PASUGO: Proof that CHRIST IS GOD!

Originally posted at In Defense of the Church blog

THE IGLESIA NI CRISTO's denial of Jesus' deity is nothing new under the sun.  Their opposition to Christ's deity has long been refuted by the Church Fathers and theologians both Catholics and Protestants in huge volumes of books since the CHURCH of CHRIST affirmed this doctrine in 325 AD. And as a Catholic, I am compelled to share my thoughts on this. We Catholics who love the Lord and His one true Church should never leave their lies and deceitful teachings against our Lord God Jesus Christ unchallenged.

Rejection of Christ's deity was all evident in the Bible itself. It is understandable because, among biblical personages like the prophets and sages, our Jesus Christ is UNIQUE, from Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah none of them ever claimed divinity or God himself 'manifested in the flesh'. And because Christ's claim goes against the Jewish belief in 'ONE GOD', Him being equal with God ~ and God himself makes him answerable to the Law~ The SHEMA ~ therefore He was found guilty of BLASPHEMY~ A MAN making himself GOD ~ deserving DEATH.

"The Jews answered him, 'We are not stoning you for a good work but for blasphemy. You, a MAN, are making yourself GOD.'" -John 10:33 

No doubt, as a PROPHET Jesus was loved by His own people (the Jewish people). However when he was found doing  GOD'S BUSINESS on earth such as FORGIVING sins (God alone can forgive sins Mark 2:7) or BREAKING the SABBATH laws (...the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath (Mat. 12:1-8),  it was problematic for the Jewish authorities, for GOD ALONE is the only one who could forgive sins and not men. And for a pious Jew, braking the Sabbath Law is breaking God's law itself! By breaking the Sabbath law, Jesus was perceived not from God but as an enemy of the Jewish people.

Also very disturbing for the Jewish authorities was His claim of ETERNAL EXISTENCE ('before Abraham came to be I Am'. John 8:58).

And when He was BEFORE THE SANHEDRIN our Lord Jesus Christ then boldly proclaimed the TRUTH about HIM saying: "I AM" the MESSIAH - THE SON OF GOD and "you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven."(Mark 14:62)

To his horror and disgust, the High Priest of the Jewish temple TORE his sacred garments before the tribunal and PRONOUNCED his verdict against Jesus: "What further need have we of witnesses? You have heard the BLASPHEMY. What do you think?" (Mark 14:63-64). And they ALL CONDEMNED Him to DEATH!

AS GOD MANIFESTED IN THE FLESH, He raised up the DEAD, defied laws of nature, and even commanded the sea and the wind and they obeyed (Mk 4:35-41). Deeply disturbed and baffled, His disciples start questioning WHO JESUS WAS: "Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?"  A MAN in appearance yet can COMMAND NATURE and they ABIDE?  

But the greatest thing and I would say, the most scandalous ACT OF LOVE He selflessly performed was when HE SAVED the world through his PASSION and DEATH. For a mere man SAVING mankind from the pit of damnation is not even possible. There is no other Savior but ONLY GOD ~ "I am the LORD, your God, since the land of Egypt; You know no God besides me, and THERE IS NO SAVIOR BUT ME." -Hosea 13:4. And there is no one who could give eternal life BUT God (John 17:2)

Given those Biblical facts above about our Lord Jesus Christ we, therefore, re-affirm what was affirmed in 325 AD that our LORD JESUS is GOD COMING IN THE FLESH (2 John 1:7). He is 100% MAN and 1005 GOD. DIYOS SA KALIKASAN, TAO SA KALAGAYAN!

RECYCLED ARIANISM

Aside from the Jewish authorities, in TIMELINE of Christianity, some few disillusioned people came up with the same recycled REJECTION like the Jewish authorities. Among them was ARIUS, a bishop of Alexandria (Egypt) who denied Jesus co-equal with God the Father, created and thus inferior in essence and nature. Other than Arius were Nontrinitarians such as Theonas, Secundus of Ptolemais, Eusebius of Nicomedia, and Theognis of Nicaea. Their false teachings were all condemned by the Church of Christ ~ the Catholic Church.

So that in 325 AD at the Council of Nicea, the one and only CHURCH of CHRIST which was the CATHOLIC CHURCH defended and condemned the false teachings of Arianism and finally defined and AFFIRMED the official Christian doctrine on JESUS CHRIST the SECOND PERSON of the HOLY TRINITY, true GOD and true MAN - all beautifully summarized in the Nicene Creed.

