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 The BIBLE-Word of God –
-Versus Errors of-
"New Apostolic Church"
GOD
CHRIST HOLY
SPIRIT
SIN
REDEMPTION
SALVATION
RETRIBUTION
They received the WORD with all
readiness of mind,
and searched the
SCRIPTURES daily, whether those things were so.
Acts 17:11
G O D
The Bible
PERSONALITY
OF THE GODHEAD ... in
the beginning God created the heaven and the earth
(Genesis 1: 1).
He is
God; there is none else beside him (Deuteronomy 4:35). God is a Spirit; and they
that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). For
there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man, Christ Jesus
(I Timothy 2:5).
Go
. . and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19).Jesus was baptized; the Spirit descended; the
Father spoke
(Matthew 3:16-17). Come, let us go down, and there confound their language,
that they may
not understand one another's speech (Genesis 11:7). From the time that it
was, there am I; and
now the Lord God, and his Spirit, has sent me (Isaiah 48:16).
New Apostolic Church
Article of faith #1:
I believe in God the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven
and earth.
The New Apostolic Church takes the historical Christian
belief when speaking about God in their creed of Faith.
J E S U S
C H R I S T
The Bible
o In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God (John 1:1). When, as His
mother, Mary, was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was
found with child of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1: 18).
o Behold,
the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel
(Isaiah 7:14).
o God
was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached
unto the nations, believed on in the world, received up into glory (I Timothy
3:16).
o And
the Word was made 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 (John
1: 14).
o No
man has seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of
the Father, he has declared him (John 1:18).
o And
declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of' holiness,
by the resurrection from the dead (Romans 1:4).
o And
if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain (I Corinthians 15:17). Wherefore,
he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him,
seeing he ever lives to make intercession for them (Hebrews 7:25).
o This
same Jesus . . . shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into
Heaven (Acts 1: 11; cf. John 14:3; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
New Apostolic Church
Article of faith #2:
I believe in Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God,
our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried, entered the
realm of the departed, rose again from the dead, ascended into heaven, and
sit that the right hand of God, the Father Almighty, from whence he shall
return.
Article of faith #4:
I believe that the Lord Jesus rules his church through
living apostles until his return, and that he has
sent them into the world and still sends them with the commission to teach,
to forgive sins in his name and to baptize with water and the Holy Spirit.
H O L Y
S P I R I T
The Bible
§
When the Comforter is come, whom I
will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, he shall
testify of me (John 15:26).
§
When he is come, he will reprove the
world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment (John 16:8).
§
When he, the Spirit of truth, is
come, he will guide you into all truth (John 16:13).
§
The Comforter, who is the Holy
Spirit, he shall teach you all things (John 14:26).
§
His spirit that dwells in you
(Romans 8:11).
§
Be filled with the Spirit
(Ephesians 5:18; see also I Corinthians 3:16; Ephesians 3:16).
§
But you are not in the flesh but
in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man
have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his (Romans 8:9; see also vv.
14, 16).
New Apostolic Church
Article of faith #4:
I believe that the Lord Jesus rules his church through
living apostles until his return, and that he has
sent them into the world and still sends them with the commission to teach,
to forgive sins in his name and to baptize with water and the Holy Spirit.
Article of faith #5:
I believe that all ministers in the Church of Christ are
chosen and ordained into their ministries only by apostles and that all gifts
and powers must come forth out of the apostle ministry; equipped with these,
the community becomes a legible letter of Christ.
Article of faith #8:
I believe that those baptized with water must receive the
Holy Spirit through an apostle, to obtain the childhood in God, whereby they
become incorporated as members in the body of Christ.
When one looks at the articles of the New Apostolic
Creed, we find an exclusive teaching on the Holy Spirit whereby only Apostles
can dispense the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands of a true Apostle,
this is called being “sealed”. The mark of a true Apostle is that
he recognizes God’s chief Apostle and God’s true Apostles, which
are only the Apostles of the New Apostolic Church. The Apostles are chosen by
God and are active only in the New Apostolic Church. In regards to other
Christians being indwelt with the Holy Spirit, this is a comment by the Media
Secretary for the New Apostolic Church, Peter Johanning:
“Our understanding of the Holy Scriptures is that
God gave a “regular” or “safe way of dispensing the Holy
Spirit, e.g. through the apostle’s ministry. But God is almighty, there
might be exceptions, He might give His Spirit to someone who has not come in
contact with His apostles. To our understanding the sealing with the Holy
Spirit is a prerequisite to receive grace on Christ’s return –
“normally”/ ”regularly” it is spent by an apostle,
but there might be exceptions.”
