Are Mormons Christian?

I have written about this before, but I have extracted a comment (rather-long) that I made on a website.  The website was an article by  about whether mormons are christian.  He thought: not really.  This one comment is self-explanatory.  It is not a definitive statement on the subject, but I like what I said here:

"In response to John Smith, 

Mr. Smith wrote the following:

> Acts 6 identifies that when the apostles needed to
> select somebody to handle a worldly issue for
> them, their criteria was to pick somebody full of
> the Spirit. To receive the Holy Spirit you have
> to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and
> his teachings, i.e., salvation throught Grace, the
> inerrancy of the Bible, the Trinity, etc., etc.
> none of which faithful Mormoms accept.

From a political point of view this is significant, because this is one angle of a sentiment shared by many. It is because of this sentiment that this article on which we are commenting was written. The notion that a candidate can be spiritually disqualified for office.

Now, I will transition into the religious aspect of it a bit. I know that Mr. Smith argued his perspective, and I would normally expect a debate about whether or not it's right to use such a spiritual qualifier for a political candidate. However, in this instance - because of the article questioning whether mormons are christian - the debate is more of a theological one.

My rather convoluted post of earlier tried to address the very issue Mr. Smith brings up. Here I think I can restate it a little better.

My issue is with the notion that mormons can't have the spirit, or are disqualified from being disciples of Christ according to qualifiers that are frankly, man-made.

Salvation through grace is a clear teaching of the Bible, as it is a clear teaching of the Book of Mormon, as it is of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (hereafter referred to as the Church of Jesus Christ for simplicity). I think Mr. Smith is referring to the Protestant doctrine of salvation through belief alone. The Church of Jesus Christ teaches that salvation comes through the grace of God through faith in Christ. The confusing point is that faith is handled differently. Faith to the Church of Jesus Christ is working with God for personal spiritual progression through Christ, thus the emphasis on striving to keep God's commandments. The key word is strive, faith means trying your hardest. After you fall short, God recognizes your faith and uses it, through Christ's atoning grace, to sanctify the believer.

That's more doctrine than I wanted to share, I just get frustrated by this issue. About the inerrancy of the Bible, this is only an assumption on the part of Protestants who reject the Orthodox priesthood structure that authorizes the Bible as true (I can also mention the revelations given to the Church of Jesus Christ that reaffirm the Bible as the word of God and its message of salvation true). The doctrine of the Trinity is also only a explanation of ideas set forth in the Bible - it works better than the 'heretical' explanations it opposed - but the understanding of the nature of God in the Church of Jesus Christ is completely compatible with the Bible.

I served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ. I taught many people, as an example, of the Pentecostal faith. They believed in many things that I thought were just plain wrong. Their church meetings were full of people speaking various tongues that often were never understood by anyone. They shout and yell, and I think (personally) that that sort of behavior drowns out God's true spirit (which the Bible clearly calls a still, small voice). However, when a person told me that they had felt God's spirit, that they sought it, that they felt His love, and even if they said they had received an impression, a dream, or a prophesy, I was not inclined to tell them that they had erred. The Church of Jesus Christ has no monopoly on God or Christ. It's members believe that it is the church "brought forth out of the wilderness", that the Lord speaks to its prophet, that the priesthood authority of the Church was vested by God and that it is the only authority that is true and recognized by God. However, we have no monopoly on God, His spirit, and we know that all mankind are His children.

Like I have stated before, to remove Christ from His sheep is unchristian. I think God grants His spirit to all those who seek Him. He grants it even more to those who exercise faith on the name of His Son. He grants it in special measure to those who serve Him. Mr. Smith's personal views on the Bible's message - to which he is entitled, as I am to mine - are not sufficient to coerce God to remove His spirit from those that believe Him.

True mormons are christian, that is the end of the story, and no man-made qualifiers can coerce God to remove His spirit from they to whom He grants It. Let's look at fruits. That's what Christ told us to do. Do we believe Him"