Conversion is the process of being born of God. “Born of God” or “born again” refers to the personal spiritual experience through which we receive a forgiveness of sins and a witness from God that if we continue to live the commandments and endure to the end, we will inherit eternal life. The scriptures teach that just as each of us is “born into the world by water, and blood, and the spirit,” so must we be “born again” of water and the Spirit and be cleansed by the blood of Christ (John 3:5; Moses 6:59).

To be born of God implies a sanctifying process by which the old or natural man is supplanted by the new spiritual man who enjoys the companionship of the Holy Ghost and hence is no longer disposed to commit sin (Colossians 3:9-10; Mosiah 3:19; Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 51). When we are born again we are spiritually begotten sons and daughters of God and more specifically of Jesus Christ (Mosiah 5:7; 27:25). The Book of Mormon prophet Alma 1 calls this inner transformation a “mighty change in your hearts” (Alma 5:14).”

(Adapted from the article by Ed J. Pinegar in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 1-4 vols., edited by Daniel H. Ludlow [New York: Macmillan, 1992], 218.)

THE SCRIPTURES TEACH US

• Moses 6:59— “That by reason of transgression cometh the fall, which fall bringeth death, and inasmuch as ye were born into the world by water, and blood, and the spirit, which I have made, and so became of dust a living soul, even so ye must be born again into the kingdom of heaven, of water, and of the Spirit, and be cleansed by blood, even the blood of mine Only Begotten; that ye might be sanctified from all sin, and enjoy the words of eternal life in this world, and eternal life in the world to come, even immortal glory; . . .”

We must be born again through the grace of God in order to receive the blessings of eternal life. This means that each of us must repent and bring forth fruit worthy of all acceptation of the Lord, thus proving ourselves worthy of returning to His presence.

• Mosiah 5:7— “And now, because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters.”

We become the sons and daughters of Jesus Christ because we have made the mighty change and, through baptism, have taken upon us His name. This carries with it a covenant and promise to remember Him and keep the commandments.

• Mosiah 5:2— “And they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually.”

When we are truly converted by the Spirit, we will experience the “mighty change” and we will feel and act differently. We will have the desire to do good just like Enos, Alma, and the Sons of Mosiah.

• Moroni 8:25-26— “And the first fruits of repentance is baptism; and baptism cometh by faith unto the fulfilling the commandments; and the fulfilling the commandments bringeth remission of sins;  And the remission of sins bringeth meekness, and lowliness of heart; and because of meekness and lowliness of heart cometh the visitation of the Holy Ghost, which Comforter filleth with hope and perfect love, which love endureth by diligence unto prayer, until the end shall come, when all the saints shall dwell with God.”

We will recognize a true change within our soul. We will start to feel the Spirit and enjoy the fruits of it in our lives. We will be more humble and loving in all things.

MODERN PROPHETS SPEAK

“Conversion must mean more than just being a “card carrying” member of the Church with a tithing receipt, a membership card, a temple recommend, etc. It means to overcome the tendencies to criticize and to strive continually to improve inward weaknesses and not merely the outward appearances” (Harold B. Lee, Stand Ye in Holy Places [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1974], 355).

“But all that has happened in the past has not, and all that occurs in the future will not change the truth that conversion to Jesus Christ and his gospel is the one and only way; for still it must be said that “there is none other way given under heaven by which men must be saved” (Elder Marion G. Romney, Conference Report, October 1963, Afternoon Meeting 26).  (See Acts 4:12.)

IDEAS FOR DAILY LIVING

Here are some things to remember and do in the process of conversion:

1.   Seek to align your being with the qualities of a truly converted person.

• Be mindful of your baptismal covenants
• Seek to be blameless before the Lord
• Be spiritually born of God
• Be obedient and endure to the end
• Be charitable

2.  Follow daily strategies to retain the spirit of conversion and remain strong in the Church.

• Remember to pray
• Search the scriptures
• Gain understanding
• Remain valiant
• Cultivate the spirit and practice of service
• Build up the Kingdom of God

“The Conversion of Parley P. Pratt” is a wonderful story and a great example of what it means to be converted.  Parley P. Pratt was a leader in the early restored church.

It was early in the morning, just at the dawn of day, I walked ten miles into the country, and stopped to breakfast with a Mr. Wells. I proposed to preach in the evening. Mr. Wells readily accompanied me through the neighborhood to visit the people, and circulate the appointment.

