Jesus Christ

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (inadvertently called by friends of other faiths, the “Mormon Church”) believe that God the Father, His son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are three separate beings. A powerful testimony of this occurred in 1820 when a boy of fourteen years of age, Joseph Smith, went and prayed seeking answers from God about truth. What he experienced was a glorious vision of God the Father and Jesus Christ standing on His right hand. God the Father and Jesus Christ spoke to Joseph Smith and restored the original Church of Jesus Christ to the earth through him. Latter-day Saints worship Jesus Christ as their Lord and master, the source of all truth and light. To help erase misconceptions people have about Mormons, D. Lauritsen, a Mormon professor, wrote the article below to help others see that Mormons are Christians:

Do Mormons Believe in Jesus Christ?

Brief answer: yes, the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have always believed in Christ. He is the Son of God, the Savior and redeemer of the world, the Good Shepherd, the Holy one of Israel, the Lamb of God, and the King of Kings. For the Latter-day Saints, however, believing in Christ is not enough; they also believe Christ—the doctrines he spoke, the practices he initiated, the organization he established. These are his signature; these are the hallmarks of his Church, both anciently and today.

Detailed answer: For more than 180 years, the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have patiently, gladly, and courageously shared their witness of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, testifying of his works, both ancient and modern. He is:

• Jesus Christ whose divine Sonship and virgin birth were foretold by the Jewish prophets Isaiah (Isaiah 7:14, 9:6) and Micah (5:2), as well as the ancient American prophets Nephi (2 Nephi 11:2) and Alma (Alma 19:13). Yes, the Latter-day Saints believe in that Jesus.

• Jesus who, as a boy, taught the elders in the temple (Luke 2:46) and later returned as a grown man to drive out the money-changers from that same temple (John 2:13–17). Yes, the Latter-day Saints believe in that Jesus.

• Jesus [our Savior] who was baptized by immersion by John (Matthew 3:13– 17), ordained a high priest in the Melchizedek Priesthood by his Father (Hebrews 5:4–6, 9–10), and in turn, chose and ordained twelve men as high priests and apostles (Luke 6:13; John 15:16). Yes, the Latter-day Saints believe in that Jesus.

• Jesus [the Redeemer] who identified himself as Jehovah (John 5:45–47, 8:58) and Messiah (John 4:25–26), who testified that he was the very Son of God the Father (John 5:18–30; 3 Nephi 9:15), and declared that he had other sheep that were “not of this [Jewish] fold” (John 10:14–16; 3 Nephi 15:21–24). Yes, the Latter-day Saints believe in that Jesus.

• Jesus who healed the sick and the crippled in Galilee (Matthew 8:14–17) and calmed the sea (Mark 4:34–41), yet willingly suffered beyond comprehension in the Garden of Gethsemane to atone for the sins of the repentant (Matthew 26:36–42; D&C 19:16–19). Yes, the Latter-day Saints believe in that Jesus.

• Jesus the Savior who preached the incomparable Sermon on the Mount to the Galileans (Matthew 5–7); walked on the water (John 6:16– 21); fed the five thousand (Matthew 14:15–2); blessed the children (Luke 18:15–17); and taught the sacrament of the Lord’s supper to his apostles (Matthew 26:26–29). Yes, the Latter-day Saints believe in that Jesus.

• Jesus [Savior] who could have called down legions of angels to protect him (Matthew 26:52–53) but chose to let himself be taken prisoner, be falsely accused and sentenced, be barbarically scourged, humiliated, and spit upon (1 Nephi 19:7–9), be publicly stripped and nailed to a cross (Matthew 27:26–37) to hang there and suffer until he voluntarily gave up his life (Luke 23:46), and be entombed for three days. Yes, the Latter-day Saints believe in that Jesus.

• Jesus whose spirit, during those three days that his body lay entombed, preached to the spirits who had not heard his gospel and were, in effect, spiritually imprisoned (1 Peter 3:18-19, 4: 6), thereby instituting a vicarious work for the dead that would allow them to be baptized (1 Corinthians 15:29) and to be judged no differently than the living (1 Peter 4:6). Yes, the Latter-day Saints believe in that Jesus.

• Jesus who was indeed resurrected on the third day (Acts 10:40), who appeared in his tangible, resurrected body to his apostles (Luke 24:39), and to five hundred other witnesses in Jerusalem (1 Corinthians 15:3–8). Yes, the Latter-day Saints believe in that Jesus.

• Jesus who met privately with his apostles for forty days (Acts 1:2–3), who personally and privately taught them many undisclosed and unwritten things (John 21:25), who testified that he would return in glory (Matthew 16:27), and who then was taken bodily up into heaven (Luke 24:51). Yes, the Latter-day Saints believe in that Jesus.

• Jesus who loved not only the Jews but all mankind—including his Father’s children who were living in the western hemisphere and of whom he had earlier testified, “other sheep have I that are not of this fold; they too shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd” (John 10:16). Yes, the Latter-day Saints believe in that Jesus.