The teaching in
the New Apostolic church is one of exclusivity in regards to how one receives
the Holy Spirit. The New Apostolic Church waffles a bit on the issue of some
of the things that have been done in Church history outside of the NAC and whether the people involved were indwelt with the
Holy Spirit. An example would be Martin Luther where they would admit he was
inspired or prompted by the Holy Spirit but as for being indwelt their
doctrine and creeds would say no.
S I N
The Bible
§
There is none righteous, no, not
one (Romans 3: 1 0).
§
For all have sinned, and come
short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).
§
If we say that we have not sinned,
we make him a liar, and his word is not in us ( I
John 1: 10).
§
If we say that we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us ( I
John 1:8).
§
Whosoever commits sin transgresses
also the law; for sin is the transgression of the law (I John 3:4).
§
All unrighteousness is sin, and
there is a sin not unto death ( I John 5:1 7)
§
Whatever is not of faith is sin
(Romans 14:23).
§
Therefore, to him that knows to do
good, and does it not, to him it is sin (James
4:17).
New Apostolic Church
The New Apostolic
Church does believe that all are sinners in need of God’s forgiveness
and that He does so through the apostles. The following is part of their
teaching that. forgiveness of sin is done through a New Apostolic apostle as
stated in Article of faith #4:
“and still sends them (the apostles) with the commission to
teach,
to
forgive sins in His name and to baptize with water and the Holy
Spirit”.
This forgiveness is usually done at
communion at the “Apostle’ saltar”
(Now the altar of Grace or of Christ). Church members generally readily admit
that they and their apostles fail and constantly are striving to become over
comers.
R E D E M P T I O N
The Bible
§
We have redemption through his
blood, the forgiveness of sins (Ephesians 1:7).
§
You were not redeemed with
corruptible things . . . but with the precious blood of Christ (I Peter 1: 1
8-19).
§
Unto him that loves us, and washed
us from our sins in his own blood, and has made us a kingdom of priests unto
God and his Father (Revelation 1:5-6).
§
Without shedding of blood is no
remission (Hebrews 9:22).
§
Made peace through the blood of
his cross (Colossians 1:20).
§
This man, after he had offered one
sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God. . . . For by
one offering he has perfected forever them that are sanctified (Hebrews 10:
12, 14).
New Apostolic Church
Though Jesus
Christ died on the cross for forgiveness of sins, New Apostolics
are taught that by believing in this alone, salvation cannot be secured. To
become a Christian one must first be baptized (as an infant or in their
church). Only those who are baptized in such a manner qualify to be
“sealed” whereby a living New Apostolic apostle will perform this
duty in which the Holy Spirit is then dispensed to the person. This however
does not guarantee salvation and one must strive through good works (for the
church)to be part of the 144,000 that Jesus will
return for (the “firstlings”). The goal is to be part of
this first resurrection. The New Apostolic is left never quite knowing their
spiritual status.
Upon death, the New Apostolic church teaches that the soul
does not go to Heaven but to the realm of the departed with different holding
areas. The New Apostolic church teaches human works and ceremonies plus the
works of Jesus for redemption.
S A L V A T I O N
The Bible
§
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and you shall be saved, and your house (Acts 16:31).
§
But as many as received him, to
them gave he power to become the children of God,
even to them that believe on his name (John 1:12).
§
He that believes on him is not condemned;
but he that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in
the . . . only begotten Son of God (John 3:18).
§
He that believes on the Son has
everlasting life; and he that believes not the Son shall not see life (John
3:36).
§
Not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of
regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5).
§
For by grace are you saved through
faith; and that not ofyourselves, it is the gift of
God-not of works, lest any man should boast(Ephesians
2:8-9).
§
Justified freely . . . through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Romans 3:24).
§
Christ is the end of the law for
righteousness to everyone that believes (Romans 10:4).
New Apostolic Church
Though Jesus Christ died on the cross for forgiveness of sins, New Apostolics are taught that by believing in this alone,
salvation cannot be secured. To become a Christian one must first be baptized
(as an infant or in their church). Only those who are baptized in such a
manner qualify to be “sealed” whereby a living New Apostolic
apostle will perform this duty in which the Holy Spirit is then dispensed to
the person. This also does not guarantee salvation and one must strive
through good works (for the church) to be part of the 144,000 that Jesus will
return for (the “firstlings”). The goal is to be part of this
first resurrection. The New
Apostolic is left never quite knowing their spiritual status.
Upon death, the New Apostolic church teaches that the soul
does not go to Heaven but to the realm of the departed with different holding
areas. The New Apostolic church teaches human works and ceremonies plus
the works of Jesus.
