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NASB | 1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit [speaking through a self-proclaimed prophet]; instead test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets and teachers have gone out into the world. |
Bible Question:
I have a close family member who is a leader in the Mormon church. He gave us a lot of material on their beliefs to read. There are a lot of rabbit trails we could disagree about, but I want to get to the heart of what they believe and be able to give biblical examples of the truth. Does anyone have good, sound biblical answers for me? I have been doing a lot of study in this area on my own, but would appreciate any wisdom that I can get. Thanks, Shelley |
Bible Answer: I have a close family member who is a leader in the Mormon Church. He gave us a lot of material on their beliefs to read. There are a lot of rabbit trails we could disagree about, but I want to get to the heart of what they believe and be able to give biblical examples of the truth. Does anyone have good, sound biblical answers for me? I have been doing a lot of study in this area on my own, but would appreciate any wisdom that I can get. Thanks, Shelley, I went through the same endeavors, and the problem is that they take too much of our time. They believe in the Trinity: The conceived the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit as each being a go. These are three entities, or, beings, thus three gods. The oneness of the Trinity is not found in oneness of “essence” but in love and purpose. Deuteronomy 6:4 tell us that God is one. You have to understand then they got their revelation from the angel of light, we call this angel Luzbelle, Satan. Galatians 1:8 “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned” If you want a philosophic explanation of way God is one, you could read Physics from Aristotle, or the “Guide for the Perplex” from Maimonides, there you will find the postulates over the existence of God and its attributes. The Mormons are Polytheists. “I will preach on the plurality of Gods (Teaching of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Joseph Smith, p. 370). “Adam is our father and our God, and the only God with whom we have to do” (Doctrines of Salvation, Sermons and Writings of Joseph Fielding Smith, Vol 1, pp. 96 ff.) That there is only one God is firmly established by both the Old and New Testaments Deut 6:4, 1 Cor 8:4-6 abounding on this John 5:23, 15:26, 1 Cor 2:14, God is the Creator (Col 1:16) The will say they believe in Jesus, and that they love him, this is another Jesus, is not the Jesus of the Bible, they could even cry over this. Since the Bible does not accommodate to the requirement of its new faith Joseph Smith attempt a translation of his own. By scholarly standards it is regarded as a very poor translation, their Inspired Version of the Bible (it could be an inspired translation of course, but what is in doubt is who inspired it) If you still want to know more you can ask about their temples, their rituals, the Masons, the reasons for Polygamy, Baptism for the dead, the LDS and the Non-white Races. I suggest you not to get into discussion with them, that will lead to nothing. Try to share with him the grace of God, this is the most important point, get strong in your faith and give them example of live, living your life as a Christian. God Bless you Oscar |