Can You Trust Your Heart?

Many critics of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints warn those who come in contact with the church, that deceit will be used to ensnare them. What deceit are they talking about? The Mormons will tell you to ask God in prayer if what they are teaching is true. The Mormons teach that God will manifest the truth to your heart, "like a burning in your bosom."

Then the critic will say, "do not pray to know if what they are teaching is true, for the heart can deceive you!" They will then quote scriptures like "out of the heart proceed evil thoughts."(Matt 15:19)

The logic of the critics on this point has always been hard for me to understand. How do they expect a man to know the things of God unless God reveals it to him?  Since most critics acknowledge that God does not verbally answer their prayers, how does He communicate his truths to them?  How does He help them know that a scripture means what they say it means, or means what they have been taught it means?  The post below will try to answer why the LDS people teach that man may know the truth by inquiring of the Lord and how He will respond by sending us impressions into our Hearts.

The LDS often share a scripture with those who are looking into joining the church. Moroni 10:3-5 which encourages the readers of the Book of Mormon that when "ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your heart(s)... I would exhort you that ye would ask God...in the name of Christ, if these things (are) true." Then the qualifier " if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you by the power of the Holy Ghost." This seems like straight forward direction for having God reveal his will to us. But many critics try to claim that this method is not biblical and that God never worked this way.

Paul tells us in 1 Cor 2:7-10 "we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory....But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things,yea, the deep things of God." Here we learn that God’s wisdom is a mystery and hidden before the world. We also see that man doesn't have the ability according to this verse to "think" (or make-up) in his heart the things of God. It is true that if man relies on his own heart, it will deceive him.  If man opens up his heart to the spirit of God; God will reveal his truths to him.  

So, how are we to gain an understanding of the wisdom of God?

Jam 1:5 says "if any of you lack wisdom,let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."

How will it be given?

 By the Spirit-see 1 Cor 2:10- this sounds strangely familiar…Where have I heard that before?  Oh yeah… Moroni  10:3-5. 1 Cor 2:14 says "the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." According to this verse, the scriptures tell us once again that man cannot find out Gods truth's on his own (aka “the natural man”), apart from God.

So how does the Spirit communicate these truths to us?

In Acts 2:37 the apostles have been teaching a gathering of Jews about the truth of Jesus Christ. When they are done speaking, the scriptures say, "Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart(s), and said unto....the apostles, Men and brethren what shall we do?” The Spirit touches the heart (or as Paul says the Spirit of man: Romans 8:16,27) of the people that they feel a need to follow Christ.

What is the heart for?

In the strictest sense, it is an organ used to circulate blood throughout the body. Yet, look at some of the ways God refers to the use of the "heart" in the scriptures. Isaiah 29:13- "as this people draw near [unto] me with their mouth, and ...do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me." Also Jeremiah 31:33- " but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law... in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people." The Lord is using the heart as a symbol of the inner man. How will we know if our hearts are far from God, or whether his law is in our hearts? Through the feelings we receive from the spirit of God! 

Look at Luke 24:27-32- here the Lord appears in disguise to two of his disciples, as he reveals the scriptures to them. In verse 27- "beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he [Jesus] expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself."

What was the result of Christ teaching them out of the scriptures?

Verse 31-32 says, "and their eyes were opened, and they knew him: and he vanished out of their sight.  And they said one to another Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?" So we see that the Spirit confirmed the truth of what Christ was teaching them from the scriptures by what they felt in their hearts.

Listen to the words of Jesus himself:  "therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand." (Matt 13:13) Then he continues, "by hearing ye shall hear and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see and shall not perceive; For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should ...understand with their heart and should be converted, and I should heal them." (Matt 13:14-15) The Lord explains that those who rely on hearing and seeing in order to understand the gospel are missing it. (much like our critics who say we must not listen to feelings). But the Lord gives them the remedy, they could "understand with their heart and (be) converted, and (He) should heal them."(Matt 13:15)

Paul informs us in Eph 4:17-20 how not to be like the unbelievers.

"That ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind. Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, Because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness."

Are the critics once again yelling that the LDS people are teaching things that are not "biblical"?  While simultaneously ignoring the Bible truths that are taught that discredit their claims??? The answer is of course they are! The truth is that if people took the experiment of praying to God with a sincere heart, God would make the truth knows to those individuals by the power of the Holy Ghost.

They would not only know that their answer was correct, they would also feel it.

Paul showed how the critics of his day were blinded in their hearts too when it came to understanding the scriptures and how to gain knowledge of Godly things. "But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon (their minds???....noooo! it was…) their heart." (2 Cor 3:14-15) All one needs to do in order to know the things of God is to open their heart, and allow the spirit of God to fill it with the feelings of the Spirit, "but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith." (Gal 5:22)

Paul reminds us in Rom 10:10 "for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness." The question to ask is why are critics trying so hard to keep people from following God’s plan?  What is God’s plan? Doctrine and Covenants 9:7-8 God’s plan is to search out answers in your mind, to ask for understanding on God’s word, and to listen to the feelings of the heart.  (Whereby, you will hear God’s voice.)

