My main point is that a relationship with God as Father, knowing Jesus as Saviour, being led by the Holy Spirit – having forgiveness of sins are all taught by the leaders of Mormonism. There are many still in Mormonism and who chose to stay there who have the above.

My difficulty with ex-Mormons and anti-Mormons is they claim that leaving the church leads to the above.
If we are dealing in truth then we cant be selective or neat about it!
I think we need to respectfully disagree and may the Lord bless you in your walk with him.

You said , ” You are clearly anti the Mormon church and Mormons would see it that way.”

I’m glad you said ‘anti Mormon church ” instead of “anti Mormons ” because that is more accurate of my view . I love the Mormon people ,but I reject the Mormon church or more precisely ” MormonISM ” . See the difference ?

What’s interesting is that Mormon leaders have done ( said ) some of the same things about Christians like me and my beliefs that you , if you were not so bias , would have to admit make them also “anti’s ” . So may you quick using that term , ok ?

You said , ” It’s clear from your wordy responses that you think Mormons can’t know God , Jesus , or forgiveness ….”

I’ve already said that I will not claim that literally every person who says they are a Mormon does not a saving relationship with God . But I will say that Mormon leaders do not know God nor have they heard from the true Jesus in directing their teachings and church mission . You may be unaware of what Mormon leaders have taught about God , Jesus , and how a person can be saved , but I assure you it is not in line with what God’s true prophets/ apostles taught .
Therefore they are false prophets with a counterfeit gospel . Because Mormons use terms or phrases like ” I’m serving Jesus ” or ” I’m following Jesus ” , or ” Jesus is my Savior , that therefore they must know personally the true Jesus Christ and be completely forgiven individuals . Sorry , but that simply may not be the case at all because they’ve been misled in what those terms mean by their leaders indoctrination . Only when we look at what scripture says about all this will we see the difference appear .

Remember , my wife faithfully followed a religious organization ( Jw’s )that made the same type of claims of exclusive authority as Mormon church leaders have made . If you would have talked with her when she was still a member of that “church” she would have told you she ” follows Jesus ” , she “serves Jesus ” because He is her “Savior “. Yet it turns out that her Savior is none other than Michael the archangel in heaven with the Father Jehovah . Her Jesus was not the true one and those terms and phrases she used to tell you about Him would have led you to believe that she had a ” relationship” with Him and salvation . But she was misled .Eventually she put down her prophets writings and looked into only the Bible for herself and eventually found the true authentic Jesus Christ . Likewise most LDS are in much of the same type situation as she started out in .That is a fact , and it saddens my heart . But I have hope they will be free one day also .

Now concerning those LDS who may be not as indoctrinated as most are , and therefore could be forgiven and know Jesus , there is a good indicator that determines if their are :
Since the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth ( Jn 14;17 )who can guide true believers out of error and into complete freedom from false prophets influence over them ( Jn 16:13 ) then sooner or later those Mormons will see they’ve detoured by false prophets , dismiss them , and leave the Mormon church . True believers will realize that they let feelings fool them and they will thereafter not have a “testimony” affirming Mormon leaders exclusive authority because those men are not who they claim to be .So if there are truly saved persons in the Mormon church sooner or later they will walk into the light of truth and walk out of the Mormon church and away from the prophets who rule over them . They will turn to the Bible alone and the true Jesus revealed there . Lucy did a good job at sharing who this Jesus is .

Praying for you Markie .
Take care

Mormons have never been the problem , Mormonism is .
Mormonism is not the answer .

You said , ” Not sure why you respond to my point about Mormons actually knowing God and Jesus and the Holy Ghost with an attack on their doctrines?”

The Bible teaches that just because someone says they know God or Jesus but have erroneous beliefs about them then that person is self deceived . I keep mentioning Paul’s warning in Gal 1:8 but you seem to ignore that pertinent scripture . Also this is not my opinion only because even Joseph Smith taught that in order to receive salvation a person must a correct view of God [ 1835 Lectures on Faith , see lecture three ].
The danger false prophets pose is that they introduce teachings about God and Jesus that are lies ,and to believe those false teachings is spiritually dangerous . Apparently you don’t seem to understand that fact . Why do think Jesus pre warned us all about latter days false prophets ?

You also don’t seem to understand that since someone says they know God/Jesus and have a relationship with Them that therefore the definition of those terms , i.e. ” God” , “Jesus” “relationship” etc is in line with what the Bible teaches about them . It just could be that therein lies the problem with your argument . My wife is a former Jw . As a Jw she would have told you she knew God and followed Jesus. Also that living a righteous life (in order to gain God’s approval and hope of salvation) was crucial to her . Yet her leaders taught that “Jesus ” was none other than Michael the archangel , and a “relationship ” with Him was to follow His example in living a moral lifestyle and to faithfully proclaim God’s name . She would have even used Jn 17: 3 to prove this to you . She was sincere about her faith , but she was misled into joining a false prophet led organization — just like those who join the Mormon church , and ended up believing she was following the true Jesus . See Matt 24;24 ( “false Christs’)

You said , ” A lot of the stories of ex Mormons seem to suggest they somehow come to know Jesus when they leave Mormonism and they had no concept of knowing God or forgiveness .”

