Mormons/LDS Do you beleive Christ paid for your sins or do you believe you need to atone or make up for them?

Question

In other words do you think forgiveness is freely given or is there work required to be forgiven?

Is there a limit to how many times you can commit a sin and still be forgiven?

Please No insulting comments to non-mormons and NO Mormon bashing in your answers. This is an attempt to clarify thoughts on forgiveness.

Answer 1

We believe Christ paid for our sins for every one not just LDS or Christians even non-christians. We believe in the three degrees of glory. Non christians aren't going to hell in our doctrine.

Presbyterian says once in grace always in grace.
Methodist says grace today, fall from it tonight and in grace again tomorrow.

There's an inbetween we are loved by our Heavenly Father as we are his sons and daughters. We will be exalted after all we can do, not all we could do. The only limit to sin and not be forgiven is blasphemy of the Holy Ghost and murder in cold blood. As for murder you have to atone for your sin yourself and then the judgement is God's.

Answer 2

One of the concepts that many people don't understand is that repentance takes time. A repentant heart is an attitude we ought to have every day. Another part of repentance that people may not understand is the need to make restitution to those we have wronged or offended. Sometimes that is not entirely possible in this life. As far as to how many times you are "allowed" to be committing a sin and still be forgiven, there is too wide a range of sins to answer that here. Some sins have more serious consequences than others, so whereas you can still be forgiven of them, sometimes it is impossible to get rid of certain consequences. I will tell you this, that death-bed repentance is not complete repentance, that there will be further time required to finish repenting. The important thing is to continue to realize our dependence on God and the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

Answer 3

Both, actually. Mormonism goes very deep into Christianity and so making up for our sins and having Christ pay for our sins follow along the same line basically. We believe that Christ paid for our sins and we need to be thankful by being the best we can be and take responsibility by repenting. Make sense?

Answer 4

From what I understand, Jesus died so that salvation was made POSSIBLE, but it does not automatically provide forgiveness for everyone's sins. In order to accept Jesus' offering of forgiveness, you must live in such a way that expresses your gratitude and appreciation for that gift. Try not to sin, if you do then repent. Repentance also comes in steps: ask for forgiveness from God, ask for forgiveness from anyone you hurt by sinning, and try not to do it again - unless all three of these steps are completed, repentance has not been reached.

There is some sense in this I think. You can SAY that you're a vegetarian, but if you eat meat (even if it's only once in a while) you're just not vegetarian. You can SAY you love Jesus and you appreciate his gift of forgiveness, but if you don't do everything you can to avoid sin and try to live the best possible life in accordance with His word, you're just not that thankful, and therefore do not accept forgiveness.

Nobody's perfect and no one leads a completely sinless life, but that doesn't mean you can't still try to do your best. I think this philosophy encourages the ability accept and be happy with what you are able to achieve in life even if you're not the best at what you do. It also works to eliminate using Jesus as a scapegoat: "Gee, oops, I sinned but it's ok because Jesus will forgive me and all I have to do is say I'm sorry," instead, you really have to mean it and SHOW that you mean it. Plus, it teaches you to learn from your mistakes: when you make a mistake, you should use your experience to help you learn how to avoid making that same mistake again.

EDIT:
To TheChad: Mormons do believe that non-Mormons can be saved. People who do not know the Truth (are not Mormon) cannot be blamed for their ignorance, and so long as they are inherently good people, they will reach Heaven. However, if you already know the Truth (are Mormon), and choose not to accept it and instead discard it (leave the LDS Church), that is believed to be unforgivable and those guilty of it are one of few cases that will go to Hell.

Answer 5

We are taught that if you commit a sin, repent and then do it again, it is as if you never repented in the first place. Christ said to the prostitute who was going to be stoned after no one "cast the first stone" to "go and sin no more". That means that we are forgiven as long as we don't commit the sin again. That's all just plain English. It means EXACTLY what the King James Version of the Holy Bible says (and that's the version of the Bible that we use.)

Answer 6

Both. We believe that we are saved by grace, after all that we can do. As Paul taught, we are saved by faith. But what is faith? It is a combination of beliefs and acts, as James taught. Therefore, if one is to receive grace, one must have faith (i.e. believe and act on that belief). We believe that Jesus is our Savior and that we cannot "earn" our way into heaven. If we could, we wouldn't need a Savior.

I don't think there is a limit to how many times one can commit a sin and still be forgiven, but I also think that forgiveness comes only as a result of true repentance, which means a change of heart. Someone who has truly repented of a sin doesn't keep going back to it. But I think there are some sins that people can sincerely repent of and then still slip up later and commit them again. As long as they keep trying to do the best they can, I am confident that God will look at what is in their hearts and "do right" by them.

At the end of the day, I believe that God is a loving and merciful God. He is the father of our spirits and we are his children. He wants as many of us as is possible to be happy and to return to live with Him. I don't think He's out to get us if we slip up.

EDIT: YOUCANTB, the reason you're getting thumbs down from Mormons is because you're misrepresenting our doctrine. Tell you what...why don't you let US tell what WE believe? Don't you think it's just a bit presumptuous to be telling OTHER PEOPLE what THEY believe??? :-)

Answer 7

Why do you guys care so much about how many thumbs down people get?

Yes, they believe Jesus paid for their sins. No, I don't think they believe you have to some how "atone" for your sins. The so called "blood atonement" was back in Brigham Young's day. He taught that there are some sins that the blood of Jesus won't cover. Thank goodness they don't believe that any more.

Answer 8

I don't think that any good deed cancels a single sin. Jesus paid the price for every sin. To take full advantage of His atoning sacrifice, I must repent and ask for forgiveness. As part of repentance, I should try to undo any harm I have caused. Is this work? I don't think of it that way, but others might.

I believe Father has a lot of patience with me. When I refuse to change my behavior, I have to question if I truly repented. He may forgive me, but I may not be freed of the consequences of my actions.

Answer 9

I believe that Christ atoned for our sins and that through repentance, He will grant us His grace.

There is no limit to the number of times Christ will forgive anyone, but we believe that true repentance is sincere and includes a change of heart.

Answer 10

Yes, Christ died for our sins. We do not have to make atonement.
However, there is one unforgivable sin, blasphemy against the Holy Ghost.
Also, if one accepts Christ, knows KNOWS of His glory and mercy and knows Christ, and then goes back to a life of sin, it is, as in hebrews, crucifying Crist afress and putting Him to open shame, that person MIGHT have to do some sort of atonement. But, that's up to God.

edit: youcan'tbeme, you wouldn't get so many thumbs down if you knew what you wre talking about.