Mormons, have you stopped sinning?

Question

Page 67 of the LDS Church manual Gospel Fundamentals it states, "Our Father in heaven does not sin, and He does not allow people who sin to live with Him. To live with Him we must repent of our sins. To repent means to feel sorry for our sins and stop doing them." Have you stopped sinning? If not, how can you be sure you will live eternally with Heavenly Father? If the above statement is true, doesn't the fact you continually repent, prove you are not truly repentant; after all, people who stop sinning have no need to repent.

Answer 1

We can repent of individual sins and commit a different sin. For example, I have resolved never to have an alcoholic beverage. My life is a slow progression of gradually repenting of all sins. I can do this with help and guidance from Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father.

I'm not sure I'll be able to live with Him, but I am sure I am trying as hard as I can. Christ will save me after all I can do.

Answer 2

Of course it's a sin, it's a sin to speed 5 mph over the speed limit, to make a california stop at a stop sign, etc.. Sins are of varying degrees and consequences, sins that don't involve others generally can be resolved by ourselves. But as another said if it's an ongoing problem then yes you need to discuss it in order to resolve it. It's something every young boy has to go through, you are not unique, I'm sure the Bishop has heard it many times before. As far as the answer on worthiness goes... argh. Some people actually believe that once you confess Jesus your good to go, and the sin of pedophilia and the sin of taking a candy bar from a grocery store are equally sinful, and repentance is a four letter word. How far the teachings of Jesus Christ have been perverted! And then they believe they are assured salvation, in the presence of Jesus, all the while saying they are unworthy? Stick to the LDS sources for your answer.

Answer 3

I'm not a Mormon, but I think I know the Bible pretty well. I get the impression from my reading that a person who keeps his eyes on Jesus, will never feel worthy of eternal life. Nor will he ever realize when he "arrives" at Christ-likeness (sinlessness). All who would enter God's kingdom must have overcome all sin in his life. See rev. 2, 3. "He that overcometh..etc." The dilemma every Christian faces is that God requires us to be perfect (Matt. 5:48) but we will always feel unworthy. Thus it is that we are saved by FAITH in God's
promises which indicate that thru repentance and confession,
God forgives and accepts us as though we had never sinned.
1John 1:9. et al.

Answer 4

I think you're bordering on the "Worthiness' principle. Most lds live their lives pretty much to a christian standard, and even the most innocent swearing is limited to "Oh, heck" and then an immediate apology.

Being 'worthy' by mormon standards is unobtainable. No one can be absolutely 'worthy' all the time, day after day. Sooner or later that "Oh Sh!t" or other expletive will come out, or a meeting is missed on purpose, or some innocuous behavior will make you feel you're now UN worthy, UN welcome, and UN loved. Members are always looking at each other and making moral judgments all the time to make sure THEY are acting more 'worthy' than anyone else.

It's the competition for Godhood at it's worst.

Answer 5

God cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance. So why does this bother you. We work out our salvation by enduring faithfully to the end. There are many sins and as we repent and come closer to God and Christ, we recognize a finer level of sin. Thus, I am perfect in obeying the command not to kill or steal or commit adultery but I may not be perfect in keeping the Sabbath completely holy. For me, I recognize the sin of not making good use of my time and being anxiously engaged in good works of my own free will. I recognize the sin of looking at pretty women that ought to be better dressed. These may not seem like sins to some but to me they are so I work to overcome those flaws in my personality. When I conquer those sins, then I will recognize some other weakness that need work. Eventually, I will become like God, having overcome the ways of the world.
One of my favorite quotes came from Joseph Fielding Smith. He was 93 years old, had been an apostle for sixty years and had just been set apart as the President and Prophet for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He stated that he prayed daily for "strength to endure to the end". I felt that if a man of his stature had need of strength to overcome temptation, then surely I had an even greater need, being still a teenager at the time.
You need to understand the eternal progressive nature of life and that none of us will be perfected in mortality, save Jesus only.

Answer 6

Mormons are a great people, I respect them.
But I have trouble with the doctrine of sin. I do not believe in sin, my word for it: an individual's personal error not to be judged by anyone but the individual herself. Errors will happen and it is up to only that person to learn from it and grow. For others to judge and call it a sin: it is unfair.
God loves everyone and resides in all of us and never judges us. He is a patient and loving parent and watches as we experience and learn for Her and for ourselves. Part of the experience is errors.

Answer 7

You seem to have the notion that follower of Christ is worthy to go to heaven. which is not true

Those who follow Christ have a desire to go to heaven and will repent of their sins to be worthy of Heaven.

Mormons like most "good Christians" knows, that only through the atonement of Jesus Christ that any of us would have that Heavenly chance.

So your series of questions does not do much except to show how ignorant you are in the understanding of the gospel

Answer 8

Show me a person - regardless of religion - who can live a life free of sin. Heck, even JESUS disobeyed his parents on occasion!

Answer 9

Hmmm have you stopped sinning? He who has no sin should cast the first stone.

Answer 10

The expectation in the mormon church is to be perfect. I used to cry for hours after I would come home from church on Sunday because I wasn't being the perfect mormon woman.

Thank god I got out before it destroyed me and my family.