Jacob Update

You might remember from my report in April of the Mormon Easter pageant about a great convo I had with Jacob. We were able to have a decent discussion about salvation by grace alone. Weeeell, Saturday night I got an email from Jacob:

Subject: I got some questions for you! They’re From Jacob! We met near the LDS Temple!

Please answer these questions according to your belief:

Do you believe in Modern Revelation?
Who are the twelve apostles of your church?
If you dont have twelve aspotles at the Alpha and Omega Ministries then why not?
How is the "LDS" God different than yours?
Where were we before we came to earth?
Why are we here on earth?
Where will we go after we die?

From Jacob!
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My first thought was that he is genuinely trying to figure out what I believe. These are all important and very relevant questions … especially from his worldview.

In my response I wanted to give him direct answers to these questions, because they are sincere questions that deserve answers. But at the same time I didn’t want to answer them at length, otherwise we’d get off track. Here’s how I responded:

Hey Jacob!

I do remember talking with you at the Easter Pageant. What a pleasant surprise it was to receive your email.

Let me again thank you for that conversation Friday night. I was impressed with the way you handled yourself in being kind and reasonable - something that is difficult to find these days =).

I'll do my best to answer each of your questions directly.

Do you believe in Modern Revelation?
I believe that the Bible is God's final and sufficient revelation to His people. This does not mean, however, that God does not continue to speak to His people - for to read the Scriptures is for God to speak directly to you.

Who are the twelve apostles of your church? If you dont have twelve aspotles at the Alpha and Omega Ministries then why not?
I am a member at the Phoenix Reformed Baptist Church (in Phoenix =)), and we do not have 12 Apostles. I believe that the gift of Apostleship ceased being given with the death of the Apostles of the first century. The reason I believe this is because the Apostles were given for a specific purpose: to lay the foundation for Christ's Church. I should point out that we still benefit from the ministry of the Apostles through their message, which is found in the New Testament.

How is the "LDS" God different than yours?
There are quite a few differences between the god of Mormonism and the god that I worship. Let me list a few areas of disagreement: Mormonism teaches that more than one true god exists. I believe that only one true god exists. Mormonism teaches that the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost are three separate beings and three gods. I believe that the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost share one being and are therefore one god. Mormonism teaches that the Father was once a man who was exalted to His present god-like status. I believe that the Father has eternally (or always) existed as God. I could go on, but that'll do for now. But perhaps we'll get to the topic of God next =).

Where were we before we came to earth?
I do not believe that human beings existed before the creation. I believe that nothing existed before God, and when God created, He created everything in the universe from nothing. Therefore, I believe men did not exist before God created us on the earth. God made man's physical makeup, then created man's soul within him.

Why are we here on earth?
All of creation, including human beings, exist to give God glory. Human beings are here on earth for the glory of God.

Where will we go after we die?
Those who worship the true god will spend eternity with God in heaven. Those who do not worship the true god will spend eternity in Hell.

I'm sure you can tell that each of my responses has been greatly summarized because we could honestly spend a lot of time working through each of these questions individually. I purposefully did not support any of my answers with Scripture because it would have turned this email into 20 or 30 pages to honestly and fairly interact with the text of Scripture with reference to these topics. But I wanted to give you you direct answers to your questions, because they are all fair and even relevent questions to the discussion.

Because each of the questions you've raised are all important and do deserve valuable time, I would suggest that we talk about one issue at a time - that way we can stay focused and not overload ourselves with too much information. The night we spoke at the temple we talked primarily about the tract I was handing out, titled "Grace plus works is Dead... (being meaningless)." As I recall we also pretty much stuck in the text of Romans 1-5, and just got to 5:1 when you joined your family/friends in their seats. I'd like to briefly review what we went over that night, to refresh our memories, and then press on with that same discussion ... so we can finish that one topic which we both agree is a very important one. What do you think?

On another note - are you wrapping up the semester? Didn't you mention that you were getting a head start on your college education and attending the community college? If so, do you have a major selected?

I'm finished with finals myself. I'm a secondary education major at ASU, and have one more year before I graduate =). One regular semester of classes, student teaching, and I'm done!

Anywho, it was good to hear from you, and I look forward to your response. Have a wonderful Mother's Day with your family.

Casey Ryan
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Pray for me: that I would be faithful to proclaim the truth of the gospel to Jacob. Pray for Jacob: that God might be pleased to grant to him salvation.

Case of Base