INC's teachings are hinges into two major doctrines: (1) CHRIST IS NOT GOD - ONLY A MAN and (2) THE ORIGINAL CHURCH of CHRIST (the Catholic Church) APOSTATIZED. Refuting one will make their doctrine collapse. Refuting two will make their man-founded church crumble.

Source: Pasugo.com.ph

Their Pasugo magazine was incorrect: The title should be 'THE BIBLICAL PROOF THAT CHRIST IS GOD'. The teaching of the Iglesia Ni Cristo® founded by Mr. Felix Y. Manalo in 1914 in the Philippines wasn't a secret at all. Manalo's founded church does not have an extensive and scholarly written catechism that is publicly available in print or online like the Catechism of the Catholic Church which was made available for public reading, for evangelization and teachings, for moral and practical guidance. A glimpse of their recycled Arianism can only be read in their official magazine called 'PASUGO' just like what was published online above.

No serious Christian would deny the fact that our Lord Jesus Christ was born a man. It's all there in the Bible. However, Christ being God is deeply problematic to the Jewish authorities and the Iglesia Ni Cristo® preachers.  They failed to discover it. And they refuse to see the Truth. They chose to remain blinded and are leading their own followers to fall on their own pit.

Never in John 8:40 (NKJV) was Jesus DIVINITY denied. His being a man does not deny him being DIVINE.

In fact, on the contrary, the same New King James Version of John Chapter 40:42-58 confirm HIS BEING DIVINE:

Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God...”

“Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”

Jesus claimed eternal EXISTENCE even before Abraham was ~ 'I AM'!

In Hos. 11:9 and Ezek 28:2 (NKJV) were quoted OUT OF CONTEXT. These verses DO NOT apply to Jesus even he was found to be a man. These verses were addressed to mortal men like us, who, by no means were creatures created by God's power and not applied to our Lord Jesus. That's becasue JESUS was NOT CREATED! He is BEGOTTEN UNCREATED Son of God.

You see the parallelism between the Iglesia Ni Cristo's argument and the Jewish people during the time of Christ, both denied Jesus' divine origin because He is a Man in appearance yet making Himself equal with God. 

Therefore let us boldly confess this truth about our Lord Jesus Christ, that He is FULLY HUMAN (John 8:40) and He is FULLY DIVINE (John 1:1). St. John the Evangelist was very consistent with this truth 'Jesus (God) coming in the flesh'! (2 John 1:7)

If John Chapter 8 ended at VERSE 40 then together with the Iglesia Ni Cristo®, we could certainly conclude the same. But the whole chapter 8 NEVER talked about Jesus 'NOT being GOD' but it talks about Jesus, eternal GOD manifested in the flesh (MAN), God - distinct from the Father, in essence, same God with the Father. 

Here is the context in John 8:
Verse 40 - Jesus, a man who told you what He heard from God
Verse 41 - The Jews said God is their "Father"
Verse 42 - Jesus said, if God is their "Father", they should believe Him because He is from God
Verse 44 - Jesus confirms that those who deny Him aren't from God but from the devil.
Verse 45 - Jesus tells the truth and those who deny him (God in the flesh) do not want to listen.
Verse 47 - He who is of God hears Him, the Word of God. He who is not from God denies Him.
Verse 56 - Jesus claimed to see Abraham (Abraham preceded Jesus in the flesh 18 Centuries)
Verse 57 - Jews understood what Jesus meant. So he was questioned 'You're not in your 50s and yet you claimed to have seen Abraham' (who was 1,767 years older)?
Verse 58 - Jesus confirmed to the Jews that BEFORE ABRAHAM WAS "I AM"! Boom!

Are we not supposed to be preaching the TRUTH about our Lord Jesus Christ?  But what the Iglesia Ni Cristo® preachers doing is exactly the opposite.  They twisted the Bible to suit their deceitful teachings and lied about our Lord Jesus Christ.  

In quoting Acts 2:22 (NKJV) these deceivers made it appear to their readers that the Apostle St. Peter was a LIAR.

They put their false understanding of Jesus into the Apostle's thoughts and then made it appears that St. Peter was their witness against Jesus' divinity. 

How could the Apostle Peter denies Jesus' divinity when he deeply knew who JESUS WAS.  And because of his deep faith conviction, he ultimately offered his own life for the sake of the Lord and His Church?!

So that in 2 Peter 1:1 he confessed our Lord JESUS is GOD AND SAVIOR!

