The purpose of life is an issue that should concern every person. Are humans just the result of a cosmic accident? Do we just live for such a short time before turning into dust? Or… is there something more to life?
Take the following quiz and let’s see how you do:
1. True or False? According to the Bible, every person who is born is guilty of sin.
2. True or False? It is possible for you to stop sinning in this life.
3. True or False? God accepts you only when you are able to stop sinning.
4. True or False? Only by good works can you earn God’s favor and hope for Heaven.
5. True or False? It is possible for you to know that you have eternal life.
Answers
1. According to the Bible, every person who is born is guilty of sin. True. The Bible says in Romans 3:23 that everyone has sinned and has fallen short of God’s glory. The wages of sin is death, Paul added in Romans 6:23. Because you are imperfect and God is perfect, you are unable to enter into a relationship with the Maker of the universe if you are stained with sin.
2. It is possible for you to stop sinning in this life. False. Many people believe that it is possible to stop sinning. Unfortunately, each one of us is human and is prone to sin. Do you ever struggle with obeying your mother and father? Disobeying your parents is breaking the Fifth Commandment. Is it possible you might hate someone in the future? Jesus said hate is the same as murder. Ever get tempted with lust for another person? Jesus said that, when this happens, it’s the same as committing adultery. Who could ever measure up to such standards? Even the apostle Paul said in Romans 7:7-25 that he, just like all Christians, had struggles with sin.
3. God accepts you only when you are able to stop sinning. False. Honestly, who do you know that has stopped sinning? If you know such a person, please tell us so we can meet him or her. Even the Pharisees, the most religious and self-righteous group in Jesus’s day, were guilty of sin because of their pride. Outwardly, they made it appear they were doing just fine, but Jesus said they were guiltier than the lowest sinners around because, inside their souls, they were dark and dirty.
4. Only by good works can you earn God’s favor and hope for Heaven. False. How many good works will it take to rid yourself of your sinful condition? One righteous act? Five? Five hundred? Actually, the prophet Isaiah clearly said in Isaiah 64:6 that “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” in God’s sight. Perfection would have to be achieved. How can we achieve something that is actually impossible?
5. It is possible for you to know that you have eternal life. True. Despite our sinful condition, the Bible says you can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are forgiven, loved, and accepted by God.
So how did you do?
That last question might have thrown you for a loop. After all, is it really possible for a sinful person to know that a relationship with God is a possibility? The answer is YES. First John 5:13 says “you may know that you have eternal life.” God’s desire is for YOU to have a personal relationship with Him. If you were to die right now, do you know that you will be forever in God’s presence?
Consider a few verses from the New Testament, especially the book of Romans, to help illustrate the point.
Fact 1: Sin’s tainting. Everyone, including you, has fallen short of God’s glory because of sin. (If you don’t believe that, go back and read the answer to question 2 from above.)
Fact 2: Deserved Punishment. Everyone deserves eternal death and separation from God forever because of this sin.
Fact 3: Christ’s Sacrifice. Having a relationship with God is the only way to deal with your sinful condition. Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” It is all centered on what God did for us, offering us forgiveness when we allow God to come into our lives.
Fact 4: God’s Grace. We can’t earn God’s favor through our good works. Ephesians 2:8-9 says that “it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works so that no one can boast.” Grace is like receiving a birthday present. A person who would dare ask, “How much did that present cost?” while pulling out a wallet to pay obviously doesn’t understand what a gift is all about.
Fact 5: Your Belief. Romans 10:9 says “that if you confess with your mouth ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Two verses later, Paul quotes from the Old Testament, adding, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” God has made it clear that we can receive this gift of salvation and become a new creation in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17-18). All we have to do is want it. Despite your sin, you can be forgiven of all your sins—past, present, and future—because of what God has done. When we grasp the truthfulness of this, we can then “know” that we have eternal life. Have you “Got Forgiveness”?
You might wonder, what about good works? Aren’t they important? Believers who understand the price that was paid for them will want to do good works. As Ephesians 2:10 says, we are “God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works.” We do the works because of, not for, our salvation, provided by the sacrificial work of the God of this universe. So while we don’t want to minimize the importance of good works, we must tell you that it’s impossible for a sinner to gain God’s acceptance by doing them because you can never be good enough.
Perhaps you have some questions that you’d like a Christian to answer; we would be happy to talk with you. And if you live in the Utah area, we would love to meet with you and buy you lunch. Take us up on our offer. contact@mrm.org
For Mormons
According to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, repentance plays a major role in every member’s salvation. LDS scripture declares:
“Nevertheless, he that repents and does the commandments of the Lord shall be forgiven; And he that repents not, from him shall be taken even the light which he has received; for my Spirit shall not always strive with man, saith the Lord of Hosts” (Doctrine and Covenants 1:32-33).
The big question is, if the LDS Church is true, repentance should be something that can actually be achieved. Have you met the requirements of repentance as defined by the LDS Church?
