The 17 Truths Found in Jesus Christ's Original Church
Written by Danny D. Bunn, B.A. (Born Again Believer in the Lord Jesus Christ)
This was the name of a card that I received when I went
to a Mormon Ward to share the true Jesus of the Bible. So
I did a study on these so-called 17 Truths. The bolded are their
comments and the rest are my comments.
1. Christ organized the church. Ephesians 4:11-14
This is true, Christ did organize the church if we are talking
about the true church. There are a lot of so called churches that
he didn't organize.
2. The true church must bear the name of Jesus Christ. Isaiah
43:6,7; Ephesians 5:23. It is interesting to note here that
Isaiah 43:6,7 was used and verse 7 says:"Even everyone that is
called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have
formed him; yea, I have made him." By reading this, we agree that
Jesus Christ did the creating, forming and making of mankind for
his glory, and the LORD God (Jehovah Elohim) Almighty said that he
would not give his glory to another (Isaiah 42:8). This bears
witness with verses like John 1:3,10; Colossians 1:16,17. The
other verse used was Ephesians 5:23 and the greek for 'church' is
'ekklesia' (a calling out), the whole company of the redeemed
throughout the present era, the company of which Christ said,"I
will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it,"(Matthew 16:18) which is further described as 'the
church which is his body' in Ephesians 1:22,23. Also in reference
in bearing the name of Jesus Christ: if you mean having the literal
name Jesus Christ on the church building and not having the power,
authority, character, and rank that's in the name; the Mormons even
had quite a few problems with this because in the first five years
they changed the name of the church twice and stayed with the third
name. The first name was 'Church of Christ' (3 Nephi 26:21-27:12,
4 Nephi 1:1, also check D.& C. Sec. 20:1). The second name was
'Church of Latter-Day Saints' (History of the Church, Volume 2,
pgs.62,63). And the third and last name, 'The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-Day Saints' (D.& C. Sec. 115:3).
3. The true church must have a foundation of Apostles and Prophets.
Ephesians 2:19,20. Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone and the
foundation (I Corinthians 3:10,11). The apostles and prophets were
built upon that foundation. The 'of' in Ephesians 2:20 is not
subjective (consisting of the apostles and prophets) but objective
(laid by the apostles and prophets).
4. The true church must have the same organization as Christ's
church. Ephesians 4:11-14. The true church does have the same
organization as Christ's church which is comprised of all born-
again believers whether in Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal,
Presbyterian, Nazarene, non-denominational, etc. Any Christian
group is part of the true church. Apostles-ones sent forth
(Christian missionaries), prophets-those preaching the divine
counsels of grace already accomplished and the foretelling of the
purposes of God in the future. And as far as prophecies go, Joseph
Smith made a good false prophet, he missed 91% of the time. (Check
Jeremiah 14:14; 23:11-14).
5. The true church must claim divine authority. Hebrews 5:4-10.
The Christians, the body of Christ on this planet (check I
Corinthians 12:27) do have divine authority (Matthew 28:18). There
is no need for an Old Testament priesthood (Hebrews 7:11-24). All
born-again believers are kings and priests unto Him (Revelation
1:6, I Peter 2:9). All Christians are the New Testament
priesthood.
6. The true church must have no paid ministry. Isaiah 45:13, I
Peter 5:2, I Corinthians 9:16-18.
First, let's take Isaiah 45:13,
God is speaking of Cyrus as a type of Christ. The Lord uses 'His
anointed' in Isaiah 45:1 and 'My shepherd' in Isaiah 44:28 which
are Messianic titles in which appellative (descriptive) names are
applied to a Gentile. And so we see when Christ came in the flesh,
he came to set the captives free and He didn't charge any money to
do it. He didn't have a paid ministry in that sense. But
remember, Jesus went about preaching and healing all the sick and
doing all manner of good for three years. Also remember that He
had a treasurer who was in charge of the money (Check John 12:6 &
13:29). Now let's go to I Peter 5:2, it let's us know that we are
not to feed the flock of God for filthy lucre. In other words, a
person is not to preach or teach the word for greedy gain. It
should be because of their love for God, his love in them, and it
was their calling. But it is a paid ministry as we shall see. The
next scripture used was I Corinthians 9:16-18, but we need to go
back to verse 7 to get it in context. Now, by reading this in
context, we see that a preacher's life and job should be preaching
the gospel. A good Old Testament example of this would be Numbers
18:21-28.
