post "Who is Jesus" Conversation with a Pastor and Mormon

Post-Conversation Reflections on the Jesus Debate

So this is just a post the conversation that I just had with Connor on the question and topic of who is Jesus. This was my first time using StreamYard and first time actually going live on YouTube. And once again, to everybody that watched and listened to it, if you haven't, it's recorded and please go watch it.

And if you were able to listen and watch it, I just thank you very, very much. It was encouraging and a blessing to actually have an LDS member like Connor to actually come and talk with me. And if you are LDS and you would like to discuss any question, especially the wonderful one of who is Jesus, I would ask that you just reach out to me.

And please do, because it's Christ is worthy to be talked about and he's worthy to be known about who he properly is. So just to talk a little bit about the actual conversation itself, I don't want to necessarily call it a debate because it was somewhat of a debate, but it was informal.

Mormonism, the Gospel, and the Warning of a False Jesus

So anyway, once again, Connor, I think you did a good job at representing what LDS believe. But that is the end of what I think was good about what Connor was saying. I think fundamentally what Mormonism is teaching is dammable.

It is dammable heresy. It goes against the essentials of Christianity. It teaches a false Jesus. And he said there at the end that his worry is that the average Joe, the guy on the street that hears these things and hears Mormons aren't Christians, he is worried about that person.

And that's my exact same worry. It really is that when a Mormon missionary goes and knocks on somebody's door in Mexico or even in the United States, wherever it might be, when a Mormon knocks on their door to a person that is unknowing about who Jesus Christ is, according to the Bible, that's terrible.

That's terrible. They're hearing about a Christ that is not the one and only God. They're hearing about a Jesus that is through your faith in him and your works that you become exalted to be with the Father.

These things are unbiblical. They're dammable. And that is truly what worries me. So I completely agree with Connor in that sense that the average Joe is unknowing about these issues. And they need to be knowing.

It's important. Just to kind of recap some of the stuff that he was saying and some of the stuff I was saying, I want you guys to take special note of how much Scripture was used from both positions. Connor did say he felt like he came a little bit unprepared.

But just talking about this conversation itself and giving him as much grace as possible that I can, I believe I was the only one that represented anything from the Bible, anything from the Old Testament and the New Testament about who Jesus Christ is.

And in a debate format, when you have the opportunity to talk in 10 minutes, 5 minutes, 2 minutes, whatever the example is, you should be using the text to tell who you believe Jesus Christ is. Once again, if the LDS church teaches that the gospel, the church, the fundamental understanding of who Christ is and was, was lost 2 ,000 years ago at the death of the apostles, as he even mentioned Jeffrey R. Holland's comment that they don't believe that they're Nicene or Credo Christians in the sense that they don't believe in a creed, that's insinuating that those people that did believe in creeds had a lost and false gospel.

According to Joseph Smith, history of the church, verse 19, it just means that it's not, it's, it's a false gospel. It's fallen away. It's not there. And so that has serious implications on who Jesus Christ is.

And I made mention of it to Connor in Matthew, chapter 16, verse 18, Christ promises that his church will not fall away because it's built upon the rock. And I made sure to mention in Matthew, chapter seven, that those that are built on the rock that are built on Jesus, they will not be washed away.

They will not. When the storm comes, they will not be destroyed. And this has been the reality in the last 2 ,000 years. There's always been Christians. There's always been people that fear God. There's always been people that have been following the biblical Jesus from the time of his ascension.

And God made it that way. In Acts, he goes, Peter preaches a sermon to a group of people from different languages, and the gospel takes over the world. It goes out and it never fails. His word goes out and it does not come back to God void.

The gospel message has been doing exactly what it's been meant to do ever since the ascension of Christ. And his church, his believers, his sheep have never fallen away since the day of his death, burial and resurrection.

There's always been people that have been believing in him. And so fundamentally, the argument of Joseph Smith from the First Division account, which I didn't even talk about how there's several different First Vision accounts that have contradictory narratives to him.

I didn't want to get into that. But using the one that they use, even in that, it is very, very clear that they're saying that the church fell away. They're saying that there was a falling away of the gospel, that great apostasy that even Connor himself mentioned.

