😳 Impossible Gospel¶
Estimated time to read: 11 minutes
This presentation of ideas isn't wholly original, but I have yet to find where it actually came from. I first encountered it presented by a fellow named Keith Walker on YouTube. I'm going to try to relate the idea here by text.
The gospel as presented in LDS scripture is not what mainstream Christianity teaches. The Mormon version is pretty much hopeless—impossible even. Much like how the LDS church teaches that God's love is conditional, I will attempt to demonstrate that Jesus Christ's Atonement is also conditional as presented in the Book of Mormon.
Grace¶
2 Nephi¶
For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.
What, exactly, is "all we can do"?
Have you done all you can do for salvation? Is there one overlooked thing you could have done, but haven't? At what point have you done enough to be sure that you're saved? If you cannot identify where the threshold is for "saved," then... consider if that threshold exists.
If you can recollect something you have not done, you are not going to be saved by grace. So... if you can identify one thing that you could have done better, you will not be saved by grace, so... You're kind of fucked.
Moroni¶
Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.
We must do a few things:
- Come unto Christ
- Be perfected in Him
- Deny yourself of "all ungodliness"
- Love God with all your might, mind, and strength
Then, and only then, is His grace sufficient for you.
Have you denied yourself of all ungodliness? If you have not, doesn’t this verse prove that you have yet to qualify for the grace that will cleanse you of your sins? Christ's grace, His atonement will only kick in for you after you've done those four things. Right?
Those four things all constitute a pretty tall order.
The verse we read in 2 Nephi describes the needed qualifications as "after all we can do." For this book as a whole to be internally consistent, we might do some mental geometry and deduce that these four things are included in "all that we can do?" That's not rhetorical—what else is there that would need to be done?
If I were to make this a more pointed question to you, the reader, I would present this question:
If you have not denied yourself of all ungodliness, when do you think you will do so?
Just try your best¶
Trying Is Not Sufficient. Nor is repentance complete when one merely tries to abandon sin. To try with a weakness of attitude and effort is to assure failure in the face of Satan's strong counteracting efforts. What is needed is resolute action.
...
To "try" is weak. To "do the best I can" is not strong. We must always do better than we can. This is true in every walk of life. We have a companion who has promised: "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." (Matt. 7:7.) With the inspiration from the Lord we can rise higher than our individual powers, extend far beyond our own personal potential.
— Miracle of Forgiveness, Spencer W. Kimball, 1961
This book may or may not be doctrinal. No one can really know when a prophet is speaking as a man or not until it becomes inconvenient.
Or, in more succinct terms...
"Do or do not. There is no 'try.'"
— Yoda; Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Commandments¶
Out of God's myriad commandments, how many of them are you expected to follow? What proportion? Over half? 90% of them? ... All of them?
Can you identify one or more commandments that you have not followed down to the letter? If so, you have not done all you can do.
And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.
Does this passage say that it's possible to keep all of God's commandments? How are you doing with that? Have you kept all of God's commandments?
No? Why not? Says right here that you are fully empowered and enabled to.
This idea of all commandments being achievable and attainable by anyone is found in some other verses, as well: 1 Nephi 17:3; 1 Nephi 17:50; Doctrine and Covenants 5:34; so... why haven't you done it? Trying your best isn't enough, as President Kimball pointed out.
Repent¶
And he commandeth all men that they must repent, and be baptized in his name, having perfect faith in the Holy One of Israel, or they cannot be saved in the kingdom of God.
And if they will not repent and believe in his name, and be baptized in his name, and endure to the end, they must be damned; for the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has spoken it.
— 2 Nephi 9:23-24; See also Alma 11:37
What does "repent" mean? It sure sounds important. I guess we should get a good understanding of what it is and what it entails.
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.
Sounds like we have a clear indicator for if one has repented of his or her sins, if nothing else. I don't know that we need to examine the first action (to "confess them") but maybe the second action warrants some scrutiny?
