I HAVE DISCOVERED THE ACHILLES’ HEEL OF MORMONISM.
Ed Decker
December 16, 2009
After over 50 years of being a Mormon, leaving it, researching it, writing extensively about it in a number of books, doing years of radio in Mormon-land, ministering to the Mormon people about the grace of Christ, and studying my Bible all this time……
I woke up during the night last week with a deep burden for the Mormon people who seek a god
separated from them by a hierarchy of men and a series of works and secret rituals. Later in the week, some words in a sermon at our church confirmed what I felt in my heart and I clearly saw what I will call
The Achilles’ Heel of Mormonism.
Because of the extreme gravity of this subject, I will be presenting this in two parts. The first part will be a presentation of this indefensible error of Mormonism. The second will be an open discussion, working with your own responses to what I present. I am purposely leaving some of the edges off the information, so as not to confuse what I am presenting, so please bear with me.
I have called it the Achilles’ Heel of Mormonism because the expression, Achilles’ Heel, is a metaphor for a fatal weakness that in spite of overall strength, can actually lead to downfall.
It is my argument that the facts here-in prove that Mormonism is fully outside orthodox, Biblical Christianity, and is, in fact, one of the anti-Christs spoken of in 1 John 2:18-21. Hard words, but true. The can be no if, ands or buts here.
When I woke up at 2 AM that night, my mind/thoughts were focused on that moment when, as a Mormon, I stood before the great white veil in the Los Angeles LDS temple.
I remembered vividly that I was in such awe of its presence there before me. I knew that it represented the separation of man and God and now I was to step up and demonstrate my knowledge of all the sacred, names, tokens and hand grips and would then be able to enter through that veil.
As I lay there considering that strange event and wondering why on earth I lay awake mulling over something I experienced over 40 years ago, my thoughts drifted to Calvary and I could see, in my mind’s eye, Christ on the Cross, crying out, “It is finished!”
Then, as if it came from the other room, it was as though I heard a loud tearing and ripping and I knew it was the sounds of the temple veil being ‘rent’ apart. I cannot explain the event any deeper. It was just one of those times that you wake up to something that the Lord wants you to think about, something out of the blue that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense at the time.
Over the next week I began to have a more emphatic and deeper understanding of something I have known for many years - what I experienced in the Mormon temple ritual could not be of God if what Jesus did at Calvary was of God. It's either Jesus or Joseph; the Temple or the Cross and it was then that I saw this was the Achilles’ heel of Mormonism. Let me explain.
For what Mormonism teaches as one of its core doctrines and what it’s adherents practice at the Veil in its most solemn ritual, clearly makes manifest the anti-Christ practice that assures “that they are not of us [Biblical Christianity].and may I add, until they repent, never will be.
Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. 1 John 2:20-21KJV
In logic, the Principle of contradiction is the second of the so-called three classic laws of thought. It states that two opposing, contradictory positions in a matter cannot both be true at the same time and in the same sense. Mormonism cannot be both Christian and an Anti-Christ.
The sermon at church that triggered my understanding of this was about having intimacy with God, that oneness that Christ spoke described:
And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. KJV John 17:17-23
This is the wonderful life of the born-again Christian believer. Intimacy with God through Christ. We no longer must bring our sin offerings to a priest. God is no longer on the other side of a temple veil. He dwells within us, by the power of His Holy Spirit.
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. Gal 2:20-21 KJV
Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 1 Cor 3:16 KJV
Adam and Eve enjoyed intimacy with God, until sin separated them from that relationship. From that time on, until Christ, prophets were the intermediates of God for the communication of His mind and will to men.
At the time of Moses’ visitation with God on the mountain top and the quaking in fear of the people at the thunderous voice of God from above, it was clear that the people wanted someone to be between them and God, to act for their benefit,
As Israel formalized the structure of its worship, temples were built and within the temple, a veil separated the people from the Holy of Holies, the place of God’s Presence.
The veil of the temple. According to the Rabbis, this was a handbreadth in thickness, and woven of seventy-two twisted plaits, each plait consisting of twenty-four threads. It was sixty feet long and thirty wide. Two of them were made every year, and according to the exaggerated language of the time, it needed three hundred priests to manipulate it.
This veil was the one which covered the entrance to the holy of holies, and not, as has been asserted, the veil which hung before the main entrance to the sanctuary.
The Holy of Holies contained only a large stone, on which the high priest sprinkled the blood on the Day of Atonement, occupying the place where the ark with the mercy-seat had stood. (from Vincent's Word Studies in the New Testament, Electronic Database. Copyright © 1997, 2003, 2005, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc.)