Maybe the prophecy of Paul to Timothy is being fulfilled right before our eyes:  "in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves...without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, in continent, fierce, despisers of those that are good...having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away" (2 Tim 3:1-5)

And why does Paul warn to turn away from such as these?

  The critic says, do not ask God, because he will not make that knowledge known to you, that man’s heart is too deceitful for God to penetrate.  The critics are right on one thing, that God will never penetrate their heart, if they do not ask Him to.  They seek learning outside the realm of God’s biblically approved method.  So turn away from such as these because they are "ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." (2 Tim 3:7)

"Feelings, nothing more than feeeeelings"....Unless they come from GOD!

Original Sin

Many critics of the Church believe that all mankind inherited an "original sin" from the fall of Adam.  This doctrine as explained to me states that because Adam was created a perfect being, and sinned against God; all of Adam’s children will therefore be born with Adam’s original sin.

They are surprised why LDS people do not hold this same view. The post below is intended to show why this view is not common among the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The scriptures are clear on the fact that "all have sinned."(1Kings 8:46 and Rom 3:23).The LDS people agree that all mortals do sin, but disagree that all are born into sin.

 The critics often cite Romans 5:12: "wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." The logic of this scripture, according to the critic, is that all men must be born into sin since all die and death is a result of a sinful nature.  If this is the logic, then let me ask a question,

Since all are born into mortality with sin….

 Would that mean Christ received "original sin"?

Christ was born of Mary, a mortal woman, and Christ did die! The critic will say that the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23). Christ’s mortal life was ended by his death.  If this logic of “wages of sin is death” were to hold up- Christ would therefore be a sinner (because he died).  Romans 6:23 was referring to a “second death” which is a spiritual death (that is a result of sin) and not physical death (Rev 2:11).   

Read 2Cor 5:20-21, Heb4: 14-15, and 1Pet 2:21-22 which all show that Christ lived without sin, including original sin. These facts show that, if all men have "original sin" because of mortal birth, and Christ was clearly born of a woman he would therefore inherit "original sin".  

Now, since we know that Christ didn't inherit any sin, what else do the scriptures say in regards to sin for the rest of mankind.

James tells us that "him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin." (Jam 4:17) How could one be born with sin if, according to James, that person must first "know" to do good and then choose not to? This example of "knowing" is taught by Jesus in an encounter with the Pharisees.  In John 9:39-41 Jesus tells the Pharisees that he came to make the blind see, and those who can see blind. The Pharisees understanding that he meant spiritual blindness asked if they were "blind." Jesus’ response "If ye were blind, ye should have no sin; but now ye say, we see; therefore your sin remaineth." Here the Lord implies that because they "knew" they were sinners, but had they not "known" they would have remained sinless.

John tells us in 1John 3:4-5 that "sin is the transgression of the law." So how would those born be able to "transgress" the law, before they have even heard the law?

Look at how Christ viewed little children during his earthly ministry. In Matt 18:3-4, 14 "except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." How much sense does it make for Christ to tell these adults to be converted to the gospel (the good news of salvation through Christ) and then for him to tell them to be like the little children "full of original sin"? Truly, he wants them to humble themselves as these little children, but remember the adults are the ones converting. According to the doctrine of "original sin" the children would be worse off than the converted adults. In verse 14 Jesus says, "it is not the will of your father which is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish." Yet how can they not perish if they die in their "sins" before accepting Jesus Christ? With all those I have met that hold the view of "original sin" none have conveyed the idea that children four years of age or younger are going to perish! This goes contrary to the doctrine they espouse which is original sin.  We don't believe in "original sin" because we believe God has more grace than to send to Hell his most innocent (little children).

John 3:16 says "God so loved the world ....that whosoever believeth in (his only begotten son) should not perish, but have everlasting life." What about those who are too young to believe or act on that belief in Jesus? Some say that "original sin" is the reason that they baptize infants; that this “cleanses” them from the sin of Adam. But we know that baptism was done as a sign of repentance (Matt 3:11, Acts 19:4, Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16).

So do infants have the ability to repent? The answer is no!

In the Book of Mormon the prophet Moroni says "little children are alive in Christ... if not so, God is a partial God." (Moro 8:12) He continues, "little children cannot repent; wherefore, it is awful wickedness to deny the pure mercies of God unto them." (Moro 8:19) The Lord taught the prophet Joseph Smith that "all men must repent and be baptized, and not only men, but women, and children who have arrived at the years of accountability." (D&C 18:42) In a later revelation the Lord explained that children were to be taught "to understand the doctrine of repentance, faith in Christ the Son of the living God, and of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on (of) hands, when eight years old," or "the sin be upon the heads of the parents." (D&C 68:25) In D&C 68:27 the Lord instructs that "children shall be baptized for the remission of their sins when eight years old and receive the laying on (of) hands."

To conclude, we realize that Adam’s sin could not be passed on to the rest of mankind, or else Christ (who became a mortal man) also would have “sinned.” Man is accountable to God for their own sins and not for Adam’s transgression (Article of Faith #2). Little Children could not be born with sin, by no fault of their own, and God still remain a merciful God. Sin in the scriptures has been laid out as one who knows to do right and does not do it. And this is why the LDS people do not believe in the "doctrine of original sin."