More fun and amusement on Christian doctrine with Kelly Powers! I noticed the above short video in which he tells us of his plan to do some street preaching, talking to strangers, including LDS folks; and he is going to present to them the following question:
“If you were to die right now, and you were to stand before God, and you were to be asked: Why, why should you be allowed into heaven, to have eternal life? That is the question we asked you. If you had that opportunity; if that was a real life situation that could be possible, and you were asked that question, how would you respond? How would you respond? How you are supposed to receive your life, if you were in heaven? What would be the standard? Would it be because you were waterbaptized? Was it because you kept the ten commandments? Was it because you had faith plus works? [Was it because] you were part of Catholic Church, Orthodox Church, fill in whatever church else out there, right? What would be the right answer? What is the right answer? So, what do you guys think?
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“… what is your opinion? What are your thoughts? If you were to die right now … and you go to heaven, stand before God, what would God say to you? Why? What would you say to God … why you should have eternal life in heaven? What is your answer?”
The implied suggestion being that salvation is by “faith alone”, and no “works” etc. That is what he is advocating. And that is an easy question to answer, from the biblical point of view—very easy! The Bible answers that question decisively in numerous places, the most obvious one probably is the following:
Matthew 25:
31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
That gives as clear and direct an answer to his question as any scripture could; which is nicely condensed in the following verses:
Revelation 20:
11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Examples are numerous; here are some more:
Matthew 7:
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works [i.e. miracles]?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
In other words, according to the words of Jesus, if you have faith to perform miracles, but fail to do what is good and right—if you fail in the “works” department—you will not be saved. “Mighty works” in verse 22 means “great miracles”. The people referred to in the above verses did not “lack faith”. On the contrary, their faith was sufficient to perform miracles. How many miracles has Kelly Powers performed by his faith? So those people were not “lacking in faith”—they had more “faith” than Kelly Powers does! But that was not sufficient to “save” them; because they failed to do the works. The following verses from the gospel of Luke say the same thing as the above, but in a more condensed form:
Luke 6:
46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
47 Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:
48 He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.
49 But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.
Another passage of scripture that gives a direct answer to his question is the following:
John 5:
28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
That is as short, concise, and clear an answer to his question as it can get. Here is another:
Luke 10:
25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?
27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and [love] thy neighbour as thyself.
28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.
36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?
37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
Such passages in the Bible are too numerous to be quoted all; here are a few more:
Matthew 5:
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
2 Corinthians 5:
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
Galatians 6:
9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.
Philippians 2:
12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Colossians 3:
23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;
24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.
1 Timothy 6:
18 That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate;
Titus 3:
8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.
Hebrews 10:
24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
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26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
Hebrews 13:
16 But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
James 1:
22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
James 2:
14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith [alone, without works] save him?
2 Peter 2:
20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
I have confined these quotes to the New Testament, because the Old Testament can be accused of teaching the “Law of Moses”, and a “works based” salvation. So it looks like Kelly Powers is badly trapped in the heresies of Calvinism, Protestantism, and Reformed theology; and he doesn’t know how to get out of it! Luckily Latter-day Saints know better, and are not likely to be deceived by that. My advice to him is to abandon his Protestant heresies, and learn from the Bible—as well as from modern LDS scripture. The reason why I understand the Bible better than he does is because of my familiarity and LDS scripture.
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