A former Mormon missionary shared his testimony of finding Christ, swapping his burdensome "works-based faith" with a life enjoying the grace of God and His gift of salvation.
Speaking to The Christian Post, Micah Wilder said that he belonged to a devoted Mormon family, a happy one but devoid of the true meaning of faith in Jesus Christ.
Wilder revealed that his former religion is a "works-based faith" which caused him to feel burdened.
"Mormonism is a works-based faith. So I was faithful in my church attendance. I tithed, I followed the moral codes and went to the Mormon temple and so on, believing these things contributed to my right standing with God. I longed for intimacy with Him," he recalled.
While attending Brigham Young University (BYU), he was also working at a Mormon temple to prepare for his two-year stint as a missionary.
He was 19 years old when he was finally sent to Florida to begin the mission.
In the field, he met Baptist Pastor Alan Benson, whom he intended of converting to Mormonism.
Wilder said that he had a misconception of the Christians before, being taught by their religion that born-again believers abuse grace to please their worldly desires.
"Of course, I didn't understand what grace meant and what the Gospel really means and how saving faith transforms the heart and the individual," he continued.
But Pastor Benson shared the Gospel to him, explaining about the great love of Christ that He had to die on the cross to pay for the sins of mankind.
"He told me that God's grace is given to us as a gift, that our sins can be washed away and forgiven. It was the first time I'd heard the Gospel presented that way," he added.
Contradicting his belief, Wilder was bothered with the minister's explanation and thought it was "foolishness." He also disclosed that his encounter with the pastor was a "very frustrating experience" that it made him upset.
Pastor Benson went on by telling him to read the Bible from a child's perspective.
"Essentially, he was encouraging me to approach God's Word without presuppositions; to separate it from the religious lenses of Mormonism, and just approach it in humility and seeking for truth, allowing God through His Word to reveal the truth," Wilder further stated.
He did read the Bible many times over in 20 months and learned the truth.
"I realized I could have good standing with God, not based upon my goodness or our righteousness and not contingent upon my works or efforts or merits, but based solely on the finished work and merits of Christ," he said.
When the Mormon leaders discovered about his engagement with the Christian faith, he was taken out from the mission and sent back to Utah where he was given a disciplinary action. The leaders of the church told him that he was deceived by the devil and threatened with excommunication.
However, Wilder continued by sharing the faith to his family, friends and girlfriend, Alicia.
He said that his father left the Mormon church, while his mother abandoned her job at BYU and both converted to Christianity, as well as his girlfriend.
"They lost everything in the world but they gained life in Christ, which we know is the greatest trade that we can ever make," he stressed.
He eventually married Alicia and they now have three children together.
The couple founded the Adam's Road Ministry, an organization that aims to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ through song and testimony. They are joined by Micah's older brother Matt, Lila Lebaron and Joseph Warren --former Mormons who also converted to Christianity-- in helping other members of the religion find their way to Christ.
Wilder said that leaving Mormonism is a challenging process since it can lead to "losing everything," such as jobs, financial security, relationships, families, friends and even marriages.
He describes himself as a "seed planter who is called to scatter seeds" and urged other Christians to share the Good News to the lost as well, remembering the patience of the Baptist pastor who shared the faith to him.
"The fact that it took 19 years for me to finally hear the Gospel is a sad reality. We want to encourage the body of Christ to be loving and truthful witnesses of the Gospel because it is life-changing," he concluded.
Wilder detailed the story of his redemption through his book, "Passport to Heaven: The True Story of a Zealous Mormon Missionary Who Discovers the Jesus He Never Knew."