7. The true church must baptize by immersion. Matthew 3:13-16,
Colossians 2:12, John 3:23.
I believe that immersion is the best
way and God's way but nowhere in the word can I find where God says
that you must immerse. Speaking of baptism, it is not needed for
salvation. Baptism is a picture of what happened to us when we
accepted Jesus Christ into our hearts as our Lord and Savior.
Let's start with Colossians 2:12 and tie it with some more verses
in God's word like I Peter 3:21. It starts out "The like figure"
which makes it plain that it's a type or picture of something that
has already happened. The ark on the flood waters is the type, our
salvation in Christ (the true ark) is the antitype. The water
simply cut off the righteous from the sin and sinner of that day.
The ark alone saved. So baptism is for the saved, but itself
cannot save, except as a picture (figure) of the saved candidate
having been cut off from the sinner and their doom. Christ alone
can save, and that because of His resurrection (see Romans 4:25).
No external rite can save- 'not the putting away of the filth of
the flesh but the answer of a good conscience toward God.'(Check I
Peter 3:21) By the consciousness of sin removed by Christ's blood
(Hebrews 9:14). Now let's go to John 3:23. John the Baptist, the
last of the Old Testament prophets (see Luke 16:16) was using types
as every Old Testament prophet did before him. By the time that
you get to John 3:30, John must have known that Jesus was issuing
in the new covenant (testament) and God in human flesh was fixing
to take the center stage of history. He wasn't going to baptize
with water but with the Holy Ghost and fire (see Luke 3:16, John
1:33). Finally we come to Matthew 3:13-16 and if we go back to
verse 11, it should help clear this one up too. Baptism is an
outward sign of an inward change brought to pass by Christ and His
shed blood. Even Paul said in I Corinthians 1:17-18, that he was
not sent to baptize but to preach the Gospel (good news). (Also
read I Corinthians 15:3,4).
In conclusion for point #7, I would like to share the three
modes of water baptism and why they are used.
(1) Immersion-the general use of bapto' and baptizo in Greek
was largely used to express 'to dip or to immerse'. Verses like
Matthew 3:6, Mark 1:5, Acts 8:38 seem to point towards immersion.
The New Testament teaches that believers are baptized into Christ's
death, burial, and resurrection. This can be taken to express the
true significance of baptism. Only immersion can properly and
fully express what burial with Christ in His death means (Romans
6:3-5).
(2) Pouring- when water is poured upon the participant, it
signifies the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon believers. Verses
like Matthew 3:11 and Acts 1:5.
(3) Sprinkling- John the Baptist, as the forerunner of Christ
and last of the Old Testament prophets, had to follow exactly the
instructions given to Moses in the law for sacrifices and
cleansing. The Old Testament cleansing were by sprinkling.
Sprinkling teaches the washing away of sins by the blood of Christ.
(Check Leviticus 16:14-19, Numbers 8:7; Ezekiel 36:25-27).
8. The true church must bestow the gift of the Holy Ghost by the
laying on of hands. Acts 8:6-17, Acts 19:1-6.
The book of Acts
tells about the initial outpouring of the Holy Ghost (or Spirit)
upon believers (Acts 8:16). They also needed to know about Him
(the Holy Spirit) so they would be prepared for what was about to
come to pass. Please explain Acts 10:43-48, they received the gift
of the Holy Ghost without the laying on of hands but through the
hearing of faith. (Also see Galatians 3:2 and Romans 10:17).
