I am going to assume people reading this have seen or heard the talk, if not I really recommend that you do, please check it out here. Or if it helps, you can listen to the audio here.

I think if I listened to this talk without much of a background knowledge of Mormonism I probably would not bat too much of an eyelid at this, in a lot of ways it sounds like a basic good talk on grace. I guess inevitably then I am going to have some bias, however I hope that bias is reasonable based on my past knowledge of Mormonism.

Firstly at about 3:50 Uchdtorf says this about grace

“….The grace of God, the divine assistance and endowment of strength by which we grow from the flawed and limited beings we are now, into exalted beings of truth and light….”

This is an immediate difference between the LDS and I would say the Biblical view of grace. I see the Biblical view as being that grace is the unmerited favour of God, placed upon us by faith. Instead Uchdtorf calls it the means by which we become something better, this from my understanding is the general LDS view on grace. We see this quote from an article on Grace on LDS.org.

No one can return to the presence of God without divine grace. Through the Atonement, we all can be forgiven of our sins; we can become clean before God. To receive this enabling power, we must obey the gospel of Jesus Christ, which includes having faith in Him, repenting of our sins, being baptized, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and trying to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ for the rest of our lives.

Really this means that grace is what makes you do good enough, in order that you might gain or earn exaltation, this is a contradiction in terms if you are seeking to show that it’s not by works, as this is really how you become able to do the works, thus the works are still necessary.

The website gotquestions.org says:

the word translated “grace” in the New Testament comes from the Greek word charis, which means “favor, blessing, or kindness. We can all extend grace to others; but when the wordgraceis used in connection with God, it takes on a more powerful meaning. Grace is God choosing to bless us rather than curse us as our sin deserves. It is His benevolence to the undeserving.”

True Biblical grace is the merit of God imputed to you, when you put your trust in Him, you become righteous by virtue of His saving work in you. Which absolutely should produce a changed life, resulting in good works. Without this there is no way of knowing that someone truly has accepted Christ. However Uchtdorf is putting the cart before the horse here, saying that grace is all about making you perform, in order that you might receive eternal blessings.

This is further reinforced at around 9:13 when he says:(bold added)

“His grace helps us become our best selves.”

This reminds me of a story that Thomas Monson told in the 2012 Priesthood session, he says this about a missionary who was asked why he was so successful.

Brother Tanner asked him what was different about his approach—why he had such phenomenal success when others didn’t. The young man said that he attempted to baptize every person whom he met. He said that if he knocked on the door and saw a man smoking a cigar and dressed in old clothes and seemingly uninterested in anything—particularly religion—the missionary would picture in his own mind what that man would look like under a different set of circumstances. In his mind he would look at him as clean-shaven and wearing a white shirt and white trousers. And the missionary could see himself leading that man into the waters of baptism. He said, “When I look at someone that way, I have the capacity to bear my testimony to him in a way that can touch his heart.”

This missionary looked at someone’s outward and focused on that, I think this is the essence of Mormonism, working to make people behave better outwardly, while leaving people lost inwardly.

In the Bible we see this in Romans 4:5

But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness

Yet in Joseph Smith’s “inspired” translation

But to him that seeketh not to be justified by the law of works, but believeth on him who justifieth not the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

All of a sudden, God does not justify the ungodly. Because in Mormonism people need to make themselves Godly (with the help of grace), in order that they might become acceptable to God, As Alma 11:37 in the book of Mormon says: he cannot save them in their sins.

This is what Uchdtorf is really saying here, but he is dressing it up in a way that many uninformed evangelicals and LDS members alike will love.

At around 15:50 during the talk, Uchdtorf talks about how people have so often misunderstood 2 Nephi 25:23 saying how its not really saying we have to do all that we can, this is a misinterpretation.

In October 2010 Dallin Oaks said this:

Because of what He accomplished by His atoning sacrifice, Jesus Christ has the power to prescribe the conditions we must fulfill to qualify for the blessings of His Atonement. That is why we have commandments and ordinances. That is why we make covenants. That is how we qualify for the promised blessings. They all come through the mercy and grace of the Holy One of Israel, ‘after all we can do’” (2 Nephi 25:23).

In 2009 JORGE F. ZEBALLOS said:

“Salvation and eternal life would not be possible if it were not for the Atonement, brought about by our Savior, to whom we owe everything. But in order for these supreme blessings to be effective in our lives, we should first do our part, ‘for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.’”

