1.)
As for "the gate" I would have to say that Christ was referring to Himself.
John 10:9-
"I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture."
(some translations "door" is translated "gate", but are apparent synonyms.)
2.)
As for baptism in John 3:5, the verses around the passage read...
John 3:4-"Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time
into his mother's womb, and be born?"
John 3:6
-"That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.''
With this in mind, it would appear in saying "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit...." Jesus is making a comparison between phsyical and spiritual birth.(There is a great deal of water involved in the birthing process. )
3.)
On baptism for the dead, and the passage "preached unto the spirits in prison" (1 Peter 3:19), to my knowledge the Bible nowhere else uses the word "spirit" (Greek:
pnema) by itself to refer to human beings. Angels and demons are spirits (Matthew 8:16;10:1;12:45; Acts 5:16; 19:12; Hebrews 1:7; 14:1) whereas human beings have spirits (Luke 23:46; Acts 7:59). If Peter had intended to say that Christ preached to deceased humns, we would expect him to have written someting like " the spirits of those which sometime were disobidient..."(as, for example, in Hebrews 12:23)
Secondly, the idea that salvation is being offered in the spirit world is out of sync with the development of the arguement in 1 Peter 3:17-22. The purpose of this passage is to encourage suffering Christians with the example of Christ's vindication: He was put to death in flesh but was raised to life and victory( verse 22 says that Christ is "gone into Heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him"). To say that verse 19 is describing the offer of the gospel to deceased humans implies that Peter veered off into an unrelated topic that does not serve this purpose (and is nowhere else mentioned in the Bible). How would it encourage suffering Christians to know that God will give unbelievers (including their persecutors an oppurtunity to repent in the spirit world? In that case, why suffer in the flesh? The fact that the Mormon interpretation results in such a disjunction counts heavily against its validity.
1 Peter 4:6 does read "For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit." However, there are major differences between the "preaching" in 4:6 and Christ's proclamation to the spirits in 3:19. For instance, in 4:6 there is no mention of "spirits"- it simply describes those who receive the preaching as "them that are dead"(Greek:
nekrois; literally "dead ones") Furthermore, it does not say that Christ preached the gospel, only that "the gospel was preached." In fact, verse 4:6 can only be understood as a reference to Christ preaching in the spirit world if we already know about such a mission from 3:19, but as of yet it does not refer to "those who are dead" but "spirits in prison."
Even if it is granted for the sake of arguement that 1 Peter 4:6 is an allusion to 3:19, the text still does not support a general doctrine of salvation for the physically dead. Note that it does not say "for this cause
is the gospel preached," but "for this cause was the gospel preached (past tense, completed action) to them that are dead." There is no basis here for the idea of on-going preaching of the gospel to the dead, as far as I can tell.
4.)
Revelation 20:12 - "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and
another book was opened, which is the book of life(singular): and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books(plural), according to their works."
This verse in and of itself does imply a salvation by works, but in the context.
Revelations 20:13-" And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were
judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the
book of life was cast into the lake of fire."
Point here is whether or not one is in the "book of life" depends on works is debatable. Furthermore, the book of Romans makes a strong arguement as to justification not of works, but of grace and faith.
Romans 3:22-"
"even the righteousness of God
through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction."
Roman 3:24-"
"being justified as a
gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;"(Food for Thought: Is salvation something we earn, or a gift from God?)
Romans 3:26-"for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, that He might be just and the justifier of the
one who has faith in Jesus."
Romans 4:5-" "But to the one
who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly,
his faith is reckoned as righteousness,"
Romans 11:6-""But if it is by grace,
it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace."
5.)
Query-
Galatians 1:6-9 reads
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
In an earlier discussion, you countered with the fact that the whole Bible had not yet been written. I can understand that. But, from reading the text, Paul is refering not to the Bible but to the Gospel, and Lord knows that it was completed.
With this in mind, why should the Book of Mormon be accepted? There is no evidence of the age of the text, or the events it depicts. And if Galatians is of any authority, it should be rejected, despite the standing or inspiration of Joseph Smith.