9. The true church must practice divine healing. Mark 3:14-15.
The word 'must' on just about every one of these sentences on the card
that came from a Mormon ward is what keeps trying to throw me off.
First, God didn't say 'must', so the sentence should read: 'The
true church should practice divine healing', which is true. Any
member of the true church, which is His body on this earth, has the
authority to practice it through Him who is in us (See John 14:12-
14).
10. The true church must teach that God and Jesus Christ are
separate and distinct individuals. John 17:11, John 20:17-28.
First, let's take John 17:11.
This verse is metaphorically
speaking of union and accord; but even more than that, Christ as
God is in us and we are in Him, so we are one with Him in a
supernatural sense, too. We are one with the Father as Jesus the
man is one with the Father but not as Christ our God is one with
the Father. Remember, Jesus was a type of the first Adam; He was
the last Adam (I Corinthians 15:44-58). Now, John 20:17-28, just
because God chooses to make Himself known in certain ways doesn't
mean that He is limited to those ways. I don't believe He's still
a talking bush (see Exodus 3:2-5). Neither do I think He's limited
to being in a pillar of a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by
night (see Exodus 13:21,22). He has made Himself known in the form
of a man (see Genesis 32:24-30) and also angelic manifestations
(see Judges 13:16-22). While we are checking on these, we need to
check Deuteronomy 4:35, 6:4; Isaiah 43:10; and a few Book of Mormon
references like 2 Nephi 31:21, Mosiah 7:27, Mosiah 13:34. (If he
was already in the form of a man, why does he take the form of a
man? See Philippians 2:7 in the Bible.) Finally check Mosiah 15:1-
5.
11. The true church must teach that God and Jesus Christ have
bodies of flesh and bone. Luke 24:36-39, Acts 1:9-11, Romans 6:9-
10.
I would like to start off with a few thoughts from the above
#10 to answer this one. My question is this, when you say flesh
and bone, are you talking about wood flesh and wood bone? (see
Exodus 3:2-5); or bird flesh and bird bone? (see Mark 1:10, Luke
3:22); or maybe cloud flesh and cloud bone in the day and fire
flesh and fire bone at night? (see Exodus 13:21,22). Remember, as
said before, just because God chooses to make Himself known in
certain ways doesn't mean that He is limited to those ways. The
Bible says that God is a Spirit (John 4:24, II Corinthians 3:17)
and He is everywhere (see I Kings 8:27, Jeremiah 23:24, Acts 17:24-
28); He is all-powerful (see Matthew 19:26, Revelation 19:6) and He
is all-knowing (Daniel 2:20-23, Psalms 147:5). Now let's take the
three scriptures used for #11. Luke 24:36-39 and Acts 1:9-11 are
supposed to prove that Jesus Christ as God is held to the body that
He created for Himself when He became a man then please explain
John 14:23, John 1:12, Ephesians 3:17, Colossians 1:27. (If He is
limited to that body of flesh and bone, how can He be in every
Christian and we in Him)? Why was Romans 6:9,10 used?
12. The officers must be called by God. Hebrews 5:4, Exodus 28:1,
Exodus 40:13-16.
Hebrews 5:4 is being taken out of context. The
word makes it plain that there is no need for another priest to
come after the order of Aaron but after the order of Melchizedek
who was a type of Christ. He appeared in the Old Testament once as
a picture of God when He came in human flesh. He is every
Christian's high priest- we need no other. If Hebrews 5 doesn't
explain it enough then Hebrews 7,8,9 should. Even if we did need
a bunch of priests today, why aren't they offering up animal
sacrifices for the sins of the people like they did in the Old
Testament? (see Leviticus 1-9). Joseph Smith said that animal
sacrifices were and will always be a part of the priesthood duties
(see The Teaching of the Prophet Joseph Smith, page 172). The
Levitical (Aaronic) priesthood served its purpose until Christ came
(see Hebrews 7:11-27). The other two scriptures should be
explained by now also.