Thomas Monson, “An Invitation to Exaltation,” Ensign (Conference Edition), May 1988, p.53 (bold added)

“It is the celestial glory which we seek. It is in thepresence of God we desire to dwell. It is a forever family in which wewant membership. Such blessings must be earned” 

Lowell L. Bennion, Introduction to the Gospel (1955; LDS sunday school material), chapter 20, “The Way of Salvation”

“We believe in individual merit as a means of gaining salvation” – 

The reason people have been “misinterpreting” this for so long, is that their Leaders have been teaching it in that way.

To finish off, I think if the Mormon church really wants to prove to the world that they believe we do not become acceptable to God by our works, and its all of the merit of Christ, they need to ditch Temple recommend interviews, letting everyone in who professes Christ. They need to get rid of tithing settlement meetings where people have to show they have given a full 10% of their income, instead just telling people to give according to their conscience. Also get rid of Sunday dress, as we come to God as we are.

Also what about removing the “Requirements For Exaltation” part of the Gospel Principles manual that lists all of the things people need to do in order to be exalted.

They need to show by their actions as well as their words that this is a grace filled movement, otherwise they are simply saying that Jesus is full of grace, but the LDS church wants its piece of you.

Here are the opening sentences of each of the last two reviews of this book:

Ch. 3

This third chapter is entitled ‘None Righteous, No, Not One’ and its purpose is to make it very plain that we are all sinful.

Ch.2

This second chapter is entitled ‘No Unclean Thing Can Enter’ and therefore it focuses largely on sin.

Bearing in mind the extent to which those two chapters cover sin, I was hoping for a little relief when reading chapter 4 for this review. However, the title of this chapter is: “These Things Doth the Lord Hate”. So here we go again, yet more sin.

The chapter outlines the following sixteen areas of sin: Idolatry, Rebellion, Traitors, Sabbath-Breaking, Lovers of Money, Stealing, Unholy Masters, Improvidence, False Witness, Vulgarity, Word of Wisdom Violation, Drug Habits, Covenant Breakers, Haters of God, Ingratitude, Unmercifulness.

In this chapter, Spencer Kimball writes at length about the harmful effects of each of these sins, and summarises only very briefly at the end about how to be free from sin by saying: “As sinners we will better appreciate his love and kindness if similar abhorrence for sin impels us to transform our lives through repentance.” (emphasis added). Once again, we have here a chapter going into great depth about a wide variety of sins, how harmful, grave and dangerous they are, yet with the only, very brief, glimpse of hope being that if we hate sin in a similar way to God, we can transform our own lives so that we will then be aware of God’s love and kindness.

Fortunately, we have a great response to this in Titus 3, one of my favourite selections of verses: “For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:3-7) Here is the real gospel. We cannot transform our own lives in order to better appreciate God’s love and kindness, rather, we are saved because the kindness of God our Saviour appeared, according to His mercy and are renewed through the Holy Ghost/ Spirit and are justified by God’s grace which in turn means we are the heirs of eternal life, with all that this implies! How much greater is this God than the God of Mormonism who merely says in effect, “Sort yourselves out, keep telling me you’re sorry, and one day I may deem you worthy to receive my love and kindness”!

I would now like to focus on one of the sections in this chapter in particular, namely: rebellion. Of course, this is of special interest on this blog and I also am interested in this part as a ‘rebel’ myself in LDS eyes. So what does Kimball say on this matter. One point he makes is: “Among Church members rebellion frequently takes the form of criticism of authorities and leaders.” Is this sinful? Is any human above or beyond criticism? Many Mormon leaders have suggested that Mormonism should be investigated and will stand up to such investigating:

George Albert Smith: “If a faith will not bear to be investigated; if its preachers and professors are afraid to have it examined, their foundation must be very weak.”

John Taylor: “I think a full, free talk is frequently of great use; we want nothing secret nor underhanded, and I for one want no association with things that cannot be talked about and will not bear investigation.”

Joseph Fielding Smith: “If Joseph was a deceiver, who willfully attempted to mislead people, then he should be exposed, his claims should be refuted, and his doctrines shown to be false.”

Gordon Hinckley:“Well, we have nothing to hide. Our history is an open book. They may find what they are looking for, but the fact is the history of the church is clear and open and leads to faith and strength and virtues.”

