I was thinking about writing about the forbidden drink of Mormonism this week which has become one of my most favorite drinks in the world. But that isn’t what God had planned for this week so I will address my thoughts on that in a future blog.
This week as I was scrolling through Facebook, I came across a post that discussed the Mormon Church and grace + works. At first the writer seemed to express an understanding of grace. That it’s free, and gives us hope. But then they stated “The works that I perform are to keep his commandments, to feed his sheep and to partake of the saving ordinances that He showed us we need”. This is the part I want to address. 
Anyone who is in the Mormon faith and believes they aren’t in a works based faith is lying to themselves. The key statement from above is “saving ordinances”. That is the biggest difference between my Mormon beliefs and my beliefs as a Christian. In Mormonism there are requirements for salvation; “Saving ordinances”. In Christianity, Christ did all the work. There are no requirements for salvation. When Jesus said “It is finished” (John 19:30) He meant all requirements were fulfilled. There is nothing left do except to accept Him- Christ, as your Savior.
In Mormonism, they believe in order to reach exaltation or the Celestial Kingdom the desired degree of Heaven, you have to follow or meet certain criteria. You have to be a member of the LDS church which most people in the Mormon faith do at the age of 8 by getting baptized. I blogged about that last week (the age of account ability). Being a member adds all sorts of requirements and those increase as your age increases. You are not allowed to say no to any callings, you are required to pay 10% of your income to the church. You are expected to follow all the rules and requirements which include family prayer and scripture study, tithing, fast offerings, monthly fasting, following the word of wisdom, temple marriage, and regular temple visits if you are close enough. Every year you are required to have worthiness interview to make sure you qualify for your pass to go to the temple. Adults aren’t the only ones who are expected to go to the temple. Youth, starting at age 12, begin attending the temple for the ritual practice of baptisms for the dead (this will be a future blog). There are also all sorts of unspoken expectations and requirements that if you’re not meeting you are at risk of not getting your temple recommend, which is basically the pass that your bishop gives you verifying you are worthy. All of these are exceptions you must follow in order to meet the Mormon requirement of worthiness, determined by a man in your ward who is deemed more worthy than you and now you have a piece of paper showing how “worthy” you are. I’m not sure how any of this has to do with being saved and or worthy.
As a Christian, the expectation for salvation is to accept Jesus Christ as my Savior. He has already done all the work. There are no expectations or requirements. Baptism, tithing, marriage, church attendance, service work, none of these things are a requirement of salvation. Do I do these things. Yes. I was baptized, I pay a regular tithe (an amount that I feel God has led me to give), I serve in my church, I attend church service weekly. The difference is I do these because I want to. I do them because they help me be closer to my God and help me grow in His word. They help me be a better person and connect with other people who are also trying to grow their relationship with Christ.
Nothing in the Christian Gospel is about repaying God for my salvation or doing things so that I can earn my salvation. Acts 4:12 states “There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under Heaven by which we must be saved”. I feel that Mormon believers put as much, or even sometimes more emphasis, on Joseph Smith or the current prophet than they do on Jesus Christ. They accept the word of man over God’s word. Romans 10:9-10 states “If you declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved”. God’s word doesn’t say you need to get baptized, pay 10% to your church, do everything your pastor tells you, go through an annual worthiness interview, fast once per month, get married in a “sacred” ceremony that only those over 18 and who are deemed worthy can attend, do as many good things as you can, then cross your fingers an hope it was enough to make it to Heaven.
I’m tired just listing a few of the expectations. It’s no wonder I felt so helpless all the time. Really, I don’t know who would want to live their life under so many rules and laws. I have a hard time just following the general rules of society. I have to set my cruise control just so I don’t get a speeding ticket. It amazes me still to look back on my life. I was truly bound by the chains of Mormonism. I was bound by rules, requirements, and restrictions. One of my first blogs was Cookie Cutters are for Cookies, because I tried so hard to be a Mormon. I tried so hard to live with the chains and restraints of a religion. I believed, just like my friend on Facebook, that the Mormon Church was true and if I tried hard enough and did enough that maybe I would be worthy of God’s love and I would hopefully do enough to be with my family forever in heaven. As a Christian, I know I can never do anything to be worthy of God’s love. I was set free from those restraints when I gave my life to Christ. I began to truly experience what life is meant to be like. I accepted what Christ did on the cross for me and it humbled me.
The bottom line is, we don’t need any saving ordinances like my Facebook friend stated. The only thing we need is Jesus Christ. The most heartbreaking thing is, I see so many people bound by the chains of Mormonism. Who are exhausted by the struggle of trying to do enough and be enough. I don’t know for sure, but I believe the comment I saw was in response to me posting a link to my blog post response to grace, of a friends comment that said, “I never think I am enough or doing enough… I just have to keep trying”. It breaks my heart to see people share these things because I have lived in that world and now MY CHAINS ARE GONE!! I’ve been set free. My God, My Savior has ransomed me. Not by anything I’ve done but by what Christ did for me.
I’m just a small town girl…free from the chains of a works based world.
Just a Small Town Girl dot dot dot 