What's a Mormon?

Sincerely,
I’ve Seen Their Bikes

Dear I’ve Seen Their Bikes,

Those well-dressed, bike-helmet wearing young men traveling in pairs through your community are known as Mormons, and they are part of the Church of Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS).  The LDS church was formed in the early 1800s by a man named Joseph Smith, Jr.  Joseph Smith professed to have been visited by the angel, Moroni.  Supposedly, Moroni directed Mr. Smith to a set of golden plates which he then dug up and translated from their ancient language into English.  This “translation” is known as the Book of Mormon and is one of four books that the LDS church uses for guidance.

Okay, now that we’ve explained who they are, let’s see what the Bible says about Mormonism.  God tells us that even if an angel preaches a different message than the Bible, he is accursed (Gal 1:8).  That means that even if Moroni were real, Joseph Smith shouldn’t have listened to him.  Secondly, the Bible tells us everything we need to know about life and godliness (2 Pet 1:3).  We are also told to never add or subtract from the Word of God (Rev 22:18-19).  Either the Book of Mormon says more than the Bible – in which case, we shouldn’t listen to it, or it says exactly the same thing as the Bible – in which case, we don’t need it!  Ultimately, the LDS church is a false religion that is leading people astray and destroying their souls.

     I have been talking to four or five theologians, and none of them know as much about the Bible as you guys do.  I had one tell me something that wasn't even right.  I showed him Scripture.  But anyway, I thought you guys might appreciate the fact you know more about the Bible than theologians. My question is: 1 Peter 3:19, who are the spirits in prison?

Sincerely,
Looking For The Key

Dear Looking For The Key,

Thanks for the kind words!   We’re just glad we can be of help.  1 Pet 3:18-19 is a very difficult passage, and there are a number of different interpretations of what it means that Jesus “preached to the spirits in prison”.  Some believe it refers to Jesus literally descending into the darkest depths of Hades to preach to those awaiting eternal punishment, but this directly contradicts other Scriptures where Jesus specifically says He was going to Paradise (Lk 23:43).  Either Jesus was wrong, or that interpretation of 1 Pet 3:19 is wrong – we here at AYP will trust that Jesus knew where He was going after death.

The other options for that verse are numerous, but the two most likely are:

1. That the spirits in prison were the people that Jesus preached to before or after His resurrection.  Those enslaved to sin are most definitely imprisoned spirits (Jhn 8:34).
2. The other likely option is that Jesus, through Noah (2 Pet 2:5), preached to the pre-Flood world and showed longsuffering to them, just as He does to us today.  After all, 1 Pet 3:20 identifies the “spirits in prison” as those who were disobedient during the days of Noah.  Most likely, 1 Pet 3:18-20 is making the case that Jesus has always been patient with the disobedient (even before He lived on this planet as a man), but unless we choose Christ, we will perish just like those of the pre-Flood world.

     My boyfriend of thirteen years told me he can no longer have a relationship with me because I don’t attend church.  He said I need to follow his path.

Sincerely,
Ex-Girlfriend

Dear Ex-Girlfriend,

We would have to side with your ex-boyfriend on this… but give us a second to explain why.  The end goal to your relationship is marriage, and ‘inter-faith’ marriages have disastrous results, an awful track record, and God warns against them.  No matter how much you love each other, there are only four possible outcomes to a marriage between to people that don’t have the same spiritual goals, and only one of them is good:

1. You eventually convert, obey the gospel, become a christian, and are saved (this would be a really GOOD outcome).
2. He eventually forsakes the Lord, and you are both lost (BAD).
3. You both make compromises in your beliefs, and neither of you is fully committed to anything (BAD).
4. You both eventually renounce both of your belief systems, and are both lost (BAD).

The only positive outcome is the first one, and that isn’t any more likely to happen after you are married than before.  From your boyfriend’s perspective, if you aren’t with him on this journey to serve Christ – neither of you is going to be happy, with potentially eternally disastrous consequences.

God warns against being ‘unequally yoked’ to someone with different values than you (2 Cor 6:14-16). Once you get married, you are ‘yoked’ to that person with a lifetime agreement. A godly marriage is designed around unity (Gen 2:24). If you aren’t unified on your core belief system, then everything else will be affected. Where will your children go to church? How much money will you contribute to church?  What happens when you disagree on moral decisions – what is the standard you will use to come to an answer? These are just a few of the thousands of day-to-day problems you will run into. God tells us that a christian should marry someone ‘in the Lord’ (1 Cor 7:39).  If you are serious about this guy, you need to ask yourself if it is worth looking into Christianity to see if there is a reason that this wonderful man finds it so important.  Either way, you are both better off knowing where you stand before entering into a heartbreaking marriage.

     I have been having a never-ending debate with many of my friends about Christians and alcohol.  I personally abstain from all such things, but several of my friends think that is it okay to be drunk on Saturday, in church on Sunday, and believe they are going to heaven.  I also have a friend who believes as long as he is drinking in the privacy of his own home, not bothering anyone and not committing any other sins during this time, that it is okay to get drunk, and it is not a sin.  Please give me Scripture to finally put this to rest.  It's as simple as this.  If it's in the Bible, I believe it, and if it's not, I don't.  To me, there are no gray areas.  You're a Christian, or you're not.  You follow God's will, or you don't.  What do you think?