We visited an old Baptist deacon by the name of Hamlin. After hearing of our appointment for evening, he began to tell of a book, a strange book, a VERY STRANGE BOOK! in his possession, which had been just published. This book, he said, purported to have been originally written on plates either of gold or brass, by a branch of the tribes of Israel; and to have been discovered and translated by a young man near Palmyra, in the State of New York, by the aid of visions, or the ministry of angels. I inquired of him how or where the book was to be obtained. He promised me the perusal of it, at his house the next day, if I would call. I felt a strange interest in the book. . . . Next morning I called at his house, where, for the first time, my eyes beheld the “BOOK OF MORMON”—that book of books—that record which reveals the antiquities of the “New World” back to the remotest ages, and which unfolds the destiny of its people and the world for all time to come; that Book which contains the fulness of the gospel of a crucified and risen Redeemer;—that Book which reveals a lost remnant of Joseph, and which was the principal means, in the hands of God, of directing the entire course of my future life.

I opened it with eagerness, and read its title page. I then read the testimony of several witnesses in relation to the manner of its being found and translated. After this I commenced its contents by course. I read all day; eating was a burden, I had no desire for food; sleep was a burden when the night came, for I preferred reading to sleep.

As I read, the spirit of the Lord was upon me, and I knew and comprehended that the book was true, as plainly and manifestly as a man comprehends and knows that he exists. My joy was now full, as it were, and I rejoiced sufficiently to more than pay me for all the sorrows, sacrifices and toils of my life. I soon determined to see the young man who had been the instrument of its discovery and translation.

I accordingly visited the village of Palmyra, and inquired for the residence of Mr. Joseph Smith. I found it some two or three miles from the village. As I approached the house at the close of the day I overtook a man who was driving some cows, and inquired of him for Mr. Joseph Smith, the translator of the “Book of Mormon.” He informed me that he now resided in Pennsylvania; some one hundred miles distant. I inquired for his father, or for any of the family. He told me that his father had gone [on] a journey; but that his residence was a small house just before me; and, said he, I am his brother. It was Mr. Hyrum Smith. I informed him of the interest I felt in the Book, and of my desire to learn more about it. He welcomed me to his house, and we spent the night together; for neither of us felt disposed to sleep. We conversed most of the night, during which I unfolded to him much of my experience in my search after truth, and my success so far; together with that which I felt was lacking, viz: a commissioned priesthood, or apostleship to minister in the ordinances of God.

He also unfolded to me the particulars of the discovery of the Book; its translation; the rise of the Church of Latter-day Saints, and the commission of his brother Joseph, and others, by revelation and the ministering of angels, by which the apostleship and authority had been again restored to the earth. After duly weighing the whole matter in my mind I saw clearly that these things were true; and that myself and the whole world were without baptism, and without the ministry and ordinances of God; and that the whole world had been in this condition since the days that inspiration and revelation had ceased—in short, that this was a new dispensation or commission, in fulfillment of prophecy, and for the restoration of Israel, and to prepare the way before the second coming of the Lord.

In the morning I was compelled to take leave of this worthy man and his family—as I had to hasten back a distance of thirty miles, on foot, to fulfil an appointment in the evening. As we parted he kindly presented me with a copy of the Book of Mormon. I had not yet completed its perusal, and was glad indeed to possess a copy of my own. I travelled on a few miles, and, stopping to rest, I commenced again to read the book. To my great joy I found that Jesus Christ, in his glorified resurrected body, had appeared to the remnant of Joseph on the continent of America, soon after his resurrection and ascension into heaven; and that he also administered, in person, to the ten lost tribes; and that through his personal ministry in these countries his gospel was revealed and written in countries and among nations entirely unknown to the Jewish apostles.

Thus revealed, written, handed down and preserved, till revealed in this age by the angels of God, it had, of course, escaped the corruptions of the great and abominable church; and been preserved in purity.

This discovery greatly enlarged my heart, and filled my soul with joy and gladness. I esteemed the Book, or the information contained in it, more than all the riches of the world. Yes; I verily believe that I would not at that time have exchanged the knowledge I then possessed, for a legal title to all the beautiful farms, houses, villages and property which passed in review before me, on my journey through one of the most flourishing settlements of western New York.

(Parley P. Pratt, Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, edited by Parley P. Pratt Jr., Classics in Mormon Literature ed. [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1985], pp. 20-22.)

