By Rauni Higley
Question to Rauni: Why did you choose to walk away from the Church of The Latter-Day Saints (The Mormons) after many years as a loyal adherent?
What prompted my husband and I to leave the Mormon Church was our discovery of contradictions, changed doctrines, cover-ups, lies and deceit from Joseph Smith to the current leaders.
The final decision to leave came when we learned more about the Bible, and discovered that Mormon teaching does not square with its teaching. There are major differences between the LDS Church and the Bible.
For example:
(1) Mormonism teaches that God was once a mortal man, who had a father, who had a father ...and so on. The Bible teaches that God has never been less than God and there are no Gods before Him nor after Him. (Isaiah 43:10; 44:6, 8 etc.)
(2) Mormonism teaches that Jesus is a brother of Lucifer (Satan) and also a brother of all humans and angels. The Bible teaches that Jesus IS God and that He created everything, including angels. (John 1:1-3, 14; Colossians. 1:16.)
(3) Mormonism teaches that Jesus came “to work out His own salvation”, and that He is only one of the billions of spirit-sons of God and His wives, even if the eldest, and that He was physically conceived by an exalted, resurrected god-man, (God the Father of Mormonism) in Mary. (Mormon Doctrine under Only Begotten Son, 1966 ed., pp. 546-547.)
The Bible says that Jesus is Immanuel, meaning GOD with us, born of a Virgin, begotten by Holy Ghost. (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23, John 1:1, and 14: 20-28.)
(4) Mormonism's gospel consists of "laws and ordinances" of the LDS Church. They teach that man can be truly saved only through obedience to them.
The Bible says that the gospel is THE message, good news of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus for us. (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) The Bible says that we receive salvation by faith and that it is the gift of God so no one can boast of earning it. (Romans 10:9; Ephesians 2:8-9.)
The Bible says that if anyone preaches any other gospel than the one preached by apostles (1 Corinthians 15:1-4), it will bring God's curse on him, even if it came from an angel. (Galations 1:6-9.) THE MORMONS PREACH ANOTHER CHRIST.
Paul warned about those who change the identity of Jesus into "another Jesus," and His gospel into "another gospel," and listen to and have "another spirit."(2 Corinthians 11:4, 13-15; 1 John 4:1.)
The Bible tells us that we must study to prove ourselves to God. (2 Timothy 2:15.) The Bible says that we must test all things and prove all things by the Word of God, the Bible. (1 Thessalonians 5:21; Acts 17:11; 2 Timothy 2:15.) We must even test the spirits that give “feelings" and “testimonies." (1 John 4:1; 1 Timothy 4:1.)
When we saw all that, we did not have any other choice but to leave the false doctrines of Joseph Smith and the Mormon Church. We accepted Jesus of the Bible, who alone can save. (John 14:6; Acts 4:12.)
