Free agency and prophets

This was written as an answer to a thread on Facebook.  Evangelists don't believe in free agency or living prophets and this also mentions original sin.

 I have already explained  that death entered the world when Adam and Eve partook of the fruit.  In other words, they became mortal.  Until then, they were immortal and would have lived for ever, as is explained in Genesis 3:  24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden ^aCherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the ^btree of life.   

You will recall that they were only commanded not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Evidently, you think that sin came into the world by accident.  Your god is so impotent that he allowed sin to come into the world, but at the same time he dictated to everyone exactly what they should do.  He was taken by surprise, evidently, when Adam ate the fruit, so in his wrath he made everyone wicked even if they’d done absolutely nothing!   Added to that, we have the doctrine of predestination, which states that god and god alone can choose – even if you keep all the commandments – whether he’s going to admit you into the kingdom of heaven.  So you believe, apparently, that it matters not whether we are obedient or not.  We have no choice in anything, but look at verse 22 of Genesis 3: 22 ¶And the Lord God ^asaid, Behold, the ^bman is become as one of^cus, to ^dknow good and ^eevil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: 23 Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of^aEden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

So they learnt the difference between good and evil and – yes, Glenn – that was necessary!  God knows his children and knows what we are capable of but we, just like our own children, have to learn from our own mistakes, even when we’re given guidance.   This is why we have  choices in our lives, why we have to experience health and sickness, pleasure and pain, good and evil.  God stands back and lets us suffer as there must needs be an opposition in all things and we have to grow spiritually by experiencing all these things.  Because  there’s mortality in the world, this is inevitable.  Some people live to an advanced age, like my mother who is in her mid 90s, while some die very young like my daughter. 

But these things strengthen us and I have felt that real closeness.  When my daughter was dying and I was praying, there was someone with his arms round me.    

Now for prophets:

Prophets Are God’s Representatives on the Earth

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What powers and gifts does a prophet have?

“Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7).

Many people live in darkness, unsure of God’s will. They believe that the heavens are closed and that people must face the world’s perils alone. How fortunate are the Latter-day Saints! We know that God communicates to the Church through His prophet. With grateful hearts, Saints the world over sing the hymn, “We thank thee, O God, for a prophet to guide us in these latter days” (Hymns, no. 19).

A prophet is a man called by God to be His representative on earth. When a prophet speaks for God, it is as if God were speaking (see D&C 1:38). A prophet is also a special witness for Christ, testifying of His divinity and teaching His gospel. A prophet teaches truth and interprets the word of God. He calls the unrighteous to repentance. He receives revelations and directions from the Lord for our benefit. He may see into the future and foretell coming events so that the world may be warned.

A prophet may come from various stations in life. He may be young or old, highly educated or unschooled. He may be a farmer, a lawyer, or a teacher. Ancient prophets wore tunics and carried staffs. Modern prophets wear suits and carry briefcases. What, then, identifies a true prophet? A true prophet is always chosen by God and called through proper priesthood authority (see Articles of Faith 1:5).

Latter-day Saints sustain the First Presidency and the Twelve Apostles as prophets. However, when we speak of “the prophet of the Church,” we mean the President of the Church, who is President of the high priesthood.

Through the Ages God Has Called Prophets to Lead Mankind

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In what ways have prophets guided God’s children in the past?

There have been prophets on the earth since the days of Adam. Experiences of these great men excite and inspire us. Moses, an Old Testament prophet, led thousands of his people out of Egypt and slavery to the promised land. He wrote the first five books of the Old Testament and recorded the Ten Commandments. Nephi, a Book of Mormon prophet, journeyed from Jerusalem to the Americas 600 years before the birth of Christ. This great leader and colonizer gave us many important writings in the Book of Mormon. John the Baptist was chosen to prepare the world for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Through Joseph Smith, a latter-day prophet, the Lord restored the Church. Joseph Smith also translated the Book of Mormon while a young man.

