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p.3 The Jesus of the Way and their Other Unusual Doctrines As Paul stated “For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted--you may well put up with it!(2 Cor. 11:4) Some put up with the counterfeit quite well. It begins with another Jesus, that has them receive a different spirit which leads to a different gospel. "… I am saying that Jesus Christ is not God, but the Son of God. They are not 'co-eternal, without beginning or end, and co-equal.' Jesus Christ was not literally with God in the beginning… " (Jesus Christ is not God p. 5). Nearly word for word from his associate William Branham. Wierwille’s teachings have been extensively used against the historical Biblical church. Of course he like any false teacher does not teach everything wrong. But there is enough to prevent one from salvation offered through Christ Jesus.Can a Christian believe That Jesus Is Not God and be saved? The answer is no, one must believe in His work and the person of his work correctly. The ways states, We believe the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were “given by inspiration of God,” perfect when originally given. What they don’t tell you is that it is the Aramaic only, (Lamsa’s Aramaic) he claimed some Hebrew and Greek texts have been distorted. It is what the Wierwille interprets it as, for he was looked upon as an apostle. The King James is the Version is most quoted. Wierwille has God telling him no one has understanding, (except for him) Would God say this to any man when we are told to learn of His Word written by the apostles by the Holy Spirit? Jesus constantly addressed the Father as being in heaven, at the same time claiming they are seeing the Father’s works and hearing His words through him as the Son. As Hebrews states he is the express (exact) image of the invisible God. Heb. 1:1-4 “God has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power…” Col. 1:15 “He is the image of the invisible God.” Being the express image , not like Adam was made in the image and likeness, but the exact same and complete image. Unfortunately not all comprehend this. “ the minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God , should shine on them.” (2 Cor. 4:4) Other assorted and absurd doctrines of the Way Consider his statement “Lucifer as the morning star was replaced by Jesus Christ who is now the morning star.”(The Way Magazine, March-April 1979, p. 4) Since the Jesus of the Way was nonexistent, only foreknowledge at the time Lucifer was in heaven, he had to replace Lucifer who fell thousands of years after? Regardless that he had to exist prio,r because he saw, “ Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” (Luke 10:18) He also had a similar doctrine that Branham also had. The Bride of Christ (are adopted believers, these are people without spirits). After Pentecost, the Holy Spirit became available, believers became members of a different Church called the Body of Christ. The Bible makes no distinction like this, both describe the Church; the only entity Christ is the head of. Eph. 4:12-14 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,” Consider the warning of trickery of men Rom 7:4 my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ , that you may be married to another--” Rev. 21:9-10 Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife."1 Cor. 12:27-28 Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.” Communion In the Lord's Supper, the two elements have different purposes. The cup is for our spiritual welfare where a believer receives forgiveness of sins. The Partaking of the bread is for our physical welfare, brings about our physical healing. When a believer ingests the bread believingly, he need never be sick. This is exercising one of the believer's legal rights. This false teaching is among many in the charismatic movement today (that communion heals us). The crucifixion Christ was crucified along with four other men (not two thieves) on an upright pole or tree. Correcting the historical/biblical view, Wierwille wrote, “two on this side and two on that side and Jesus in the midst.' What a great accuracy fromGod's Word then they must have bypassed Jesus and gone around His cross which was really a tree to the second miscalled thief"(Power For Abundant Living , p. 166). If he can count four when there are only two he can certainly subtract two in the godhead to make one. Where are there 4 men crucified in scripture? It’s obvious Wierwille had a math problem, as the Bible states, “Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left .” (Matt 27:38-39) Mark 15:27-28 says the same thing. And so does Luke 23:32-34 “There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death. And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left .” Either: "Two others, (two on) this side, and (two on) that side" (= 4 crucified) Or: "Two others, (one on) this side, and (one on) that side" (= 2 crucified) he changes the words by imposing his own reinterpretation. “on either side" because the word "one" isn't in Greek. Instead he says that the Greek equals "two on this side and two on that side," using his imagination the word "two" was used even though that is not in Greek either. So he is making