This article was adapted from What We Need to Know and Do, by Ed Pinegar and Richard J. Allen.

Temple Builder Conversion Story

The Conversion of a Former Buddhist Monk

Finding a Home in the Gospel

I Heard Mormons Believe You have to work to be saved, but doesn’t the Bible say we are saved by grace?

Mormons believe that man is saved by grace.  However, Mormon beliefs about what grace is differs slightly from many other Christian denominations.  In the “Guide to the Scriptures,” which is found at the end of new editions of the Book of Mormon, grace is defined as “The enabling power from God that allows men and women to obtain blessings in this life and to gain eternal life and exaltation after they have exercised faith, repented, and given their best effort to keep the commandments. Such divine help or strength is given through the mercy and love of God. Every mortal person needs divine grace because of Adam’s fall and also because of man’s weaknesses.”  Grace is God’s mercy for us, because of our weakness for sin.  Without it, no person who has ever lived could be saved.  Many Christians teach that we are saved by grace alone and that nothing we do affects that.  This doctrine, however, is contrary to the many statements of Jesus that say we must obey His commandments.  To his disciples Jesus declared:

“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 (Matthew 7:21)”

However, our good works do not earn salvation for us, for no matter how many good deeds we do; we have still sinned and are unclean, and no unclean thing can dwell in God’s presence.  Ultimately, we are saved through Jesus Christ, whose sacrifice on the cross and whose resurrection from death, provide the opportunity for all to return to God’s presence.  However, we must still work and do many good things.  Elder Dallin H. Oaks, a modern Apostle in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said this:

The Final Judgment is not just an evaluation of a sum total of good and evil acts–what we have done. It is an acknowledgment of the final effect of our acts and thoughts–what we have become. It is not enough for anyone just to go through the motions. The commandments, ordinances, and covenants of the gospel are not a list of deposits required to be made in some heavenly account. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a plan that shows us how to become what our Heavenly Father desires us to become (Conference Report, October 2000, “The Challenge to Become”).

God desires all of us to inherit Eternal Life, but because He is perfect and just and we are weak and imperfect, He cannot simply give it to us, otherwise He would be denying justice.  The solution is for Jesus Christ to pay the penalty for our sins.  This act is called the atonement.  To apply the atonement in our lives, we must believe in Jesus, repent of our sins and covenant with God and Jesus Christ to follow Jesus as our Leader and perfect Example.  We make this covenant, or promise, through baptism.

God wants each of us to become a heavenly person full of faith, hope, and charity.  This life is like a testing ground where we can, through our trials and mistakes, learn how to be happy and how to help others.  As Elder Oaks said, we are not trying to earn a certain number of good points, we are trying to become a new creature in Christ and that requires that we obey God’s commandments and save others.  As we struggle to learn, we will make mistakes, or give into weakness.  God’s grace is the power to overcome those weaknesses.  Through God’s grace and mercy we are saved by Jesus Christ through our faith in Him and our efforts to be like Him.

Do Mormons Worship a Different Jesus?

Critics of Mormonism often claim that Mormons worship a different Jesus or that the Mormons don’t even worship Jesus as God.  They say this because Mormons have some beliefs about Jesus that differ from those of other Christian Churches.  They wonder if Mormons are Christian or say that they oppose traditional Christianity.  It is true that some Mormon beliefs about Jesus differ from other churches, but nevertheless, Mormons believe in the Jesus whose deeds and teachings are found in the Bible, but reject the creeds and additions made by medieval Christian theologians. Mormonism teaches that to correct errors in understanding about God, God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith in his First Vision, and called him to be a prophet, just as in Biblical times, to teach the truth about Jesus and to call all men to repentance.

In modern revelation given through the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Lord Jesus Christ describes himself and hence the Jesus that Mormons worship:

“Thus saith the Lord your God, even Jesus Christ, the Great I AM, Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the same which looked upon the wide expanse of eternity, and all the seraphic hosts of heaven, before the world was made; The same which knoweth all things, for all things are present before mine eyes; I am the same which spake, and the world was made, and all things came by me. I am the same which have taken the Zion of Enoch into mine own bosom; and verily, I say, even as many as have believed in my name, for I am Christ, and in mine own name, by the virtue of the blood which I have spilt, have I pleaded before the Father for them (Doctrine and Covenants 38:1-4).”

