Lds.org says “Jesus’s atoning sacrifice took place in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross at Calvary. In Gethsemane He submitted to the will of the Father and began to take upon Himself the sins of all people”

Again on Lds.org Don O. Thorpe in the Article Gethsemane the Place of Atonement he says: “Yet, in this grove of ancient trees one of the most important events in the history of mankind took place. In this little garden the Savior agonized as he suffered for the sins of all the world. He made it possible for us to return to the presence of God. That means that if we repent and live in sweet obedience to the Father’s will, we will not be required to pay the awful debt for the sins we have committed; Jesus did that in Gethsemane.”

Interestingly this article makes no mention of the Cross.

Bruce Mckonkie one of the Twelve Apostles in His time said in His talk The Purifying Power of Gethsemane these things:

We do not know, we cannot tell, no mortal mind can conceive the full import of what Christ did in Gethsemane.

We know he sweat great gouts of blood from every pore as he drained the dregs of that bitter cup his Father had given him.

We know he suffered, both body and spirit, more than it is possible for man to suffer, except it be unto death.

and this

And now, as pertaining to this perfect atonement, wrought by the shedding of the blood of God—I testify that it took place in Gethsemane and at Golgotha, and as pertaining to Jesus Christ, I testify that he is the Son of the Living God and was crucified for the sins of the world. He is our Lord, our God, and our King. This I know of myself independent of any other person.

Elsewhere Mckonkie said

“Where and under what circumstances was the atoning sacrifice of the Son of God made? Was it on the Cross of Calvary or in the Garden of Gethsemane? It is to the Cross of Christ that most Christians look when centering their attention upon the infinite and eternal atonement. And certainly the sacrifice of our Lord was completed when he was lifted up by men; also, that part of his life and suffering is more dramatic and, perhaps, more soul stirring. But in reality the pain and suffering, the triumph and grandeur, of the atonement took place primarily in Gethsemane,” (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, vol. 1, p. 774, ).

From what I can tell in the very least the LDS view is that the Atonement took place at Gethsemane and on the Cross, however there are times when I wonder if the belief is that actually Gethsemane is the most significant part of it, often it seems like this is emphasised more.

So what is my point? Well its this Jesus did not in any way, shape or form atone for your sins at Gethsemane. What this means is that any trust you put in what was done there for your own eternal salvation and forgiveness for sin will lead you nowhere.

Lets start with looking at the biblical account of Jesus time in the garden.

Luke 22:39-46

³⁹And he came out, and went, as he was wont, to the mount of Olives; and his disciples also followed him. ⁴⁰And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation. ⁴¹And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed,

 ⁴²Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. ⁴³And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.

⁴⁴And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. ⁴⁵And when he rose up from prayer, and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow,⁴⁶And said unto them, Why sleep ye? rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.

Its worth remembering as we look at this that Jesus was not only 100% Fully God at this point but He was also 100% fully man, this is called the “Hypostatic Union” which is Jesus fully having these 2 natures. As such Jesus felt all of the emotions that you and I would feel, because He was a human man. With that in mind read this account again.

What we see here is a human man terrified for what was coming, He may have known all His life this day was coming however there was only a very short time to go until Jesus Christ was going to go through the most painful execution known to man. We see His two natures almost clashing in that in His humanity He says “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me”. 

However this is God the Son creator and Savior speaking and we hear this humanity saving statement “nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done”.

Is Jesus saying He has a different will to the Fathers? Or is He as God in the Flesh that we see in Phillipians 2 emptied Himself of His equality with God yet again perfectly showing submission to God even to the point of death on a cross?

And this is the true place of the Atonement, the Cross, Jesus here is having His last moment to humble Himself before God and submit Himself to the Atoning sacrifice He is to carry out for you and Me, however this is not the place where it occured.

A very interesting thing this passage says to help indicate this is:

⁴⁴And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

What does it mean to sweat drops of blood? This is actually called Hematidrosis, here is what this is:

Hematidrosis (also called hematohidrosis) is a very rare condition in which a human being sweats blood, though it has not been confirmed scientifically.^[1] It may occur when a person is suffering extreme levels of stress, for example, facing his or her own death.^[2] Several historical references have been described; notably by Leonardo da Vinci: describing a soldier who sweated blood before battle, men unexpectedly given a death sentence, as well as descriptions in the Bible, that Jesus experienced hematidrosis when he was praying in the garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:44). ^[3]

Hematidrosis is something someone goes through in extreme apprehension of their own death. Jesus being a man was subject to all of mans emotions and so went through this experience explaining this condition of sweating drops of blood. What this means regarding the atonement is that actually these drops of blood that came from the Saviour were not for you and me, they were actually for Himself as a man going through what many of us would go through if we knew we were soon to die in what has been called the most painful way to die ever known.