- True or False? According to the Doctrine and Covenants, people who repent of their sins forsake their sin.
- True or False? True repentance involves keeping the commandments.
- True or False? In order to live with Heavenly Father you must stop sinning.
- True or False? True repentance means never repeating that sin again.
- True or False? A crucial test of repentance is abandonment of the sin.
- True or False? If you hope to achieve exaltation in the next life, you must overcome your sin in this life.
- True or False? Repenting of only some sins never results in complete forgiveness.
Answers
- According to the Doctrine and Covenants, people who repent of their sins forsake their sin.
TRUE: According to Doctrine and Covenants 58:42,43: “Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more. By this ye may know if a man repenteth of his sins–behold, he will confess them and forsake them.” - True repentance involves keeping the commandments.
TRUE: The LDS Church manual Gospel Principles states, “To make our repentance complete we must keep the commandments of the Lord” (1992 ed., p.125). - In order to live with Heavenly Father you must stop sinning.
TRUE: Page 67 of the LDS Church manual Gospel Fundamentals insists, “Our Father in heaven does not sin, and He does not allow people who sin to live with Him. To live with Him, we must repent of our sins. To repent means to feel sorry for our sins and stop doing them.” - True repentance means never repeating that sin again.
TRUE: In an unnumbered tract published by the LDS Church titled Repentance Brings Forgiveness, it states, “The forsaking of sin must be a permanent one. True repentance does not permit making the same mistake again” (1984). - A crucial test of repentance is abandonment of the sin.
TRUE: Spencer W. Kimball, the 12th President of the LDS Church, declared, “There is one crucial test of repentance. This is abandonment of the sin” (The Miracle of Forgiveness, p.163. Also cited in Doctrines of the Gospel Student Manual: Religion 231 and 232, p.40). - If you hope to achieve exaltation in the next life, you must overcome your sin in this life.
TRUE: 12th President Spencer W. Kimball said, “Christ became perfect through overcoming. Only as we overcome shall we become perfect and move toward godhood. As I have indicated previously, the time to do this is now, in mortality” (The Miracle of Forgiveness, p.210). - Repenting of only some sins never results in complete forgiveness.
TRUE: Page 212 of The Miracle of Forgiveness reads, “…incomplete repentance never brought complete forgiveness” (12th President Spencer W. Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness, p.212).
So how did you do?
Perhaps your knowledge of the LDS faith enabled you to get each question correct; however, how are you doing when it comes to the requirements set forth in the quotations above?
For instance, If D&C 58:43 demands that you must forsake your sin, the next question is, have you? If not, can you honestly say that you have completely repented according to the LDS standard? Can you say before God that you have never repeated a past mistake?
If complete repentance involves keeping the commandments, how many commandments must you keep? And how often must you keep them? All of them all of the time? Or some of them some of the time? Do you keep all of the commandments all of the time? President Kimball insisted that the only way you can have the assurance that you are forgiven is if you are “living all the commandments” (Miracle of Forgiveness, p.208). Are you doing that?
Have you passed what President Kimball called the “crucial test of repentance”? Have you abandoned all of your sin? If not, could it be correctly concluded that your repentance is incomplete and forgiveness has eluded you?
Do you repent every day? On page 127 of the LDS Church manual Gospel Principles (1992 ed.), it states, “The prophets have declared that ‘this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God’ (Alma 34:32). We should repent now, every day…By repenting every day and having the Lord forgive our sins, we will experience the daily process of becoming perfect.”
While on the surface this may seems like sound advice, it actually contradicts page 148 of the Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Here, Joseph Smith said, “Daily transgression and daily repentance is not that which is pleasing in the sight of God.”
If you find yourself repenting every day, doesn’t this prove that you have not “completely repented” as explained by both Mormon scripture and Mormon leaders? Why should people who have forsaken all of their sin and keep all of the commandments need to repent at all? The fact is, if D&C 58:43 is true, people who repent every day only prove that they have not completely repented and are not qualified for exaltation.
President Kimball elaborated on Alma 34:32 when he wrote, “the time to act is now, in this mortal life. One cannot with impunity delay his compliance with God’s commandments” (Miracle, p.10). Do you see a day “in this mortal life” when you will no longer need to repent because you are in complete compliance with all of God’s commandments?
Perhaps you are trying your best. That is commendable, but the problem is President Kimball also said “Trying is not sufficient. Nor is repentance complete when one merely tries to abandon sin” (Miracle, p.164).
If you carefully examine your life with the impossible requirements set forth by the LDS Church, you should readily see a giant disparity. Why would you want to hold on to a system that only guarantees failure? However, there is Good News. You can experience the “peace that passes all understanding” by knowing all of your sins are forgiven! If you would like to have the assurance of forgiveness that has been enjoyed by millions of Christians for centuries, we would like to talk with you. If you live in the Utah area, we would love to meet with you and buy you lunch. Take us up on our offer. contact@mrm.org