Dear reader,
The Gospel (from the old English Godspell or Good News) is the heart and light of the New Testament revelation from Christ.
¨I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.¨ Is. 49:6 (cf. Lk. 2:32).
As we write, people in different countries are reading about the message of Jesus, the forgiveness of sins, a communion with Christ, and God's promise of a new world to come. All kinds of people - plumbers, grandparents, teenagers, farmers, scholars - are experiencing the power behind this message. Jesus, the light of the world, continues to touch lives in our times.
¨It (the Good News) is the power of God for salvation of everyone who believes.¨ Rom. 1:16.
Think about people who come to know this new life and the joy they experience. To paraphrase a friend, ¨The conversion of a sinner is the most exciting miracle of all.¨ Heb. 2:3 calls this ¨a great salvation¨. Jesus himself said that there is great rejoicing in heaven (Lk. 15).
What happens when a person believes this message about the Lord Jesus? According to the written word, they are included ¨in Christ¨ and are sealed with the Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul writes, ¨And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit¨ (Eph. 1:13).
The Lord Jesus explained that this Gospel – God's power unto salvation - would be preached to all the nations even up to the end times (Mt. 24:14). The apostle Paul ordered disciples to persevere in the Gospel (I Cor. 15:1-3). So, we are exhorted to be faithful and proclaim this Gospel until the end.
Why is this point important? It is significant because spiritual entities (angels, Jesus, God) have been giving revelations to final prophets around the world that de-emphasize this message and replace it with a ¨new¨ gospel (a revelation-knowledge of end-time events). They do not deny the Gospel completely, but they replace it with a new one - the leader's revelation-knowledge.
Apocalyptic leaders focus so much on their revelation knowledge that the original Gospel is not emphasized. All their energy is spent spreading the group's new Gospel to the world. Their studies center on the leader's revelation and even proclaim that no one in Christianity can be saved from their sins without it.
In Manhee Lee's book, The Truth Regarding Revelation's Fulfillment, he writes, ¨Those who receive the word of revelation from the new Apostle John, believe it, and obey are freed from their sins¨ (p. 5). ¨Only those who receive the revelation from the new Apostle John are permitted to know Jesus, know the fulfillment, and attain eternal life¨ (p. 29).
Why is this a problem?
First, the revelation in the New Testament from Christ teaches that no messenger or angel can change or modify the original Gospel (Gal. 1:6-9). This means that spirits (angels, Jesus, or God) with revelations that make themselves necessary for salvation are in error.
Apocalyptic leaders reply that they are like Noah in the last days and their revelation-knowledge is the ark. But, the only ark in the New Testament is ¨Christ Jesus¨ and we are supposed to be in him. Col. 3:3 states, ¨For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.¨
Second, knowledge about how Jesus returns to earth does not free people from their sins. In the Christian revelation, redemption/salvation is related to sin in one's life and sin in the world. The remedy is repentance before God and relying on Christ Jesus' work on the cross (i.e. his promise to pay for our sins). Final, world redemption is about sin's presence being destroyed from this world through Christ. Personal redemption is being freed from sin's penalty before God.
Repentance and belief in Christ are the two central pillars of individual-salvation throughout the whole New Testament revelation (Mk. 1:14,15, Lk. 13:3,5, Ac. 17:30, Jn. 3:16,17, Ac. 16:29-31, Rom. 10:9,10). If someone in Shinchonji appears before God in the end, what will be the remedy/saving tool for their personal sins - being sealed by SCJ's revelation or trusting in Christ's death/blood for their sins?
God's voice in Revelation speaks of Christ's death/blood, which redeems mankind on earth (e.g. Rev. 5:9). Those who overcome in the end do so through the blood of the Lamb (Rev. 7:14, Rev. 12:11).
In the written word, the blood of Christ refers to his salvation work for our sins, not revelation-knowledge about the end. Rev. 1:5 reads, ¨To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood.¨ ¨Since we have now been justified through his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him?¨ (Rom. 5:10). ¨In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins¨ (Eph. 1:7a).
In summary, when spirit entities (angels, Jesus, or God) appear to a final prophet and proclaim that God requires believers to know their revelation to be saved, it is a different voice than the one in the written word.