The biblical reality is that the Atonement, Jesus paying the price so that you and I could go free and be righteous even as sinners was done on the cross.

Isaiah 53:5 says But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. (KJV)

Other versions say by His wounds or scourging we are healed, which is what stripes here means.

Ephesians 2:16: and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.

Colossians 2:14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

1 Peter 2:24 and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.

Romans 5:10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

Colossians 1:22 yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach—

The Apostle Paul even said For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. (1 Corinthians 2:2)

Do you get the idea? It was the death of Jesus on the cross that paid for your sin, the punishment for sin is death (Romans 6:23) however as this verse goes on to say

but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

This is the gift of God on offer for those that put their entirity of faith in Christ in response to what He did for you on the Cross! Through the Cross 100% if your sin past present and future can be dealt with and paid for, through the Ressurection you can know you have hope for eternal life living with God.

Imagine if you needed bailing out from Jail and I had the money to pay for this, now it costs a lot and I am dreading paying it for you, I go to the Cash Machine draw it out feeling really sorry that I am gonna lose this money but then I come and pay it and you go free. At which point have I paid the price? The money stays mine until I hand it over.

Taking this further imagine if I draw it out going through all this trauma knowing I am going to lose so much money but then I decide not to pay it, how much good will my emotional pain have done you? None its only in the paying of the cost that you can go free.

To finish I would simply say this is another example of the LDS faith distorting the gospel of Christ, taking the emphasis away from Him and what He truly did for you and turning your face toward religion.

Dont stand for it trust in Christ and what He did for you.

One of the key claims the Mormon church has to state why it is the one true Church on the earth, is that they state the Christian church after the Apostles died went into a state of Apostasy. They fell away from truly serving God and most importantly they say they lost
Authority to perform Key ordnance’s such as Baptism and preaching the gospel.

Due to this Apostasy from the point of the Apostles dying to the point of Joseph Smith starting the Mormon church there was no true church on the earth.

What I want to do in this article is just look at the Mormon teaching on the Presthood Authority and simply what the bible says on the subject, I will try and represent the Mormon view as best as I can however any LDS members reading this are welcome to correct me on anything I say about your beliefs and I will be happy to make changes.

Quoted below is a section from “Our heritage, A Brief history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints”

Restoration of the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthoods
When the angel Moroni first met with Joseph Smith on the
Hill Cumorah in September 1823, he gave important instructions
about the restoration of priesthood authority to the earth,
including the following declaration: “When [the gold plates] are
interpreted the Lord will give the holy priesthood to some, and they
shall begin to proclaim this gospel and baptize by water, and after

that they shall have power to give the Holy Ghost by the laying
on of their hands.”10
In the spring of 1829, Joseph participated in the partial fulfillment
of the angel’s words. As he and Oliver Cowdery were
translating the Book of Mormon, they found mention of baptism
for the remission of sins. On 15 May they sought further knowledge
on the subject from the Lord in prayer. While offering up
their petition on the banks of the Susquehanna River, the two
men were visited by a heavenly messenger. He identified himself
as John the Baptist (pictured) of New Testament times. Laying his hands on
the heads of Joseph and Oliver, he said, “Upon you my fellow
servants, in the name of Messiah I confer the Priesthood of Aaron,
which holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the
gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the
remission of sins” (D&C 13:1).
After this ordination, Joseph and Oliver baptized one another
as commanded by John the Baptist and ordained each other to
the Aaronic Priesthood. John told them that “this Aaronic Priesthood
had not the power of laying on hands for the gift of the
Holy Ghost, but that this should be conferred on us hereafter.”
He also said that “he acted under the direction of Peter, James and
John, who held the keys of the Priesthood of Melchizedek, which
Priesthood, he said, would in due time be conferred on us”
(JS—H 1:70, 72; see also 1:68–72).

