The Lord’s Chosen People

God has always offered salvation to any individual or group who is willing to seek him. Through all generations of time, select few have accepted the invitation. In a show of godly mercy, God cascades echoes of the blessings of the righteous onto their less righteous peers and posterity. Without exception, the descendants of covenant fathers such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the Nephites who witnessed the resurrected Christ, etc., gradually chip away at God's patient blessings by progressively apostatizing from the covenant made to their fathers until they are ripe in iniquity.

Unfortunately, the apostate descendants of covenant fathers always seem to consider themselves equally as righteous as their forebears. They are lifted in haughty pride and call themselves chosen, though God has said no such thing.

Throughout history, the ancestors of those who achieved a connection with God considered themselves a chosen people. The false sense of security brought by the erroneous idea that God could never abandon them despite their sins fostered a degree of wickedness that usually exceeded that of their Godless peers.

Perhaps the easiest to recognize example of this phenomenon is the children of Israel between the time of Moses and Jesus. Israel was a chosen people during this time. Yet, they were in an apostate state. The evidence of their chosen status was expressed in the invitation they had received to come up to the presence of Christ. This invitation—originally made through Moses—was still available to them through the generations, as evidenced by those individuals who obtained it.

A chosen status is therefore not an indication of acceptance by the Lord or a measurement of the righteousness of the people: Israel's kings were generally quite wicked, and their people were no different. Paul distinguished between the invitation provided and the fruits obtained by accepting it:

Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. (Romans 9:6-8.)

As he explained to the group of Gentiles he was addressing, there was a distinction between those who obtained the promise (that is, the promise of eternal life from Christ to an individual) and those who were of a “chosen” lineage. Paul argued that the same invitations available to the Israelites by lineage were available to the Gentiles—and that neither would prove of any use without the righteousness of the acceptor. Though Israel was considered chosen, in reality this identifier had more to do with the increased instruction they received from the righteousness of their progenitor patriarchs than it did with God’s approbation of their contemporary behavior, which was nearconstant wickedness.

A covenant people is a people with whom God has made the covenant of eternal life. Unlike other covenants, such as that God made with Aaron, the covenant of eternal life is not transmitted by virtue of descent. Nephi explained that individuals’ relationships with God are what causes the covenant to be offered:

For behold, I say unto you that as many of the Gentiles as will repent are the covenant people of the Lord; and as many of the Jews as will not repent shall be cast off; for the Lord covenanteth with none save it be with them that repent and believe in his Son, who is the Holy One of Israel. (2 Nephi 30:2.)

With the Israelites, God offered the covenant, but it was not accepted. Through Moses he gave to them a set of laws that would bring them to Christ, both spiritually and literally. To them the invitation to obtain was extended. Did this make them special? The invitation was and always is unto all. The distinction was not in the lack or presence of the invitation, but in the presence of an expectation and an increase in the means to obtain it. The Israelites had a dispensation of gospel knowledge. They had the righteous example of Moses and other prophets who had obtained the presence of God. This is what made them different.

Being a chosen people simply means that there is an expectation and a means provided to rise to the fulfillment of the expectation. Being a chosen people does not mean that you are more righteous than anyone else. Consequently, it does not mean you are any closer to divinity than anyone else. In fact, a chosen people who reject God’s teachings fare worse with him than those who never knew him in the first place. A chosen people is not more righteous than others. They are merely expected to be so.

The Israelites were chosen and also generally wicked. At times, the Lord said very sharp things about them. For example, he stated they were as wicked as those who were not chosen people:

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will punish all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised; Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that are in the utmost corners, that dwell in the wilderness: for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart. (Jeremiah 9:25-26.)

Although they were generally wicked, and were not a covenant people, the Israelites still had interaction with God at times. Their daily participation in religion did not create a covenant relationship with God. A people can be wholly devoted to religion and still not approach God.

In the Book of Mormon, we see the Nephites—who were the chosen people—utterly destroyed by the Lamanites. The wickedness of the Nephites was truly great: not only did their sins exceed those of the Lamanites in absolute terms, but they committed them against greater light and truth, having been taught the correct way and turned away from it.¹ From the above points we see that:

1. A chosen people do not have greater blessings with God. They simply have an invitation from him to obtain such with an expectation to do so.
2. A group can only become a covenant people if God actually makes a promise of eternal life to them as individuals. Covenants cannot be inherited from organizational ancestors.
3. Where much is given, much is required. If a group has access to a greater portion of God's teachings, they are judged to a higher standard.

These principles stand at odds to what is commonly understood in modern Mormonism.² That is, that the LDS are entitled to special blessings from God, and ever will be until Christ comes again, regardless as to how well they actually keep God’s commandments.

Spiritual Gifts

Jesus taught that signs will follow those that believe. He reaffirmed this promise in Joseph’s day on at least two occasions.

