. How could the Iglesia ni Cristo be the true Church of Christ established by Christ, when it was Felix Manalo who pioneered the Iglesia ni Cristo in the Philippines in 1914? .

Christ's other sheep

Amy Guadalupe Wrote:

I AM A member of a Bible ministry in our place. As I often watch your television program Ang Iglesia ni Cristo, I have observed that you emphasize that it is only your Church which Christ will save while the rest are subject to perdition. Isn't this selfishness?

You teach that yours is the true Church of Christ established by Christ. How could this be true when it was Felix Manalo who pioneered the Iglesia ni Cristo in the Philippines in 1914?

How sure are you in saying that the Far East mentioned in the Bible refers to the Philippines when the Far East is composed of many countries like Japan, Korea, China, etc.  Even if we accept that the fulfillment of the prophecy is the Philippines, there were already other churches or religions established in this country prior to 1914 like the Catholic Church, Aglipayan Church, and the Protestant denominations.

Editor's reply:

The doctrine that membership in the Church of Christ is necessary for salvation, is far from being a selfish claim, as it is a biblical truth. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself declared:

“I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved.” (Jn. 10:9, NKJV)

Man, therefore, must enter Christ to be saved. Those who have entered in Him find themselves in the fold or flock which is the Church of Christ (cf. Jn. 10:7, 9, REB; Acts 20:28, Lamsa Translation). Christ is the Savior of His Church because it is His body of which He is the head (cf. Col. 1:18; Eph. 5:23). The Bible even testifies that God will judge those outside the true Church (cf. I Cor. 5:12-13, NIV).

It was the Lord Jesus Christ—and not Brother Felix Y. Manalo—who established the Churchof Christ in the Philippines as testified to by the prophecy of the Savior:

“And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.” (Jn. 10:16, NKV)

Christ prophesied about His other sheep which were not yet in the fold then. These other sheep of Christ will be made one flock or Church by listening to His voice. Thus, the time of their calling is in the distant future and not during Christ’s earthly ministry (cf. Jn. 10:16, Easy-to-Read New Testament). They comprise the third group of people yet to be called into the Church (cf. Acts 2:39). The first two groups were the Jews and the Gentiles (cf. Rom.9:24) who became members of the first-century Church of Christ (cf. Gal. 1:22; Rom. 16:4, 16, Lamsa Translation). On the other hand, the third group will come from distant times and places (cf. Acts 2:39, Rieu Version).

The “distant times” when Christ’s other sheep were to emerge is also called by Prophet Isaiah as the ends of the earth (cf. Is. 43:5-6), the time when the end of the world is near and which would be heralded by signs, among which is the war of all nations that will be rumored all over the world (cf. Is. 34:1-2; Mt. 24:33, 6-7). This war is the First World War that broke out on July 27, 1914 (cf. The Story of the Great War, vol. 3, p. 923), the same date when the Iglesia ni Cristo was registered with the Philippine government.

The distant places where the sons and daughters of God who are the other sheep of Christ will emerge is the Far East (cf. Is. 43:5, Moffat Translation). The nation from where they would originate consists of islands (cf. Is. 42:10, NIV). The Philippines where the Iglesia ni Cristo reemerged in 1914 is a country that stands almost at the geographical center of theFar East and consists of over 7,100 islands and islets (cf. Asia and the Philippines, p. 169; Encyclopedia Britannica, vol. 25, p. 537).

The Iglesia ni Cristo did not reemerge in any other country in the Far East, like Japan,Korea, or Thailand but in the Philippines as prophesied. Religions that sprouted before the year 1914 are not themselves the fulfillment of the biblical prophecy regarding the emergence of the “sons and daughters” of God or the “other sheep” of Christ.

However, Christ did not have to descend from heaven to preach to His other sheep. Instead, he sent someone to do the function of preaching the gospel. Listening to the one whom Christ has sent, or to his messenger, is equivalent to listening to His voice (cf. Lk. 10:16; Jn13:20).

The messenger of God in these last days who preached the gospel of Christ that resulted in the reemergence of the Iglesia ni Cristo is Brother Felix Y. Manalo. He was the Lord’s instrument responsible for the reemergence of the Church of Christ as prophesied but is never the Church’s founder as others have mistakenly thought.

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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. For the latest Worship Service Directory of Iglesia ni Cristo Locales and Congregations outside the Philippines, please visit www.iglesianicristoworshipservice.com 

Homosexual relationships are such an abomination before God that death penalty is imposed and offenders will not inherit the kingdom of God.

On homosexual relationship
(an unholy union)

Imelda Gasarin Wrote:

ONCE I TUNED in to a local television program and was surprised with the feature of this Catholic priest who is living with a man. This particular priest, in his sermons, is very vocal in his stand that marriage of couples of the same sex is not wrong. He reasoned out that the Bible does not explicitly prohibit such union. I want to know, if the Scriptures do not forbid the union of people of the same sex?  Does it mean that people can get into homosexual relationships without committing sin?

Editor's reply:

God does not allow homosexual unions. From the very beginning, God had instituted marriage for the union of a man and a woman—and not for two individuals who belong to the same sex. Adam and Eve—the first man and woman—were the first ones united by God through marriage.

According to God’s design, men and women need each other (cf. I Cor. 11:11).

¹¹ But in the Lord the woman needs the man, and the man needs the woman. (I Cor.11:11, Easy to Read Version)).

Apostle Paul said that every man should have his own wife and every woman should have her own husband:

“But because there is so much immorality, every man should have his own wife, and every woman should have her own husband.” (I Cor. 7:2, Today’s English Version)

The Bible strictly teaches that it is unnatural and sinful for women to have lustful affection and passion and worse, sexual relationship, with one another. Males having passion with other males are also denounced:

 “For this reason God gave them over and abandoned them to vile affections and degrading passions. For their women exchanged their natural function for an unnatural and abnormal one,

“And the men also turned from natural relations with women and were set ablaze (burning out, consumed) with lust for one another—men committing shameful acts with men and suffering in their own bodies and personalities the inevitable consequences and penalty of their wrong-doing and going astray, which was [their] fitting retribution.

“And so, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God or approve of Him or consider Him worth the knowing, God gave them over to a base and condemned mind to do things not proper or decent but loathsome.” (Rom. 1:26-28, Amplified Bible)

Homosexual relationships are such an abomination before God that death penalty was imposed upon offenders during Moses’ time (cf. Lev. 20:13).

¹³ “If a man has sexual relations with another man as with a woman, they have committed a terrible sin. They must be put to death. They are responsible for their own death. (Lev. 20:13, ERV)

In the Christian era, God had decreed that those who engage in such abominable relationships will not inherit His kingdom:

“Do you not know that the unrighteous and the wrongdoers will not inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived (misled): neither the impure and immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor those who participate in homosexuality,…will inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God.” (I Cor. 6:9, 10, Amplified Bible)

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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. For the latest Worship Service Directory of Iglesia ni Cristo Locales and Congregations outside the Philippines, please visit www.iglesianicristoworshipservice.com