Biblical Answers to the World Mission Society Church of God

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.--1 John 4:1

Are you or a loved one struggling with this group? Do you need Biblical answers about the World Mission Society Church of God (WMSCoG or CoGWMS), their founder Ahnsahnghong (Ahn Sahng/Sang-Hong) or their current leader "Mother Jerusalem" (a.k.a. "Heavenly Mother God," Zang/Zahng Gil-Jah, or Chung Gil Cha)? Thank you for coming here. I hope my blog helps you. Questions and comments are always welcome.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

An Interesting Comment about Sin

I have been noticing a change in my relationship with my sister over the last couple months. I hope it's a good change... She's been calling more often, a lot really, to say hi and chat and also has gotten back into reading the Bible with me. The World Mission Society Church of God (WMSCOG, or COGWMS, if you'd rather) has somewhat faded into the background. We don't talk about it much at all, which has cut down on the stress, but it's still like a big elephant in the room. We know the disagreement is there and we're just ignoring it for now.

It was our project last summer to read through the Bible beginning to end. Well, the summer got busy and we only made it to about Job. All winter long, she was too busy, so I waited and waited, and now this summer we are back with our reading. It's been nice to be reading the same book and be able to talk about the interesting things we find in God's Holy Book... and we've made a point not to debate about it, just to see what's there.

I was recently talking with my sister after we had each read through the book of Ecclesiastes. And we had a short exchange about a couple verses which I thought revealed something about the WMSCOG view of sin.

We noticed Eccl. 7:20 which says,
For there is not a just man on earth who does good
      And does not sin.

This is not the only verse which tell us there is no one without sin. (If our salvation was based on what we do, how well we obey God, well, we would ALL fail and be lost. That's why we must be saved by our faith in what God has done for us--paying the price Himself for our sin.)

Then we noticed Eccl. 8:5,
He who keeps his command will experience nothing harmful;
      And a wise man’s heart discerns both time and judgment

God's commands were put in place to protect us and help us live a successful life.

After reading these two verses, my sister said...
"So even if we sin, if we are obeying God's command, we will be ok."

Read that again...we can sin and obey God's command at the same time?
How can you sin and obey at the same time?
I think it's because they don't really count ALL of God's commands as necessary for salvation. They say they are ALL necessary, but I think they only focus salvation on the ones that are visible on the outside--attending the feasts, the veil, tithing... Not the ones that are internal, like avoiding lust, hate, worry...

What do you think? Have I got it right?

UPDATE--Yes, I was right.  See "Moral vs. Ceremonial Law."

4 comments:

  1. Absolutely agree with you, Genny! If I am reading your sister correctly "So even if we sin (lust, hate, worry), if we are obeying God's command (attending the feasts, the veil, tithing), we will be ok." No offence though . . .

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  2. No offense taken. Thanks for the insight, Edmond. They seem to think only *some* of God's commands must be obeyed (even though they claim that *all* must be obeyed).

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  3. Aroon here, in one of the sermons in COG, the pastor actually said that if you lust, commit adultery, you do not get heaven, even if you observe passover and their feasts..

    Now as for me, I would like to believe that I am a good guy, as nice as the gentleman who walks his dog in the garden or works two shifts to support his family. But, then even I have sexual fantasies or flirt with beautiful girls. But that does not mean,I do not have control and go around outraging a girl's modesty. I also agree that that I am young, may be when I am 40 up or so, these things would be in the backburner and I would be more interested in looking after my kids and my family rather than indulge in such frivolous thoughts. But the question is do I go to hell for flirting with girls now? This is just lust, there are other emotions like anger, jealousy..try as we might, we cannot remove it totally out of our system, we do overreact, it is just about controlling them..don't you think so? I dint mind to be offensive Genny just wanted to know I am like so many billion people out there...

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  4. You are totally right, Aroon. We can't remove it out of our system. It is impossible to be completely perfect all the time. That is why we will *never* be worthy on our own to enter heaven. That is why it is only by the grace of God that we will be saved. But God won't force His grace on you. It's up to you to accept it. We accept that grace when we accept that Jesus paid the price for our sins through His death and resurrection.

    It's important that we try to live a life pleasing God, but that's not what gets us salvation. God knows our nature, and He knows our hearts. He knows how we love Him even when we fail to act the right way.

    And by the way, even when you get closer to 40 and beyond, there are still struggles with emotions and our thought life. We can't escape these hidden sins just by getting older. I can tell you by experience. ;)

    Thank you for writing. I'm so glad for your input!

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