Sin
So firstly what is sin?
Sin is basically any time we put ourselves and our own understanding and our own ways over God’s, its when we say I know better I will do it this way even through God says that’s not good for you, or here is a better way.
Its a religious term that many ignore in our society that says if it feels good for you then do it, however both the LDS church and the mainstream Christian church both have a lot to say about it.
LDS View
To look at something as significant as sin which both LDS and mainstream Christians believe ultimately keep us separate from God, I feel its best to start right at the beginning in the garden of Eden. Here we see Adam and Eve created by God in a sinless existence knowing nothing other than a state of paradise, perfect harmony with God and each other.
The one thing they could not do is have some of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, ultimately we all know how that ended up, the tree was eaten from and they were banished from the garden to live in the world experiencing a never known separation from God down to their sin.
Immediately from this point on we see a separation from the LDS view and the biblical view.
The LDS view is that this “original sin” of Adam ultimately became a great source of joy to the world.
LDS scripture the book of Moses ch 5 v 11 says:
11 And Eve, his wife, heard all these things and was glad, saying: Were it not for our transgression we never should have had asked, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient.
In the book of Mormon it says:
“Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy” (2 Nephi 2:22–25).
The fall by Lds has been described as a fall upward.
“Adam fell, but he fell in the right direction. He fell toward the goal… Adam fell, but he fell upward” (Sterling Sill, assistant to the Twelve Apostles, “The Fall of Man Still Goes On,” Church News, July 31, 1965, p.7).
So why is this?
The LDS church teaches that we have a premortal existence as literal spirit children of God, and our purpose is to come to earth in a state of “probation” and prove ourselves worthy to eventually enter the celestial kingdom which is the highest of the three levels of heaven and become a god ourselves.
They teach without the fall we would not have been able to fill our purpose of procreating the earth and therefore could not have progressed in this state of probation as spirit children would not be coming to the earth.
It is not my intention in this article to find fault with every area of LDS doctrine but rather explain the foundations so we can look in depth at how they believe sin affects their day to day life and ultimately their closeness with God. But we can see already that the introduction of sin into the world through Adam is seen within the Mormon church as a good thing bringing joy.
In the Bible we see a different story,
In Romans 5:12 we see that through Adam, death entered into the world.
12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned—
This was a clear transgression of Gods commandment,
Romans 5:15
But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of he one the many died ……..
So through Adam’s transgression or sin, death entered into the world and people for the first time became separate from God.
Isaiah 59:2
But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God,
And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.
So biblically the fall of Adam did not bring any kind of joy into the world, it brought death meaning separation from God, and turned humanity from a state of daily walking with God closely to being cast out of His presence, which is shown by their being cast out of the garden of eden.
Why is this significant?
This shows that the LDS church teaches that sin is in essence a good thing, the reason they teach this which I will mention briefly is the teaching that this life is a state of probation and by our works we can prove ourselves worthy of all kinds of glory in the afterlife but without sin humanity would always have been perfect and this could not have had chance to prove anything.
Biblical Christianity teaches we have nothing we can prove to God.
Romans 3:23
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
All have sinned, you, me, the religious people in this world, the thieves of this wold, the charitable people everyone regardless of background or standing or anything, the Bible time and time again shows that nobody has really got anything to shout about in terms of personal righteousness.
Romans 3:10-18 says this:
10as it is written,
“THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;
11THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS,
THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;
12ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS;
THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD,
THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.”
13″(T)THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE,
WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING,”
“THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS”;
14″WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS”;
15″(THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD,
16DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS,
17AND THE PATH OF PEACE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN.”
18″THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES.”
Humanity has nothing to boast about, and before God no righteousness in and of themselves, there is an amazing hope that comes in Christ that I will look at over the coming weeks however this LDS view that sin is good and needed and brings joy finds no place in the Bible.
In the Bible we see that sin brought death, separation from God and it started with the earth shattering transgression of Adam.
Please tell me if I have missed anything or got anything wrong and please leave a comment whether its to say you love what I said, or hate it, or anything in between.