"To those who have  obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our GOD AND SAVIOR Jesus Christ"

For thousandth times, the CATHOLIC CHURCH ~ the ONLY TRUE CHURCH OF CHRIST AFFIRMS and DEFENDS this TRUTH. That our LORD JESUS CHRIST is  100% MAN – born of the Blessed Virgin Mother Mary – but NOT a 'man ONLY'!  Matthew 1:18, 20 DOES NOT DENY HIS BEING DIVINE. This verse is still in parallel with the WHOLE BIBLICA TRUTH about our Lord Jesus Christ that HE'S GOD BORN IN THE FLESH! 

A slap in the face, here is Apostle John 1:1 -3 declaring this ultimate Truth!

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."

Apostle John was declaring JESUS was the WORD ~ He was WITH GOD ~ and He was GOD ~ everything was created, without Him, nothing came to be. The WORD - GOD BECAME FLESH and we see His glory! The GLORY of the ONLY BEGOTTEN SON ~ JESUS CHRIST our Lord and Savior God! 

In his Second Letter (1:7) St. John warmed us:

"For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh."

THEREFORE those WHO DO NOT CONFESS GOD coming in the flesh are called  DECEIVERS!

And what shall we do to these "DECEIVERS"?

The Apostle sternly WARNED us of their coming, he said (2 John 1:8-11):

"Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward. 

"Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son.  If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds."

Beware of the "DECEIVERS" Do not take them into your houses and do not greet them! That's the right thing to do!

How could Paul's Letter to the Galatians (4:4) is contextually opposed to the book of the Old Testament (Numbers 23:19) when they were written a thousand years apart?

Copying a phrase from one book and paste it to another phrase from the Bible and to form a sentence is THE WORK OF A DECEIVER!

Again Galatians 4:4 does not deny Jesus' divinity.   The truth about Him being the LOGOS ~ Word of God, God himself who became flesh can never be disproved by quoting Galatians 4:4.

God is TRUTH. Numbers 23:19 says it. God is NOT a man!  We as mortal beings can never be gods.

But GOD can be a MAN as He wishes. He is omnipotent! And when he chose to be incarnated into FLESH, He was still God! Diyos sa kalikasan, Tao sa kalagayan!

The deceivers of faith, they cannot provide a single verse from the Bible that says "JESUS IS NOT GOD". They could only assume He is not God by using verses that say Jesus was born a man!

This is a product of poor theology. That's understandable because none of the INC™ paid ministers is a theologian. With no theology of their own and no book written, their ministers heavily rely on what was written or said by other preachers and theologians during their pamamahayag. Their ministers could only explain their doctrines by demonizing Catholic doctrines. What a deceiver!

From its founder Felix Y. Manalo to his grandson Eduardo V. Manalo, none of them earned a doctorate in the field of theology and yet their copied blasphemous interpretation of the Bible against our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ is the only accepted basis for their "aral" or "doktrina".

"God from God, Light from Light" is what was affirmed by the Church of Christ at the First Council of Nicea in 325 AD. The Iglesia Ni Cristo's misinterpretation of John 8:42 was nothing but intentional deceit for deception. It was twisted so that they may justify their twisted doctrine and blaspheme our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ.

Jesus "proceeded forth and came from God" interpreted as a "beginning" of Christ was really misleading.  It suggests that Christ WAS CREATED.

The Bible is very clear on this issue: that Jesus (Word) was the CREATOR, not creation (All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made -John 1:3)!

These INC™ paid ministers are mocking John's theology of the Logos (Jesus the Word of God) when he said "All things were made through Him (Word), and without Him (Word) nothing was made that was made." (John 1:3) Indeed JESUS THE WORD of GOD was THE CREATOR. Jesus Christ HAS NO BEGINNING, he is THE CREATOR the beginning of everything! 

Watch brother Mario Joseph, a Muslim convert to Catholicism on JESUS - WORD OF GOD (CREATOR vs CREATION)

GOD (THE FATHER) AND JESUS THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA (First and the Last)

In ISAIAH 44:6 (NKJV) says GOD ALONE is the FIRST and the LAST and besides Him, there is NO OTHER!

"Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel,

And his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:

‘I am the First and I am the Last;

Besides Me there is no God."

Another compelling truth about Jesus' divinity was recorded THREE TIMES in the Book of Revelations where He proclaimed HE IS THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA - THE FIRST AND THE LAST!

Rev. 1:8 (NKJV) "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the [b]Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."

Rev. 21:6 (NKJV) "And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts."

