6 Thou also sayest, except we repent we shall perish. How knowest thou the thought and intent of our hearts? How knowest thou that we have cause to repent? How knowest thou that we are not a righteous people? Behold, we have built sanctuaries, and we do assemble ourselves together to worship God. We do believe that God will save all men.
I am trying to understand and sense the spirit behind these words from this man. His words seem benign enough. But perhaps they are rhetorical or sarcastic. It all depends on the heart and the inflection of the voice, which I cannot hear.
But my guess is there is developing anger and resentment in his voice, and that these are not sincere questions, or even feigned niceness. The Nehors tended to be murderous thugs who thought they were the chosen people, and thought they were justified in forcing others to believe as they did.
When he says that he believes God will save all men, that is blatantly hypocritical and illogical, for they believe, according to their self same prayer, that they are a chosen people whom God will save while everyone else’s will perish! How in the world could he claim that they were this benign group of believers that preach a gospel of peace and love and justice, and that God will save all men?
They remind me SO MUCH of some so-called Born Again Christians of our day. They preach about being saved by a God of love who offers salvation free to all men, and invite all men to confess Jesus as the Christ to obtain instant and guaranteed salvation by faith alone, but they sit in judgement and condemnation over those who believe that faith and works are required for salvation. Those who believe our faith is evidenced by our works, and our works are evidence of our faith. That one without the other is dead, as James so plainly taught.
14 aWhat doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
These, meaning members of the true Church of God- the Born Again’s claim- are going to everlasting burnings in hell because we dare to profess that our faith In Christ Is demonstrated by our works. We confess Christ as the Son of God, and are baptized for a remission of sins and confess that- as it says in Mosiah- "...it is by grace we are saved...", yet we are judged and condemned to endless fire and brimstone!
Oh the hypocrisy! Oh the cunning and deceitfulness of the Devil! That he can convince people to ignore everything God has revealed to men in the Bible about salvation and claim that all you need is a verbal confession that Jesus is the Christ and you’ve won a free ticket to paradise! Even when the Bible itself says that the devils themselves believe and so confess!
No wonder one of the fist things God said to Joseph Smith in the first vision was that men drew near to him with their lips, but their hearts were far from him.
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