For I am God, and mine arm is not shortened; and I will show miracles, signs, and wonders, unto all those who believe on my name. And whoso shall ask it in my name in faith, they shall cast out devils; they shall heal the sick; they shall cause the blind to receive their sight, and the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak, and the lame to walk. (D&C 35:8-9.)

Therefore, as I said unto mine apostles I say unto you again, that every soul who believeth on your words, and is baptized by water for the remission of sins, shall receive the Holy Ghost. And these signs shall follow them that believe—In my name they shall do many wonderful works; In my name they shall cast out devils; In my name they shall heal the sick; In my name they shall open the eyes of the blind, and unstop the ears of the deaf; And the tongue of the dumb shall speak; And if any man shall administer poison unto them it shall not hurt them; And the poison of a serpent shall not have power to harm them. (D&C 84:64-72.)

In Joseph’s day, members were expected to possess spiritual gifts: dramatic, undeniable external evidences of the power of God. The receipt of the Holy Ghost was taught to always bring spiritual gifts. Apostle Orson Pratt taught:

Whenever the Holy Ghost takes up its residence in a person, it not only cleanses, sanctifies, and purifies him, in. proportion as he yields himself to its influence, but also imparts to him some gift, intended for the benefit of himself and others. No one who has been born of the Spirit, and who remains sufficiently faithful, is left destitute of a Spiritual Gift. A person who is without a Spiritual Gift, has not the Spirit of God dwelling in him, in a sufficient degree, to save him; he cannot be called a Saint, or a child of God; for all Saints who constitute the Church of Christ, are baptized into the same Spirit; and each one, without any exception, is made a partaker of some Spiritual Gift. (Orson Pratt, Masterful Discourses, pp. 539–41.)

As modified as the endowment has become, some of the teachings on how true messengers are manifested have been preserved. True messengers always bring with them signs to identify God’s approval of their message. Echoing what we are taught in the modern endowment, Joseph Smith taught that true messengers bring with them the miracles the Savior promised:

If you will obey the Gospel with honest hearts, I promise you, in the name of the Lord, that the gifts as promised by our Saviour will follow you, and by this you may prove me to be a true servant of God. (Quoted in Hyrum Andrus, “Joseph Smith's Idea of the Gospel”.)

If the miracles of gifts of the Spirit were always present in Joseph’s day, have they continued to be in our day? In modern Mormonism, we hear testimonies of questionable miracles, such as someone with a priesthood blessing gradually recovering, or a missionary learning Spanish through months of immersive instruction and practice. Yet, Jesus’ list did not include subtle miracles. We do not see examples of the Lord’s explicitly listed undeniable miracles: healing the sick, causing the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the dumb to speak, the lame to walk, and invulnerability to poison.

God is not a changing God. If the manifestations of believers have changed from the time of Joseph, it can only be because the doctrines have changed since the time of Joseph.

Just as the presence of spiritual gifts is a witness of God’s approbation of the teachings offered, the lack of spiritual gifts is a sign of God’s disapproval of what is offered. At a minimum, one would expect these signs among the leadership of the church. Though we sustain leaders as prophets, seers, and revelators, they do not manifest any of these gifts, and haven’t since the death of Joseph (see “Prophet: Title or Description?”) Sidney Rigdon taught:

There is no society of which we have an account in the revelations of God, that he acknowledged as his own, except they had visions among them, and that as long as they continued to walk according to the directions of the Holy Spirit....We readily admit that a corrupt religion can exist, and false prophecies exist, and sectarian dogmas abound; men-made worshipers increase, and the world abound in a religion that the Lord was not the author of, and yet no visions be among them; but wherever the truth of heaven abounds, there will visions abound also; for it is a part of heaven’s scheme to save men, and without it, we are not authorized to say there is salvation. (Sidney Rigdon, “Faith of the Church,” Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate, 1:9, p. 133.)

If the promised miraculous signs do not attend a religion, it means that the believers in said religion do not have the truth, and do not have salvation.

First, miraculous signs should be claimed in all ages by the believers in the Gospel, because Jesus promised them, and has never intimated any repeal of that promise. All Gospel promises should be claimed by Gospel believers, until divine revelation repeals them. For instance, in the same verses, where Jesus promises these signs, he also promises salvation. As both of these Gospel blessings are promised, both should be claimed. None have the right to hope for the promised Salvation who have not the promised Signs. Indeed, those who have not the Signs, are not believers ; and, therefore, instead of having a right to Salvation, Jesus says expressly, that all such ‘shall be damned.’ (Orson Pratt, “Necessity of Miracles.”)

A lack of spiritual gifts shows a lack of faith. This is a shock to those who do not possess miracles yet consider themselves to have faith. They think they are exercising faith in God, but in reality their faith is in the false traditions of men.³

Because faith is wanting, the fruits are. No man since the world was had faith without having something along with it. The ancients quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, women received their dead, etc. By faith the worlds were made. A man who has none of the gifts has no faith; and he deceives himself, if he supposes he has. Faith has been wanting, not only among the heathen, but in professed Christendom also, so that tongues, healings, prophecy, and prophets and apostles, and all the gifts and blessings have been wanting. (Joseph Smith, TPJS, p. 270.)

