So if you want to live and let live, stop trying to convert other Christians. Then we’ll no longer have to defend ourselves against your attacks.
The gospel is something that needs to be preached. It is not the gospel if it is not preached. This is the commandment that the Lord gave to His ancient disciples:
Mark 16:
15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
The LDS Church is a new dispensation of the gospel. It is a restoration of the original church of Christ; and God has given it the same commandment He gave to His ancient church, to preach His gospel to every creature. “Every creature” does not leave room for any exceptions. All are included in it:
D&C 18:
28 And if they desire to take upon them my name with full purpose of heart, they are called to go into all the world to preach my gospel unto
every creature.
D&C 19:
37 And speak freely to
all; yea, preach, exhort, declare the truth, even with a
loud voice, with a sound of rejoicing, crying—Hosanna, hosanna, blessed be the name of the Lord God
D&C 28:
16 And thou must open thy mouth at
all times, declaring my gospel with the sound of rejoicing. Amen.
D&C 29:
4 Verily, I say unto you that ye are chosen out of the world to declare my gospel with the sound of rejoicing, as with the voice of a trump.
D&C 33:
2 For verily, verily, I say unto you that ye are called to lift up your voices
as with the sound of a trump, to declare my gospel unto a crooked and perverse generation.
D&C 34:
6 To lift up your voice
as with the sound of a trump, both long and loud, and cry repentance unto a crooked and perverse generation, preparing the way of the Lord for his second coming.
D&C 42:
6 And ye shall go forth in the power of my Spirit, preaching my gospel, two by two, in my name, lifting up your voices as with the sound of a trump, declaring my word like unto angels of God.
7 And ye shall go forth baptizing with water, saying: Repent ye, repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
D&C 58:
64 For, verily, the sound must go forth from this place into
all the world, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth—the gospel must be preached unto
every creature, with signs following them that believe.
D&C 68:
8 Go ye into
all the world, preach the gospel to
every creature, acting in the authority which I have given you, baptizing in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
D&C 75:
4 Lifting up your voices as with the
sound of a trump, proclaiming the truth according to the revelations and commandments which I have given you.
D&C 79:
1 Verily I say unto you, that it is my will that my servant Jared Carter should go again into the eastern countries,
from place to place, and from city to city, in the power of the ordination wherewith he has been ordained, proclaiming glad tidings of great joy, even the everlasting gospel.
D&C 80:
1 Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you my servant Stephen Burnett: Go ye, go ye into the world and preach the gospel to
every creature that cometh under the sound of your voice.
D&C 84:
62 Therefore, go ye into
all the world; and unto whatsoever place ye cannot go ye shall send, that the testimony may go from you into
all the world unto every creature.
74 Verily, verily, I say unto you, they who believe not on your words, and are not baptized in water in my name, for the remission of their sins, that they may receive the Holy Ghost, shall be damned, and shall not come into my Father’s kingdom where my Father and I am.
75 And this revelation unto you, and commandment, is in force from this very hour upon
all the world, and the gospel is unto
all who have not received it.
D&C 124:
106 And in all his journeyings let him lift up his voice as with the
sound of a trump, and warn the
inhabitants of the earth to flee the wrath to come.
As you can see, the list is quite lengthy (and I don’t think I have found all of them); but I have given you this long list so that you can appreciate the importance the Lord has attached to preaching the gospel in the latter days. We preach the gospel because the Lord has commanded us to do it, and we must obey.
zerinus