My Response to a Mormon Friend

Prayerfully and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit who indwells me, I will tell you what Christ in His infinite love has done FOR me and TO me. I will not argue these facts, nor do I need to defend them. God has said them, so they are irrefutable.


	But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. For ye have not received again the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.	Rom 8:9, 15-16
	What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?	1 Cor 6:19
	And because ye are sons of God, He hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.	Gal 4:6

First I am a human being, a descendant of Adam who was created of the dust of the ground in the image of God, and who became a living soul when the LORD God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Gen 2:7

That same Adam brought death into the world by sin, and that death is passed upon all men because all have sinned.

Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.

Rom 5:12

This death is in two stages, the physical death which is the result of the banishment from the Garden of Eden and the Tree of Life

And the Lord God said, "Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever" - therefore the Lord God sent him out from the Garden of Eden.

Gen 3:22-23


	And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.	Rev. 20:14.

As a descendant of Adam I am subject to the physical death. As a sinner I should be subject to the second death. Romans 3:23 says "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God;". Ezekiel 18:4 says "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." (This is not the physical death, it is the death of the soul or the second death.) So I, as a sinner, deserve the second death.

According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love:

Eph 1:4

Is everyone chosen? No, in the parable of the marriage feast, to which the Kingdom of Heaven is likened, Jesus says "many are called, but few are chosen" (Matt 22:14)

Was it because God saw something good in me? No, Jesus himself said "There is none good but one, that is God" (Matt 19:17). "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked." (Jer 17:9) Even what I might try to call good works are worthless before God.

But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness' are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Is 64:6

Was it because He knew I would follow Him? He looked down the corridors of time and saw I would choose Him? NO! He does look down:

And the Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God

Ps 14:2

As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

Rom 3:10-12

This verse also answers the next question: Did He choose me because I was looking for Him?

Why then, did He choose me? He chose me because He loved me. As simple as that.

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.

John 3:16

The Greek word translated world here is kosmos or "order", "arrangement" and thus to the Greek "beauty". It is organized humanity - humanity as God originally created it. This is the world that God loved, not the world that Satan, in attempting to thwart God's plan, has reorganized, using unbelieving mankind, into a system that is often outwardly religious, scientific and cultured but is full of rivalries and ambitions dominated by satanic principles. This is the world that Christ talks about later in John when he says:


	If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.	John 15:19


	Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.	Romans 9:13
	The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.	Psalms 5:5


	These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.	John 17:2, 6, 9, 11, 12 and 24
	All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.	John 6:37

No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

John 6:44

Is God then unfair? To choose some and not others? NO! God is God. And as the Creator, He has every right to do with His creation as He chooses.

What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.

For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion

So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.

For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.

Therefore he hath mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

Thou wilt then say unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?

Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God?

Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?

Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor:

What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:

And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, Even us whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?

As he saith in Hosea, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved.

Rom 9:14-25

So, God chose me while I was still a sinner, but in His Holy and perfect status, He could not tolerate me as I was. There had to be a means for pardoning me of my sins. The penalty had to be paid for my sins. God's own law required a blood sacrifice:

And almost all things are by the law purged with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no remission (forgiveness).

Heb 9:22

The sacrifices in the Old Testament were a figure of the perfect sacrifice which was to come. (Heb 9:8-11)


	Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth.	1 Pet 2:22-23


	Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once; but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.	Rom 6:9-10
	Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.	Heb 7:27
	For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.	1 Pet 3:18


	For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.	Matt 26:28
	By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.	Heb 10:10

While I was still a sinner, bound for hell and the second death, Christ died for me.


	Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree...	1 Pet 2:24
	So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many;	Heb 9:28


	Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things,... But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.	1 Pet 1:18-19

When the Philippian jailer, fearing for his physical life, asked Paul and Silas "What must I do to be saved?", they answered:

(Paul and Silas were not talking about physical salvation, they new the futility of physical salvation without spiritual salvation)

In one sentence, is my total responsibility. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ...". When God drew me all I had to do was believe. And yet even this belief, this faith to believe, was given to me by Christ.

1.	My name is written in the Book of Life (Dan 12:1, Luke 10:20, Phil 4:3) and so I will not be cast into the lake of fire (Rev 20:15).
2.	I have eternal life now (John 3:16, Rom 6:23)
3.	I have the seal of the Holy Spirit (Eph 1:13). The completion of my salvation was accomplished even before I was born (John 17:4). And it is permanent (Eph 4:30). I am His and none shall pluck me out of His hand (John 10:28-29). (see also Rom 8:35-39).
4.	I have continuous access to the Father through the Holy Spirit (Eph 2:18) who dwells in me (1 Cor 3:16) and takes my inner thoughts to the Father on my behalf (Rom 8:26-27).
5.	I will some day be caught up to be with my Lord and Savior for eternity. (1 Cor 15:51-53 and 1 Thes 4:16-17).

Then what am I expected to do in the meantime? I am saved already, so there's nothing left for me to do, right? WRONG! After what God has done for me how can I sit back and take it easy? The Bible is full of things God expects me to do.

1.	Learn more about Him	Matt 11:29, 2 Tim 2:15
2.	Yield myself to Him to use as He pleases	Rom 6:13
3.	Teach others	Matt 28:18-20
4.	Abstain from every form of evil	1 Thes 5:22

There are many other instructions, given in the Bible, which God expects me to follow, not just because He said them, but because He gives me the power through the Holy Spirit.

As a human I am still subject to the desires and temptations of the flesh (Rom 11:15-23) but since the Holy Spirit abides in me, I can entrust to Him the battle with sin (Rom 8:5-17). If, however, I quench the Spirit, or refuse to follow His leading, (1 Thes 5:19) then I allow sin into my life.

This does not negate my salvation (I have been sealed already) but it does grieve Him who gave everything for me. And while I still have the Holy Spirit in me (1 Cor 11:19-20) but I do not allow Him to fill me (Acts 4:29-31, Eph 5:18).

Thanks be to God, when I do sin, I have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous (1 John 2:1) who bore my sin on the cross and now intercedes for me (Is 53:12). And He is so loving, when I confess my sin He is faithful and just to forgive me (1 John 1:9) and the Holy Spirit can again fill me to the utmost and use me as He wants (Acts 4:31).

This is what I believe because this is what the Bible teaches and this is what I have experienced.

As I have prayerfully and through the power of the Holy Spirit, composed this letter, He has revealed to me so many truths, that I could write forever. There is no end to the love which God has bestowed upon those He has called to be His children. (1 John 3:1)

I pray in the Name that is above every other Name, that the Holy Spirit will open your eyes, turn you from darkness to light, give you forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified (Acts 26:18), so that you too can know the riches of the glory of His inheritance, in the saints (Eph 1:18).

It is with a deep love for a soul for whom Christ died, that I write this letter. I will no longer waste hours on profane and vain babblings (1 Tim 6:20-21). But as long as you desire to know more about my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and what he has done for me and can do for you, I would spend a lifetime telling you. (1 Pet 3:15)

(I wrote this letter after spending several weeks arguing with a Mormon friend, I now realize it is not up to me to defend the scriptures. My responsibility is to share. The Holy Spirit will convict. Praise God.)