That's the whole point of their church is that it's a restoration that's false. It's just not there. It would make Christ a liar if you believe in those things. And so it truly worries me. And he did mention in there that he thinks that one of the biggest differences that we have is our understanding of the Trinity.

He rejects the Trinity. The LDS Church uses that term, Trinity, Godhead, in those ways, completely rejecting the biblical stance, the systematic approach in understanding, the totus scriptura approach to understanding who Jesus is, who God is.

There's only one God very, very clearly all throughout the text. Jesus proclaims to be the one God. He speaks to the Father. The Father proclaims to be God. They make mention of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit claims to be God.

There's this singular God, one being in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Jesus is worshipped in the flesh. He's worshipped in the spirit. He's prayed to. Jesus is worthy of worship.

And he said it there at the end. He said, we only worship the Father. We do not worship Jesus. That is worrisome. That's not a Christian. A Christian worships Jesus. They worship the Spirit and they worship the Father because they are one God.

Scripture, Creeds, and the Authority of the Word of God

I see that I have one viewer right now. If there's anything that needs to be asked or questions about the debate or comments, concerns, anything I messed up or misrepresented, please hit me up. Whether it's in this live stream right now or it's afterwards, please let me know.

But once again, being in a debate format, there's a level of respect that needs to be there. If I was out on the streets conversing with a gentleman like Connor or Connor himself, it would be more, more, more, more scripture.

I use a portion of scripture because it was a debate format that I couldn't get in all my thoughts and so on and so forth. But I think just from the 10 minutes that I got compared to the 10 minutes that he had, I think it's very clear who made the better argument for who is Jesus according to the Bible.

And I truly do believe that the creeds, the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed, the Westminster Confession of Faith, the London Baptist Confession of Faith, those creeds summarize the Christian's stance and belief.

I absolutely believe those things. While they are not authoritative, nor are they scripture, nor are they God-breathed, they use the Word of God to talk about what is God-breathed. They use the Word of God to talk about who Jesus is.

They use the Word of God to talk about the Trinity. They use the Word of God to talk about salvation. And they summarize in a systematic approach quite well. And we can see that there's always been Christians.

Prayer for Connor and Closing Exhortation

So I'm going to just say a prayer right now for Connor. And if Connor ever watches this, this is no offense. This is just me praying for you. As we talked about, if you believe in what you believe in, it's loving to tell me this.

And if I believe in what I believe in, it's loving for me to tell you this. And it's loving for me to pray for you in this way. And so I just want to say a prayer. If you're in the live stream, please just follow along.

But Lord God, I would just pray that your will be done. Lord, in this video, in that debate, in that conversation, Lord, I praise you for a man like Connor being willing to share what he believes in. But Lord, I just pray that you would use this for your own glory, that you would edify those that believe in you, that you would reform and refine our hearts to who you are in the text.

Lord, I also just pray specifically, though, for Connor, Lord. I would pray that you would open his eyes, open his ears, change his heart. Lord, make his vocal cords cry out to you as Lord and Savior and King.

And the great I am as God, as God in flesh, Lord. God, I just pray that Connor would see truth and that he would know you, Lord, that he would come and profess you, Lord. Because currently, God, those that are believing in the LDS faith are lost.

So, Lord, I know that you are great and that you can do these mighty things as you have done this mighty work, even in somebody like myself and my wife. Great sinners, Lord. But you are a greater and more mighty Savior to save somebody like myself.

So, Lord, we just say these things in your holy name, asking that your will be done. And it is upon that holy name we say this. Jesus Christ, amen. I just want to tell everybody once again, thank you for tuning in and watching that.

Please subscribe to this YouTube channel. I hope for more of these conversations and these debates and these ideas being discussed between, I hope, Mormons and even non-Mormons. I love these kind of stuff.

I love the Word of God, and it's true, and it's sharp. It's very, very sharp, and it cuts deep. So, go in peace, everyone. Glorify God. Search the Scriptures daily to see if what I've been saying is so.

God bless.