JOEL - I don't know of any scriptures that specifically say
they were not part of the organizational structure of the Church.
In Old Testament times God instructed Moses to take
seventy of the elders of Israel up onto the holy
mount, where "they saw God, and did eat and drink"
(Ex. 24:1, 9-11).
On another occasion, Moses was told to gather seventy
men of the elders of Israel to the tabernacle of the
congregation. There the Lord put his spirit upon them,
empowering them to assist Moses in bearing the burdens
of the people (Num. 11:16-17, 24-25).
And in Christ's time:
"AFTER these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come." (Luke 10: 1)
If the Lord Himself "appointed" the Seventy as it says
in the scripture, it appears that He intended them to
be part of the organization; needing them to help
spread His gospel as missionaries.
In Christ's time the church covered a very small area
of land on the earth. In these latter days the Lord
knows that the organization needs these 70s in order
to spread the gospel over the entire planet.
"The Seventy are also called to preach the gospel, and to be especial witnesses unto the Gentiles and in all the world-thus differing from other officers in the church in the duties of their calling." (D&C 107:25)
The number of quorums of Seventy has increased over
the years to accomodate the rapid growth of the
Church.
Some regard Luke's statement that "the Lord appointed
"other" seventy also" to be an indication that more
than one group of seventies served the Lord during his
ministry.
SCOTT - I have heard many times from Evangelical Christians that Mormonism teaches that the grace of Christ _only_ brings about resurrection. Is this another example of faulty methodlology by critics? If it is, however, true, why then does the New testament state that the Grace of God doesn’t solely bring resurrection - it provides a _complete_ offering whereby we are forgiven of _all_ sins (Eph. 1: 6,7) and declared righteous (1 Cor. 6:11) and reconciled to God (Col. 1:28)
JOEL - The LDS Church does NOT teach that the grace of Christ ONLY brings about resurrection. Our Book of Mormon states:
"For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do." (2 Ne. 25: 23)
To LDS, being saved refers to our final reward in
heaven.
So even though resurrection is a part of our salvation
which all men receive through the grace of Christ; it
is also by His grace that we receive our kingdom of
glory in heaven.
We also believe that His grace provides a
complete offering, as you put it, of those other
things mentioned in your references.
The difference comes in the fact that we believe that
we must do something on our part to make God's grace
work for us.
If we repent and obey His commandments, we will
receive forgiveness for our sins, be declared
righteous, and be reconciled to God, through His
grace. It is not a free ride. For example, in order for us to
be forgiven(one of the items on your list) we must be
baptized(Luke 3:3, Acts 22:16); we must forgive
others(Matt 6:15, Luk 6:37), we must repent of our
sins(Luk 17:3), and we must be converted (Mark 4:12).
SCOTT - How come LDS have aposltes? According to the Bible,(I) Apostles must see Jesus - Acts 1:21-26 Luke 1: 1-4 Eph. 3:4-5 and 1 Cor. 9:1 yet no LDS apostle, or at least, all of them, have had this witness and(ii) No attempt was made to replace James of Zebedee, thus, modern LDS aposltes are not needed.
JOEL -
"And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and
some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
For the aperfecting of the saints, for the work of the
ministry, for the bedifying of the body of Christ:"
(Eph. 4: 11-12)
This is why we have apostles. Jesus had them in His church while He was here, and He commanded us to have them again in these latter days. (See D&C 18:27, 27:12)
As to your other scriptures:
Acts 1:21-22:
"Wherefore of these men which have companied with us
all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among
us,
Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day
that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to
be a witness with us of his resurrection."
Luke 1:1-4
FORASMUCH as many have taken in hand to set forth in
order a declaration of those things which are most
surely believed among us,
Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the
beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the
word;
It seemed good to me also, having had perfect
understanding of all things from the very first, to
write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus,
That thou mightest know the certainty of those
things, wherein thou hast been instructed.
Eph 3:4-5:
Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge
in the mystery of Christ)
Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons
of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles
and prophets by the Spirit;"
1 Cor. 9:1:
"AM I not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen
Jesus Christ our Lord? are not ye my work in the
Lord?"
Lots of people saw Jesus Christ while He was on the
earth. Does that make them all apostles? None of these
scriptures directly specifies that seeing Christ is a
requirement for being an Apostle. However our Apostles
do understand the "knowledge in the mystery of
Christ", "as it is now revealed" to them "by the
Spirit", as explained in the Ephesian scriptures. They
don't need to see Him for this to happen.
I can't find any scripture where it says they did not
try to replace James, son of Zebedee after he was
killed. Absence of evidence is not evidence of
absence. Just because the scriptures don't record the
act of replacing him, doesn't mean it didn't happen.
The Bible does record the replacement of Judas with
Mathias(Acts 1:15-26) thus demonstrating the
importance of having twelve in the quorum. But after
a period of time, all the Apostles eventually died and
were not replaced. This is how the great apostasy
began.
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