We Have a Living Prophet on the Earth Today

We have a prophet living on the earth today. This prophet is the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He has the right to revelation for the entire Church. He holds “the keys of the kingdom,” meaning that he has the authority to direct the entire Church and kingdom of God on earth, including the administration of priesthood ordinances (see Matthew 16:19). No person except the chosen prophet and President can receive God’s will for the entire membership of the Church. The Lord said, “There is never but one on the earth at a time on whom this power and the keys of this priesthood are conferred” (D&C 132:7). The President of the Church is assisted by his counselors in the First Presidency and the members of the Quorum of the Twelve, who are also prophets, seers, and revelators.

We should do those things the prophets tell us to do. President Wilford Woodruff said that a prophet will never be allowed to lead the Church astray:

“The Lord will never permit me or any other man who stands as President of this Church to lead you astray. It is not in the programme. It is not in the mind of God. If I were to attempt that, the Lord would remove me out of my place” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Wilford Woodruff[2004], 199).

Many people find it easy to believe in the prophets of the past. But it is much greater to believe in and follow the living prophet. We raise our hands to sustain the President of the Church as prophet, seer, and revelator.

The Lord will never allow the President of the Church to lead us astray.

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Great Blessings Follow Obedience to the Prophet

If we obey, the Lord promises, “The gates of hell shall not prevail against you; yea, and the Lord God will disperse the powers of darkness from before you, and cause the heavens to shake for your good, and his name’s glory” (D&C 21:6). When we do as our prophet directs, blessings pour down from heaven.

In order to stand, the true Church must be “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone” (Ephesians 2:20). We are blessed in this insecure world to have a prophet through whom the Lord reveals His will.

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Additional Scriptures

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Numbers 12:6 (God speaks through prophets)

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1 Samuel 9:9 (prophet called a seer)

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Amos 3:7 (God reveals His secrets to the prophets)

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Mosiah 8:16–18 (a seer can know of things past and things to come)

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Luke 1:70 (God speaks through prophets)

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D&C 45:10, 15 (God speaks today as in days of old)

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1 Nephi 22:2 (by the Spirit things are made known to prophets)

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D&C 68:3–5 (when the Lord’s servants speak as moved by the Holy Ghost, it is the mind, will, and voice of the Lord)

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D&C 107:65–67, 91–92 (duties of the President of the Church)

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D&C 43:1–7 (only the prophet is authorised to receive revelations for the Church)

Why there is no Original Sin

Original sin is in contrast to the doctrines of free agency and personal accountability for sin. Although the scriptures abundantly show that men will be punished for their own sins and not for their Adam's transgression, the common view is that all men are tainted with sin and denied blessings because of Adam's fall.                                            

 See Deut 24:16 The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his down sin.                                                                            And Ezekiel 18:20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.

 21 But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.

 22 All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live.                                                                                                                                                            Personal accountability for all of one's acts underlies the whole gospel plan and is the natural outgrowth of the law of free agency.   Without that personal responsibility free agency couldn't operate as neither rewards or punishment would follow the exercise of that agency.  And if there were no rewards or punishment there couldn't be any salvation or damnation, which would defeat the object of the atonement - the saving of mankind from their sins, not in their sins.  So we'll punished for our own sins and we'll be judged according to the deeds done in the flesh.                                                                                                                                                            

Rev 21:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.                                                                                                                                                               So we're accountable for all our acts, both temporal and spiritual.                                                                                            

Regarding the flood, when everyone except Noah and his family were destroyed, the same also happened in Sodom and Gomorrah as well as with the scattering of Israel.  These are where a whole people are under condemnation, but because the children haven't sinned they will be rewarded in Heaven.  You could also say the same about war and the victims of murder.  These people aren't under condemnation.                                                                                                                                                                            

Regarding prophets: 

Basically, you say that since Jesus, the heavens have been sealed and there is no revelation.  As I have been saying for a while now, you believe in a god of confusion, one who established the gospel but then allowed it to degenerate to such an extent that it bore little resemblance to how it was when set up.  Good people came along, and without any authority set up a church - or rather a number of churches - with different doctrine.  As, in your gospel, there is no revelation, it is impossible for man to find out what is God's will.   If you say there can be no revelation in our day, there can be no communication from God, so prayer can't work.  You say that you have to get everything from the Bible, that God has spoken and will never speak again.  However, you profess the workings of the Spirit, answer to prayer, but not in modern revelation.  Isn't that modern revelation, but to individuals?  so if you believe that individuals can receive revelation today, it is inconsistent to deny the concept of modern prophets.  Now think of Cornelius.  He was visited by an angel, who confirmed the truthfulness of the gospel, but e still had to go to Peter to be baptised. He had revelations before he joined the church, but the Lord didn't tell Cornelius to set up another church.  He told him to go to the authorised apostles.                                                    

