Spotting a Counterfeit

Come Follow Me (Jacob 5-7)

I first learned the term ‘anti-Christ’ in 9th grade seminary. We studied the Book of Mormon that year, so we studied the lives and teachings of three different men who are referred to as anti-Christs: Sherem (Jacob 7), Nehor (Alma 1), and Korihor (Alma 30). My youth and inexperience only understood that an anti-Christ opposed Jesus Christ.

What I didn’t understand until after many more readings of the Book of Mormon was this: anti-Christ teaching doesn’t just oppose the person of Jesus Christ; it opposes everything about Him: His mission, His doctrine, His role in Father’s Plan of Salvation - His very Divinity.

This opposition creates a doctrine of its own - a counterfeit doctrine.

What is the doctrine of Christ?

• By reason of the Fall, all men are unclean. All men are subject to death and sin. As no unclean thing can withstand the glory of the presence of God, the Fall created conditions which make it impossible for man to ever come back into the presence of God.

• Jesus Christ became the Savior and Redeemer of mankind by overcoming death through the Resurrection, and by overcoming sin by performing the atoning sacrifice and suffering for all sin in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross.

• All men will be judged by God after this life - according to their works and desires of their hearts.

• By exercising faith in Jesus Christ, repenting, being baptized, and following the Holy Ghost to increase in obedience through life, all men may stand clean, justified, and sanctified before God when they are judged - thus, enabling them to be clean to enter the presence of the Father again.

Anti-Christ doctrine involves denying, dismissing, or downplaying any or all of this doctrine.

In Jacob chapter 7 Sherem teaches these counterfeit doctrines:

• There is no need for Christ, because

• There is no final judgment & accountability before God; therefore

• There is no sin - whatever you want to do is okay; therefore

• There is no need for repentance

Is it possible that someone who has anti-Christ beliefs isn’t simply content to not follow the teachings of Jesus, but is actually more interested in having others validate their choice - or worse - have their own followers? Because wow. If that’s true, that’s priestcraft at its finest.

The scriptures describe this teaching as “flattering words” (Jacob 7:2, 4), and “pleasing to the carnal mind” (Alma 30:53).

And that is indeed flattering doctrine. It’s the siren song of the path of least resistance. Doctrine which teaches you’re enough the way you are, that you don’t answer to anyone for your behavior, that there is no need to examine yourself or consider change or growth - that’s absolutely going to appeal to the carnal mind. The earthy, earthly, temporal, temporary mind.

But not the spiritual mind. And as Paul taught: “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” (Romans 8:6)

This is the doctrine of secular humanism, which teaches the highest moral authority in your life is your Self.

This is the way to make God in YOUR image.

An interesting thought exercise would be to read all three anti-Christ manifestos in the Book of Mormon, and then read the modern-day Humanist Manifesto, written and signed in 1933 (https://huumanists.org/publications/journal/humanist-manifesto). This unhappy little reading assignment powerfully underscores that Satan can create absolutely nothing; he’s only capable of imitating through perversion. And because of this, there is truly nothing new under the sun when it comes to how he deceives humanity.

Jacob’s defense against a popular demagogue was his sure knowledge of the doctrine of Christ. This came from the timeless, unassailable sources of scripture, words of prophets, and the direct teaching of God through the gift and power of the Holy Ghost - the testator of the words from scriptures and prophets.

That’s our defense, too.

Counterfeit experts spend very little time studying counterfeit currency. Their expertise comes from poring over real currency. With real as their chief focus, they can easily spot the counterfeit.

The Book of Mormon includes three little pop quizzes - three chapters with the counterfeit doctrines - in a sea of the real doctrine of Jesus Christ. If we’ve been paying attention, the rest of the book is full of the real. If we do our homework, we should be able to spot the counterfeits - whether they were written thousands of years ago, a century ago, or in a social media post from last week.

Jacob puts it this way:

“…for the Spirit speaketh the truth and lieth not. Wherefore, it speaketh of things as they really are, and of things as they really will be; wherefore, these things are manifested unto us plainly, for the salvation of our souls. But behold, we are not witnesses alone in these things; for God also spake them unto prophets of old.” (Jacob 4:13, emphasis added)