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 The blood of Jesus would be a sinner's blood if He is only a man.  Are you claiming then that your Church-Iglesia ni Cristo was purchased by a sinner's blood?
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Redeemed by a sinners blood?


Letter to the Editor:
PASUGO, March 1997, p.2

I BELONG TO a group which teaches that it is enough to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ in order to be saved.  I wrote for clarification about your doctrines because there is so much confusion these days resulting in the rise of many religions with different teachings. My questions are as follows:

1. Jesus said "I will build my Church" (Mt 16:18). This Church, according to one of your members is the Iglesia Cristo. As I have known, your founder was Felix Manalo. If this is the case, then your Church is false because there would be two persons who built it. Who really built your Church, the Lord Jesus Christ or Felix Manalo?

2, You believe that Christ is only a man and not God. In Romans 3:4 it says "Let God be true, and but every man a liar,"   If Christ is only a man, then He is a liar.  What a blasphemy! Jesus is the Way and the Savior, but how could a liar save?  The blood of Jesus would be a sinner's blood if He is only a man.  Acts 20:28 (Lamsa) states that the Church of Christ was purchased by His own blood.  Are you claiming then that your Church was purchased by a sinner's blood?

Marlon Trumpo
Apayao, Philippines

Editor's reply:

We never preach that Brother Felix Y. Manalo is the founder of the Iglesia ni Cristo. It was Christ who founded the Church. The Holy Scriptures teach that it is the Lord Jesus Christ who built His Church, cared for it, and gave up His life for it by shedding His own blood (cf. Mt. 16:18; Eph. 5:29, 25; Acts 20:28, Lamsa). In God’s sight, Christ and His Church comprise the one new man; Christ is the head and the Church is His body (cf. Eph. 2:15; Col. 1:18).

     We must remember that the Church founded by Christ in the first century fell in the way of apostasy. Thus, Christ had to reestablish His Church. He prophesied about His other sheep who were not yet called during His public ministry (cf. Jn. 10:16) but who would listen to His voice and become a flock or Church of Christ (cf. Acts 20:28, Lamsa).

     That prophecy found its fulfillment in the Iglesia ni Cristo that reemerged in the Philippines in 1914.

     Christ did not personally descend from heaven to reestablish His Church. By means of the chosen messenger, Christ’s voice was heard by His other sheep (cf. Lk. 10:16; Jn. 13:20). The Iglesia ni Cristo believes that God’s chosen messenger in these last days is Brother Felix Y. Manalo the fulfillment of God’s prophecies concerning the one whom He has called from the ends of the earth or in these last days (cf. Is. 41:9-10). He is God’s messenger not the Church’s founder commissioned to preach the Church of Christ.

     We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is a man as He Himself declared (cf. Jn. 8:40). This truth was affirmed by His apostles (I Tim. 2:5; Acts 2:22; Mt. 1:18). But never do we preach that Christ is a mere man (with the perceived derogatory connotation), for, unlike all men who are by nature sinful (cf. Rom. 3:23), He did not sin:

     “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. ‘He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth’.” (I Pt. 2:21-22, New International Version)

     Yet, this attribute does not elevate Christ to the position of God. He is without sin not because He is God but because He was sanctified by God:

     “Do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming’, because I said, ‘I am the Son of God?’” (Jn. 10:36, New King James Version)

     Hence, the blood of Christ is not a sinner’s blood but is the atoning sacrifice which has purged man’s conscience from dead works so that man may serve the living God (cf. Heb. 9:14).  

___________________

Bible Study Suggestion: If you have further questions, please feel free to visit the Iglesia ni Cristo congregation nearest you. A minister or an evangelical worker would be happy to answer any biblical question you have in mind.

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