the same error of adding a word, just as he condemns the translation of doing. Of course, any translator (including you and I) must add a word to make it understandable in English He quotes John 19:32, the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him.” Defining and designating two men, not four. Whatever he disagreed with was subject to change. There is something seriously wrong when someone challenges the basic words written. The Bible is clear, one man was crucified on each side. The Way's beliefs differ on several details on when Jesus was crucified, how long he was dead and what took place: they believe Jesus was crucified on Wednesday (instead of Thursday)and raised three days later on a Saturday before sunset(instead of Sunday morning as Scripture states). Wierwille claimed after Jesus’ death, “for three days and three nights he had no consciousness.”(The Way Magazine , March-April 1977, p. 6.) Contrary to this, the Bible speaks of his going to hades. Eph. 4:8-11"When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men." (Now this, "He ascended"--what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth ? He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)” I fully understand how these scriptures are hard to believe or understand when you have a Jesus who is just a man. 1 Peter 3:18-20 “ being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit , by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison,who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah.” These do answer many of the doubts Wierwille inserted into his interpretation to teach his students. Jesus died in the flesh but stayed alive in his Spirit seems to qualify. “The Word of God says that Jesus Christ was dead for 72 hours. How could Jesus Christ be God for God cannot die?” (Wierwille, Jesus Christ Is Not God, p. 76). Correct, God cannot die. It says he gave his body to die, not his Spirit, death is the separation of the spirit from the body. Great is the mystery of Godliness, that God was made known in the flesh! A common Jewish expression was used for day, Jesus said on the third day. Jesus made it clear numerous times to his disciples that he will rise on the third day , not the fourth, speaking of destroying this temple (speaking of his body) in three days I will raise it”(John 2:19), speaking of the temple of His body. V.22 “ Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.” That he has the power to bring himself back to life (his humanity) which would be impossible if he was unconscious as Wierwille taught everyone. Wierwille had a conflict with the prophecy Jesus spoke of, as well as Paul. Jesus said he would raise on the third day, even Paul in his gospel presentation afterwards says he was raised on the 3 rd day (1 Cor.15:4). Jesus’ own words were fulfilled by the event. He contradicted the Word because he lacked knowledge of Judaism, on both days and hours. In Judaism any part of a whole day was counted as a complete day. Matt 16:21 “From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.” The third day for his resurrection is used by Jesus 7 times Mt.17:23, 20:19; Mk.9:31,10:34; Lk.9:32,18:33, 24:7. This is what the people heard from him and understood (Mt.27:64; lk.24:21,24:46 Acts 10:40) The when? Luke 23:54-55 “the Sabbath drew near.” The Jewish day began in the evening at sunset. Mark 15:42 the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath ” the Sabbath being Friday evening to Saturday eve. The bible specifically says the Sabbath was going to commence (Friday night) so they took Jesus down from the cross. Which means it was on Thursday, not a Wednesday. Scripture describes Jesus as so weak that he was no longer able to carry His crossbeam. As a result, the Roman soldiers forced Simon of Cyrene. He also taught Jesus was crucified not on the traditional T-shaped cross of the Romans, but rather a stake or the trunk of a tree, just like Jehovah's Witnesses. A tree (being just a stake) with no other wood that would be carried would have to be near 10 ft. to fit into the ground and be stable, instead of a 5-6 ft. crossbeam (Matthew 27:32; Mark 15:21; Luke 23:26). It would be extremely heavy. Faith Wierwille insisted there was no faith in the Old Testament, nor in the Gospels. " Absolutely nobody could have faith until Jesus Christ made faith available" (Victor Wierwille, The New, Dynamic Church 1971, p. 116.) Heb 11:4 By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain,Heb 11:5By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death,Heb 11:7By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his householdHeb 11:8By faith Abraham obeyedHeb 11:1bBy faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten sonHeb 11:23By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents,Heb 11:27By faith he forsookHeb 11:28By faith he kept the PassoverHeb 11:29 By faith they passed through the Red Sea These words of Scripture; these description of saints become meaningless as Wierwille said, “ If we read about faith in the Old Testament, the Gospels, Acts or even in Hebrews chapter 11,"we are simply reading an error in translation." God speaks of those who are faithful, over 30 times in the Old Testament, you can’t be faithful without faith .” Deut. 32:20 The Lord was