What do Mormons Believe about Jesus Christ?

Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the world.  His birth, life and death were prophesied by prophets in the Old Testament and in the Book of Mormon.   They knew, as we know now, that it is only through Jesus Christ that we can repent and receive forgiveness of our sins.  It’s only because of Jesus Christ that we can be resurrected and live again after we die.

The angel Gabriel came to Mary and announced the birth of Christ,

“The angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.

And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.

He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end” (Luke 1:30–33).

 

Jesus Christ had a humble birth in stable in Bethlehem.   When He was born he inherited mortality from his mother, and power over death from his Father.  He became the only begotten Son of God in the flesh.

When he was thirty years old, he began his ministry.  He taught the gospel and preformed many miracles as noted in the New Testament.  He was a great teacher and loved the people.  The most important thing that he did during his mortal life was near the end of it at the garden of Gethsemane.  It was here where he Atoned for the sins of all mankind.  He suffered in Gethsemane for all the sins of the world.  Shortly after this, he was seized and taken to Pontius Pilate to be crucified on Calvary.

He was perfect and sinless.  All these sins he suffered for were not His, but mine and yours; all of humanity’s sins.   He was the only one who could have paid the price, to meet the demands of justice and become our Savior and Redeemer.  Without Him, we would be lost and hopeless.  Christ said,

“I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”  (John 14:6)

On the third day after His death, Jesus Christ was resurrected.  He showed His physical body to Mary and to His disciples. They were able to feel the nail prints in his hands and feet and knew it was the Lord.   Jesus Christ had conquered death and made it possible that everyone can and will be resurrected again. (Alma 11:42-44)

I know that Jesus is the Christ.  He is our hope and our salvation.  He knows you and I personally, the things that we have gone through, the mistakes that we have made.  He paid the price for us, and I’m sure he thought of you and I during his suffering, knowing that he could save us.  He did this because of the love that he has for us.  I am eternally grateful for Him, his life, his atonement, his death and resurrection.

Question Box: What is the nature of God and the Trinity?

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Q: What is the nature of God and the Trinity?

We believe that the Trinity (or Godhead, as we more commonly refer to them) is composed of three separate and distinct perfect Beings—God, the Father; his Son, Jesus Christ; and the Holy Ghost (Acts 7:55-56; Article of Faith 1).  We believe our Heavenly Father, and Jesus Christ have a body that is made of flesh and bones just like ours (D&C 130:22); however, they have bodies and are no longer subject to death, sickness, or pain.  The Holy Ghost does not have a body of flesh and bones, rather he has a spirit body (D&C 130:22), but he looks like a normal person (1 Nephi 11:11).  All three are perfect and can be spoken of as God collectively and separate gods individually.  Their entire focus is to help each of us return to the Father, and become like Him (Moses 1:39).

 

Our Heavenly Father is the father of the spirits of all those who have, or ever will be born into this world (Abraham 3:22-23, Moses 6:51).  He is Jesus Christ’s literal father.  He oversaw and directed the creation of the world upon which we now live (Moses 1:32).  To him, we pray and He answers our prayers in his own time and in his own way.  He loves us and has provided a plan whereby, we, his spirit children, can come to earth, receive a body, experience adversity, and have the opportunity to return to Him (Abraham 3:23-27).  He knew beforehand that we would make mistakes.  These mistakes would make us imperfect and as he is perfect, we could not return to live with him again.  So, he provided a way that our mistakes could be erased.   To accomplish this he provided his son, Jesus Christ, to set right, everything that would prevent us from being perfect, our sins included (Moses 6:53-62).

 Christus

Jesus Christ, is the literal Son of God and his mother was mortal (Luke 1:28-38, Alma 7:10).  As such, Christ, was enabled to experience mortality as we do.  He suffered sickness, pain, hunger, and temptation.  Nevertheless, he lived a perfect life.  This allowed him to suffer and ultimately die for our imperfections (Alma 7:11-13).  In this way, he has the ability to set us at one with the Father again and allow us to return to live with the Father.  As a free gift, through his atonement and subsequent resurrection, he provides every person born into this world a resurrected and perfect body.  But, to return to the Father’s presence, Christ requires us to believe that He can in fact save us, repent of our sins, be baptized in his prescribed way, be given the gift of the Holy Ghost, and then endure in faith until the end of our mortal lives.  If we do this with his constant help, we will be granted a place in the Father’s kingdom (3 Nephi 27:14-22).

