Who Is Jesus? - Correcting LDS Fallacies

When an LDS person is asked the question, “Do you know Jesus?”, many will say, “Of course I know Jesus, I have read stories about Him, I have heard talks about Him, I pray in His name, and I belong to a church that has His name on our buildings.” When they say this, the next question to ask is, “Does He know you?” More often than not they then tell about the preexistence, heavenly parents, and how Jesus is our elder brother and that we grew up there with Him – and thus we know Him and He knows us as His siblings, for we all came from heaven. This answer gives an opening to ask how this could be, for the Bible tells us that Jesus alone came from heaven—we did not (John:8:23And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.
See All...; 3:13, 31; 6:62; 1 Corinthians:15:46-47 [46] Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. [47] The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the LORD from heaven.
See All...). The Bible teaches of Jesus who is God who became a man to save us from our sin (Matthew:1:23Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
See All...; John:1:1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
See All..., 14, 29; 3:16).

When Adam sinned and death entered the human race, God promised to send a Redeemer, “the seed of the woman” (Genesis:3:15And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
See All...; Isaiah:7:14Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
See All...). Jesus of the Bible is that Virgin-born Son of God; God, who is Spirit (John:4:24God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
See All...; Luke:1:26-31 [26] And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, [27] To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. [28] And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. [29] And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. [30] And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. [31] And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
See All...). Jesus is indeed Immanuel, God with us. (Matthew:1:23Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
See All...; John:1:1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
See All..., 14; Galatians:4:4But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
See All...). He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John:1:29The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
See All...). Jesus compared knowing Him to having eternal life (John:17:3And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
See All...). In other words, just knowing about Him without knowing WHO HE IS will not give us eternal life. We have to have a personal relationship with Him. The Bible warns about false prophets and teachers who teach of another Jesus (same name but a different person – 2 Corinthians:11:4For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.
See All..., 13-15). Jesus himself said “Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven.” Knowing His name and even having done “wonderful works” in His name but not having personal relationship with Him will not do. “On that day,” Judgment Day, He will have to say, “I never knew you: depart from Me” (Matthew:7:21-23 [21] Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. [22] Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? [23] And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
See All...). Jesus is God who came to save us from our sins, but if we do not know and acknowledge who He is, the Great I AM, we will die in our sins and therefore cannot enter the kingdom of heaven (John:8:24I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.
See All...; 58-59). Only God can forgive sins (Mark:2:7Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?
See All...). Jesus is 100 percent God and 100 percent man. “In Him dwells all fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians:2:9For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
See All...). He is the image of the invisible God (Colossians:1:15Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
See All...). He came to fulfill all that the prophets of the Old Testament had foretold about Him. Every book of the Bible is about Him (Luke:24:25-27 [25] Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: [26] Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? [27] And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
See All..., 44-47). His life, death, and resurrection is for all who in faith accept Him (1 Corinthians:15:1-4 [1] Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; [2] By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. [3] For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; [4] And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
See All...; Romans:10:9-10 [9] That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. [10] For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
See All...; Ephesians:2:8-9 [8] For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: [9] Not of works, lest any man should boast.
See All...). When we receive Him, we BECOME children of God (John:1:12-13 [12] But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: [13] Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
See All...; 3:7) and are born again of the Spirit of God.

The Mormon Church and its leaders have taught that Jesus was married and a polygamist—as their God the Father also is married and a polygamist—and that all mankind were born as spirit children to him and his many wives in the preexistence, Jesus being the eldest of all of them/us. They teach that since marriage is a requirement for gaining exaltation and godhood in the celestial kingdom, Jesus likewise had to be married in order to become fully a god.

It is amazing how many different ways the enemy of our souls tries to confuse people’s minds of the purpose of God becoming a man in Jesus; namely that He became a man to die for our sins, and through faith in Him as our substitute to provide the way for us to go to heaven.

A few years ago, there was Dan Brown’s popular novel, The Da Vinci Code, which many, many Mormons and others took as a sure confirmation that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and that they had at least one child….This same confusion, and even excitement is up again among Mormons because some fourth century “faded papyrus fragment, only 1.5 inches by 3 inches, likened to the size of a business card or small cell phone has been found—suggesting that Jesus Christ of Nazareth was actually married.” This fragment was brought to light a couple of weeks ago by Harvard Divinity School professor, Karen King, who also says “the papyrus fragment, even if it’s determined to be authentic, does not provide evidence that Jesus was married, but merely that hundreds of years after Jesus’ death and resurrection, some believed He had a wife….The Bible never even hints that Jesus was married.” Wolf-Peter Funk, a Coptic linguist, (among others) doubts the authenticity (of this fragment), calling its form “suspicious.” He told the AP “there’s no way to evaluate the significance of the fragment because it has no context. There are thousands of scraps of papyrus where you find crazy things,” said Funk, (co-director of a project editing the Nag Hammadi Coptic library at Laval University in Quebec). “It can be anything,” he said. “Part of the mystery of the fragment is that no one seems to be sure of its origin and provenance, a history of where it has been. Plus, its owner has asked to remain anonymous. This is now being labeled by experts as fraudulent….” (Copied from WND report of 9/19/12, emphasis added.)

It is amazing to see how gullible people indeed are. The New Testament, written during the First Century A.D. by eyewitnesses of Jesus’ life and His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension to heaven, does not say anything about Jesus being married, but a tiny fragment by an anonymous writer, without context to anything, written about 350 years after Jesus’ life, is all of a sudden taken as “proof” that He was married! It is incredible that people are so eager to believe something like this, and by so doing they discredit God’s purposes and Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John:1:29The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
See All...).

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About H.I.S. (He Is Savior) Ministries International:

HISMIN is dedicated to helping Mormons who have questions about their belief system being Christian or not.

Dennis was a sixth-generation Mormon who became an Elder’s Quorum president while still in his early twenties. About a decade later, he was ordained a High Priest and called to serve on the Stake High Council. Rauni worked as a translator and language coordinator for the LDS Church for over 14 years, and held teaching positions in Sunday school and in the Relief Society. Her privileged position allowed her to study Mormon history from many books not generally available to LDS membership, which eventually led her to share these growing concerns about discrepancies hidden by the Church with her husband. Together they launched the helpful website, www.hismin.com.