As Moroni explained, if you are not witnessing the miracles of visible ministration of angels, healings, tongues, visions, prophecy, etc., you are not in possession of the gospel of salvation:

And now, my beloved brethren, if this be the case that these things are true which I have spoken unto you, and God will show unto you, with power and great glory at the last day, that they are true, and if they are true has the day of miracles ceased? Or have angels ceased to appear unto the children of men? Or has he withheld the power of the Holy Ghost from them? Or will he, so long as time shall last, or the earth shall stand, or there shall be one man upon the face thereof to be saved? Behold I say unto you, Nay; for it is by faith that miracles are wrought; and it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men; wherefore, if these things have ceased wo be unto the children of men, for it is because of unbelief, and all is vain. For no man can be saved, according to the words of Christ, save they shall have faith in his name; wherefore, if these things have ceased, then has faith ceased also; and awful is the state of man, for they are as though there had been no redemption made. (Moroni 7:35-38.)

The opposite of faith is unbelief. Unbelief means refusing to believe, but in what? Faced with the implications of the lack of these promised gifts, modern Mormons have come up with three rationalizations. First, they claim that these gifts are had, but those who have them don’t speak of them.⁴ The issue with this rationalization is that—beyond the fact that it allows everyone to assume they are the minority in not having these experiences—it shifts the signs from an individual witness to a communal one. The presence of signs is a witness meant for each individual, not a group. Second, they claim that while these gifts may not be had among the lay membership, the brethren experience them.

This failure to realize all the blessings and powers of the Priesthood does not apply to the elders and lesser Priesthood only; but it applies to the higher quorums, and comes home to ourselves, who are Apostles of Jesus Christ. We are presented before the Church, and sustained as prophets, seers and revelators, and we have received oftentimes the gift of prophecy and revelation, and have received many great and glorious gifts. But have we received the fullness of the blessings to which we are entitled? No, we have not. Who, among the Apostles have become seers, and enjoy all the gifts and powers pertaining to that calling? (Orson Pratt, JD 25:145.)

Third, they conclude that, since modern Mormons are the chosen people, though their experiences don’t match the descriptions in scripture, the definition of the words in scripture must have changed. Many in our day deny that God has a reason to perform miracles, or that he wills to perform only subtle miracles.⁵ They conclude that when God says “heal the sick,” he means leave the sick to be healed by a doctor or natural, slow means; that when he says “gift of tongues,” he means to learn languages like any other student learns;⁶ and that when he refers to the healing of the deaf, the dumb, the blind, and the raising of the dead, he wasn’t serious. Instead of comparing the scriptures to their experience, they force their experience onto what the scriptures say.

Who are the Gentiles?

Most accept the idea that the Gentiles spoken of in the Book of Mormon include the inhabitants of the United States. There are many passages that state as much.⁵³⁶ For example,

The Gentiles shall be blessed upon the land. And this land shall be a land of liberty unto the Gentiles, and there shall be no kings upon the land, who shall raise up unto the Gentiles. And [the Lord] will fortify this land against all other nations. (2 Nephi 10:10-12.)

What is less understood is that the Book of Mormon authors also considered members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints as Gentiles. This fact should be evident from the start of the Book, as the Title Page states that the Book of Mormon should “come forth by way of the Gentile.” Of course, the book came forth through Joseph Smith. Moroni said, “O ye Gentiles, it is wisdom in God that these things should be shown unto you” (Ether 8:8). Non-LDS Americans do not read the Book of Mormon. Therefore, it can be said that the only group to whom these things are shown are those who are LDS. Moroni was speaking to the readers of the Book of Mormon, which means that his appellation is used interchangeably with “members of the LDS church.”

Some would contend that Joseph Smith and other members of the church cannot be referred to as Gentiles because once someone joins the LDS church, they become part of the house of Israel. For example,

For behold, I say unto you that as many of the Gentiles as will repent are the covenant people of the Lord; and as many of the Jews as will not repent shall be cast off; for the Lord covenanteth with none save it be with them that repent and believe in his Son, who is the Holy One of Israel. (2 Nephi 30:2.)

Interestingly, however, Nephi still calls those who repent Gentiles. And, as previously stated, the Title Page calls Joseph Smith a Gentile. Joseph Smith even stated,

Now these words, O Lord, we have spoken before thee, concerning the revelations and commandments which thou hast given unto us, who are identified with the Gentiles. (D&C 109:60.)