 

To help us find Jesus Christ, accept his teachings, and then continue in his prescribed way, God provided the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is the third member of the Godhead.  He has many functions, but he helps God’s children to return to Him by helping them find Jesus Christ, teaching them truth line upon line if they desire to learn more, and ultimately purifying and refining them in their journey of being a disciple of Jesus Christ (1 Nephi 10:17-19).

 

I am grateful for these immortal perfect beings.  I know that I am the Father’s son and that he has provided a way for me to become like Him through his Son and that the Holy Ghost will help me in this endeavor.

Question Box: Is there only one God?

 

portrait-of-christ-carl-bloch-205065-print

Question:  “Is there only one God, or are there other Gods out there?”  Thanks for the question.  Paul said,

“For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,)

But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.” (1 Corinthians 8:5-6)

We believe that there may be other Gods like God the Father existing somewhere in the universe, but if so, they don’t interact with us or our world.  The only God we have is Heavenly Father.  His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, is our Savior and Redeemer.  The Holy Ghost testifies of them and their work.

We also believe that the first of the ten commandments, “Thou shalt have no other Gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3), means that God should be first in our lives.  We can make ourselves other artificial gods, when we let other things become more important to us than following our Savior’s example and keeping His commandments.

Sabbath Day Observance

I had a conversation recently with a fellow student at Chico State who is a Seventh Day Adventist. He wanted to know why it is that the LDS church (and many others) observe Sunday, the first day of the week, as the Sabbath instead of Saturday, the seventh day.

My first thought was that the ‘when’ of the Sabbath is not nearly as important as the ‘why’. We celebrate Christ, both my Seventh Day Adventist classmate and I, we just do so on different days.

In our conversation we discovered many similarities in our beliefs, we both agreed that God created the Earth in six days and rested on the seventh. (Genesis 2:2-3) And we were both well aware of the 4th of the ten commandments which refers to Sabbath Day observance, saying, “Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy . . . wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it” (Exodus 20:8-11)

It is in the New Testament, however, that the importance of the first day of the week becomes emphasized. Mary arrived at the Garden Tomb on the first day of the week to find that Christ had been resurrected (John 20:1). Later, in Acts, Paul had the disciples gather together to take the sacrament and be instructed on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7).

As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we rest from our regular, daily labors one day a week. We gather together to take the sacrament and learn the teachings of Christ from the scriptures and modern prophets. We follow the example of the early disciples and commemorate Christ’s victory over sin and death every Sunday.

Did Jesus Visit Salt Lake City?

Q. Is it true Mormons believe Jesus went to Salt Lake City after his resurrection?

We don’t have any records indicating that Jesus visited Salt Lake City just after His resurrection (or Salt Lake valley, since there was no city at the time).

The records we have (the New Testament) indicate that He was born in Bethlehem, just outside of Jerusalem. He grew up in Nazareth and preached mainly in Galilee, and also in other regions of Palestine. He was killed by crucifixion just outside Jerusalem, and was resurrected (came back to life) after three days. He spent at least 40 days with His followers before He ascended to heaven. While He was with them, He told them He had “other sheep,” or other followers, of a different fold He needed to visit (see John 10:16).

In another record (the Book of Mormon) we learn that Jesus visited a group of immigrant Israelites who had been led by God to the American continent hundreds of years earlier. He descended from heaven and appeared to these people at the temple in the city of Bountiful (see 3 Nephi 11). Many scholars on Book of Mormon geography believe Bountiful was in what we now call the Mexican state of Tabasco with its myriad ruined temples.

When Jesus visited these people in Bountiful He told them there were yet more sheep He would go to (3 Nephi 16:1). After He departed, we presume He visited them, but we don’t have any records of it.

Read this for more on the topic: Traveling Jesus