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."

The First and the Last

Rev. 22:13
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.

I was thinking about the Sabbath. There is more to write about it, another day, but today I want to share this thought....

The last (seventh) day of the week is the traditional Sabbath, and Jesus Christ is Lord of the Sabbath. (Matt. 12:8)

Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week, often called the Lord's Day. (Matt. 28:1, Rev. 1:10)

Jesus, as the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End of everything, also lays claim to the beginning and end of each week--the first and the last days.

No Other Name Than Jesus

Ahnsahnghong himself wrote in his book, "The Mystery of God and the Spring of the Water of Life," page 181, Chapter 12 (in the Korean/English edition I read):

“Salvation is found in no other name than Jesus, not only at His first coming but even in the last days.”

WAIT A MINUTE!! Ahnsahnghong himself says that Jesus is the only name to call on for salvation, even in the last days?!? But the World Mission Society Church of God’s own website says, “Today, salvation is only given through the name of Christ Ahnsahnghong, and only those who are the witnesses of Christ Ahnsahnghong and pray in His name will be able to enter the kingdom of heaven.” And their church members carefully pray to and call on the name of Ahnsahnghong, not Jesus. They are contradicting their own founder—their own 'god'.

Ahnsahnghong was actually right on with this statement.  Jesus is the only name!
Acts 4:12
Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.