The identity of Joseph Smith shows how church members can be both of the house of Ephraim and still Gentiles. The Book of Mormon tells us that Joseph is a descendent of Ephraim. Ephraim was the son of Joseph of Egypt, but also the son of an Egyptian woman. Therefore, Ephraim was both an Israelite and a Gentile. The Book of Mormon calls Joseph a Gentile even though it identifies him as a descendent of Ephraim. Mormons should consider themselves Gentiles and Israelites.

This labeling is exceedingly important. When Mormons understand that they are Gentiles, they can associate the warnings and descriptions of the Gentiles in the Book of Mormon with themselves. Instead of deflecting them to non-LDS Americans, they can repent from the sins predicted as seen and described by ancient prophets.

How Zion will be established: Not by a church

During the life of Joseph Smith, everything in the church aimed at one goal: establishing Zion, a tangible city of men and women who lived the Terrestrial law, a place where there are no poor⁷ and where everyone keeps all of God’s commandments.⁸ After Joseph’s life, successive changes shifted the goal posts: the commandments were modified, eradication of poverty was replaced with a program to regularly treat its symptoms,⁹ and physical gathering was abandoned.

The question today is: as an institution, are we progressing closer to Zion, or are we moving further away? Early leaders who lived through both eras juxtaposed the church under Joseph and the church after his death. George Q. Cannon, who arrived in Nauvoo as a British convert at the age of 15 and lived two years in close proximity to church leadership (his lived with his uncle, John Taylor), said the following:

The feeling has grown upon me, and is growing upon me every day, that as a people we do not live up to our privileges. We do not have the knowledge of the things of God that we should have. There is not that amount of revelation enjoyed by us which there should be. The gifts of the spirit are not manifest to the extent they should be. Is there revelation? Yes, I know that and can testify of it. Are there gifts, are there blessings enjoyed by the people? Yes, I am convinced of it. Are there manifestations of the goodness and the power of God among this people? I am satisfied that there are manifestations of this kind. The sick are healed. The mind and will of the Lord is communicated to the people, but it is not to that extent, that it should be considering our circumstances, and considering the length of time the Church has been organized. Who is there that is not conscious of this. (George Q. Cannon, JD 22:103.)

Orson Pratt felt the same way. He noted that the trajectory of the Saints in Utah was not headed towards Zion.

There must be a reformation. There will be a reformation among this people, but He will plead with the stronger ones of Zion, He will plead with this people, He will plead with those in high places, He will plead with the priesthood of this church, until Zion shall become clean before him. I do not know but what it would be an utter impossibility to commence and carry out some principles pertaining to Zion right in the midst of this people. They have strayed so far that to get a people who would conform to heavenly laws it may be needful to lead some from the midst of this people and commence anew in the regions round about in these mountains. (Orson Pratt, JD 15:360.)

Apostle (later president) Joseph Fielding Smith wrote of his concerns both about how far from Joseph’s teachings the church had drifted in the preceding 20 years, and how far the church would continue to drift:

It is a very apparent fact that we have traveled far and wide in the past 20 years. What the future will bring I do not know. But if we drift as far afield from fundamental things in the next 20 years, what will be left of the foundation laid by the Prophet Joseph Smith? It is easy for one who observes to see how the apostasy came about in the primitive church of Christ. Are we not traveling the same road? (Joseph Fielding Smith Journal, 28 December 1938.)

Members during Brigham Young’s tenure believed that they were only in Utah for a season, and that one day they would return to Jackson County to build Zion. Over time, this belief eroded into what modern Mormons believe: that Zion is not a physical city at all, but that we gather to Zion as we join and remain in the church in congregations around the world.

In reality, both views are incorrect. The truth contained in the scriptures, and understood by some few early leaders, is that the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints never had the charge to build Zion, and will not build Zion. Instead, Zion will be built by the Lamanites—a remnant of Joseph:

What says the Book of Mormon in relation to the building up of the New Jerusalem on this continent one of the most splendid cities that ever was or ever will be built on this land? Does not that book say that the Lamanites are to be the principal operators in that important work, and that those who embrace the Gospel from among the Gentiles are to have the privilege of assisting the Lamanites to build up the city called the New Jerusalem? This remnant of Joseph, who are now degraded, will then be filled with the wisdom of God; and by that wisdom they will build that city; by the aid of the Priesthood already given, and by the aid of Prophets that God will raise up in their midst, they will beautify and ornament its dwellings; and we have the privilege of being numbered with them, instead of their being numbered with us. It is a great privilege indeed (and we are indebted to their fathers for it,) that we enjoy of being associated with them in the accomplishment of so great a work. (Elder Orson Pratt, JD 9:178.)

Third Nephi 21 is worthy of a significant study beyond the scope of this book. Suffice it to say that it directly challenges many traditions in modern Mormonism, including the ideas that the LDS church will establish Zion, that the “marvelous work and a wonder” is something that has already occurred, that the United States will still exist as a country at the coming of Christ, and that the gathering of Israel has commenced.