This shows who the Jesus that Mormons worships is: the great I AM, our God, the beginning and the end, omniscient, omnipotent, Creator of the world, Savior of the world, and man’s advocate with God the Father.  Mormons do not believe in the Trinity as do some Christian churches.  Instead, Mormon doctrine teaches that God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost (also called the Holy Spirit) are three separate and distinct persons. 

This doctrine can be shown to be consistent with the Bible.  Jesus declared the nature of His unity with the Father:

“Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one (John 17:20-22).”

Jesus declares that His disciples can be one just as He and the Father are one. This oneness is obviously not that they become the same person, but rather oneness in purpose, glory, perfection, and love. This passage also shows Jesus praying to the Father, which would not make sense if He were the Father. Other passages in the New Testament show that Jesus is distinct from the Father:

At the baptism of Jesus all three personages of the Godhead, as Mormons refer to God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, were there (Matthew 3:15-17). In the great intercessorary prayer recorded in John 17, Jesus prayed to the Father. In the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross, Jesus again prayed to the Father and once asked His Father why He had forsaken Him (see Matt. 27:46; Mark 15:34). At the Martyrdom of Stephen in Acts 7, Stephen declares, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God” (Acts 7:56). All these passages only make sense if Jesus Christ and God the Father are separate individuals.

Another doctrine that is questionable in trinitarian belief is what to do with the resurrection of Christ.  Mormons believe that resurrection is the perfected state that God the Father, and Jesus Christ enjoy.  Christ was resurrection to enable all of us to be resurrected, and He appeared in His resurrected state to the Apostles, as well as to the Book of Mormon peoples.  The trinitarian belief holds that God is a spirit entity, without body parts or passions, and that He came to earth incarnate, then went back to being a spirit.  Why then was Christ resurrected?  Why did He give up His perfected, resurrected body to go back to being a spirit entity?  Christ wants us to enjoy eternal life as He enjoys it, and He has shown us, plainly and simply, the way.

Should I Rely on “Feelings” Rather Than Evidence to Know if the Book of Mormon is True?

Sooner or later everyone wonders how to know if something is true.  In school, we learn about the scientific method.  In this method a person tests an idea to see if it works every time.  If it does, then he can conclude that his idea was right.  When it comes to mathematics, physics, chemistry, and other sciences, we can test the evidence to understand the truth.  However, it is more difficult to test the idea that there is a God or that the scriptures really contain His words.  How can we therefore know the truth?

In John 14:26 Jesus told His disciples that after his departure into heaven, God the Father would send the Holy Ghost which “shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”  It is important to understand that the Holy Ghost, also called the Holy Spirit, will teach us all things.  This means that through the Holy Ghost we can know if there is a God.  How will the Holy Ghost tell us whether God lives or whether the Book of Mormon is true?  To understand that we must first understand God’s pattern for revealing truth.  Both the New Testament and the Book of Mormon teach us that God will reveal things to His prophets through visions and angels.

Mormon, one of the prophets in the Book of Mormon, and after whom it is named, taught that, “God knowing all things, being from everlasting to everlasting, behold, he sent angels to minister unto the children of men, to make manifest concerning the coming of Jesus Christ; and in Christ there should come every good thing.  And God also declared unto prophets, by his own mouth, that Christ should come” (Moroni 7:22-23).  God teaches his truths to prophets, and these are recorded in the Scriptures.  This is what Peter taught in the New Testament:

” For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost (2 Peter 1:21).”

In Acts 10:34-44, Peter teaches that God chose certain men as witnesses and commanded them to teach others, that they might believe in God also.  When Peter  finished his teaching, the Holy Ghost came upon those present, and they believed his words and were baptized immediately.  The Holy Ghost, then, confirms to us the truthfulness of the scriptures and the teachings of the prophets.  How, then, can we know when the Spirit is teaching us?  Jesus called the Holy Spirit the Comforter (John 14:26).  Paul describes the fruits of the Spirit that we feel when the Spirit enters our hearts and minds.  He says,

” But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law (Galatians 5:22-23).”

When we feel love, peace, and a greater desire to do good, then we can know that the Holy Spirit is present and telling us that what we are reading or hearing is true. The Book of Mormon gives us a very clear description of how to know we can gain faith.  Alma, a prophet in the ancient Americas, taught that faith is like a seed and it grows through our prayers and our righteousness.  Like the scientific method mentioned above, he asks people to experiment on the teachings and words of Jesus Christ found in the Book of Mormon:

“If ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words. Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves–It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me. Now behold, would not this increase your faith? I say unto you, Yea; nevertheless it hath not grown up to a perfect knowledge (Alma 32:27-29).”