13. The true church must claim revelation from God. Amos 3:7,
Numbers 12:6.
If these scriptures were taken in context with the
subject at hand, the Mormon Church wouldn't have near the problem
it seems to have. Like Numbers 12:6- God is saying that He has
made Himself known through visions or dreams, but if you keep
going, He says that isn't Moses' case- He talked to him face to
face in the similitude (fashioned out as a shape) of the Lord. And
Amos 3:7 is speaking of Old Testament prophets, John the Baptist
being the last (see Luke 16:16). By reading Hebrews 1:2,3; we see
that God spoke in times past through the prophets but in these last
days has spoken to us through His Son (see Matthew 11:25-30).
Jesus was the ultimate in prophets. He was 'The Prophet' that all
the other prophets spoke about who was to come (see Deuteronomy
18:15-19; Acts 3:22,23; 7:37). God is still making things known to
His New Testament prophets and all His other children through His
word or in line with His word, but the greatest mystery that He has
made known to all His children is "Christ in us, the hope of glory"
(see Colossians 1:27). The Almighty God lives inside us. Now,
that's something to shout about.
14. The true church should be a missionary church. Matthew
28:19,20.
This is true.
15. The true church must be a restored church. Acts 3:19-20,
Ephesians 1:10.
Since the Mormon church insists on using the word
'must' in most of these points, I'll use it this time. The
sentence should read, the true church 'must' NOT be a restored
church. The first verse used was Acts 3:19-20 which is speaking of
when Jesus comes again to make all things new (see Acts 1:11,
Revelation 21:1). Ephesians 1:10 is talking about the same thing
when God brings everything to a climax- the finale of sin, disease,
pain, sufferings, the end of all the evil and the bad. Now let's
take some scriptures and show that the true church will not be a
restored church: Isaiah 9:6,7; Daniel 2:44, 6:26; Luke 1:30-33;
Matthew 16:15-18; I Corinthians 10:4; and check out Isaiah 8:20.
16. The true church must practice baptism for the dead. I
Corinthians 15:16-29.
In this chapter, Paul is talking about the
resurrection and in verse 29 when he says something about baptism
for the dead, he uses 'they' and not 'we' to show that he doesn't
do it. Also I would like to add, resurrection is not any form of
salvation. There is a resurrection to life and a resurrection to
damnation. And as one Christian brother says, "Woe unto those who
call damnation, salvation." If any question on whether doing good
or evil is the determining factor on where you are going, read
Philippians 2:13; II Corinthians 5:17; I John 3:9; Ephesians 2:8,9;
Titus 3:5; Matthew 7:21; John 6:28, 29, 40; Romans 3:20-23, 4:5-8;
Galatians 3:24, to name a few.
17. By their fruits ye shall know them. Matthew 7:20, Hebrews
13:8.
If we take this scripture in context, let's start about
Matthew 7:15,.. we see Jesus is speaking of false prophets and
verse 22 makes it plain that doing good deeds won't be enough.
Sure, good works are fantastic but we are not going to work our way
to heaven. We work for hell (see Romans 6:23), not for heaven
(Ephesians 2:8,9). When a person is born of God, he becomes a new
creation (see II Corinthians 5:17). He doesn't want to do things
against God or others. After a person is saved, God works in them
to desire to do his will and gives them the strength to carry out
that desire as they submit to im (see Philippians 2:13, James
4:7). The more they know the word, the stronger they get and the
weaker the hold Satan, sin and all the other junk has on their life
(see John 8:32-36).
This study, as mentioned at the beginning, is the result taken from a card received at a
Mormon ward. Please read it carefully and prayerfully and test it
with God's written word, the Bible, as I have done and see if it
stands the test.
ADDITIONAL SOURCES
God's Inspired Word: The Holy Bible
Smith, Joseph: The Book of Mormon
Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith
Vine's Expository Dictionary of New
Testament Words
Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia
History of the Church
Doctrine and Covenants
A Study by Danny D. Bunn
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