About My Faith

2008-07-27T15:53:00.000-07:00

For Latter-Day Saints, Who is Jesus Christ?

For all of us, Jesus Christ is the center of our religion. Jesus said this in John 17:3:

“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”

All we do in the church, including our worship services, teaching, service and activities, is for the purpose of helping us to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He sent. We believe He is the Savior and Redeemer of all mankind. We believe He is the Only Begotten Son in the flesh. We believe that through Him all mankind can be saved.

We believe that there are once again personal witnesses, even Apostles of the Lord, again today. Recently the Apostles published their testimony to the world of the Risen Lord.

Words cannot express how I personally feel about my Savior. If I spend every breath to repay Him for what He has done and continues to do for me it still would not be enough to express my love and witness. I know He lives and that He is our Savior. God be praised for that!

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What is the Book of Mormon?

The Book of Mormon is the record an ancient people and translated by the Prophet Joseph Smith. It is a record, similar to the Bible, in the sense that it contains writings of many different prophets.

The Book of Mormon starts with an account written by a man named Nephi who tells the story of his family and their departure from the city of Jerusalem in the year 600 B.C. Nephi’s father was a prophet named Lehi who, together with Jeremiah and Ezekiel, prophesied to the people that unless they repented the city would be destroyed and the people would be led away captive. Lehi also prophesied of the coming of the Messiah. Because of his prophesies the people were angry and sought to take away his life. Unlike Jeremiah and Ezekiel, Lehi was warned in a dream and told to take his family and leave the city and they would be led to a choice land. Lehi followed the warning he received and was led, with those who came with him, over the course of many years & across the ocean to the Americas. The descendants of this people kept the records of their dealings, wars and teachings.

The most important event recorded in the Book of Mormon is of the personal visit and ministry of the Savior after His resurrection to this people – this lost branch of Israel.

One thousand years after Lehi left Jerusalem this people were destroyed due to their pride and wickedness. However, their records were abridged (i.e., compiled & condensed) by one of their final prophets – Mormon. His son, Moroni finished the record and hid it in a hill called Cumorah. 1,400 years later, this same Moroni – now an angel - came to a farm boy named Joseph Smith, showed him where the plates were hidden and how they might be translated. The original records were seen by others before the Angel Moroni took them back and the book was published. Its pages can now be read by all. The book containts a promise that all who carefully read it, ponder on its contents, and pray to know of its truthfulness will receive a witness of its truth.

This book is a witness to me and to the world that there is a God in Heaven and that he loves all of His children and that He is doing His work among them today. It strengthens our faith in the testimony from the Bible and testifies nearly on every page that Jesus is the Christ – the Son of the Living God. It does not take the place of the bible, but was sent to reinforce it in witness, doctrine, simplicity and truth. Words cannot express what this book means to me.

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Who is Joseph Smith?

Joseph Smith was what we call the first prophet of the restoration. By “restoration” we believe that through him Jesus Christ was able to restore the fullness of the gospel He taught while He was on the earth. We believe that due to the martyrdom of the apostles, the newness of the doctrine, and the unbelief of the people that within 100 or so years following Christ, the early Christian church lost the priesthood and many of the plain and precious truths the Savior taught while He was yet alive. This change in doctrine continued to the point that it had become something very different than it was when it was founded – something so different that even the people within in began to see it. The great reformers such as Luther, Tyndale ad Wycliff, who we reverence and know to have been inspired, began the work of a reformation and in many ways prepared Christianity for the restoration we believe in.

Unlike the reformers however, who had not received any divine authority from God because it was not on the earth to be had, Joseph Smith received from the hands of Peter, James and John themselves the authority to teach, administer and perform the ordinances of salvation. The restoration brought us the Priesthood, the keys of Revelation, the Gift of the Holy Ghost, the authority to seal families together forever, and the answers to all of life’s questions such as “Who am I?” “Why am I here?” “Where will I go when I die?” “What is the purpose of life?” “Where did I come from?” “Who is God?” “Why are there so many religions if there is but one God?” “Why is there so much war and division in the world today?” and “What is the answer to the difficulties our world is facing?”

I know that the Church of Jesus Christ is truly back on the earth – cut forth out of the mountain without hands – and it is rolling forward until it fills the whole earth.

Unlike many other faiths, the Church of Jesus Christ accepts all truth – wherever it may be found. We are not threatened by other religions and encourage them to practice their faith to the fullest. Our missionary work is not to tear down the beliefs of others but to say to them: "keep all that is good that you have been taught and then add to it with the truths and ordinances that have been restored. Leave nothing good behind – bring it and grow that you might know more, be happier and receive the ordinances of salvation under the hand of one holding divine authority so that you might have eternal life!" Come and see, ponder and pray about what we are saying and you too will know what I do – that the Restoration spoken of by the prophets of old has indeed taken place and that within the church lies greater happiness, greater spiritual growth, and the means to return to live with God again - together with your loved ones. These blessings are open to all who will come and seek it out. I hope you do.

Ken's LDS Beliefs

About My Faith