To experiment on the word means to ponder the words written and to imagine what they would mean if true.  It also means to test the teachings by trying to follow the commandments of God such as prayer, scriptures study, attending church services, and serving others.  As you begin to do these things, the Holy Ghost will enter into your heart and mind, and you will know that the teachings, and ultimately that the Book of Mormon as well, are true.

I’m Saved, Why Do I Need Prophets and the Book of Mormon?

Many people believe that all they need to do in order to be saved is merely to accept Jesus Christ through some verbal profession or believe that He exists in order to be saved.  Jesus, however, taught something much different.  In His great Sermon on the Mount he taught that, “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” (Matthew 7:21).  It is important to follow God in all aspects of our life and to keep His commandments.  The Bible commands us to live by “every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4), and to do so requires that we accept God’s prophets.  Jesus taught his disciples:

” He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.  He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward (Matthew 10:40-41).”

We must receive God’s prophets and His other servants in order to truly accept God.  This does not mean that the prophets and servants are prefect, but they are the authorized servants of God who have been given the power to perform baptisms in Jesus’ name.  During the lifetime of the Prophet Joseph Smith, God declared to those who did not want to get baptized, because they believed they were already saved:

” Behold, I say unto you that all old covenants have I caused to be done away in this thing; and this is a new and an everlasting covenant, even that which was from the beginning.  Wherefore, although a man should be baptized an hundred times it availeth him nothing, for you cannot enter in at the strait gate by the Law of Moses, neither by your dead works. (Doctrine and Covenants 22:1-2).”

This means that only baptism from a true servant of God who has authority, called priesthood, to baptize will count before God. Other people believe that the Bible is all sufficient or complete, so the Book of Mormon is either contradicting the scriptures or unnecessary.  The Bible stands as a testimony to the fact that God has called and inspired men in the past to preach His message.  If God does not change, then it can be expected that He would still call prophets and reveal more scripture just as He has in the past.  Today we have problems and trials that the people of Moses’s day or Paul’s day could not have imagined.  Would God abandon us and no longer give us prophets to teach His word?  As long as there is one soul to save, God will send His servants, the prophets, to teach them.  Today, the Mormon Church is led by such a prophet who is a successor of the Prophet Joseph Smith.  Revelations given to these modern prophets are recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants, or published in one of the Church magazines such as the Ensign or the Liahona.

Salvation requires that we follow Jesus, first by accepting Him and then by obeying Him by being baptized, joining His Church and listening to His servants, the prophets.  Our salvation will not be complete until we are resurrected from the grave with a perfect body and living in heaven with Christ.  This salvation, or Eternal Life, comes as a gift to those who strive to follow Him and obey Him by repenting of their sins and living moral lives.

Why do I need to be baptized if I have already accepted [block]0[/block] as my Savior?

Jesus has commanded that all who accept Him and want to come to Him must be baptized.  Jesus told Nicodemus, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God (John 3:5).  To be born of water means to be baptized, and to be born of the Spirit means to receive that Holy Spirit as your constant companion.  The Book of Mormon teaches this very clearly:

“And now, if the Lamb of God, he being holy, should have need to be baptized by water, to fulfil all righteousness, O then, how much more need have we, being unholy, to be baptized, yea, even by water!  And now, I would ask of you, my beloved brethren, wherein the Lamb of God did fulfil all righteousness in being baptized by water?  Know ye not that he was holy? But notwithstanding he being holy, he showeth unto the children of men that, according to the flesh he humbleth himself before the Father, and witnesseth unto the Father that he would be obedient unto him in keeping his commandments (2 Nephi 31:5-7).”

Even Jesus chose to be baptized in order to “fulfill all righteousness.”    In the Book of Mormon Jesus says to the ancient inhabitants of the Americas:

” And no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom; therefore nothing entereth into his rest save it be those who have washed their garments in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end.   Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day (3 Nephi 27:19-20).”

Since everyone has sinned, we are all unclean before God and need to be cleansed of our sins.  To do this, we must come unto Jesus Christ through baptism and then we will receive the Holy Ghost.