If You deny the apostasy,then you ignore the fact that the ancient apostles were killed of, the right to perform legal and binding ordinances in the name of God was lost and there was no central prophetic office left to save the saints from drifting away in various directions according to their own inclination.  There are many churches that claim to trace their existence back to the ancient apostles, but none of them is like the one described in the  New Testament.                                  

 Joseph Smith was only recording what the Lord told him, when he said that the churches then were an abomination,  repeating Jude 1:  4
For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.                                                                                                                                      

Also    Isaiah 29:  13 ¶Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:                                                                                                                                                                                                  

The Great Apostasy

This explains why it has been necessary to restore the Gospel in these latter days.

My last post explained that there have been various dispensations of the gospel, starting with Adam and going through Abraham,Noah, Moses, Elijah to the Lord Jesus Christ himself.  In between each dispensation there was a falling away - an apostasy - so it was necessary to restore the priesthood authority.

The universal apostasy began in the days of Christ's apostles themselves, as explained in 2 Peter 2:1-2:

" But there were ^afalse prophets also among the people, even as there shall be ^bfalse ^cteachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that ^dbought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

 2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of ^atruth shall be evil spoken of.

And it was known to and foretold by them.  The Apostle Paul stated that the Second Coming would not be until after this great falling away had taken place. 2 Thess. 2:1-12 -

1 Now we beseech you, brethren, ^aby the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,

 2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, ^aor be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by ^bletter as from us, as that the ^cday of Christ is at hand.

 3 Let no man deceive you by any means: ^afor that day shall not come, except there come a ^bfalling away first, and that ^cman of ^dsin be revealed, the son of perdition;

 4 Who ^aopposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

 5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?

 6 And now ye know ^awhat withholdeth that he might be ^brevealedin his time.

 7 ^aFor the ^bmystery of ^ciniquity doth already work: only ^dhe who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.

 8 And then shall that ^aWicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his ^bcoming:

 9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all^apower and ^bsigns and lying wonders,

 10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:

 12 That they all might be ^adamned who ^bbelieved not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

The apostle Peter prophesied very clearly concerning the heresies that would be taught as doctrine in the period of the apostasy.  He also reminded people that there had been false teachers in olden times, just as there would be in times to come, in 2 Peter 2:1-3 - 

"1 But there were ^afalse prophets also among the people, even as there shall be ^bfalse ^cteachers among you, who privily shall bring indamnable heresies, even denying the Lord that ^dbought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

 2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of ^atruth shall be evil spoken of.

 3 And through covetousness shall they with ^afeigned words make merchandise of you: whose ^bjudgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their ^cdamnation slumbereth not."

If you read the whole chapter you will note how it describes conditions existing today.

In Revelation, John then explains the restoration. Rev 14:6-7 -

6 And I saw another ^aangel fly in the midst of heaven, having the^beverlasting ^cgospel to ^dpreach unto them that dwell on the earth,and to every ^enation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,

 7 Saying with a loud voice, ^aFear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his ^bjudgment is come: and ^cworship ^dhim that made^eheaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

Dr James E. Talmage says "It is illogical to assume that the gospel was to be brought to earth by a heavenly messenger if that gospel was still extant upon the earth.  Equally unreasonable is it to say that a restoration or re-establishment of the church of Christ would be necessary or possible had the Church continued with rightful succession of priesthood or power.  If the gospel had to be brought back again from the heavens, the gospel must have been take from the earth.  Thus the prophecy of a restoration is proof of an apostasy general and complete."

James E. Talmage D. Sc. D,  Ph D.,  F.R.S.E., The Great Apostasy 1968.

The Causes of the Apostasy

666

To be continued