Surely then, if these Prophets are all for putting Mormonism and its leaders under scrutiny, then it makes sense not to simply accept all things unquestioningly. Jesus clearly liked responding to questions from the people he encountered and always had a response to those who showed curiosity, interest, faith. Not all questioners went away content, but from reading the gospels it is clear that Jesus not only wanted loyal followers, but wanted the mind engaged and searching too.

Kimball continues: “After a while they absent themselves from Church meetings for imagined offenses, and fail to pay their tithes and meet their other Church obligations. In a word, they have the spirit of apostasy, which is almost always the harvest of the seeds of criticism.” Really? People who question church leaders and don’t take the line: “When our leaders speak, the thinking has been done” are subject to leaving the church over ‘imagined offenses’? I wonder what Spencer Kimball would have made of Dieter Uchtdorf’s very different line on this issue from last October’s General Conference: “Sometimes we assume it is because they have been offended or lazy or sinful. Actually, it is not that simple. In fact, there is not just one reason that applies to the variety of situations… And, to be perfectly frank, there have been times when members or leaders in the Church have simply made mistakes. There may have been things said or done that were not in harmony with our values, principles, or doctrine.” If this is so, then surely questioning, criticising, analysing are all part and parcel of what it means to be a follower, to be a faithful member. In addition, if this is so, then surely it is clear that people leave the LDS church due to these errors or inconsistencies rather than due to imagined offenses or sinful behaviour. (It is worth pointing out, of course, that Uchtdorf does not go into any detail about those things that were said and done that were not in harmony with the LDS church’s values, principles or doctrine. That part is left very much down to individual interpretation). God did not create us as intelligent beings, only for us to follow blindly, accepting simply that someone ‘above’ us has done all thinking on our behalf. What a dangerous philosophy that would be!

Spencer Kimball believes that those who betray the church are doing it for selfish ends: “We are not without traitors in the Church today, those who would destroy that which is good to win their own selfish earthly rewards or to accomplish their base schemes.” I wonder how many of those the LDS would call ‘traitors’ are really better off in ‘earthly’ terms since their ‘betrayal’. There is certainly a lot to lose on many levels by leaving the LDS church. Thankfully, many ‘rebels’ leave for the true gospel found in the Bible. And when they have left, they can sing these words wholeheartedly:

“In Christ alone my hope is found,

He is my light, my strength, my song;

This Cornerstone, this solid Ground,

Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.

What heights of love, what depths of peace,

When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!

My Comforter, my All in All,

Here in the love of Christ I stand.”

This third chapter is entitled ‘None Righteous, No, Not One’ and its purpose is to make it very plain that we are all sinful.

Spencer Kimball’s first point here is to suggest that, in general, people are far better at recognising the sins of others and the fact that others ought to repent, rather than looking to themselves first. As he says, “Apparently it is much easier to see those [other people’s] sins than our own, and to walk com-placently through life without acknowledging our own need to mend our ways.” I am rather surprised at this statement. Certainly, growing up Mormon, my own experience was of an awareness, perhaps even an unhealthy obsession with, my sins and own unworthiness. For the Mormon, one’s whole life is an ongoing trial and an impossible challenge along a pathway to “mend our ways” to such an extent that one day we can be exalted (i.e. become a god).

Kimball then goes on to quote a series of Bible verses that set out our sinfulness. “There is none that doeth good, no, not one”, “there is not a just man upon the earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not”, “who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from sin?”, etc. There are a couple of other Bible selections made by Kimball in this early part of the chapter but I wish to return to his use of those verses a little later.

After supplementing the Bible verses on our sinfulness with a couple of examples from the Doctrine and Covenants, Kimball adds: “There is never a day in any man’s life when repentance is not essential to his well-being and eternal progress.” Now, whilst I would not wish to belittle the significance of re-pentance at all, I would suggest that it is unbiblical to teach that daily repentance is essential to our eternal progress. Moreover, as many people, myself included, have demonstrated on this site, the Bible doesn’t support this Mormon notion of eternal progress in any case. Our repentance is a perma-nent choice we have made, and are continuing to make in our lives; a turning towards the Lord and a turning away from sinful actions. We are turning to the Lord as a response to his sacrifice for our sins. This is a gift that we have gratefully accepted, in the knowledge that, ‘There is none that doeth good, no, not one’ and also understanding that, ‘For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:’ (Ephesians 2:8) Clearly, if someone claims to be a Christian but is never brought to a position where they are asking prayerfully for forgiveness for their sins, you have got to question their original claim. But by the same token, a daily act of repentance is not the ultimate solution to some sort of eternal outcome. What would Kimball say in the case of an individual who had sinned after doing their daily repenting, but died before the next time that they ought to do some more ‘daily repenting’? Where does the Mormon God draw the line?

