The name of Jesus

When I previously wrote about Ahn Sahng-Hong stating that Jesus is the only name for salvation, a reader expressed trouble in finding that reference.  Well, here is it so you can see for yourself.  This is from the book The Mystery of God and the Spring of the Water of Life, page 181 (Chapter 12).


He says, "salvation is found in no other name than Jesus, not only at His first coming but even in the last days."

Compare this to what the WMSCOG teaches: "Today, salvation is only given through the name of Christ Ahnsahnghong...."  (from The Savior of Each Age and the New Name) 

I've heard World Mission Society members defend this by saying that since (they believe) Ahnsahnghong and Jesus are the same person, there is no contradiction here.  But it's the name that is important.

They claim that the name of Jesus has expired in this "new age," and the name of Ahnsahnghong is the only one through which salvation is found in these last days.

That is in direct contradiction to their own founder who said that even in the last days, salvation is given only in the name of Jesus.

What does the Bible say?
"Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved."  (Acts 4:12)

Moral vs. Ceremonial Law

I've written before about the list of requirements for salvation, according to the World Mission Society Church of God.  But the more I learn about the WMSCOG, the more I see how inconsistent they are with their teaching and practice.

The WMSCOG says that ALL God's commands must be obeyed in order to gain salvation.

• "Even though this regulation [the veil] seems minor, it cannot be neglected. None of God's commands were instituted meaninglessly. All of the regulations were given to God's people because they are necessary for our salvation and allow us to enter the kingdom of God." (from Fundamental Truths: Veil)
• "There are numerous people in the world who claim to believe in God. However, only those who fully obey God's word can be said to truly believe in God. We often see many people say they believe in God but deny Him by their actions." (from A Hesitating Faith and an Entrusting Faith)
• "Christians must always live according to the word of God. God told us not to add or take away from the words of the Bible because He put all the means for salvation together in the Bible....  Salvation is based on obedience."  (from According to Your Word)

Yet the experiences of myself and my friends show that in practice, they do NOT follow ALL God's commands.  I'm not talking about the ones they say changed with the New Testament, but regular commands for our way of living.  For example, here are a few that we've seen...

• They accept, and even encourage, members pursuing marriage with unbelieving non-members.  However, the Bible says, "Do not be yoked together with unbelievers..." (2 Cor. 6:14).
• They accept a member's divorcing an unbelieving spouse, even though the unbeliever does not wish to divorce.  However, the Bible says, "...if any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her...." (1 Cor. 7:12-13)
• They (at least in the congregations we know) do not preach to certain kinds of people, such as the elderly in nursing homes, the very poor, the mentally handicapped, and those in prison.  However, the Bible says we have a God who is "not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." (2 Pet. 3:9).

I've often wondered why the WMSCOG puts so much emphasis on what we would call the ceremonial law--keeping of days (Sabbath, Passover and Feasts), rituals (footwashing, veil), and traditions (women and men separated during church, timing and order of services), etc.

But the moral law doesn't seem to matter--life choices (like marriage and divorce), behaviors and attitudes (like disdain for certain classes of people).

That's opposite of the mainstream Christian churches who consider the moral law priority, and the ceremonial law unimportant.  No wonder we have such a hard time talking to each other about obedience!  We have radically different ideas of what to obey!  Why is that?

In reading Ahn Sahng-Hong's book, The Mystery of God and the Spring of the Water of Life, I finally realized why.  Here it is, are you ready?....

Ahn Sahng-Hong said that keeping the moral law is not necessary for salvation!  That means he believed you must keep the ceremonial law (such as the Sabbath and the Passover) to be saved.  BUT if you did not keep the moral law (laws against such things as stealing, lying, adultery), even though you'd get in trouble with society, you would still have your salvation.  Those types of sins don't really matter in regards to salvation.  Here's exactly what he said on pages 431-433 (chapter 32),

"As long as we do not break the new covenant, we are set apart from sin.  What then?  Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace?  Not at all.  Although a sin is not taken into account under the new covenant, it may be counted under the law in human society.  In order not to be condemned or punished by society, we ought to observe the old law or the law of the world.  Moreover, we ought to do what the people of the world regard as good, for the sake of the gospel....  

"Moral law is not directly related to salvation.  However, if there were no moral law, the church would be in disorder and the light of the gospel would be hindered from shining in the world.  It is not by keeping the moral law that those who preach the gospel in this world can become God's children and be saved.  Even though they keep all the law, it cannot lead them to the kingdom of heaven but just helps them keep their present status while they live in this world."

Does the World Mission Society Church of God really mean what they preach--that ALL God's commands must be obeyed for salvation?  No.  In this case, they seem to agree in practice with their founder Ahn Sahng-Hong who taught that obedience to the moral law was not required.  In doctrine, though, they disagree with Ahn Sahng-Hong when they teach that all God's word must be fully obeyed.

Easter Thoughts

He is risen!
... He is risen indeed!

While I've spent the last week taking care of my family and visiting with extended family, many thoughts have been running through my head.  Even though Easter is finished now, I'd like to share these thoughts with you.

Some people (like the WMSCOG) will say that Christians must not celebrate "Easter" because it is based on a pagan custom.  Even the name "Easter" is pagan, they say.  I have a couple things to say in response to that.

*  First, Christians are celebrating the resurrection of Jesus, not worshipping an ancient pagan god (or goddess).  Yes, "Resurrection Day" would be a much better name, but in our language today, that is what "Easter" means.  As far as I can find through research, only English and German use a form of the word "Easter" for Resurrection Day.  Most other languages use a form of the word "Passover" for the same holiday.

*  "Easter" was the name of the month that contained the Passover and Resurrection Day holidays.  And that month was apparently named after a goddess, Eostra.  There is only one source for this information, and that's from the 8th century.  You can read about it here.  Many of our months of the year and days of the week (at least in English) are based on mythology.  Does using those names means we are secretly worshipping pagan gods?  If I go to a weekly Bible study on Fridays, am I inadvertently worshipping the goddess of love Freyja (Venus)?  If you go to church on Tuesday nights (like the WMSCOG), are you actually worshipping the god of war Teiwaz (Mars)?  No, of course not.  Likewise, just because the day we remember the Resurrection is sometimes called Easter, that doesn't mean we are worshipping the goddess Eostra (or Ishtar, or Ashtoreth).

*  Meanings of words change as a language develops.  Words that formerly meant one thing now mean another.  Must we rigidly hold on to the old meaning, when the new meaning is clear and prevalent?  Would you insist on saying your friend looks "gay" meaning "merry and lively," when our current society would interpret it as "homosexual"?  No, you'd have a serious misunderstanding, even though the alternate meanings of "gay" are recent enough to still be in the dictionary.  Look up "Easter" in the dictionary--the only meanings listed are about the remembrance of the Resurrection.  That is the meaning of the word now, despite where it may have come from.

*  About the Easter bunny, you can read more about the Easter bunny here.  I consider the Easter bunny similar to Santa Claus--a distraction from the true meaning and purpose of the holiday.  Here's a funny video to make that point: Easter Linebacker.  (It's less than 3 minutes long.  Hope you like it!)

It's interesting to note...  The WMSCOG's keeps the Day of Firstfruits (celebrating the Resurrection) on the same day as the mainstream Christian churches celebrate Easter.  They don't call it Easter, but they celebrate the Resurrection on the same day, and have since 2003 (records are available on their website, watv.org).

In other words, the WMSCOG does celebrate Easter.  They call it by a different name, but it's the same day and the same purpose, the remembrance of the Resurrection of Jesus.

Matthew 28:6-7

"He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.  Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead...."