The Prophet said of this experience: “Immediately on our
coming up out of the water after we had been baptized, we
experienced great and glorious blessings from our Heavenly
Father. No sooner had I baptized Oliver Cowdery, than the Holy
Ghost fell upon him, and he stood up and prophesied many
things which should shortly come to pass. And again, so soon as I
had been baptized by him, I also had the spirit of prophecy, when,
standing up, I prophesied concerning the rise of this Church, and
many other things connected with the Church, and this generation
of the children of men. We were filled with the Holy Ghost,
and rejoiced in the God of our salvation” (JS—H 1:73).

Later, Peter, James, and John appeared to Joseph and Oliver
and conferred upon them the Melchizedek Priesthood. They also
bestowed the keys of God’s kingdom upon them (see D&C
27:12–13; 128:20). The Melchizedek Priesthood is the highest
authority given to men on earth. With this authority, the Prophet
Joseph Smith was able to organize the Church of Jesus Christ in
this dispensation and begin to establish the various priesthood
quorums as they are known in the Church today.
So in the Mormon Church we see two levels of Presthood Authority the Aaronic and the melchizedek Priesthood. Both are offices only held by men in the Church.

Aaronic priesthood holders ages 12–18 prepare, bless, and administer the sacrament, collect fast offerings, assist in home teaching, and occasionally perform baptisms.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaronic_priesthood)

The Melchizedek priesthood being the higher of the two relates more to eternal things such as Baptism for the dead as well as having the authority to perform healings and receive revelation for their own family. Fathers will often give a priesthood blessing to their family when an important situation arises.

The important thing to take from this is the Mormon Church teaches this authority is essential to following God in this life and the next and that all other churches do not have this due to the Apostasy.

Both of these Priesthoods do exist in the bible however seem to hold a very different role to what the Mormon Church Teaches.

The Aaronic Priesthood or the Levitical Priesthood was held by Aaron the brother of Moses (Exodus 6:20). The priesthood was used in these times and was for Aaron and His sons.

Exodus 28:1 And take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons.

There is no indication in the bible that this priesthood was ever meant for gentiles and no indication that this Authority lived on after the sons of Aaron.

The Melchizedek Priesthood comes from a reletively unknown character in the Old testament.

Genesis 14:18-20 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. 19 And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: 20 And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.

However this priesthood is never seen in the bible as something which is passed on to worthy males, there is only one other person in the bible shown as recieving this priesthood and that person is the Saviour Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 5:5-6 So also Christ glorified not himself to be madean high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee. 6 As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.

Many LDS members may not have realised this but the book of Hebrews clearly teaches why the Priestood of Melchizedek is not available to anyone else ever again.

In the Old Testament times there was always one high priest functioning at a time, who once a year went into Gods presence in the temple, this role was only passed on when that High priest died and then another took over. This is the case with the Melchizedek priesthood today.

Hebrews 7:17-28 Shows this.

¹⁷For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

¹⁸For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof.

¹⁹For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.

²⁰And inasmuch as not without an oath he was made priest:

²¹(For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec:)

²²By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.

²³And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death:

²⁴But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.

²⁵Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

²⁶For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;

²⁷Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.

²⁸For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore.

In v17 we see Jesus has this priesthood, in v23 we see that these priests existed until death thats why we needed more than one in the past, however v24 shows that Jesus holds this priesthood permanently as He is alive, in v27 we see that He has paid the ultimate sacrifice by sacrificing Himself for us, so unlike the old priests He does not need to offer sacrifices daily. and v18 shows we no longer have weak human high priests but we have Jesus who is the perfect high priest forever.

Mormons will still ask so where is your authority to baptize? Well this is an authority all believers have by being in Christ, think of the great commission.

Matthew 28:16-20

¹⁶Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.

¹⁷And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.

¹⁸And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

¹⁹Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

²⁰Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Jesus says all authority has been given to me therefore GO!!

Where does our authority come from? It comes from being in Christ, He is our Prophet, He is our Priest, He is our King.

Our forgiveness, leadership, love, and authority does not come from a human man it comes from Christ, the only time Priesthood is talked about for believers in the New Testament is for ALL believers.

1 Peter 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

If you are born again, in love with Christ and have assurance that He alone is your source of salvation then you have all of the spiritual authority that you could ever need.

