Although people are sinners and have been continually hostile toward God, he loved us sinners so much that he gave us his son (Jn 3:16). The son of God bore the cross on our behalf (Jn 1:29) and now he lives within us (Gal 2:20). Jesus taught us to love our enemies (Mt 5:44) and to forgive others their sins (Mt 6:14-15). People who believe these words of Jesus and put them into practice are true believers. Those who refuse to act upon Jesus’ words are not believers at all. Anyone who strays from Jesus’ teachings is acting according to his or her own personal thoughts, opinions, and judgments.
The contents of the 66 books of the Bible can be divided into history, teaching, prophecy, and fulfillment.
Biblical history can be divided into several time periods that lead up to today. The period of the judges followed the time of Adam, Noah, Moses (Exodus), and Joshua (the entry into the land of Canaan). The period of the judges was followed by the period of the kings and prophets, the period of the gospel of heaven, during which the Old Testament was fulfilled, and the period of the epistles written by Jesus’ apostles. Now is the time the New Testament is being fulfilled – the period of Revelation. Now is the time of judgment when the good grain is separated from the weeds. Those who believe the word are separated from those who do not believe it (Mt 13:24-30, 36-43, Mt 25).
It is not by human standards that groups of people are judged as being orthodox or heretical (cult members). The only standard that should distinguish orthodoxy from heresy is the Bible. Present-day churches are not orthodox; they are merely holding onto their traditions. The Jewish people (the Pharisees and teachers of the law) stigmatized Jesus as a cult leader and ended up killing him (1Th 2:15; Mt 23:29-35). Was Jesus, who preached the revealed word of God (Jn 14:10, 24), a true cult leader? The Jewish people judged Jesus and killed him using their own standards and opinions, which deviated from the Bible (Ac 7:51-54; Mt 27). Pontius Pilate, on the other, realized that Jesus was innocent (Mt 27:24).
Although Shinchonji (SCJ) proclaims only the revealed word of God, a certain person has been calling SCJ a cult. At one point I gave that person 40 questions about the Bible and asked him to answer them and explain. Now, although it has been a few years, I have not received any response. Yet, he is still claiming that SCJ is a cult. Just as Jesus, his disciples, and the prophets of old were denounced as heretics, SCJ is also being denounced as a cult. The New Testament indicates that, at the end of the age, all churches will belong to demons, and the pastors and congregation members of those churches will not even realize that they have united with Satan (Rev 17, 18, and Rev 13). In the midst of such a situation, only believers that are sealed with the word and that belong to the promised twelve tribes of the New Testament will become God’s kingdom and priests (Rev 7, Rev 14). Let us speak of what is written in the Bible and answer only according to the Bible. Have those who persecuted SCJ ever willingly accepted our demand for a serious conversation?
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