Forsake¶
To forsake sin means to turn from it and never go back to it. Completely forsaking sins can take time and patience. Just because you’re still tempted and sin again doesn’t mean you should give up. The Lord will help you if you sincerely repent.
— Repentance and Forgiveness, New Era February 2019
Since we are born into conditions of mortality, repentance comes to mean a turning of the heart and will to God, and a renunciation of sin to which we are naturally inclined.
— Repentance, Bible Dictionary
I think we ought to be able to agree that forsaking sins means that you've abandoned the offending practice. Stopped drinking. Stopped swearing. Stopped finding excuses to avoid reading scriptures.
So... another pointed question to the reader:
Can you describe a sin that you have fully forsaken? I do not need details—I am not the one determining your eternal fate. Yes or no is a valid response.
But if you've felt that you had sinned about practice X, Y, or Z, now ask yourself if you have forsaken that practice to the extent that you don't even think about doing it anymore. Again, I don't need details.
If you can identify something that you still have to exert some willpower to abstain from, then you have not fully forsaken that practice. And if you have not fully forsaken it, you have not repented. And if you have not repented, you have not done even the bare minimum qualification for "all [you] can do," and so Christ's grace will not cover you.
Procrastinating¶
Alma 34:30-35 is a lengthy passage. Follow the link there to read it for yourself, but here's a few excerpts, and the conclusive verse 35:
For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God[.] ... [D]o not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end[.]
For behold, if ye have procrastinated the day of your repentance even until death, behold, ye have become subjected to the spirit of the devil, and he doth seal you his; therefore, the Spirit of the Lord hath withdrawn from you, and hath no place in you, and the devil hath all power over you; and this is the final state of the wicked.
Look, this isn't my belief—not anymore. Talk to your Mormon friend about it—this is what their book of scripture contains.
Your options are:
A) handle all of your sinful shortcomings yourself before Jesus will think about helping you, or
B) become wholly subjected to the devil.
This doctrine teaches that you must be perfect and sinless in order to be forgiven of sins through Christ's atonement. You have to atone for it yourself before Jesus is a relevant factor. As the above scripture observes, "this is the final state of the wicked." That's pretty definitive, and you're on your own to sort through it.
Perfection¶
So, what, we're expected to just live perfectly?
In his Sermon on the Mount he made the command to all men: "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." (Matt. 5:48) Being perfect means to triumph over sin. This is a mandate from the Lord. He is just and wise and kind. He would never require anything from his children which was not for their benefit and which was not attainable. Perfection therefore is an achievable goal.
— The Miracle of Forgiveness, Spencer W. Kimball, 1961
So... Are you perfect right now?
The Book of Mormon teaches that you can't rely on Jesus' atonement to overcome sin, you have to do it yourself. Each and every commandment God gives you can be followed, so you have no excuses. Modern prophets clarify that yes, you do need to be perfect, and it's attainable. Only after you've become perfect by your own merits and overcome each sin and shortcoming will Jesus Christ's atonement have any effect on you.
I'll acknowledge that I'm "preaching" with air quotes from a book that I don't believe in, but that's part of why I feel it's important. People believe this—perhaps presented in a less harsh manner, but much of Christianity accepts that Jesus' atonement is sufficient for you, for me, for anyone's sins. In comes Mormonism, wagging their finger to assert "nu-uh! Jesus appeared in 1820 or maybe 1832, and said you have to earn it—you gotta qualify for forgiveness!"
And then they complain when mainstream Christianity tries to distance itself from the weird Utah people.
Reading Material¶
Now that we've established that you need to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, we can identify some exceptions to this rule:
In some accounts of Joseph Smith's first vision, the pretense of his prayer was having sins forgiven... and he gets forgiven after just asking.
In the Book of Mormon we can find numerous examples of people being saved after simply praying and asking for forgiveness. Even though this page demonstrates pretty clearly that being "saved" requires a non-trivial amount of effort of your part.