This practice continued until and during the days of Christ. The Jewish people still brought their sin offerings to the temple and on the Day of Atonement, the high priest stepped through the veil into the Holy of Holies, on behalf of the people.
However, things were changing. John the Baptist rose up as the last of the prophets. Christ, himself, made it clear that a new thing was in place regarding man’s communication with God. Jesus said:
For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. Matt 11:13 KJV
The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it. Luke 16:16 KJV
Who was to take that place between Man and God from that day forth? Jesus.
God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds; Heb 1:1-2 KJV
Jesus presented new doctrine, a new salvation message, a new way to have personal intimacy with God. The religious leaders of that day were intimidated by Him and His teachings. He told his disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. He told the Pharisees and Sadducees:
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. John 8:44 KJV
Let us now fast forward to the Cross, to Christ’s redemptive gift of his life for us on Calvary.
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. Rom 5:8-10 KJV
You see, Christ went to the cross as the “once and for all sacrifice” for the redemption of the sins of mankind. All we have to do to accept it.
Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec. Heb 5:8-10 KJV
The key here is that his shed blood was the end of the work of sacrifice, the end of the temple era. No longer was there a need for a high priest to go through the temple veil and face God on our behalf.
Christ had fulfilled that need once and forever. He became our high priest, in a priesthood of one, and through him, all of His people had access to God without a veil to separate them. In His death, He tore down that separation.
Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? Heb 9:12-14 KJV
No longer was there a need for a high priest to continue the dead works of the temple. No need for a veil of separation. Christ had fulfilled the law completely. To offer up any more sacrifice, even of our own works to earn worthiness is to reject the blood of Christ. I suggest that this denial of his blood sacrifice is the reason the Mormons use water in their communion.
For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:
Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bearthe sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. Heb 9: 24-28 KJV
I have gone into this in a bit more detail so that you fully understand what happened at Calvary, when Christ died on the Cross. I had to pick and choose from among literally dozens of scriptures that explain what was taking place. This is not a mystery.
Christ’s death was the final act of the Old Testament. It was the end of the law and the prophets. It was the literal restoration of man’s ability to have intimacy with God, by the hand of God through the sacrifice of His only begotten son…
It is not just a saying that people flash in the end zones at football games. It is the word of God through Christ
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. 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 3:14-16 KJV
When Christ hung on the Cross, eternity stood still. And when it was over, something eternally significant happened. It was God Himself, restoring our intimacy with Him. Matthew, Mark and Luke each described it.
Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.
And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; Matt 27:50-51KJV
Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost. And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. Mark 15:37-38KJV
And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst, And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, He gave up the ghost. Luke 23:45-46 KJV
The Great theologian Matthew Henry said of this moment, that
“It bespeaks a great deal of comfort to all believing Christians, for it signifies the consecrating and laying open to us of a new and living way into the holiest by the blood of Jesus.”
You see, from that moment on, there never has been a need for a veil to stand between man and God or a priestly intercessor to take our place. Christ did away with the entire reason for such an obstacle to be between God and his children.
To keep the veil between the people and God is to refuse to accept the gift of personal salvation given freely at the Cross. To keep the veil is to deny that Jesus is the Christ, the one who fully redeemed us.
To place a veil between God and man is to deny Christ, deny the power of the cross in uniting man with God and to mock God’s reason for the sacrifice of Christ.
It is only as an anti-Christ that a church calling itself by the name of Christ would return to the very veil Christ had done away with.
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For 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.
For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore, it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works. 2 Cor 11:3-4,13-15 KJV
This is not a new revelation in the Scripture. The Early Church had been warned that deceivers like the prophets of the Mormon Church would be coming after them
Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Matt 24:23-24 KJV
And then if any man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ; or, lo, he is there; believe him not: For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. Mark 13:21-22 KJV
To make matters worse, the Mormon prophets say that God is a man, born on another planet , whose works earned him godhood. That is the god who stands on the other side of the Mormon veil.
Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things.
Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. Rom 1:21-25 KJV
The promise is given that if the Mormon is judged worthy enough, he/she can attain godhood, but only if he/she goes through the temple ritual and is able to cross behind the veil,
To even get to the temple veil, the Mormon must stand before a counterfeit priesthood [see footnote 1.] to be judged worthy enough to stand before the veil they have placed between the member and God.