angered and said “For they are a perverse generation, Children in whom is no faith.”That would include Moses, Joshua and Caleb if it meant no men have faith as ‘the Way’ taught; but it doesn’t. Hab. 2:4 "Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; But the just shall live by his faith .” The same verse is quoted by Paul in Rom.1:17 and Gal.3:11 (as well as in Heb.11:38) The way teaches, there was no faith until The law had to be entirely fulfilled which took place at Pentecost. Absolutely nobody could have faith until Jesus Christ made faith available" In the New Testament many showed faith before Pentecost, Matt 9:2 “When Jesus saw their faith; thewoman with the issue of blood Matt 9:22 “ Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well” and what of Jesus instructing his followers“if you have faith as a mustard seed,Matt 17:20) is that something would they would only have later on? And what of the CenturionLuke 7:6-10who sent friends to Him, saying to Him, "Lord, do not trouble Yourself, for I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof.”v.9 “When Jesus heard these things, He marveled at him, and turned around and said to the crowd that followed Him, "I say to you, I have not found such great faith , not even in Israel!" This illustrates how Wierwille purposely misunderstood and misinterpreted the bible; he was completely wrong on so many core teachings. Water baptism ignored The Way taught that water baptism is not needed in the church era. That it was for Israel only and ended with John the Baptist and at Pentecost. The reference to baptism and the Trinity in Matthew 28:18-19, the Way claims, was probably not in the original text. Other references in the New Testament to baptism are also rejected. On Pentecost, baptism with Holy Spirit replaced water baptism for members of the Body of Christ, even though the Bible clearly teaches those who believe are to be baptized after Pentecost (Acts 2:41). Philip and eunuch Acts 8:31; Paul in Acts 9:18;22:16; the Gentiles in Acts 10:47 Acts 16:15;33; 18:8; 19:5. Not that this discounts spirit baptism of 1 Cor.12:13, that all believers enjoy. The founder of the Way International stated “Many professing Christians have been taught to “praise Jesus.” http://www.thewayinternational.com/praising-god-not-jesus/ which is wrong. The Bible does indeed teach that Jesus Christ is to be praised, thanked and addressed in prayer. Eph. 1:5-6 We are adopted as sons by Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved .” Eph. 1:12-13 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory .” Paul writes 1 Tim. 1:12 “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord , who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service.” In Acts 7:55-60 Stephen “full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, he then tells everyone what he seeing "Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!" they take him out of the city and stone him. Why? V.59 “Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit ." Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not charge them with this sin." And when he had said this, he fell asleep.” That is prayer to Jesus in heaven, Stephen understood he would enter heaven and be with Jesus. Misunderstanding Genesis He taught, that when we understand Genesis correctly we will know of Prehistoric man existing during the time of a first earth, which may have lasted for trillions of years prior to it "became without form and void." The creation of man as we know him took place after the second earth was brought into being. This was Branham’s teaching along with some adjustments, such as The Way teaches that the very first sin on Earth was Eve’s lesbian relationship with the devil (William Branham’s serpent seed teaching of Eve.) Man was created as a tripartite being. God formedman's body, made his soul, and createdhis spirit. Man sinned by choosing to let his bodily senses rule his mind instead of receiving divine communications and being ruled by the spirit within him. Man lost his spirit and reverted to being only a body and soul creature. By so doing, Adam transferred his legal rights to rule the world to Satan. He also suffered the loss of fellowship with God which can only take place through the spirit which he lost when he sinned. Sin, therefore, consists mainly of choosing the wrong option and thereby forfeiting legal rights and losing the ability to have fellowship with God. He taught Adam being sinless, having spirit could communicate with God; but not after he sinned. But what of God speaking to Adam (and others) or Adam speaking to God after his sin? Gen. 3:9 the LORD God called to Adam.” Gen. 3:13 the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate. Even Abel the first murderer God spoke to Gen 4:6-7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it ." And what of God speaking to Abraham, to Moses and the prophets? Wierwille could not even get the obvious right. How did they or anyone else have a conversation with God without Gods spirit in man? Because man has a spirit, it was not taken away at the fall. Death and the believer The Way teaches, when a Christian dies, he goes to hades, the grave. The way taught the Believer's soul does not go to heaven to be with