Mormons only! Please help me understand. If I'm saved by accepting Jesus' sacrifice, then how . . .?

Question

is it that I need to add to that, since it is an infinite and eternal sacrifice (Alma 32)? For example, if I was never baptized in the temple, my son can be baptized for me after my death. This means that the work of SOMEONE ELSE affects my eternal destiny. How can this be? Additionally, this also means that if there is no birth record for me, my descendants would be unable to trace my lineage and I could never receive a temple baptism by proxy.

This is a serious question, so please, serious answers.

Answer 1

It still comes down to your choices; no one is changing your eternal destiny unless you choose to allow it to do so. Because God is a just and merciful He will not allow for (what the Mormons believe) the opportunity to enter into necessary ordinances be available only to some of His children. But, that only means that all are given the "opportunity", but whether or not they choose to enter into those ordinances is up to them, so no choice is taken away. As to the lack of a birth record...I have no doubts the issue will be resolved. During the Millenium temple work will continue, and Christ will be reigning on the Earth, and I have a small suspicion He will be able to provide the necessary information.

Hope this answers your question. It's always hard to be clear, short and simple with such topics. I'm happy to answer any questions.

Answer 2

Well, first of all, we do not believe a person is "saved" by accepting Christ alone...we believe certain ordinances and other things must also be done in this life to gain exaltation in the Celestial Kingdom...
His sacrifice is eternal and infinite - IF we take advantage of the atonement. We believe it is after we have done all we can do that Christ's grace and love will make up the rest for us. BUT we do believe we must do certain things...not just "confess Jesus as our Lord and Savior"...that is just one step.
A person doing 'your work' (or ordinances by proxy) CAN affect your eternal destiny IF and ONLY IF you accept that. Just because a person does the proxy work, does NOT mean that the person HAS to accept what was done...that would be unfair! We believe every person who ever lived and who will ever live must have the chance at some point to accept or reject the gospel. That is the main purpose we perform those ordinances - because WE don't know when their "chance" to accept the gospel will be...maybe they would have accepted it on earth had they had the chance, maybe they heard it on earth and accepted it after they died...we don't really know, we just do what we are commanded.
Also, I know of many many miraculous stories/experiences where people have been searching for names of their ancestors and they find them..one thing leads to another or I even know of a story where the person had a dream about some Native American ancestors and her son also dreamed about "indians" he said...Her dream (in which she was given a name of a group of people) led to her doing research and finding and performing proxy work for 1500 of her ancestors!! Now, does she know how many of those accepted the gospel? I doubt it. But, she did what she knew she was supposed to and now they can have the chance to enter into the Celestial Kingdom, if found worthy.
There is so much more I can go into...read Doctrine & Covenants section 76...it is an account of a vision Joseph Smith had about the three Kingdoms - Celestial, Terrestrial, and Telestial.
You can always email me too...

Answer 3

Doing sturdy deeds and holding God's commandments are quite major really than only accepting Christ as your own savior..Believing should be paired with movements. those 2 ought to bypass hand in hand. For the bible says even the devil believes and shivers previously God.the ten commandments were there for the early human beings of God. obviously maximum of its provisions were nonetheless in rigidity on the prompt yet no longer the Sabbath commentary. That became for the time of their dispensation. we are now residing in the Christian era. by the way, because you're a Mormon why do you nonetheless employ the e book of Mormons after we already have the Bible? Is the Bible no longer adequate for us to have self assurance and fulfill for our salvation? you actually have self assurance into baptism by proxy. is this biblical?

Answer 4

1) You do not get baptized in the temple anyway. And you are not saved by accepting Jesus' sacrifice the way you are thinking of it - by "accepting" it means that you will live as Christ did and become as Him.

Answer 5

I'll take you at your word that this is a serious question, and do my best to give you a sincere answer.

There are certain ordinances that God requires, chief among them is baptism by one having authority and the gift of the Holy Ghost (called Confirmation in the church). These ordinances, called saving ordinances by some in the church, are Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, Repentance, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins by one having authority, the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Spirit, certain temple ordinances, and enduring to the end.
Baptism is necessary because it puts us on the path to receive eternal life and live with our Heavenly Father. It doesn't automatically mean we will return to live with Heavenly Father if we are baptised, after all there is still free will, but it does mean that we can't get to Heaven without this ordinance.
(I must mention here that for the living, baptisms are NOT held in the temple, but in the church building which has a baptismal font.)
Here is the way temple work for the dead is thought of by church members. We love our family just like everyone else. We have something we want to share with them which we believe will allow them and us to be linked together for all eternity. So we depend on those who are members of the church who have already died to share this information with them on the other side. However, the work done in the temple must be done on this side of the veil (the veil is what seperates the living from those who do not have a physical body because they have not been born yet, or because they have already died physically.) by someone who has a physical body. That's where we come in. We do the work for our kindred dead - not just some random person, and when/if they (the person whose work was done) want to accept this work they can. In Malachi 4:6 it talks about turning the hearts of the children to their fathers and the hearts of the fathers to their children, which we believe to mean that we can not get to heaven without the help of those on the other side, and they can't get to heaven without our help either. So while it is better if you do your own work, it can be done on your behalf. It is indeed imperative that we accept Christ's Atonement, but that's not the only thing that's required.
It is because of this (the need for the temple work to be done for our departed loved ones) that we do genaology. It is our belief that during the Millenium when Christ reigns on Earth for a thousand years, that the temples will be open 24/7 doing the work of those whose work is still needed, including those who were born without or before birth certificates. I personally have not heard HOW this will be done, but it's not for me to know. God knows, and for me that's enough. Just as we are commanded to do all we can do and through the Atonement Christ will make up the difference, so to will Christ in His reign make a way for the work of the ancient ones to be done. I must also say here that some of this work (for some people who lived in OT times and possible some in early NT times) has already been done by the people themselves, as we believe that we now live in the last dispensation of time and that in every dispensation of time, God's Church existed on the Earth as well as a means whereby the saving ordinances could be done.

Here are two of our Articles of Faith which may be useful to you as well.
3 We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.
4 We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, dBaptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Sorry this was so long. For more info I would ask the missionaries. Try explaining that you probably aren't interested in joining (unless you are) but that you have some questions about the church your son is a part of. Or you could always ask them here, but beware of those who are not members of the church who answer.

Answer 6

I am not Mormon but I know them and visit their church often. Have great respect for their beliefs concerning family and their faithfulness. No true believer will force you to go further than accepting Jesus Christ as your savior. Even a true Mormon will not reject you for putting your trust in Jesus and the comforter He has sent to you. Their prayers always end with "In the Name of Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior". All the other stuff is man's trimings.

Answer 7

Jesus said, I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the father but by me.

It is appointed to a man once to die and after that the judgement.

If you are not right with God when you die, you have no hope.

Answer 8

your not saved unless you follow jesus life style thats what wants you to do then you will be saved maybe