Rev. 21:13 (NKJV) "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last."

For the Iglesia Ni Cristo® and nontrinitarian sects, having the Father and the Son as both God makes TWO GODS. Adding the Holy Spirit makes THREE.  While the official teaching of the Church of Christ says there is ONLY ONE GOD and NOT three (read HOLY TRINITY)

"The whole history of salvation is identical with the history of the way and the means by which the one true God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, reveals himself to men "and reconciles and unites with himself those who turn away from sin" -CCC 234 (emphasis mine)

If Christ died, that's because He was 100% HUMAN. Yet that does not deny him being God.

As God, he has the power to lay his life and to claim it back.

“Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.  No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again." -John 10:17-18

Yes, our Lord Jesus Christ is 100% ETERNAL GOD!

He died in the FLESH as he is subjected according to the FLESH "God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh" -Romand 8:3

But Him being in the Flesh is NOT his original nature. HE'S GOD "You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world." -John 8:34

So no one is denying Jesus being human. Similarly, no one denies Him being God.  And when our Lord God, the Alpha and the Omega - the First and the Last will come again to judge the living and the dead, everyone will see Him, even the one who pierced Him! -Revelations 1:7-8

Christ recognizes God the Father as His God (Mark 15:34)! Christ recognizes God the Father as His Father and THEY ARE ONE (John 10:30)  Jews, too, recognize Jesus divinity but rejected it! (John 10:33)

'Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He (Jesus) should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.  I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.  And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.' -John 17:1-5

And it is a blatant LIE to say that God the Father DID NOT recognize Jesus His Son. His baptism, the Father already declared Him His Son His beloved: "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:17) And again during Jesus' transfiguration, God the Father declared the Son: "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear him!" (Matthew 17:5) 

God told us to LISTEN TO JESUS and NOT to paid Ministers of the Iglesia Ni Cristo®! And if we listen to Jesus, we should listen to His original CHURCH He founded. Because His Church is the PILLAR and GROUND of TRUTH! (1 Timothy 3:15) Jesus has NOTHING to do with the Iglesia Ni Cristo® founded by Mr. Felix Y. Manalo in 1914! Do not listen to them.

I cannot find any proof in Isaiah  44:8 that says God DID NOT RECOGNIZE Jesus as God! That verse only proves our belief in ONE GOD while they believe in Three Gods

If the Prophet Isaiah would be alive today, he would have rebuked this Iglesia Ni Cristo® paid minister for LYING! "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel." -Isaiah 7:14

IMMANUEL, according to St. Matthew (1:23) means GOD WITH US! For indeed GOD was BORN to us IN THE FLESH!  God with us ~ Immanuel! (John 1:1; 14)

According to the Bible CHRIST is able to sympathize with us because HE was born LIKE US in everything EXCEPT sin!

"For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin." -Hebrews 4:15

So what's unusual to see Christ "worried" after all he is 100% human? And if God has to be less of human qualities, why is it that God has to REST after creating the entire universe in 6 days? (Genesis 2:2-3)

 In conclusion, the Bible says, 'JESUS THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY AND FOREVER' (Hebrews 13:8)! If Christ is GOD eternally from the beginning, He is God when He was born flesh and He is the same God when He will come again!

CHALLENGE TO THE IGLESIA NI CRISTO® 1914

That's why we shouldn't be wondering why Jesus ate and drink, he was tempted, he cried, he was angry, he suffered, he feared and he died ~ because HE WAS HUMAN LIKE US (born in the flesh) but NEVER in the Bible, he was said to be "NOT GOD"!

As a challenge to all paid ministers of the Iglesia Ni Cristo®, please give us the following exact words/phrase in the Bible.

1. Bible verse that explicitly denies Jesus NOT God.

2. Bible verse that the Father denied Jesus as God.

3. Bible verse that says we should recognize TWO LORDS!

4. Bible verse that says we should worship a MERE MAN aside from God the Father.

5. Bible verse that spells out Felix Y. Manalo as the 'Last Messenger of God in these Last Days."

6. Bible verse that explicitly says 'The Church of Christ will completely apostatize' and that a man from the Philippines will emerge and re-establish His Church!

7. Bible verse that explicitly says the Church would be named "The Iglesia Ni Cristo"

8. Bible verse that mandates Christians to call themselves "Iglesia"

9. Bible verse that says only members of the 'Iglesia Ni Cristo' are saved!

10. Bible verse that says 'The Bible is the sole authority" in matters of faith and morals!