Why a former high priest left Mormonism
Mike and Lynn Wilder joined the Mormon church in 1977 after Mormon missionaries knocked on their door. Lynn would go on to become a professor at Brigham Young University, and Mike eventually became a high priest in the church. They raised their children according to the precepts of the Mormon religion but would eventually come to believe the Gospel and learn the truth about the Mormon church, also known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or LDS.
In 2001, Mike and Lynn's oldest son, Micah, left home to serve a two-year LDS mission. "Micah wrote emails home while he was on his mission, dropping hints about the internal faith questions with which he struggled ... Lynn's own concerns regarding her church became a 'burgeoning internal conflict.'" Micah ended up meeting the real Jesus and being born again through faith in Christ. (Watch Micah's compelling testimony.)
God was obviously doing something special in the Wilder family. "On a chilly October evening in 2006, Lynn, Mike, and their daughter Katie huddled together to watch the movie Luther. Lynn's heart pounded as the movie portrayed Martin Luther's struggle against the legalistic system of the Roman Catholic Church. She could readily identify with Luther; she was facing the same struggle within herself. Did she believe the Mormon system of obedience to laws and ordinances would secure her forgiveness and eternal life? Or did she believe what the Bible taught, that Jesus alone was the Way, the Truth and the Life? Lynn relates, 'I was simply overwhelmed by the Spirit. I went face down in surrender to Christ'" (Read Lynn's testimony.)
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And Mike's video testimony reveals his love for his Savior and also for his many friends in the Mormon church. Like his wife, Mike came to understand that Jesus died on the cross to pay for his sins, and that God accepts us through faith in Christ, rather than through our obedience to God's Law. Mike's powerful two-hour testimony should be heard by every Mormon. This former high priest who came to faith in Christ said, "I took off my Mormon garments I had been wearing for 30 years ... and I put on a cross at that point ... because in 30 years in the LDS church I never heard one sermon about the blood and the cross."
Mike added, "The Scriptures just became alive ... now when I travel I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I will speak His Word. I will speak His love. I will never be angry with people. I want them to understand what it really is. I did not have the good news for 30 years. I did not have the cross or the blood and I want some people, especially my LDS friends, to know there is a better way than to be locked under the Law."
Mike loves his Mormon friends and wants them to meet the real Jesus. It is very important for those of us who know Christ to have compassion for those who are blinded by false teachings. In addition to instructing people that they must earn their way to Heaven by their works, Mormonism also rejects the doctrine of the Trinity. Mormonism "teaches that there are many gods, with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit being three separate gods among many others. Furthermore, it is also possible for humans to ascend to godhood," according to the Mormon religion.
Mike was taught that the Book of Mormon is at least as important as the Bible, if not more so. Mormonism teaches that the Book of Mormon contains "the fullness of the Gospel" of Jesus Christ (Doctrines and Covenants 20:9). Mike accepted that line of reasoning because he did not know any better. Mike said that in those days, "I would have given my life to protect the LDS church. I really believed that it was God's church on the Earth, that it was the only way man could get closer to God … It actually says that in their own scriptures, that God told Joseph Smith … that this was the only church on the face of the Earth in whom He is well pleased. All the other churches were an abomination."
It is very sad when people are brainwashed into believing things that completely contradict Scripture. If it wasn't for the Bible, we would be unable to distinguish true doctrine from false doctrine. And we would remain clueless to the Gospel. Mike said, "Jesus is everything ... When you go to the foot of the cross and you surrender, there is nothing you can add to what Jesus did."
When Mike and Lynn and their children practiced Mormonism, they tried to follow all of the LDS regulations in hopes of being righteous in God's eyes. But when they placed their faith in the Gospel, they learned that only the blood of Jesus can place a person in right standing with God.
The Apostle Paul wrote, "Since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through Him!" (Romans 5:9) "In Christ we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace" (Ephesians 1:7).
Thankfully, the former high priest and his family came to recognize that all of our good works can never wash away a single sin. You see, without the cross, we would be lost forever!
Dan Delzell is the pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Papillion, Nebraska.
