Mormonism is by far the most liberal religion as it pertains to salvation

It seems that recently there has been a lot of focus on individuals or groups who are attacking or opposing the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and frankly, I for one am just kind of tired of hearing the same old arguments that end up causing less than amicable discussions on social media and it frankly wears on me. There are so many individuals out there who are willingly to share their stories of why not to believe in the church. So starting today, we are going to be writing a series of pieces that focuses on why we SHOULD believe in the church. Posts that are more uplifting and positive in nature.

So we know that Christ Himself taught that He was “the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6.) If this premise is true and we know that baptism is an essential ordinance that one must receive in order to receive salvation, what happens to all those who died never being baptized? What happens to the billions of individuals who have never heard about Christ, let alone the specific doctrines of a particular religion? The individuals who grew up in China or Africa in the 3rd century? What about a child who was born but then due to various complications dies a few minutes later? If God was so just, how do you account for these individuals? It never made sense to me and still doesn’t, that God would place individuals in a time or place that they would never have an opportunity to live with Him again. As Elder Packer stated concerning this dilemma:

That is a most disturbing question. What power would establish one Lord and one baptism, and then allow it to be that most of the human family never comes within its influence? With that question unanswered, the vast majority of the human family must be admitted to be lost, and against any reasonable application of the law of justice or of mercy, either. How could Christianity itself be sustained?

When you find the true church you will find the answer to that disturbing question.

If a church has no answer for that, how can it lay claim to be His Church?

The answer to that puzzling challenge could not be invented by men, but was revealed. I underline the word revealed. Revelation too is an essential characteristic of His Church. Communication with Him through revelation was established when the Church was established. It has not ceased and it is constant in the Church today.

In the earliest days of the Church the Prophet was given direction through revelation that work should commence on the building of a temple, akin to the temples that had been constructed anciently. There was revealed ordinance work to be performed there for the salvation of mankind.

Then another ancient scripture, ignored or overlooked by the Christian world in general, was understood and moved into significant prominence: “Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?” (1 Cor. 15:29.)

Here then, was the answer. With proper authority an individual could be baptized for and in behalf of someone who had never had the opportunity. That individual would then accept or reject the baptism, according to his own desire.

Mormonism is by far the most liberal religion as it pertains to salvation. Everyone has their 3-5 key cornerstones to their testimonies. For me, one of those pillars is the doctrine of redeeming the dead and performing proxy ordinances on behalf of those individuals who have died. For me, the way The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints handles this aspect of salvation is by far the most pragmatic, the most equitable and most common sense of all religions. But then again, it makes sense when this doctrine was revealed by God and not created by men.

The beauty of our religion, is this idea that God is just. Being a just God, He has prepared a way for His children to return back to him. Would a just and true God command us to follow such a strict commandment such as baptism just to have the majority of the world’s population over the years never have the opportunity to partake in it? Would an all knowing God institute a plan that failed 99.99% of those who participated in it? I for one cannot accept such a premise and luckily, because of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I don’t have to.