he-man
he-man
Yea, you light up my life!To start off, I have noticed that you provide only an "IMO" or "in my opinion", never giving firm backing to your position from the Bible, unlike Jesus who said "It is written" to show that what he said was backed by Jehovah God.(Matt 4:4, 7, 10) This provides no credibility. When the Jewish religious leaders confronted Jesus, they either twisted the meaning of the Hebrew Scriptures or they just condemned Jesus outright.(Matt 12:1, 2, 9-14)
The Mormons give only lip service to the Bible, relegating it below the Book of Mormons. In effect, what they are doing is saying that Jehovah God is incapable of producing his word without corruption, that it is faulty. Yet, Jesus, speaking of the 39 books of the Hebrew Scriptures and quoting from Deuteronomy 8:3, said that "man must live, not on bread alone, but on every utterance coming forth through Jehovah's mouth."(Matt 4:4) It does not say "the mouth of the Lord" (KJV) but Jehovah's mouth.
Jesus cannot be "the Eternal God" and at the same time say that "Father is greater than I am."(John 14:28) That Jesus is subservient to Jehovah God is seen in what Jesus said: "I do nothing of my own initiative; but just as the Father taught me I speak these things. And he that sent me is with me; he did not abandon me to myself, because I always do the things pleasing to him."(John 8:28, 29)
Further, the apostle Matthew quoted from Isaiah 42:1, whereby God prophetically says of Jesus his son: "Look ! My servant whom I chose, my beloved, whom my soul approved ! I will put my spirit upon him."(Matt 12:18)
Thus, Jesus is called Jehovah's "servant", "my beloved" who has received his Father's approval and his spirit. This alone rules out his being "the Eternal God". He is not equal in power or authority as his Father, for even after he told his apostles that "all authority has been given me in heaven and on the earth" following his resurrection (Matt 28:18), the apostle Paul wrote that "Christ, in turn, belongs to God"(1 Cor 3:23) and "the head of the Christ is God."(1 Cor 11:3)
Jesus furthermore said in prayer to his Father: "This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ."(John 17:3) There is thus no other God but one, Jehovah, that is Almighty.(Gen 17:1; Rev 15:3)
What Mormon prophet Lorenzo Snow (1814-1901) once said, that "As man now is, God once was; as God now is, man may become", contradicts emphatically the Bible. Jehovah God had no beginning (Ps 90:2), nor was a man, but rather is the "Grand Creator" of all the universe.(Ec 12:1, "Grand Creator", Hebrew Boh·reey´kha. The participle of the Hebrew verb create is plural to denote grandeur or excellence)
And man will never become "as God now is", for Jehovah God is alone the "one true God."(John 17:3) Samuel told king Saul after his disobeying Jehovah's command concerning the Amalekites, that "the Excellency of Israel....is not an earthling man so as to feel regrets."(1 Sam 15:29)
Of Jesus, the apostle Paul wrote that he is "the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation."(Col 1:15) Hence, Jesus had a beginning, being Jehovah's firstborn, for Paul also uses the word firstborn concerning Jesus again at Hebrew 1:6, saying: "But when he again brings his Firstborn into the inhabited earth, he says: "And all of God's angels do obeisance to him."
According to Doctrines and Covenants 130:22, it says that "the Father has a body of flesh, and bones as tangible as man's." This again contradicts Jesus words, that "God is a Spirit."(John 4:23) The apostle Paul wrote that after Jesus resurrection, he became "a life-giving spirit."(1 Cor 15:45) When there was a discussion of Jehovah God and his angels of how king Ahab could be fooled, the Bible account says that "a spirit came out and stood before Jehovah."(1 Kings 22:21; 2 Chron 18:20)
At Psalms 104:4, it says that Jehovah God is "making his angels spirits." And at 1 Corinthians 15:50, the apostle Paul says that "flesh and blood cannot inherit God's kingdom neither does corruption inherit incorruption." Thus, within the heavenly realm where God resides, only spirits exist, not flesh and blood.(1 Cor 15:50)
And concerning God's name, at Exodus 3:14, 15, Moses was told by God as to the meaning of his name: "I SHALL PROVE TO BE WHAT I SHALL PROVE TO BE.(Heb., היהא רשא היהא [Eh·yeh´ Asher´ Eh·yeh´], Gods own self-designation) And he added: This is what you are to say to the sons of Israel, I SHALL PROVE TO BE has sent me to YOU. Then God said once more to Moses: "This is what you are to say to the sons of Israel, Jehovah the God of your forefathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is my name ("name", Hebrew shem) to time indefinite, and this is the memorial of me to generation after generation."
At Isaiah 42:8, God says: "I am Jehovah. That is my name ("name", Hebrew shem meaning "an appellation, as a mark or memorial of individuality", Strong's H8034); and to no one else shall I give my own glory, neither my praise to graven images."
Hence, God's name is not Elohim, for this means "God" or "gods" in Hebrew, being in plural, and when used of our Creator, denotes excellence or majesty and is a title, not his personal name. In fact, Elohim often follows Jehovah in many scriptures, such as twenty times at Genesis 2 and 3 alone.
The divine name, Jehovah, is the name God gave himself and not someone else, is revered by Jehovah's Witnesses just as Jesus revered it, placing the sanctifying or being made holy, first in the Lord's prayer, saying: "Let your name (Greek onoma) be sanctified."(Matt 6:9)
Psalms 148:13 says: "Let them praise the name of Jehovah, for his name is unreachably high. His dignity is above earth and heaven." True Christians "praise the name of Jehovah" as the Psalmist was inspired to write and as Jesus did.
And your saying that "All scripture has equal weight to the LDS", that how "the Bible" is "not the end to God's word, nor perfect in his word" is saying volumes, in effect your saying that Mormons might elevate the Bible "to the LDS" and not that Mormons see the "LDS" as equal weight to the Bible, putting what Joseph Smith wrote ahead of the Bible and that the Bible is flawed, and needs to corrected by additional books.
At Revelation 22:18, 19, Jesus says that "I am bearing witness to everyone that hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone makes an addition to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this scroll; and if anyone takes anything away from the words of the scroll of this prophecy, God will take his portion away from the trees of life and out of the holy city, things which are written about in this scroll."
The Bible canon was complete with the book of Revelation (written in about 96 C.E.) and the other four books (John, 1 John, 2 John and 3 John) written by the apostle John.(in about 98 C.E.)
Is 43:15 I am the LORD GOD, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King.
6 Thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel, and the redeemer, the LORD of hosts; I am the only first, and I am the last; and besides me is no God.
8 Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God besides me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.
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