Satan would be delighted if he could convince you that your salvation isn’t guaranteed and secured until after you die. However in Mormonism, there are only select members of the LDS Church who are guaranteed the top celestial heaven. They are those who have received their secret “Second Anointing” in a Mormon temple. This special anointing is given exclusively to top leadership in the LDS Church. It’s not generally available to the rest of temple-worthy Latter-day Saints. I will release another video in the future talking more about this privileged temple ordinance.
1 Corinthians 15:1-4 tell us that once you’re saved – your salvation is guaranteed. You “are saved.” It doesn’t say that in the last day, you might be “hewn down and cast into the fire” as it states 3 Nephi 27:17. In Mormonism, Jesus still might condemn you.
On the other hand, the Bible teaches that ANY person can have assurance of salvation. Consider 1 John 5:11–13 “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”
Ephesians 1:12-13 “That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise.” Salvation is guaranteed and sealed by His Holy Spirit.
I hope this helps to clarify the distinct difference between the Biblical gospel and the Mormon gospel.
Thank you for watching. Please share with family and friends. You can find more videos like this on You Tube or on my website at Talking to Mormons.com.
God Bless!