Katzpur
Not your average Mormon
If that's the case, then I guess we can simply disregard the following verses:Paul said that if you confess Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall be (not could be or might be) saved.
Matthew 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
John 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
Romans 2:12-13 For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; for not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.
Hebrews 5:9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.
James 2:20-24 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
Excuse me? If anyone on this forum has ever made a point of saying we all believe in the same Jesus, it's me. If I have unintentionally made a statement somewhere which would imply that I believe otherwise, please quote me so that we can set the record straight. I believe in the Jesus Christ spoken of in the Bible and, unless I am mistaken, so are you. We simply interpret certain verses differently and consequently have a different understanding of some of His attributes.There is of course the problem of the referent of "Jesus." I believe Katzpur is right that the LDS believers and traditional Christians believe in a different Jesus. If confessing Jesus is key to salvation (as Paul says), then either traditional Christians or LDS followers are in deep doo-doo.
Believe me, I know that traditional Christianity believes that members of my Church are "in deep doo-doo." We Latter-day Saints, however, are far less condemning of the rest of you. Our understanding is that the vast, vast majority of all humankind will ultimately end up in Heaven, and not in doo-doo of any kind.Confessing Jesus is Lord also entails living the life Jesus called us to leave. Again, although there are similarities, the LDS vision and that of traditional Christianity are at variance there, too. Once again, one of these groups is in deep doo-doo.