Jesus, Savior of the World
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What do Mormons believe about Christ? Many other Christians would exclude Mormons from their number, claiming that Mormons don’t worship Jesus, or worship a different Jesus. But Mormons do indeed worship Christ and, like all Christians, view Him as their Savior—and the Savior of all mankind. Through His suffering, death, and resurrection, Christ saved our bodies from physical death and made it possible for our spirits to be saved from spiritual death. The resurrection of our physical bodies is a gift given to all, regardless of their righteousness. Everyone will have immortal life with a body of flesh and bones, all will rise again. But what is spiritual death? Spiritual death is separation from God. Christ allowed us to return to God again, through the great and miraculous mercy of the atonement. |
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Christ suffered for our sins so that we may forsake them, repent, and return to live with Heavenly Father. No one else could have accomplished what Christ did for the world. In Mormon doctrine, Christ was ordained to the role of the Savior before the beginning of this world. The First Presidency of the Mormon Church testified of the Savior’s mission in a document called the Living Christ, which you may want to read in its entirety. Some of the precepts will be paraphrased below. Mormons believe that Christ was the Jehovah of the Old Testament, as well as the Messiah under the New. They believe He created the earth, under Heavenly Father’s direction. As it says in John 1:3, “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” Although He had no sin to be cleansed from, He chose to be baptized to “fulfill all righteousness.” And although He “went about doing good” (Acts 10:38), He was despised for the good He did. The message He spread was one of goodwill and peace—this is also how He lived and the example He set for us to live by. He healed the sick, raised the dead. He taught eternal truths—who we are, who we were before we came to the earth, and who we may become through His atonement. The sacrament is the reminder He left us of His sacrifice and what it did for us. His death was an unjust one, but He gave His life willingly for us, to allow us to overcome sin. And His sacrifice was not the end of His life, any more than His birth in Bethlehem was the beginning of it. He remains today, the Only Begotten of Heavenly Father, and His Firstborn. Our Savior and Redeemer.
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