Therefore, when these works and the works which shall be wrought among you hereafter shall come forth from the Gentiles, unto your seed which shall dwindle in unbelief because of iniquity; For thus it behooveth the Father that it should come forth from the Gentiles, that he may show forth his power unto the Gentiles, for this cause that the Gentiles, if they will not harden their hearts, that they may repent and come unto me and be baptized in my name and know of the true points of my doctrine, that they may be numbered among my people, O house of Israel....For in that day, for my sake shall the Father work a work, which shall be a great and a marvelous work among them; and there shall be among them those who will not believe it, although a man shall declare it unto them. But behold, the life of my servant shall be in my hand; therefore they shall not hurt him, although he shall be marred because of them. Yet I will heal him, for I will show unto them that my wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil. Therefore it shall come to pass that whosoever will not believe in my words, who am Jesus Christ, which the Father shall cause him to bring forth unto the Gentiles, and shall give unto him power that he shall bring them forth unto the Gentiles, (it shall be done even as Moses said) they shall be cut off from among my people who are of the covenant. And my people who are a remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles, yea, in the midst of them as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep, who, if he go through both treadeth down and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver. Their hand shall be lifted up upon their adversaries, and all their enemies shall be cut off. Yea, wo be unto the Gentiles except they repent; for it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Father, that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy chariots; And I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down all thy strongholds; And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thy land, and thou shalt have no more soothsayers; Thy graven images I will also cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee, and thou shalt no more worship the works of thy hands; And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee; so will I destroy thy cities. And it shall come to pass that all lyings, and deceivings, and envyings, and strifes, and priestcrafts, and whoredoms, shall be done away. For it shall come to pass, saith the Father, that at that day whosoever will not repent and come unto my Beloved Son, them will I cut off from among my people, O house of Israel; And I will execute vengeance and fury upon them, even as upon the heathen, such as they have not heard. But if they will repent and hearken unto my words, and harden not their hearts, I will establish my church among them, and they shall come in unto the covenant and be numbered among this the remnant of Jacob, unto whom I have given this land for their inheritance; And they shall assist my people, the remnant of Jacob, and also as many of the house of Israel as shall come, that they may build a city, which shall be called the New Jerusalem. And then shall they assist my people that they may be gathered in, who are scattered upon all the face of the land, in unto the New Jerusalem. And then shall the power of heaven come down among them; and I also will be in the midst. And then shall the work of the Father commence at that day, even when this gospel shall be preached among the remnant of this people. Verily I say unto you, at that day shall the work of the Father commence among all the dispersed of my people, yea, even the tribes which have been lost, which the Father hath led away out of Jerusalem. Yea, the work shall commence among all the dispersed of my people, with the Father to prepare the way whereby they may come unto me, that they may call on the Father in my name. Yea, and then shall the work commence, with the Father among all nations in preparing the way whereby his people may be gathered home to the land of their inheritance. And they shall go out from all nations; and they shall not go out in haste, nor go by flight, for I will go before them, saith the Father, and I will be their rearward. (3 Nephi 21:5-6,9-29.)

Orson Pratt summed up this chapter this way:

There are four major events to take place in the Last Days with regards to these people. First, a remnant will be converted; second, Zion will be redeemed and all among the Gentiles who believe will assist this remnant of Jacob in building the New Jerusalem; third, missionaries will be sent...to gather all...His people unto the New Jerusalem; fourth, the power of heaven will be made manifest in the midst of this people, and the Lord also will be in their midst. (Orson Pratt, JD 17:302.)

None of these items on Elder Pratt’s list has yet occurred.

Some minority of the Latter-day Saints will repent from their false traditions, receive a covenant, and be numbered among the remnant of Jacob (see 3 Nephi 16:10-16), but most will be destroyed in the calamites the Lord has promised to bring at the conclusion of the space allotted for the Gentiles to repent:

Verily, verily, I say unto you, darkness covereth the earth, and gross darkness the minds of the people, and all flesh has become corrupt before my face. Behold, vengeance cometh speedily upon the inhabitants of the earth, a day of wrath, a day of burning, a day of desolation, of weeping, of mourning, and of lamentation; and as a whirlwind it shall come upon all the face of the earth, saith the Lord. And upon my house shall it begin, and from my house shall it go forth, saith the Lord; First among those among you, saith the Lord, who have professed to know my name and have not known me, and have blasphemed against me in the midst of my house, saith the Lord. (D&C 112:23-26.)

Those who profess to know God’s name but do not really known Him¹⁰ and who have blasphemed against him in the midst of his house¹¹ are those upon whom this judgment will fall.

While modern Mormons consider themselves the Lord’s chosen people, the scriptures suggest they are little more than a group doomed to failure whose singular achievement will be having preserved the Book of Mormon for the Lamanites to later accept.

