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Iglesia Ni christo - Is it, or is it not Christ's church?

"Finally, we affirm that in spite of the high regard that we have of the person of Christ, that in spite of the many attributes that He possesses, all of them were given to Him by God which which set Him as a unique human being, Jesus Christ is a man and not God...." (Bienvenido C. Santiago, "Is Jesus Christ Called 'God' In John 1:1?"), Pasugo/June 1995 issue p. 12.)

According to INC he is not the Messiah spoken of in the Old Testament that is to be Yahweh and man. Therefore there is no incarnation, a fundamental teaching of the doctrine of Christ.

They say “outside the Church of Christ no one can be considered a true believer.'' (PASUGO, September/October p.9 1981).

Which means their church ONLY. In other words you must enter their church to be saved, to arrive at this they twist the Scripture to make the church organization the savior, as Christ.

The Bible teaches that people must be in Christ to be saved. And to be in Christ they must believe whop he is and the gospel he gave.  He gives all who believe in him as God, the Holy Spirit to teach us the truth.

“Christ and the Apostles are united in teaching how many and who is the real God. Similar to other true Christians, according to Apostle Paul, there is only one God, the Father—not the Son and more so not the Holy Spirit. The Apostles also did not teach that there is one God who has three personas who are also Gods. ... It [Trinity] is not found in the Holy Scriptures or the Bible, and if [Catholic] priests ever use the Bible to prove this teaching of theirs, all are based only on suppositions and presumptions.” (Pasugo November 1968)

The fact is neither is the church of Christ found in Scripture as they teach. They use Romans 16:16 “The churches of Christ salute you.” The exact phrase found in the Bible is--plural, not singular (as in them only). Paul is referring to a collection of local churches— he usually named them by the city they were located in. Iglesia changes this to mean their church alone. This is the kind of Scripture twisting one will hear from their ordained ministers to make them alone, the church the way of salvation.

Iglesia Ni Cristo believes Jesus is only a man, God's highest creation, they concentrate on the certain Scriptures of his humanity and disregard HIS DEITY, which means THERE IS NO INCARNATION (Immanuel- God with us). They are Unitarian, in that the Father only is God.

The Word had the quality of God, not his essence. Their insistence using the explanation that Jesus Christ was “only man” (tao lamang). He was exalted by God through special gifts and graces. This includes him as being Saviour, Redeemer, Lord, and can even called Son of God, which shows they do not understand the Scripture. For God alone is savior.

Why does the Bible say John 6:62 "What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? Jn. 8:23 "You are from beneath, I am from above, you are of this world ,I am not of this world." (Jn3:31) 1 Cor.15:47 "the first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second man is the Lord from heaven. Showing the origin of the Son coming from above.

There is a problem with Iglesia Ni Cristo calling themselves the church of Christ, because to them Jesus is not supposed to be God.

In Rev.1:20 says Christ holds the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars and the messengers (angels) of the seven churches in his hand showing his control over all the churches from heaven.

Eph. 5:23 tells us Christ is head of the church; Vs. 24, the church is subject to Christ.

The church is also called "the church of God "and Christ throughout the New Testament (Acts 20:28; at Corinth, 1 Cor. 1:2 also1 Cor. 10:32. Gal.1:13; Titus 3:5.) “church of the living God” (1 Tim. 3:15)

In fact when one reads 1 Tim. 3:15-16 through in context “the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: “God was manifested in the flesh

It completely refutes their view that Jesus is a creature which they willfully, adamantly and even angrily teach the public and their people.

The true church is in “in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (1Thess 1:1) Both.

A few key willfully neglected verses

2 Cor. 5:19 “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself"

“It pleased the Father that in Him should dwell all the fullness.” (Col.1:19, Col.2:9 “For in him dwells (lives) the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (bodily form).

 What they do not understand is that we are not saying the human being is God but that his life within, was God, he had two natures human and deity which is what they neglect and miss the whole point of the incarnation thus forfeiting salvation.

I Jn. 5:20 “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.

Does Christ own the church? Can he be the head of a church that denies him as Iglesia Ni Cristo does?

Paul quotes Joel 2:32 about Yahweh and applies it to Jesus in Rom. 10:13 For "whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved." The name of the LORD, Jesus’ name means God is salvation.

John the apostle writes “But these are written, that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you might have life through his name” (Jn. 20:31). Just as it says in acts 4:12 there is only one name given for salvation. For one to have life that the Son offers they must believe Jesus is the Son in the correct manner.

This denial of Christ’s deity, (the son being sent from Heaven) is a core doctrine of the Iglesia, Scripture teaches us that we are to worship the Lord God only. The Father instructs the angels. Heb 1:6 But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, (the resurrection) He says: "Let all the angels of God worship Him."

John wrote, "Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also." To deny that Jesus is God is the same as denying that the Father is God. We are honor and worship the Son as we do the Father because he is God, just as the Father is God.

According to Iglesia Ni Cristo, Jesus is a man, but is still to be worshiped. (Beliefs and Practices.) According to the Bible if he is only man they are committing idolatry, for only God is to be worshipped.

 

 

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