This worthiness is judged every year. A major part of this judgment is determined at the annual ‘tithing settlement.’ Not up-to-date on tithing? No Temple recommend. Every Mormon must earn the right to go to the temple and step through the veil by his/her own works. All Male Temple applicants must be members of the Melchizedek priesthood.
When the worthy Mormon stands before the veil in the temple, there is a temple worker standing on the opposite side of the veil, portraying the Lord. Now, the member must demonstrate through slits in the veil, that he/she knows all the secret handgrips, code words and be able to demonstrate the 5 points of fellowship through the veil [see footnote 2.]
I commented a long time ago that Satan was not going to come after you looking like a 14 foot frog, but as something sweet and lovely, even as an angel of light. Not surprisingly, that is how Joseph Smith described the heavenly beings in his first vision story.
Mormonism may appear to be Christian, but it brings a system of beliefs and rituals incompatible with Christianity and without any redemptive value to the believer.
This denial of Christ’s shed blood on Calvary is the reason there are no crosses in or on any Mormon building or temple and why they use water in their counterfeit communion. They go so far away from Biblical truth as to say it was in the Garden of Gethsemane where the atonement of Christ took place, not the cross. [See Footnote 3.]
In conclusion, the Mormon ritual that brings the adherent to stand in front of a supposed holy veil that separates them from the presence of God is to deny Christ and Calvary. In truth, it Biblically places them fully in the position of an anti—Christ.
They cannot be Christians and perform acts of worship that deny the very reason for Christ’s presence among men. A thing cannot be and not be at the same time. One is truth, the other a lie.
The Christ of the Cross is truth. The Christ of the Mormon veil is a lie.
There is a way that seems right to a man,
But its end is the way of death.
Proverbs 14:12
Footnotes:
!. Mormon Priesthood
First, you need to know that the LDS Church has illegally usurped the Melchizedek priesthood. It was never theirs to give, Christ became our high priest after the order of Melchizedek and it has always been a priesthood of one.
This false priesthood is found in esoteric groups like the Mormons and the Masons. It is not biblical. The true Melchizedec priesthood only existed as a priesthood of one, before the law was given and in Christ, after the law was ended. The Mormons have stolen the very priesthood of Jesus Christ
In almost every patriarchal blessing given in Mormonism, the believer is told he/she is of the tribe of Manasseh or Ephraim. Supposedly, when one is baptized into the LDS church, one’s gentile blood is transformed into one of these two bloodlines, making the Mormon part of true Israel.
This was a shock to me, since I already was born into the bloodline of the house of Levi. The Mormon god had taken my Jewish bloodline and switched it to an un-priestly one me.
2. Five Points of Fellowship at the Veil.
Patron and temple worker portraying the lord are on opposite sides of a magnificent veil.
LORD: What is that?
PATRON: The Second Token of the Melchizedek Priesthood, the Patriarchal Grip, or Sure Sign of the Nail.
LORD: Has it an name?
PATRON: It has.
LORD: Will you give it to me?
PATRON: I will, through the Veil.--Health in the navel, marrow in the bones, strength in the loins and in the sinews, power in the Priesthood be upon me, and upon my posterity through all generations of time, and throughout all eternity.
LORD: That is correct.
(The Lord and patron break the ceremonial embrace, and the temple worker gives three taps with the mallet.)
LORD: What is wanted?
WORKER: Adam, having conversed with the Lord through the Veil, desires now to enter his presence.
LORD: Let him enter.
(The Veil is now parted and the Lord takes the patron by the right hand, and pulls him gently through the Veil into the Celestial Room.)
3. The LDS Teaching on Christ’s atonement for the sins of mankind
"And as he came out of the Garden, delivering himself voluntarily into the hands of wicked men, the victory had been won. There remained yet the shame and the pain of his attest, his trials, and his cross. But all these were overshadowed by the agonies and sufferings in Gethsemane. It was on the cross that he 'suffered death in the flesh,' even as many have suffered agonizing deaths, but it was in Gethsemane that "he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him." (Bruce R. McConkie, The Mortal Messiah, pp. 127-128).
"It was in Gethsemane that Jesus took on Himself the sins of the world, in Gethsemane that His pain was equivalent to the cumulative burden of all men, in Gethsemane that He descended below all things so that all could repent and come to Him" (Ezra Taft Benson, Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p.15).
"Forgiveness is available because Christ the Lord sweat great drops of blood in Gethsemane as he bore the incalculable weight of the sins of all who ever had or ever would repent" (Bruce R. McConkie, The Promised Messiah, p. 337).
You can reach Ed Decker at
ed@saintsalive.com
www.saintsalive.com
Your comments are welcome