What God has Said About the LDS Church

We don’t have to guess how the Lord feels about the church. He has spoken about it several times in what we regard as scripture. In 1831, the Lord said:

Wherefore, let all men beware how they take my name in their lips—For behold, verily I say, that many there be who are under this condemnation, who use the name of the Lord, and use it in vain, having not authority. Wherefore, let the church repent of their sins, and I, the Lord, will own them; otherwise they shall be cut off. Remember that that which cometh from above is sacred, and must be spoken with care, and by constraint of the Spirit; and in this there is no condemnation, and ye receive the Spirit through prayer; wherefore, without this there remaineth condemnation. (D&C 63:61-64.)

The Lord said that there were people in the church attributing things to him that he had not said, and doing things in his name he had not commanded. He said that the church needed to repent or else they would be cut off. He said that those who claim their own words are God’s words, when the Spirit has not spoken to them, are condemned.

The Lord spoke again about the church in 1832. He said:

And whoso receiveth not my voice is not acquainted with my voice, and is not of me. And by this you may know the righteous from the wicked, and that the whole world groaneth under sin and darkness even now. And your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have treated lightly the things you have received—Which vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation. And this condemnation resteth upon the children of Zion, even all. And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon and the former commandments which I have given them, not only to say, but to do according to that which I have written—That they may bring forth fruit meet for their Father’s kingdom; otherwise there remaineth a scourge and judgment to be poured out upon the children of Zion. (D&C 84:32-56.)

Here, the Lord said that those who do not receive revelation are not of him. He said that the church had taken the revelations that Joseph Smith received lightly, and for this reason were under condemnation. He said that this condemnation applied to every member of the church, and would stand until they repented and obeyed the Book of Mormon and other commandments from God through Joseph Smith. Do we as a people obey the Book of Mormon and other commandments from God through Joseph Smith more than those in 1832? This question is discussed in the chapter entitled “The Preeminence of Joseph Smith’s Teachings.”

In 1841, the Lord spoke about the church for the last time as recorded in our scriptures. He said,

...build a house to my name, for the Most High to dwell therein. For there is not a place found on earth that he may come to and restore again that which was lost unto you, or which he hath taken away, even the fulness of the priesthood....But I command you, all ye my saints, to build a house unto me; and I grant unto you a sufficient time to build a house unto me; and during this time your baptisms shall be acceptable unto me. But behold, at the end of this appointment your baptisms for your dead shall not be acceptable unto me; and if you do not these things at the end of the appointment ye shall be rejected as a church, with your dead, saith the Lord your God. For verily I say unto you, that after you have had sufficient time to build a house to me, wherein the ordinance of baptizing for the dead belongeth, and for which the same was instituted from before the foundation of the world, your baptisms for your dead cannot be acceptable unto me; For therein are the keys of the holy priesthood ordained, that you may receive honor and glory. (D&C 124:27-34.)

Here, the Lord did not say the condemnation placed upon the church in 1832 had been lifted. Instead, he stated that the fullness of the priesthood had been taken away from the church.¹² He charged the church to build the Nauvoo temple, and stated that if the task was not completed in a certain time, the church would be rejected with its dead. The Saints did not build the Nauvoo temple, spending their money on lavish brick homes and a Masonic temple instead of the Lord’s house.¹³ The Saints fled Nauvoo before the temple was completed. God never came to the temple, and he never restored anything in it.¹⁴ Additionally, the promised penalties fell upon them prior to the completion of the building, demonstrating that the temple was not completed in time to fulfill God’s commandment.

Joseph repeatedly warned that there was a time given by the Lord for them to build the temple, and, as the Lord said in D&C 124, if the Saints didn't fulfill the commission in time, they would lose the opportunity to gain the promised blessings.

I will now ask this assembly and all the Saints if you will now build this house and receive the ordinances and blessings which God has in store for you; or will you not build unto the Lord this house, and let Him pass by and bestow these blessings upon another people? I pause for a reply. (June 11, 1843, DHC 5:423-427.)

In April 1842, the Prophet said:

The Church is not fully organized, in its proper order, and cannot be, until the Temple is completed, where places will be provided for the administration of the ordinances of the Priesthood. (History of the Church, 4:603; from a discourse given by Joseph Smith on Apr. 28, 1842, in Nauvoo, Illinois; reported by Eliza R. Snow.)

This did not occur.

The three times God spoke on the subject, he indicated that the church needed to repent, that they were under condemnation, and that they were rejected with their dead. If any claims that the LDS church is the Lord’s church, they have the obligation of pointing out where he has reversed his position as clearly defined in the Doctrine and Covenants on three occasions.

Can God Withdraw from the LDS Church?