• Jesus who fulfilled his prophetic promise by appearing and ministering to the people of ancient America at their temple following his resurrection (3 Nephi 11:1–11); testifying to them that they were, indeed, his “other sheep” (3 Nephi 15:21, 24); inviting all 2,500 witnesses to touch his nail wounds (3 Nephi 11:13–17); healing their sick (3 Nephi 26:15); blessing their children (3 Nephi 17:19–25); teaching them a two-day sermon that included his Beatitudes (3 Nephi 12:3–12); partaking of the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper with them (3 Nephi 18:1–11); choosing and ordaining Twelve Disciples (3 Nephi 12:1–2); instructing them in how to baptize correctly (3 Nephi 11:21–28); foretelling the future of America and its inhabitants prior to his Second Coming (3 Nephi 20:11–46); then ascending into heaven (3 Nephi 28:11–14). Yes, the Latter-day Saints believe in that Jesus.

Jesus Christ Restored His Church Through Joseph Smith

• Jesus who, accompanied by his Eternal Father, revisited America 1,800 years later and appeared—face-to-face to fourteen-year-old Joseph Smith in response to the farm boy’s prayer in 1820, just as he had appeared to Jacob “face to face” (Genesis 32:30) and Moses “face to face” (Exodus 33:11) in his pre-mortal identity as Jehovah (Isaiah 43:3, 11; 45: 15; John 5:45–47, 8:58). Yes, the Latter-day Saints believe that Jesus.

• Jesus [the Christ and Redeemer] who commanded young Joseph Smith not to join any existing church because, in due time, Jesus himself was going to restore his original Church as it had existed during his earthly ministry. Yes, the Latter-day Saints believe in that Jesus.

• Jesus who fulfilled John’s prophecy (revelation 14:6) by sending the angel Moroni to Joseph Smith to show Joseph the writings of America’s ancient prophets and to enable Joseph to translate those ancient writings into English and publish them as the Book of Mormon. Yes, the Latter-day Saints believe in that Jesus.

• Jesus who sent the resurrected John the Baptist to Joseph Smith in order to restore the authority to baptize; he then sent the resurrected apostles Peter, James, and John to restore the Melchizedek Priesthood—the same priesthood that Jesus himself possesses (Hebrews 5:4–6, 9–10). Yes, the Latter-day Saints believe in that Jesus.

• Jesus who, in 1830, commanded Joseph Smith to formally organize his Church according to the laws of the state of New York (D&C 20:1) and to name it The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (D&C 115:3–4). yes, the Latter-day Saints believe in that Jesus.

• Jesus who commanded Joseph Smith to write down the revelations he gave him (D&C 70:1) and to publish them in 1835 as Doctrine and Covenants of The Church of the Latter-day Saints. Yes, the Latter-day Saints believe in that Jesus.

• Jesus who commanded Joseph Smith to lead the persecuted Church from New York to Ohio (D&C 37), then to Missouri (D&C 54:7–8), and then to Illinois. Yes, the Latter-day Saints believe in that Jesus.

• Jesus who commanded Joseph and the Saints to build a temple in Nauvoo, Illinois (D&C 124:27) to restore the ancient ordinances of eternal marriage (1 Corinthians 11:11; D&C 132) and vicarious baptism for the dead (1 Corinthians 15:29). Yes, the Latter-day Saints believe in that Jesus.

• Jesus who, in 1843, inspired Joseph Smith to establish the Relief Society—an organization for women that has grown to a worldwide sisterhood of more than 4 million Latter-day Saint women in 162 nations around the globe. Yes, the Latter-day Saints believe in that Jesus.

• Jesus who permitted his modern American prophet Joseph Smith to be martyred—like himself and his ancient apostles and prophets—in cold blood, thereby sealing his testimony for all time (D&C 135). Yes, the Latter-day Saints believe in that Jesus.

• Jesus who chose the senior apostle, Brigham Young, to fill Joseph’s vacancy in the Quorum of the Twelve and, like a modern Moses, to lead the persecuted and beleaguered Latter-day Saints out of Illinois, across the American wilderness, and into the refuge of the Mexican Territory of the Great Salt Lake in 1847 (D&C 136). Yes, the Latter-day Saints believe in that Jesus.

• Jesus who commanded Brigham Young to build temples, establish more than 350 settlements throughout the mountain west, expand missionary work around the world, and defend the Church against the U.S. Congress, who planned to dismantle it. Yes, the Latter-day Saints believe in that Jesus.

• Jesus Christ who, for the past 190 years, has continued—and will continue—to reveal his will to his living prophets and apostles, and who will quietly and unceremoniously continue to call new apostles to fill the natural vacancies of their deceased fellows. Yes, the Latter-day Saints believe in that Jesus.

Additional Resources:

Learn more about Jesus Christ at the official site of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Request a free copy of the Book of Mormon. It is a companion to the Bible and a second witness of Jesus Christ.

Attend a local meetinghouse.

Source:

D. Lauritsen, Mormons Under a Microscope, (Springville, Utah: Cedar Fort, Inc., 2010), 7-11.