|
DIRECTORY
Home
General LDS Information
Basic LDS Beliefs
LDS Videos
Critics' Questions
Submitted Questions
Scriptures/LDS Literature
Genealogy/Family
LDS Temples
Missionary
Music and Arts
LDS Online Stores
Priesthood, Humor, Miscel.
Site Map
Suggest a Site
Now accepting banner ads!
|
|
SHIDRA - If the book of mormon is the the everlasting gospel, why are eternal marriage and baptism for the
dead not included in book of mormon?
JOEL - Understanding the term "everlasting gospel" or sometimes refered to as "fulness of the everlasting gospel" depends on how we define what the Gospel is. The word "Gospel" itself means “good news". The "good news" of Jesus Christ does not have to include every single doctrine and teaching that God would ever want us to know. If this were true then the Bible would also not contain the entire everlasting Gospel. Shortly before Christ was crucified He told His apostles;
"I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now." (John 16:12)
He never got a chance to tell them these "many things" before He died. Therefore the Bible does not contain all the teachings that Christ wanted us to know. How can we find out what those things were?
The Lord has said that His word comes to man "precept upon precept; line upon line; here a little, and there a little; (Isaiah 28:13), and that He "will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets." (Amos 3:7) Therefore, we know that He dosen't give His children everything all at once, but a little at a time when we are ready to "bear them" (John 16:12). And He will reveal them through His prophets.
While some people use the word "gospel" in a more broad sense to include all revealed teachings and truth, the scriptures employ the term in a more restricted sense to refer to the "good news" of Christ's atonement and resurrection—his triumph over sin and death that opened the door of salvation to mankind (Eph. 1:13, 2 Tim 1:10).
This "good news" or gospel that Christ brought to us is described by Jesus Himself in the Book of Mormon:
“Behold I have given unto you my gospel, and this is the gospel which I have given unto you—that I came into the world to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me.”
The Savior then reviewed for the Nephites the facts of the Atonement, including the need to repent, be baptized, receive the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end. (See 3 Ne. 27:13-22.) This then is Christ's own definition of the Gospel. It is the "good news" that He came to tell everyone about. It is all recorded in the Book of Mormon; therefore the Book of Mormon contains the fullness of the everlasting gospel or the "good news" of Jesus Christ. Other "many things" He wants us to know such as eternal marriage and baptism for the dead, would be revealed to us through His prophets over time, which is exactly what He did.
|
|
|