Modern Mormons claim that God could never turn away from the LDS church. For example, Elder Holland recently wrote:

The gospel of Jesus Christ is the most certain, the most secure, the most reliable, and the most rewarding truth on earth and in heaven, in time and in eternity. Nothing—not anything, not anyone, not any influence—will keep this Church from fulfilling its mission and realizing its destiny declared from before the foundation of the world. Ours is that fail-safe, inexorable, indestructible dispensation of the fulness of the gospel. There is no need to be afraid or tentative about the future.Unlike every other era before us, this dispensation will not experience an institutional apostasy; it will not see a loss of priesthood keys; it will not suffer a cessation of revelation from the voice of Almighty God. Individuals will apostatize or turn a deaf ear to heaven, but never again will the dispensation collectively do so. What a secure thought! What a day in which to live! (Elder Jeffery R. Holland, Facebook, May 27th, 2015.)

The scriptures and words of early LDS leaders disagree.

There are innumerable examples in the Old Testament of God rejecting his covenant people through their iniquity (see, for example, Jeremiah 12:7-17, Jeremiah 18:5-10, Isaiah 1:21-23, Hosea 1:8-9, Hosea 4, Ezekiel 18, Ezekiel 22:17-18, and Zephaniah 3:11). Modern Mormons do not dispute that when ancient people deviated from God after he established a covenant with them, they were cut off. They dispute that God would ever have a reason to cut the LDS off. They believe that the Lord has promised that the LDS church will continue in his graces until Christ comes again, a position that ignores that, by 1841, the Lord had already told the church that it was in sin, under condemnation, and rejected.

Early leaders understood that the Lord could cut off the church. They hastened to finish the Nauvoo temple after the death of Joseph for fear that they would be cut off for disobeying God’s command. Orson Hyde stated:

If we moved forward and finished this house we should be received and accepted as a church with our dead, but if not we should be rejected with our dead. These things have inspired and stimulated us to action in the finishing of it which through the blessing of God we have been enabled to accomplish and prepared it for dedication. In doing this we have only been saved as it were by the skin of our teeth. (Wilford Woodruff Journal, May 8, 1846.)

Heber C. Kimball taught that God could take the priesthood from the Saints through disobedience:

We receive the priesthood and power and authority. If we make a bad use of the priesthood, so you not see that the day will come when God will reckon with us, and he will take it from us and give it to those who will make better use of it? (JD 6: 125.)

George A. Smith said the Lord could abandon the Saints in favor of another people,

God has set his hand at the present time to establish his kingdom. But unless the Saints will so live and so exert themselves that they can preserve the purity of the holy Priesthood among them, the work will be left to other people. (JD 6: 161.)

There are many additional witnesses that the church can be cut off. The Lord said in D&C 63:63: “let the church repent of their sins, and I, the Lord, will own them; otherwise they shall be cut off.” If it was the inalterable destiny of the LDS church to usher in the second coming of Christ, why would Christ himself tell them it was possible for them to be cut off? If it was not possible for the church to sin sufficiently to be cut off, why would God say that it was possible? If it were not possible for the Lord to choose another people, why did Joseph threaten the Saints who were sluggish in responding to the commandment to build the Nauvoo temple:

I will now ask this assembly and all the Saints if you will now build this house and receive the ordinances and blessings which God has in store for you; or will you not build unto the Lord this house, and let Him pass by and bestow these blessings upon another people? I pause for a reply. (June 11, 1843, DHC 5:423-427.)

If, once given, God cannot remove the keys because of disobedience or ordinances changed contrary to his word, why did Joseph Smith say:

The power, glory, and blessings of the priesthood could not continue with those who received ordination only as their righteousness continued, 11 for Cain also being authorized to offer sacrifice but not offering it in righteousness, therefore he was cursed. It signifies then, that the ordinances must be kept in the very way God has appointed, otherwise their priesthood will prove a cursing instead of a blessing. (Joseph Smith, 5 Oct 1840, Robert B. Thompson record.)

In order to believe that God cannot cut off the LDS, one would have to disbelieve each of these statements from Joseph Smith and God himself. They are too plain to be misunderstood, and therefore must be somehow directly ignored.

Perhaps one reason why there is such resistance to the idea to God cannot cut off the LDS is a misunderstanding of Daniel’s prophecy of the stone cut without hands rolling forth until the second coming. From thence shall the gospel roll forth unto the ends of the earth, as the stone which is cut out of the mountain without hands shall roll forth, until it has filled the whole earth. (D&C 65:2.)

The gospel was revealed through Joseph Smith. The kingdom was revealed by Joseph Smith. The gospel is not the church, and the kingdom is not the church. Neither the gospel nor the kingdom are the exclusive property of the LDS church. To the degree that the church turns away from the gospel as revealed through Joseph Smith, they turn away from the kingdom. Or, as the Lord said,

`I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and

every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. (John 15:1-2.)

If the church ceases to bear fruit, he will cut it off and burn it (see Jacob 5), and turn to another people.