Kimball states later on that, “Repentance is for every soul who has not yet reached perfection.” This leads one to reflect back on the case that Kimball made so emphatically earlier, when, using Bible verses, he demonstrated that every single person is sinful. None is righteous. So where does he get this idea that we can reach perfection? The Bible has something to say about this, but it is a very different notion to the Mormon idea of perfection being when we become gods. One of the Bible verses Kimball quoted was Romans 5:12. In Romans 5 we are given God’s real view of our sinfulness and how we can be restored to how we ought to be. Kimball quotes verse 12 to demonstrate that all have sinned, but it should come as no surprise, given that he is presenting Mormon teaching in his book and not Bible teaching, that he neglects to consider verses 17-19, which state: “For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” It is important to remember that humankind was made in God’s image and God saw that it was good. For God to call his work ‘good’, we know that is saying something! Yet humankind needed to be made right with God once more, after ‘the Fall’ and it is through Christ that this takes place. That is what Romans 5 is telling us. We do not become sinless by ridding ourselves of our sins. As the Bible states, none is righteous. The Bible tells us here in Romans that, “by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” Note here, be made righteous, not ‘make themselves righteous’. So perfection in Biblical terms is being ‘made righteous’. The idea is that God looks at those who are saved and sees the righteousness of the only one who truly is righteous, our Lord.
Kimball goes on to look at the life of Joseph Smith as someone who had to acknowledge and confess his own sins, the implication being that if someone as great as a chosen prophet had to work at over-coming sin, then we must also do the same. In this part Kimball uses the words of Smith himself, words well-known to Mormons: “In making this confession, no one need suppose me guilty of any great or malignant sins. A disposition to commit such was never in my nature.” Kimball describes this and the rest of the account that this quote comes from ‘as a simple and honest confession’, but could it not also come across as someone trying to make excuses or minimising their own sinfulness? You’re either sinful or not according to the Bible. Surely, when making a confession, a man of God should come across as having a bit more humility. Interestingly, in this section about Joseph Smith and the importance of his efforts to lead an exemplary life, Kimball quotes D & C 3:4, “For although a man may have many revelations, and have power to do many mighty works, yet if he boasts in his own strength, and sets at naught the counsels of God, and follows after the dictates of his own will and carnal de-sires, he must fall and incur the vengeance of a just God upon him.” I find this a fascinating quote be-cause, with hindsight one could see this as Joseph Smith condemning himself, since there are well-known quotations where Joseph Smith boasts of his achievements, even putting himself above Jesus. Of course, as well as this, Smith followed ‘after the dictates of his own will and carnal desires’, this proving eventually to be his final downfall.

In this section, Kimball illustrates well the sense of ‘fear of failure’ that many Mormons feel. He says, “Every person is subject to error if he is not always watchful, for victory over Satan is attained only by constant vigilance.” What a statement for a leader (who later became a prophet) of the one true Christian church to make. We achieve victory over Satan only by constant vigilance. Really? Doesn’t Jesus fit into this picture somewhere?

Before concluding chapter 3, Kimball wants us to know that he has seen an awful lot of Mormons and wants them all to know that he has spotted them doing an awful of naughty things! He takes up five paragraphs, roughly a quarter of the chapter, detailing many examples of behaviour by LDS members that he doesn’t like. There are about fifteen sentences in this section beginning with, “I find”, “I saw”, “I have seen”, or “There are those/ some” where he outlines actions such as being unloving parents or spouses, gossiping and divisive church members, people speaking unkindly to others and questioning the motives of each other and church leaders. Considering the fact that this chapter begins with an important reminder to focus on one’s own need for repentance rather than looking at others, this lengthy bout of finger-pointing seems to me quite distasteful and hypocritical.