So we have looked at the LDS and biblical view of sin and the different origins and effects of this, from both sides we can see that sin is something that to varying degrees seperates people from God and is something that needs to be overcome in order to have certainly of a future eternity with God.

This week starting with the Biblical view we see that Jesus Christ and Him alone is the only way this problem of sin can be dealt with,

Revelation 21:27 says

And nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it (heaven), but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Nothing unclean with any sin whatsoever can enter into the presence of God, we as human beings must be before God, perfect otherwise we would be unacceptable to enter into His presence both in this life and the next.

As we saw last time Adam brought this situation upon the world.

Romans 5:15

But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of he one the many died ……..

However the second half of this verse says this:

…..much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.

What I want to briefly show is that according to the bible, salvation meaning union with God in this life and the next is freely available as a gift through Christ alone.

Many people have debated and argued over the years regarding which church to join, should I be baptist, lutheran, methodist, free evangelical etc…. Even the story of Joseph Smith the founder of Mormonism starts with him praying to God asking which church to join.

I think the bible shows this is the wrong question to ask, Christianity is so much less a structured religion, and is so much more a relationship with dependance on Jesus Christ, God in the flesh.

For starters He is the truth:

John 14:6

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

He is God

John 20:28

Thomas answered and said to Him (Jesus), “My Lord and my God!”

He died and rose again for the sins of the world.

1 John 2:2

And He Himself is the propitiation (meaning He has taken our punishment) for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.

Faith in Him saves you, not by works but by faith alone.

Ephesians 2:8

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;

This is a basic explanation of this but I am happy to discuss anything in more detail.

A key part of biblical Christianity is the belief that none of our own good charitable, spiritual or any kind of good works can lead us to be saved, salvation only comes from putting our faith completely in Jesus Christ, who though He existed in heaven as God, came to earth as a man and took upon Himself the sins of the world and then rose again so that by us putting our faith in Him we can be born again. (more on that next week)

Through this we can have full assurance of an eternity with God in the hereafter, if its not by faith alone then that means we can contribute to our salvation and it means Christ alone is not enough.

In the LDS view like with many things at first it may sound similar, many people have asked Mormon missionaries “do you believe in salvation by faith alone?”

Mostly they will say yes we do, however this then turns into a change of terminology as to a Mormon salvation means everyone being raised again in the next life for judgement. This happens to everyone regardless of their faith, and they believe that is the part that Christ achieved for us, however they believe that exaltation, which is the top level of the three levels of heaven that Mormons believe in only comes through a great deal of works, this is the aim for most LDS members.

Spencer W Kimball the twelfth president of the Mormon church said this in his book the miracle of forgiveness

“One of the most fallacious doctrines originated by Satan and propounded by man is that man is saved alone by the grace of God; that belief in Jesus Christ alone is all that is needed for salvation.” (pp. 206-207)

In reality what is required of a Mormon for their version of salvation rather than dependence on Christ alone is more like this:

1. We must be baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ.

2. We must receive the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

3. We must receive the temple endowment.

4. We must be married for time and eternity.

In addition to receiving the required ordinances, the Lord commands all of us to–

1. Love and worship God.

2. Love our neighbor.

3. Repent of our wrongdoings.

4. Live the law of chastity.

5. Pay honest tithes and offerings.

6. Be honest in our dealings with others and with the Lord.

7. Speak the truth always.

8. Obey the Word of Wisdom.

9. Search out our kindred dead and perform the saving ordinances of the gospel for them.

10. Keep the Sabbath day holy.

11. Attend our Church meetings as regularly as possible so we can renew our baptismal covenants by partaking of the sacrament.

12. Love our family members and strengthen them in the ways of the Lord.

13. Have family and individual prayers every day.

14. Honor our parents.

15. Teach the gospel to others by word and example.

16. Study the scriptures.

17. Listen to and obey the inspired words of the prophets of the Lord.

Finally, each of us needs to receive the Holy Ghost and learn to follow his direction in our individual lives.

(Gospel Principles (1997 edition, pages 303-304)

Christ alone is not enough for a Mormon to be saved they believe they need so much more, my message to anyone reading this is that Christ alone is enough for salvation, yes going to church is great as it helps you grow, baptism is great as it is a public sign of obedience to God however if you want to get right with God, Christ alone over any church or organisation is the place to look.

Colossians 2:10

And in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;

I invite anyone to comment on what I have said and tell me anything I have said that you disagree with