Dr. Robert Jeffress, who is the Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, has stirred up a whirlwind of controversy by saying that Mitt Romney’s religious group, the Church of Jesus Church of Latter Day Saints, is a cult. Of course Mr. Romney and Mr. Perry and lots of other leaders are falling over themselves to say this is not true.

Well, is it true or not? To answer this question we have to know what is a “cult”. While one will find lots of varying definitions of a cult, I think there are clearly three tests that can be used to identify a cult:

1) Do they claim to be “Christians?”

2) Do they follow additional sources of authority other than the Christian Bible?

3) Do they claim that they are the only true Christians?

It is clear that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) falls into this category. They certainly claim to be Christians; they recognize sources of authority other than the Bible; and they believe they are the only true Christians. They are a cult, plain and simple. This does not mean they are not good citizens. They are often honest and moral people who love their family and their Country. Under our Constitution, they must be accorded all of the rights and privileges of citizenship. (Be sure of this… when this Country begins to outlaw religious groups it will not be the cults; it will be Bible believing Christians).

I realize that we live in a world where almost no one defines terms biblically, but what the Bible says is absolute truth and here is what the Bible says:

Isaiah 8:20 (NKJV) ²⁰ “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”

2^nd Corinthians 11:4 (ESV) ⁴ “For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.”

It is our calling from God to live for Jesus in a post-Christian and anti-Christian America. Biblical Christianity is nearly extinct in Western Europe and North America! Beloved, Mormons and other cult members do not speak according to God’s Word; they worship “another Jesus” and trust in “another gospel”. According to the clear teaching of the Christian Bible, they are not Christians. Let us pray that God will open their minds to the truth of His Word, and bring them to a saving knowledge of the biblical Jesus!