I wanted to end this review with another stark example of Kimball’s technique of pulling Bible verses out of their context and throwing them into his own context to make a completely different point. As I stated earlier, Kimball begins the chapter talking about ‘our own need to mend our ways’ and uses many Bible verses to demonstrate that all of us are sinners. The first example he gives is two verses from 1 John 1, which are presented like this, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” Sounds fair enough right? But of course check the verses used in brackets: verse 8 and verse 10. How about looking directly at 1 John 1 and reading verses 7 – 10 inclusive this time? “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”
So what has been removed in Kimball’s quote? Well, the gospel in a nutshell basically. God is faithful, just and forgives our sins, and cleanses us from all sin/ unrighteousness through the blood of Jesus. In Kimball’s teaching we must mend our own ways in order to reach perfection (which means becoming a god). This is another gospel. This is the ‘impossible gospel’ of the LDS church and it is not based around what the Bible tells us about sin and how God wishes to deal with sin. As Proverbs 20:9 puts it, “Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from sin?”

Kimball goes on to make the point that when we sin we are serving Satan.  In making his point there follows an excellent example of Mormon leaders using the Bible to teach what they want and not letting the Bible speak for itself.  Kimball quotes Romans 6, but look at the part he has left out (I have added it back in in italics):  “Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield

yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you:  for ye are not under the law, but under grace.  What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?”  The Bible here is clearly teaching a very different view to that which Kimball is trying to present.  Kimball is trying to say that we must serve God and avoid sin at all costs so that God will accept us.  But the quote, in its context, is saying that those who are under grace are not subject to these demands, because such people have accepted the saving work of Christ.  The point being made by Paul is that such people must not then think it is fine to sin, you must instead serve Him in whose righteousness we share: “Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.”  It is because of the deceptive use scripture such as this that many of us work to expose Mormonism as a manipulator of the true gospel.

Moving on through the chapter, Kimball attempts to categorise sins:  “Sins may be classified in many categories. They range from the simple improprieties and indiscretions to the shedding of innocent blood and the sin against the Holy Ghost. There are sins against ourselves, sins against our loved ones, sins against our fellowmen, sins against our communities, sins against the Church, sins against humanity. There are sins which are known to the world and others which are so carefully hidden that the sinner is

the only mortal being who knows of the error.”  Surely the sentence missing at the end of this paragraph would be: “Yet no matter what the sin is, all are sins against God, since sin is when we don’t live up to the image of God that He created in us.”  This is surely the key characteristic of sin, that we have become corrupted from what God intended for us and as a corrupt version of God’s ideal for us, we are therefore incapable of ‘de-corrupting’ ourselves.  Of course, this is not Kimball’s emphasis.  Later, Kimball does say, “every sin is against God” but I will respond to that in its context when I reach that point in the chapter.

Amongst the many examples Kimball provides of scriptural examples or descriptions of sin, we have a quote from 2 Timothy 3, which includes a phrase Mormons love to use in describing traditional Christianity: “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away”.  It is important, as ever, to note the context of this verse, in which Paul is warning people to stick to the gospel he has taught them (i.e. that which we read in his epistles) and not be swayed by people who wish to lead them away from the gospel:  “continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus”.  Please note that Paul is emphasising firstly, adherence to that which they have already been assured of, and also dependence upon the holy scriptures that they have known since they were children, these scriptures having the capacity to make them, “wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus”.  Therefore it is clear that the deceitful people Paul is warning about are those who would distort the Biblical gospel.  I think the above example of Romans 6 being ‘distorted’ by Spencer Kimball is a good case in point.

Kimball quotes the book of Romans again, from Chapter 1, where Paul outlines in great detail how people have turned totally away from God and given themselves over to sin.  It is noteworthy that Kimball is more than happy to use Romans to illustrate the problem of sin, but is equally happy to ignore the solution provided through Christ that Romans contains: “The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 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. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  (Romans 10:8-13)  This is a typical example of how Mormons are made to feel.  As a Mormon, one is made acutely aware of one’s own failings in comparison to the LDS church’s expectations, yet the solution (i.e. Christ) is never truly presented as contained in the Bible.  Therefore, for the Mormon there is no hope, only a wishful thinking that one day they’ll make it and be good enough.

Kimball goes on to quote Revelation 21 where it talks of those who will enter the ‘second death’.  Of course, the description of ‘the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone’ sounds pretty scary. But this chapter of Revelation also talks about, “that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.”  So who will be there? The answer:  “there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”  Revelation 20 also adds that there are those for whom ‘the second death’ has no power: “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.”  And who are these that will reign with Christ?  Those that have given themselves to Him: “ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”  (Romans 8)