I’m sure they’ll be glad to explain that to you . I was never a Mormon .

Why don’t you move the spotlight from rank and file LDS over to Mormon leaders and see what they have taught about Jesus ever since they arrived on the scene in 1830 ? Do Mormon leaders really know God ? Do they actually hear from Jesus , who they claim personally supervises their preaching and church mission ? Have they been reliable as guides in teaching LDS the truths of scripture ? What does the record show ? If you will not take up that kind of investigation then there really is not much more I can say to you about if rank and file LDS are in any danger or not .

If you are a Mormon then please remember that Jesus was thinking of you when He warned about the coming of counterfeit prophets in the latter days . He does not want you or anyone to be misled into following an imitation Christ or gospel . Good feelings do not necessarily translate into being right , especially about spiritual truths . So test any prophet — 1Jn 4:1

I’ll be praying for your eyes of understanding to be open .
God bless you .
Mike

Are you saying that this ministry is an “anti” Mormon ministry ? I hope not . Please remember that I am only a guest here on this blog but I see nothing “anti Mormon in the attitude of those who run this ministry . Now let’s look at some of you have said in your last comments :

You said that you feel there are many Mormons who have received forgiveness of their sins and have a right relationship with Jesus . Speaking of forgiveness of sins , do you realize that according to Mormon doctrine that non Mormons ( like me ) unless I am baptized by an authorized Mormon priesthood holder I have no remission of sins . Do you know what that means for me ? ( answer : no salvation / eternal life ) . So while you may believe that there are many Mormons who have received forgiveness of their sins and have salvation , Mormon leaders don’t teach that same thing about non Mormons like myself and others here !

You said it’s wrong for people to ” zero in on doctrines ” ? and ” Nowhere in the New Testament are we saved by a doctrine — we are saved by Jesus …”

You’re right , we are saved by Jesus . However it is logical that only the true Jesus has the ability to save sinners . That is why Paul warned his flock about being fooled into believing
” another Jesus ” or ” another gospel ” see 2Cor 11:4 and Gal 1:8 . False prophets did this then and latter days false prophets do it nowadays . Simple fact .

You need to be reminded that Mormon leaders have said the following :

– Christianity died off soon after the deaths of Jesus’ apostles , the gospel of salvation was altered and thus salvation was not available to man for 1700 years until Joseph Smith arrived on the scene . Therefore only Mormon leaders preach the true gospel — no salvation unless you confess Joseph Smith and join the Mormon church .

– only two churches today : 1. The Mormon church . 2. all other churches constitute part of what is the church of the Devil . ( ponder that !)

– others who claim to follow Jesus are actually worshiping “fake Christs ” and therefore no salvation !!! [ Ensign May 1977 , sermon by Elder Bernard Brockbank ]

– Listen to Mormon apostle Bruce mcConkie answer your question about the importance of correct doctrine :
” There is no such thing as gaining salvation from a false god , or by conforming to a false plan of salvation , or through membership in a false church .” [ Ensign Nov 1984 ] .

– Mormon church curriculum has stated that some false teachings are so egregious , that those who believe them are not in a right relationship with God and in fact will miss out on salvation unless they repent . One such belief is that God the Father is only a Spirit not an exalted man .[ see for example The Melchizedek Priesthood Course of Study — 1968-1969 p. 75-76 ; also Ensign Nov 1980 , sermon by Apostle Bruce McConkie ” The Lord God of The restoration” ] .

markie , as you can see , even according to Mormonism doctrine is vital .And remember that even Mormon leaders admit that living a moral lifestyle is not enough to gain salvation . So a choice must be made : either Mormonism is the truth or it is’nt . Either Mormon leaders can be trusted to teach the correct view of God and Jesus or they are well meaning false prophets . I and others here believe the Mormon church is a false prophet led organization . Therefore it’s members are in spiritual danger unless they dismiss Mormon leaders as authorities in their lives . LDS don’t need them.

Don’t confuse being ” nice ” ( Mormons are nice ) with being right .
MormonISM is not the answer . People deserve to hear that news .

Take care .

Now it needs mentioning that all those who join the Mormon church are under obligation to go on and find out what their leaders have taught about important issues [ Joseph Fielding Smith , Doctrines of Salvation , vol 1 p. 302 ; also Church curriculum — When Thou Art Converted Strengthen Thy Brethren , 1974-75 Melchizedek Priesthood course of study p x ] .

So ultimately ignorance is no excuse on the part of any LDS if their leaders are found to be false prophets etc .

I hope you will take seriously Jesus warning about latter days false prophets . Yes Jesus has a lot of grace , but He still warned everyone of the very real danger that counterfeit prophets pose for a reason .Please ponder that fact . Thanks .