First of all, let's finish that sentence of yours: ...it is the direct Christ that saves..."
Well, "saved" from what?
In this way, Mormonism isn't simply "another" Christian denomination...they don't say there are (one denomination among others)...
...and neither do Christians...
...so who would you be to come along and disagree both with Mormons and worldwide Christianity on that matter?
If you say to a Mormon: "You are saved from 'alienation' with Jesus..."
The response might be: "Well, hey...What? We were 'spirit bros' in the pre-existence! What do you mean 'alienated?'"
If you say to a Mormon: "You were saved from being in bondage to sin passed down from Adam to you."
The response might be: "What do you mean? All children are born perfect and stay that way until at least age 8."
If you say to a Mormon: "You were saved from the fear of death."
The response might be: "What's there to fear? Hey, everybody is resurrected and just about all of us go to one of three degrees of glory."
You see, it's kind of ludicrous to start with the "Good News" -- the "Gospel" -- with all Mormons. Because they don't exactly have a very good context of where to apply it other than a few areas...and in these areas, it's not always easy to convince them of their need.
The areas I am referencing include:
* ... freedom from religious ritualism;
* ...freedom from legalism;
* ...freedom from attempting to change God about who you are thru good works & perfectionism.
So, lots of "law" needs to go with the Gospel in approaching most Mormons. They need convincing that We humans need to be saved from...
...our own sin nature,
...sins emitting from our sin nature,
...death,
...the second death -- eternal death,
...the fear of death,
...bondage to Satan,
...darkness,
...this world,
...our own lostness, etc.
You are like the something like 90% of hell headed Christians who get it all backwards. Saved from what? How about saved TO what.
Reuniting with a close bond to God is what. From a lack of it, called sin and fallenness and various other things. And sure we can point out that the ultimate state of lack is to go to hell (or lake-of-fire). But then what. Call me simple minded: “All who call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved.”
All else emanates from this. No Christian is going to have a 100% gospel 0% garbage manifestation in their life before leaving this mortal coil. None.
And it’s not until the salvation-TO situation has been attained in large enough measure that it gets tangible in your thinking, that you can even really sort out the salvation-FROM situation.
I’m more concerned about the idea of heaven as planets. That’s a distortion and invites the possibility of pseudo Christs that are demonic. But they won’t be a “little” different from the real Christ; they will be a LOT different. This is not like the Mormon who actually finds Christ and then finds that this Christ does not jibe at all with their church’s doctrine and so leaves to a saner congregation.
And about the planets... this is fundamentally un-heavenly. Heaven isn’t a gaggle of private outposts of varying privilege. It’s a huge sharing community (even though not all are equal). The gospel as we know it is a rehearsal of heavenly ethics. And it doesn’t command you to go live off by yourself. The planet stuff is another piece of Smith garbage.
Hey, I apologize if I sound like I’m really jumping down your throat brother. I know you left the Mormons. There are a jillion good reasons to leave them. But some are still Christians, although confused Christians.