Christ, that this is a doctrine inspired by Satan. The time from death to resurrection is a time of great void for the believer. Believers wait the future resurrection when their bodies, souls, and spirits will be reunited to live again, this similar to the cultic soul sleep doctrine. The Way teaches there is no conscious existence after death giving their people no hope or comfort as the bible does in 2 Cor. 5:8; 12:2-4; Phil. 1:23-24; 1 Pet. 4:14; 5:10. That when believers die they do not go immediately to be with God or Jesus who are in heaven. Rather, they await the future resurrection when their bodies, souls, and spirits will be reunited to live again. This is not accurate teaching, in fact it challenges the Word of God, and is saying that Paul’s teaching is from satan. For he taught to be absent from the body (at death) is to be present with the Lord (in heaven where he is). 2 Cor. 5:8 “We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.” What exactly is absent from the body that dies? The soul/ spirit. This is the hope for all believers because paradise was taken from under the earth and is now in heaven (Rev.2:7). James 3:1 “ For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” Yet he taught the 144,000 go to heaven just like the Jehovah's Witnesses, which shows those who are paying attention that he borrowed doctrines from other cults. The issue of salvation While most cult teachers were outside the church Wierwille was inside, making disciples after himself. We see many of his teachings also found in the cults. His steps to salvation that one must take are in Romans 10:9: “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.” Certainly this relates to what Paul said in 1 Cor.15:1-4 Wierwille said, If the natural man of body and soul will simply believe that God raised Jesus and confess him with his mouth, "the Word says that you are saved." While we may agree with him of an instantaneous change, the problem is who is the person Jesus is that you are confessing as Lord? The conclusion of ‘the Way and its teachings’ In the mid-1970's, Mr. Wierville's movement found itself in controversy with apologists (Walter Martin in particular) who charged the group with false teaching and ''mind control'' of its youth. There was subtle use of words over and over like ‘advance’, ‘deeper’ to convince people he was leading them into profound teaching. That this mystery has been understood by the apostle Paul is revealed https://archive.org/details/OpeningOfTheAdvancedClass1983 The third and current president is Rosalie F. Rivenbark after Craig Martindale resigned. If all the cults right, Jesus Christ is just a man, and those who rightly divide the word in the Bible as literal for 2,000 years are not. Then Wierwille has become as Joseph Smith restoring the church. The Bibles statements of Jesus being deity are just as clear those on his humanity, yet him being a man is far easier to accept because he was physically there present among the people. Scriptures that pertain to his preexistence are abundant and clear if one is open to hearing what Jesus says of himself and what the apostles say of him. But the Way retranslated passages that clarify Christ’s deity, regardless of their emphatic denials, ‘The Way’s’ Aramaic Interlinear is said to support the accurate readings of these verses, contradicting Wierwille’s teachings. Rev 4:11"You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created." If the preceding scriptures say Jesus created all things and then Revelation says the Lord did, than the biblical conclusion is? isa.9:6 Heb.1 all of it, Zech. 12:10; Jer.23:5-6. 1 Jn.5:7 Jn.11-3 ,10:30 , Col.1:19, 2:6, and 1 cor.10:3-4 , Rev.1:13,17 and about 50 other scriptures can be cited. yes he is a man, but he is also what all that the scriptures say that he is God. if you don't believe them maybe you should cut them out of your Bible. It becomes deeply problematic when someone comes along who is unsaved, denying the Lord of glory, saying God said to them the opposite reading the Bible yet overlooking the passages that do not whisper but speak loudly to all who will listen that Jesus Christ IS GOD in the flesh. 1 Tim 3:16 God was manifested in the flesh, (KJV) though many Bibles translate this as ‘he’ appeared in the flesh, we know whom the He is.As most commentators who know the Greek agree it was when the Son of God came forth from the Father “He was manifested in the flesh;” “the Word was made flesh”, his incarnation as Emmanuel. 1 John 3:5-6 “And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin”V:8 “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.”(same is said in 1Tim.3:16)who can destroy the devils works except God himself 1 John 1:2 “eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us” 1 John 4:15-16 “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.”Are we to believe that if you confess Jesus as a special human God will indwell you? 1 John 5:11-13 “ And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.” This is the Bibles revelation, not mans. I hope those who read this deal with it better than Wierwille did, or can at least be honest and say you don't believe what is written, but don’t say you’re a Christian. |
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