The prophecies state that God will do a great and marvelous work involving the Lamanites, and that the LDS church will not preside over this work, but will be cut off as a result of their turning away from the commandments and ordinances revealed through Joseph, modern Mormons who repent of the traditions of the fathers and accept the Lord’s teachings from Joseph will remain members of the kingdom. In fact, the priesthood and everything else restored by Joseph can and will remain on the earth independent of the success or failure of the LDS church. The destiny of the LDS church was never to establish Zion, but to act as a seed pod of sorts to preserve the Book of Mormon, the teachings of Joseph, and the priesthood¹⁵ for a time to deliver it to another people who would honor and appreciate them. As the Lord prophesied:

But if they [the Gentiles] will not turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, I will suffer them, yea, I will suffer my people, O house of Israel, that they shall go through among them, and shall tread them down, and they shall be as salt that hath lost its savor, which is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of my people, O house of Israel. (3 Nephi 16:15.)

Those Gentiles who are trodden down “shall be as salt that hath lost its savor.” In the Doctrine and Covenants we are given a clear definition of what this means.

When men are called unto mine everlasting gospel, and covenant with an everlasting covenant, they are accounted as the salt of the earth and the savor of men; They are called to be the savor of men; therefore, if that salt of the earth lose its savor, behold, it is thenceforth good for nothing only to be cast out and trodden under the feet of men. (D&C 101:39-40.)

These Gentiles are the LDS: the only ones in the last days who have been called unto the everlasting gospel and have made an everlasting covenant with God. According to these scriptures, these covenant people will reject the fulness of the gospel that will be taken away and given to the house of Israel. When read in context, it is difficult to interpret these scriptures any other way.

Conclusion

Some modern Mormons would contend that God could not have cut off the LDS church, because if he had they would not have the benefits they enjoy as members of the church. They are ignorant of scripture, which voluminously attests to the general failure of people who have been cut off to notice.

Isaiah speaks of a people who are “weighed down by sin,” “forsaken Jehovah,” and “lapsed into apostasy,” yet they make “abundant sacrifices” in the temple, has “meetings at the New Month and on the Sabbath,” and “spread[s] forth [their] hands” in temple ordinances (Isaiah 1:4,11,14-15, Gileadi Translation.) They “importune me daily, eager to learn my ways, like a nation practicing righteousness and not forsaking the precepts of its God.” (Isaiah 58:2, Gileadi Translation.)

In 3 Nephi, chapter 27, the Lord gives the criteria by which we can determine that an organization is His church. First it must be called by His name. Second, it must be built on His gospel. Third, it must demonstrate the works of God (examples in 3 Ne. 26:11). While the LDS church fulfills the first requirement, its institutional neglect and active abandonment of the gospel as revealed through Joseph Smith suggests that the second criteria is not met. A Mormon from 1842 would not recognize the church today if he were teleported to our day. What about the third criteria? Does the church and its members bear the fruits of the gospel? On Sept 13[th] , 2015 Elder Ballard praised the Utah South area. These are the accomplishments he lauded them for:

• A nationwide polling service found Utah to be the most religious state.
• Three missions.
• Six temples with two under construction.
• The largest religious university in America.
• Vibrant institutes of religion programs associated with the great colleges and universities in the area.
• An expanding Missionary Training Center in Provo.
• Numerous ward, stake, and seminary buildings.v

Where are the fruits? All of these items—all of them—are a result of how much money a people has. As demonstrated by the Israelites and by King Noah’s people, all of these characteristics can be demonstrated while being in complete apostasy from God. How many members of the church have been baptized by fire? How many prophesy? How many miraculously heal the sick, the blind, or the deaf? How many have seen angels? How many have seen God? Instead of being known for these fruits, Utah leads the nation in suicides per capita, porn use, and prescription antidepressants.

So many times, modern Mormons contest “But this is the Lord's church, therefore whatever it does must be sanctioned by God.” Wouldn't it be nice if we could point to the church's actions and say, “these match God's word, therefore this is God's church” rather than using the claim that it is God's church (a claim God himself hasn't made since before 1832 when he said this church was under condemnation) to justify actions that are contrary to God's revealed word?

Modern Mormons truly are dripping in pride about their supposed exalted status. Yet, the Lord has explicitly rejected them. Though their failure as an institution is sealed, the fate of each individual member is still at stake. Chuck Baldwin once said,

What happens when an institution becomes more important than the cause for which the institution was formed? How long should people who believe in the cause remain loyal to such an institution? And at what point does loyalty to such an institution comprise an abandonment of the cause itself?

As the church continues to turn away in greater and greater degrees from the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, members must choose: will they align their actions and beliefs to God’s word as revealed in scripture, or will they join the church in drifting further and further away from God?

They wear stiff necks and high heads; yea, and because of pride, and wickedness, and abominations, and whoredoms, they have all gone astray save it be a few, who are the humble followers of Christ; nevertheless, they are led, that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men. (2 Nephi 28:14.)

Only those few true followers of Jesus will be able to escape the calamity that is about to fall on the Gentiles, and be numbered among the remnant of Jacob.