Kimball then goes on to list eight more examples from the Bible where sins are listed and/ or described, and then, in case there be any doubt about sin, he lists eighty-nine examples of sinful behaviour.  Of course, this mammoth list saves the ones Mormon culture obsesses about the most until last: sex.  Kimball lists, “masturbation, petting, fornication, adultery, homosexuality; and every sex perversion, every hidden and secret sin and all unholy and impure practices.”  This could pretty much be taken to read that, as a Mormon, you are only allowed to acknowledge any sexual urges at the actual moment that you are engaged in sexual intercourse with your spouse (to whom you are eternally married), and this is only acceptable if it is carried out in the conventional manner (oh and don’t forget the instruction that your ‘garments’ must be worn ‘at all times’ in order to show absolute faithfulness and as a sign of the promises you have made!)  OK, so I may be attempting to make some light of the LDS obsession with sexual activity here, but this is partly because I know just how lethal a cocktail it is to have everyday, middle-aged and older men with delusions of godly authority seeing themselves as appointed to pry regularly into the private lives (in excruciating detail) of anyone from the age of 12 and over they believe to under their jurisdiction.  Can you imagine the potential for emotional and psychological damage in such circumstances?  Regular Mormons believe that their eternal destiny is based on their participation in their church, and this participation can be weighed in the hands of their bishops.  And of course the bishops have the right to pry in such detail because leaders like Kimball have gone into such specific detail about acceptable and unacceptable sexual behaviour.  As someone who has experienced this, I am reassured by 1 Timothy 2:5 “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”

As I mentioned earlier, Kimball does go on to say that ‘every sin is against God.’  However the remainder of the sentence lets you know that it has been written by a Mormon leader: “for it tends to frustrate the program and purposes of the Almighty’.  Does anyone who really believes themselves to be a follower of Christ actually think that God has His very own ‘program’ or even think in such terms.  Did Jesus ever sit his followers down and say, “OK my disciples, let me explain the program to you.”???

Kimball explains his view on how sin affects the sinner: “it limits his progress and curtails his development”.  Of course, this fits in very well with the notion that Mormons are part of some ‘program’ to become gods.  However, as Christians, we know that sin is a symptom of our fallen nature, that corrupted version of how God intended us to be earlier.  This can only be overcome by Christ.  When we sin as Christians, we put ourselves at a distance from God and we suffer greatly by pushing ourselves away from our Father (for that is who God is to the Christian) but we do not suddenly stop being God’s sons and daughters.  God is faithful, even when we are not.  For the Mormon, sin must be wiped out completely; by the sinner.  How can the sinful one make him or herself pure?  “To follow his example and become as a god, we must attain perfection.”  This an act of self in Mormonism, not an act of God.

Next Kimball quotes various verses which express the notion that only righteousness is acceptable in the Kingdom of God.  This is true, but we are unable to attain this righteousness of our own accord.  The sinner on the cross was certainly not righteous, yet for his acknowledgement of Jesus as Lord, Jesus promised him “Today shalt thou be with me in paradise”.

For Kimball, it all has to come from our own actions: “self-control, self-mastery, can be substituted for the dominion of sin, and the sinner can move by his own agency toward God rather than under the control of sin toward Satan.”  Yet we know that ultimately we are only brought into a right relation with God by grace through faith: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”  Ephesians 2:8-10

Next we see where Jesus finally fits in.  Not as our Saviour, but as our template: “We certainly cannot expect the rules to be easier for us than for the Son of God.”  In Mormonism, Jesus was simply on the path that we are now on.  Of course we know however, though Jesus suffered and was tempted, being the ‘Word made flesh’, he was able to be that unblemished Lamb that we cannot be; He was able to be a human with no sin, because he is also God.  Kimball here uses Hebrews 5:8-9 to talk of Jesus being “made perfect”.  The implication Kimball wants us to take from this is that Jesus also had to make himself perfect.  Clearly this is not the meaning.  The verses quoted mention Jesus learning obedience by the things which he suffered.  This meant that he was ‘made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation.’  In other words, Jesus could not have fulfilled his role as Saviour of mankind if he had not demonstrated perfectly his ability to overcome temptation.  This is what is meant by being made perfect, not that Jesus was once less than perfect and had to make himself perfect.

Kimball tries to suggest that we can prove ourselves deserving of salvation: “The dividends from both obedience and repentance amply repay the effort.”  Yet surprisingly, only a few lines further on, he quotes Romans 6:23 which makes it plain that salvation is not something which can be ‘deserved’: “the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”.  If only Kimball had built his teachings around verses such as this, instead of insisting that we can earn our way to godhood through self-mastery and self-discipline!