Sincerely,
Black And White

Dear Black And White,

God never specifically condemns all alcohol, but He does condemn ‘strong drink’ (Pr 20:1), drinking parties (1 Pet 4:3), and drunkenness (Rom 13:13).  Almost all alcohol that is consumed today would fall into the category of ‘strong drink’ because our alcoholic beverages are artificially fermented to increase their alcoholic content (unlike the wine of Jesus’ day – read “That’s Just Grape” for further details on the wine Jesus drank).  We would all do well to heed the words of Pr 23:31-32 and avoid alcohol as much as is possible.  Your friends are skipping some key verses regarding alcohol and they are sinning because of it.  It is NEVER okay to get drunk.

     There seems to be a growing debate in regards to whether or not there should be an evening worship service, which apparently was instituted during World War Two for those who had to work Sunday mornings.  Some feel we have become bound to a tradition and feel that those members who regularly miss morning worship, whether or not work related, are being catered to, and if they chose to miss morning worship for whatever reason, it is a choice they made for themselves and shouldn’t affect other members.

However, some members bind the attendance of evening worship as forsaking the assembly. Yet, attending only in the evening appears excused and to the point that evening worship services have become, for the most part, mandatory.  Consequently, the choice or necessity that morning worshippers occasionally miss evening worship seems the greater transgression.  This is especially problematic for members who must drive a considerable distance to attend worship.

This issue has hit home with me, although it’s not the disapproval of my church family I am feeling.  I attend both evening and morning worship regularly; I’m always there for Bible studies and know the importance of loving and encouraging my brothers and sisters.  But on the rare occasion that I have missed evening worship, unless it was absolutely unavoidable, I have felt bad, like I have done something displeasing to God.  Jesus talked about the error of imposed Jewish laws and traditions not specified by God.  Is this a modern day version?  I would greatly appreciate your input because I would rather not do anything that violates my conscience unnecessarily.  Thank you.

Sincerely,
Checking My Attendance

Dear Checking My Attendance,

We really appreciate your attitude and desire to do what is right.  This is an issue that thousands of, if not all, saints struggle with.  When is it appropriate to miss services?  To answer your question, we need to look at two verses: Rev 1:10 and Heb 10:25.

Having two services on Sunday is merely an expediency.  Nowhere in the Scriptures are the saints required to meet twice on Sunday – however, there is a reason that most congregations have multiple services.  The reason our group has a morning and an evening worship is because Sunday is called “the Lord’s day”.  That term is found in Rev 1:10 and is almost universally agreed by commentators to refer to Sunday because that is the day that the Lord arose from the grave, and it is the day that God commanded His saints to commemorate Christ’s death (Acts 20:7).  What is Sunday to a christian?  It is a day given to the Lord.  It doesn’t say “the Lord’s half-hour” or “the Lord’s morning” – it says “the Lord’s day“.  There is a principle there.  God intends for us to mentally set that day aside for spiritual things.  Unlike the Jewish Sabbath, christians aren’t prohibited from working on Sundays or doing other things, but we still have a principle of devoting that day as a day for spiritual things.  After all, the Old Testament Sabbath existed for the spiritual needs of men (Mk 2:27), and it isn’t like those spiritual needs have gone away just because we aren’t Jewish.  For clarification, Sunday isn’t a new Sabbath, but we can take some principles from Old Testament examples (1 Cor 10:6).  It isn’t wrong for a christian to work on Sunday, but it also isn’t right for a christian to disregard the Bible design of Sunday as the Lord’s day.

The other primary verse to consider is Heb 10:25.  We are commanded to “not forsake the assembly”.  The word ‘forsake’ means ‘to desert, abandon, or leave behind’.  This verse is sometimes misused to say that if you miss even a single class or service, you are sinning – that isn’t the case.  Forsaking something is more than just a single absence; it is an attitude of desertion.  Heb 10:25 says that those who had forsaken the church assembly had made a custom out of it – it was their habit.  When our priorities change and the church is no longer important to us and the Lord’s day is no longer a priority, then we have forsaken the assembly.  To forsake the assembly requires a devaluation of worship in our lives and in our hearts.  What we do consistently is a window into our hearts.  We are known by the fruit we bear (Matt 7:16).  If a brother begins to scale back his attendance, it will legitimately raise eyebrows on caring brethren because attendance decline is a consistent indication that someone is having spiritual problems.  People have a zillion different reasons (sickness, travel, family emergencies, work, car trouble, etc.) for missing services… sometimes those excuses are sincere, and sometimes they are a cover up for dodging our responsibilities to the Lord.  Not everyone that misses a service is spiritually weak, but spiritually weak people miss services.  However, you mentioned that you rarely miss services, and it is not a consistent part of your behavior – therefore, those concerns wouldn’t apply to you as long as you can honestly say that your priorities are where they ought to be.  Asking the question, “Did I have a legitimate reason to miss evening services?” is a healthy part of self-examination… something we should all do (Gal 6:4, 1 Cor 11:28).