Imagine you are at home enjoying a quiet night, when suddenly the doorbell rings. You go to answer it only to find two young men or women dressed for church, their attire neat and professional, wearing black nametags that say: Elder/Sister ___; The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). With genuine smiles on their faces, they introduce themselves as missionaries eager to share another gospel of Jesus Christ, a term that seems both intriguing and foreign to you. You’re caught off guard and unprepared as to what to say to them, your mind racing with questions. Another Gospel? You question if you heard that right, your thoughts tangled in curiosity and skepticism about what sets this message apart from your own beliefs.
But, what do you say to them if you don’t know what to say? You have to open your mouth at some point, but find yourself almost frozen and your heart racing. While this may not be the “silver bullet” you are hoping for, it will buy you some time and with some knowledge of the true gospel, you can navigate the conversation and make them think as well. This takes us to the analogy created by Ray Comfort of Living Waters Ministries, called: 3 Minutes to Live.
3 Minutes to Live
3 Minutes to Live is an analogy to share with someone with whom you feel is trusting in their own self-righteousness or self-reliance to get to heaven. All cults and manmade religions are based in “works righteousness.” Their adherents believe they must do good works, abstain from foods, repeat certain prayers, or perform sacraments or ordinances in order to earn their way to heaven. So, you ask them:
“I have a knife in my back. I’m dying and have only three minutes to live. What do I need to do to enter heaven/paradise/the kingdom of God? I’m scared, don’t want to die, and I’m afraid of going to a bad place.”
At this point you must be a good listener and also keep tabs on the time because you really want to hear what they have to say in the three minutes they have to answer it. What comes out of their mouth will let you know what they really trust in to get them to a good place in the afterlife, and you will use what comes out of thier mouth against them.
Mormon Answers
For a Mormon, I would ask the 3 minutes to live question like this: “I have a knife in my back and I have three minutes to live. I’m scared, and I’m afraid I’ll go to a bad place. How can I spend eternity with Heavenly Father?”
Most of the time, like the woman in the above video, all I hear is crickets chirping. They usually cannot answer the question, and like this woman, it almost seems like her brain is stuck in a computer loop cycle that she cannot seem to get out of. The only thing they have to fall back on is repentance in the afterlife (baptism for the dead)—a heretical practice not found in the Bible, which uses a living stand-in (proxy) to baptise those who have died without the opportunity of being baptized while they were alive.1 We must repent now while we have breath in our lungs and alive in this life. But have you ever wanted to know what’s really going on in their brain? Check out the picture below.
According to a Mormon, in order to be with “Heavenly Father” i.e. the Celestial Kingdom, you have to do a lot of requirements in order to achieve that level of exaltation to godhood. This means that it is up to YOU. Not only that, but in order to achieve this level, you need a temple recomend card to gain entrance to the temple in order to perform temple endowments for yourself (Law of Obedience, Law of Sacrifice, Law of the Gospel, Law of Chastity, and Law of Consecration). Then, you can partake in ordinances for others like baptizing for the dead, marriage sealing, and sealing children to their parents after you have consecrated yourself. According to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint’s website, “The temple endowment is a necessary step towards salvation and returning to Heavenly Father.”2 As stated in the above diagram.
In order to perform these necessary ordinances, you must receive a “temple recommend card” to enter the temple. To get the “temple recommend”, you must pass a temple recommend interview, which is answering a series of 15 questions to see if you are worthy of entering an LDS temple. Some of those questions are:
- Do you support or promote any teachings, practices, or doctrine contrary to those of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?
- Are you a full-tithe payer? For new members seeking a limited-use recommend: Are you willing to obey the commandment to pay tithing? [A full tithe is 10% of your income before taxes. During your interview you bring in your tax statements. If your taxes show you did not pay a full 10%, then you owe the LDS church or not recieve your recommend. Some even are forced to put it on a credit card to make up the difference.] emphasis mine.
- Do you keep the covenants that you made in the temple, including wearing the temple garment as instructed in the endowment?
- Do you consider yourself worthy to enter the Lord’s house and participate in temple ordinances?3
And that’s the bottom line for Mormonism—are you worthy? This is self righteousness on crack. When they recieve this recommend, they can look at themselves in the mirror, pat themselves on the back, and say, ‘I’m perfect, way to go!” This is why I have never in my life met a humble Mormon. Like the woman in the video, they are full of pride because they achieved salvation themselves. They are trusting in their own salvation. This is why the Book of Mormon lays it on thick when it says: “…for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.” (2 Nephi 25:23, Book of Mormon)
What Does The Bible Say?
But what does the Bible say about salvation and boasting before the Lord? Holy Scripture, the Bible, makes it clear:
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” – Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV
“What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,” – Romans 4:1-5 NKJV
But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. – Galatians 6:14 NKJV
Any maybe that is the real reason why you will never find a cross in or on a Mormon building: because they boast in themselves. “The message of the cross is foolishness to those that are perishing.” (1 Corinthians 1:18). No surprise, for Joseph Smith, Founder and first prophet of the LDS Church stated in his own words about himself:
“I have more to boast of than ever any man had. I am the only man that has ever been able to keep a whole church together since the days of Adam. A large majority of the whole have stood by me. Neither Paul, John, Peter, nor Jesus ever did it. I boast that no man ever did such a work as I. The followers of Jesus ran away from Him, but the Latter-day Saints never ran away from me yet.”
Joseph Smith, History of the Church, vol 6, p. 408-409
As Ray Comfort says in the video, “You can’t repent unless you realize you’re a sinner. We cannot realize we are a sinner unless we look at the ten commandments.” Since Mormons believe they are worthy, therefore perfect, they have already achieved salvation and therefore exaltation to godhood. Therefore, following in the footsteps of their prophet—Joseph Smith.
Praise God that our boast is in Him, in His Son—Jesus Christ. For we were bought with a price: the precious blood of Christ. Therefore, we glorify Him and are eternally thankful. (1 Corinthians 6:20, 7:23)
Works Cited
Pens & Wrenches 
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