The Name Change of the Latter-Day Saints

Something needs to be understood about the name change of the Mormons. It should not be forgotten. The real reason the name is changing is purely because of deception. Think about it… If they are called “Mormons” doesn’t that separate them from evangelicalism?

It is good for people to have the mindset that “The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints” is equal to the Mormonism that they always knew as a cult. It seems that the whole reason for the name change is because of an esoteric agenda. This is not a conspiracy... hear me out.

Below are some links that point to the decision for the name change. The first is the general conference for the LDS church, the second is showing that the Mormon tabernacle Choir will now be called, the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square. These names are less abrasive when it comes to Mormonism. Through the years, Mormons have documented everything, which helps them in their destruction. A few years ago, they wanted to be more open about the history of their beloved prophet, but when that happened, many people left the Mormon faith because of such. They are in the end, creating a bad name for themselves, and are not proud of their history, so they are once again, rewriting history.

Snippet of LDS Pres. at General conference from link below.

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2018/10/the-correct-name-of-the-church?lang=eng

https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/8478554/mormon-tabernacle-choir-changes-name-as-church-shifts-away-from-mormon-lds-label

In his address to the Mormons at the 2018 Mormon general conference, President Russell Nelson said, “Unfortunately, many who hear the term Mormon may think that we worship Mormon.”

The problem is that Mormons do not worship the biblical Jesus Christ either. This is why there is such a desire to change names. Mormonism teaches that Jesus is the brother of Satan. For one thing, how then is Jesus the only begotten Son of God? Doesn’t this change who Jesus is? Also, in the Book of Mormon, in 2 Nephi 25:23, we find that it says, “It is by grace that you are saved after all you can do.” This is a serious plagiarism, as well as a direct opposition to what is found in the Bible.

Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.”

Not only does Joseph Smith plagiarize the Bible from this verse, but he changes it to suit his own desires (see 2 Timothy 4:3). This is in direct opposition to what the Bible teaches. “After all you can do” means that Jesus picks up where you cannot fulfill. It means that he cleans up your mess. Lynn Wilder, the author of Unveiling Grace, refers to the Mormon Jesus as “the Janitor” He comes by and cleans up what you are not able to earn. In other words, in Mormonism, a person can earn part of their salvation by what they do… By how good they are…

The New Testament opposes this sternly. “No one can boast” in Ephesians 2:9 gives the reason why it wouldn’t even make sense logically speaking, that someone could earn their salvation: so you cannot brag about how awesome you are. Romans 3:10-18 tells us what kind of state that humans are really in, through the eyes of God:

There is no one righteous, not even one;

there is no one who understands;

there is no one who seeks God.

All have turned away,

they have together become worthless;

there is no one who does good,

not even one.”

“Their throats are open graves;

their tongues practice deceit.”

“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”

“Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”

“Their feet are swift to shed blood;

ruin and misery mark their ways,

and the way of peace they do not know.”

“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

The book of Isaiah teaches us that “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.” As much as we hate to admit it, our righteousness is about as nice and as clean as a used menstrual cloth. This is the picture that God paints through the words of Isaiah in chapter 64, verse 6.

The Mormon Jesus and the biblical Jesus are two different Jesus’s. Think of it like this, how many guys do you know with the name “Michael” (or Mike)? Are they the same? Definitely not. They are all men, for sure, but they are different men. Think of the Mormon Jesus in the same way. He is very different from the biblical Jesus. The Biblical Jesus is the Son of God… the only Son of God. John describes Him as the Lamb of God who “takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). One major rule in apologetics is to understand definitions. They could be saying the same words that you are using, but they might be totally different in meaning. Make sure that definitions of important words are clearly understood in conversation.

The Mormon response to Jesus after death would be, “Thanks for your help, Jesus…” The Bible does not leave room for something like this. The old hymn is correct when it says,

“Jesus paid it all,

all to Him I owe.

Sin has left a crimson stain

He washed it white as snow.”

Friends, Jesus paid it all. We cannot earn any part of our salvation. There is absolutely a condition, which is that we “Confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, then we will be saved” (Romans 10:9). Yet this condition is not any type of work. John 6:28-29 says, “Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”

Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

We are not breaking a sweat by believing anything. We cannot earn anything by believing anything. We must trust in Christ alone to rescue us from drowning in an ocean of sin. We cannot pull ourselves out of this ocean of sin by our own boot straps.

John 14:6 tells us that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Him alone. There is nothing else… there is no one else... We cannot help Jesus fulfill or complete our salvation. Yet this is what Mormonism teaches. It is a dangerous game, folks. Be careful what you get into.

“For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. –2 Timothy 4:3-5

For more, see my book on Mormonism:

https://www.amazon.com/Mormonism-Refuting-Fundamental-Apologetics-Latter-Day/dp/1662885377/

Written by Nace Howell through the grace of the Lord Jesus

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