The church of Christ is called in his name

Footnotes

The primary purpose of the church of Christ is to help others become more like him.² The church of Christ reveals more of what he is like³ and invites others to change to be more like him. The church has the responsibility to invite others to take upon themselves the name of the Lord by demonstrating more of how God is and providing persuasive reasons to follow his example.⁴ The church of Christ consists of those who have taken his name upon themselves by living up to what they believe him to be.⁵ They testify of how God is from their own personal experiences with him.⁶

Modern churches have misappropriated, diluted, and adulterated the name of Christ through pretending their activities serve God’s intended purpose while watering down the truth and teaching false doctrine. Churches not of God do not demonstrate more of his name or persuade others to become more like him. Instead, they make people worse than they were before⁷ by teaching false ideas about the character of Christ, insisting it is not necessary to be like him, or even arguing that it is impossible to follow his example. Most attendees of supposedly Christian churches are hell bound, having never taken upon them the name of Christ:

22 For behold, this is my church; whosoever is baptized shall be baptized unto repentance. And whomsoever ye receive shall believe in my name; and him will I freely <u>forgive.</u>
23 For it is I that taketh upon me the sins of the world; for it is I that hath created them; and it is I that granteth unto him that believeth unto the end a place at my right hand.
24 For behold, in my name are they called; and <u>if they know me they shall come forth, and shall have a place</u> eternally at my right hand.
28 Therefore I say unto you, that he that will not hear my <u>voice, the same shall ye not receive into my church, for</u> him I will not receive at the last day. (Mosiah 26)

There are only two churches.⁸ The church of Christ is led by Jesus and contains the few⁹ people who are “baptized in his name,”¹⁰ or who actually follow him by living their lives at all times and in all situations as they sincerely believe he would in their place.¹¹ Everyone who isn’t in the church of Christ is in the church of the devil,¹² whom they continue to serve by failing to live up to the example of Jesus.

The Lord defined his church as those who repent and follow his example.¹³ You cannot be in the Lord’s church without forsaking sin.¹⁴ Those joining his church are required to obey God fully, demonstrated through their obedience to his commandments.¹⁵ The Lord said that those who refuse to forsake sin are not to be allowed to join his church,¹⁶ and that those who willfully sin after being admitted should either immediately repent or have their membership revoked.¹⁷

All people can join the Lord’s church through learning something about what he is like¹⁵²⁰ and making whatever changes necessary to follow that example.¹⁵²¹

Footnotes

1. And behold, all things have their likeness, and all things are created and made to bear record of me, both things which are temporal, and things which are spiritual; things which are in the heavens above, and things which are on the earth, and things which are in the earth, and things which are under the earth, both above and beneath: all things bear record of me. (Moses 6:63) ... all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator. (Alma 30:44) ...ye have received all things, both things in heaven, and all things which are in the earth, as a witness that they are true. (Helaman 8:24) ↩
2. ...follow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do. (2 Nephi 31:12) And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-13) ↩
3. And thus ye shall become instructed in the law of my church, and be sanctified by that which ye have received, and ye shall bind yourselves to act in all holiness before me—That inasmuch as ye do this, glory shall be added to the kingdom which ye have received. Inasmuch as ye do it not, it shall be taken, even that which ye have received. (D&C 43:9-10) ↩
4. Many quote the following verse without realizing that to “call” someone “in the name of Christ” is to invite them to be more like him: “Therefore, whatsoever ye shall do, ye shall do it in my name; therefore ye shall call the church in my name; and ye shall call upon the Father in my name that he will bless the church for my sake.” (3 Nephi 27:7) ↩
5. And those who did belong to the church were faithful; yea, all those who were true believers in Christ took upon them, gladly, the name of Christ, or Christians as they were called, because of their belief in Christ who should come. (Alma 46:15) ↩
6. And again, more blessed are they who shall believe in your words because that ye shall testify that ye have seen me, and that ye know that I am. Yea, blessed are they who shall believe in your words, and come down into the depths of humility and be baptized, for they shall be visited with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and shall receive a remission of their sins. (3 Nephi 12:2) ↩
7. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. (Matthew 23:15) ↩
8. And he said unto me: Behold there are save two churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the devil; wherefore, whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church, which is the mother of abominations; and she is the whore of all the earth. (1 Nephi 14:10) ↩
9. And it came to pass that I beheld the church of the Lamb of God, and its numbers were few, because of the wickedness and abominations of the whore who sat upon many waters; nevertheless, I beheld that the church of the Lamb, who were the saints of God, were also upon all the face of the earth; and their dominions upon the face of the earth were small, because of the wickedness of the great whore whom I saw. (1 Nephi 14:12) ↩
10. And they who were baptized in the name of Jesus were called the church of Christ. (3 Nephi 26:21) ↩
11. Verily, verily, I say unto you, this is my gospel; and ye know the things that ye must do in my church; for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do; for that which ye have seen me do even that shall ye do; (3 Nephi 27:21) ↩
12. Behold, I say unto you, that the good shepherd doth call you; yea, and in his own name he doth call you, which is the name of Christ; and if ye will not hearken unto the voice of the good shepherd, to the name by which ye are called, behold, ye are not the sheep of the good shepherd. (Alma 5:38) ↩
13. And as I have prayed among you even so shall ye pray in my church, among my people who do repent and are baptized in my name. Behold I am the light; I have set an example for you. (3 Nephi 18:16) ↩
14. See that ye are not baptized unworthily; see that ye partake not of the sacrament of Christ unworthily; but see that ye do all things in worthiness, and do it in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God; and if ye do this, and endure to the end, ye will in nowise be cast out. (Mormon 9:29) ↩
15. And again, by way of commandment to the church concerning the manner of baptism—All those who humble themselves before God, and desire to be baptized, and come forth with broken hearts and contrite spirits, and witness before the church that they have truly repented of all their sins, and are willing to take upon them the name of Jesus Christ, having a determination to serve him to the end, and truly manifest by their works that they have received of the Spirit of Christ unto the remission of their sins, shall be received by baptism into his church. (D&C 20:37) ↩
16. Now I say unto you, Go; and whosoever will not repent of his sins the same shall not be numbered among my people; and this shall be observed from this time forward. (Mosiah 26:32) ↩
17. And those that would not confess their sins and repent of their iniquity, the same were not numbered among the people of the church, and their names were blotted out. (Mosiah 26:36) ↩

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