Regarding
teachings on salvation and redemption
Within the New Apostolic Church, there must be two more
points made in regards to salvation:
1- The Gap
2- Service For the Departed
The Gap in the New Apostolic church is the teaching
that after the death of the last of the original apostles, salvation was not
possible because God had given this commission to baptize, make disciples,
dispense the Holy Spirit and forgive sins to the apostles. The
“Gap” signifies the time period from then until the
re-institution of this special apostolic ministry in 1830 where the New Apostolic
Church traces its beginnings in Germany.
It was actually a break from the Catholic Apostolic church.
The Service for the Departed in the New Apostolic
Church is a teaching that first offers a second chance for salvation for the
souls of those who have departed. They offer as a start and reason for this service the passages in 1 Peter 3:19-20 that they
claim show Jesus preaching the gospel to departed souls.
The New Apostolic publication Our Family Vol.. 42 No. 1 states that the practice happened as early
as 1870 for the dispensing of the Holy Spirit to people who were dead. Holy
Communion was performed for the dead in 1886 and finally the Chief Apostle
Bischoff officially instituted the services in the early 1950’s.
During these services, now held three times a year, they believe that God
gives the Chief Apostle the “keys” to open the”
realms” where the departed are and to offer salvation and communion to
these souls. This is what the New Apostolic Church of North America
says in regards to the scriptural basis for the Service for the Departed:
The doctrine of Service for the Departed is based on the
teaching of Jesus Christ and His Apostles. The most powerful proof that
souls in eternity can be helped is that Jesus Christ entered eternity,
immediately after His victory on the cross, to preach the gospel to those who
were in captivity there. “For this reason the gospel was preached
also to those that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in
the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.” (See 1 Peter
3:19,20 and 4: 6) That Jesus Christ would preach the gospel to these
souls is demonstration of His longing to minister to them and proof that they
can be helped. This was the first time that service was rendered to the
departed.
Scripture tells us that Jesus Christ is “Lord of
both the dead and the living.” (See Romans 14:9) He would that
all would be saved (See 1 Timothy 2:4). The
souls in eternity are part of that “all”. He told His
disciples, “Most assuredly I say to you, the houris
coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and
those who hear will live.” (John 5:25) Ministering to these souls
in spiritual misery and captivity is perfectly consistent with the nature and
intention of Jesus Christ. He wants to minister to all souls. He
has proven that He can.
The Apostles of Jesus Christ continue this ministry
today. It was the commission of Christ that His Apostles continue in all
of the works which He began. In the Service for the Departed, the
sacraments of the church are dispensed to living proxies for the blessing and
benefit of the departed. The faithful in the world wide congregations
pray and intercede for these departed souls that they are able to find grace. There
is a great outpouring of compassion and invitation from the living in favor
of the departed. Again, this is perfectly within the mind and spirit of
Jesus Christ.
We understand that there are many indiscernible mysteries
regarding eternity. But there are certain truths to which we hold. We
believe that eternity is not simply divided between heaven and hell; that
good people go to heaven and bad people go to hell. Can mankind really
be divided that simplistically? Rather, eternity is comprised of many realms.
Souls enter those realms, upon their physical death, depending on the
condition / development of their soul. Jesus Christ gives us an insight
into eternity with His explanation of the state of Lazarus and the rich man
in eternity. They find themselves in very different realms. The
rich man is in torment. Lazarus is in fellowship with
Abraham. Lazarus is not in heaven. We consider heaven to be that
place, prepared by Jesus Christ, where we can be forever together with Him (See
John 14:1-3).This text from John provides further illumination of eternity in
that, besides this place that Jesus is preparing, there are many other
mansions (realms)in the Father’s house. Revelation also affords
us glimpses into eternity where we see different realms and various spiritual
conditions revealed (See Revelation 6:9-11). Even the Old Testament
gives us a hint of the diversity of eternity’s realms. Commenting on
the death of Moses and Aaron, we read that Moses was gathered to his people
and Aaron to his people (See Deut. 32:50). On first consideration we
would say that each was gathered to their own family members in eternity
until we consider that Moses and Aaron were of the same family, they were
brothers. Could it mean that both were gathered to their own spiritual
kind?
Our celebration of Service for the Departed is in no way
contradictory to Old Testament prohibitions against spiritualism and calling
up the dead (See Deuteronomy 18:10,11). There
is a tremendous difference between necromancy and ministering to souls in
eternity. Jesus did not defy biblical prohibition when He went into
eternity to minister to souls or when He called Lazarus out of the
tomb. These were not acts of darkness or superstition
but rather acts of love and compassion. It is love and
compassion that motivates us in the Service for the Departed. Souls in
eternity need to receive the treasures of Jesus Christ. Their condition
is not hopeless. They are not beyond the loving reach of the
Lord. He began this ministering in eternity. The Apostles of
Christ and believing souls continue it. “Holy Baptism with water is
part of the spiritual rebirth and a prerequisite for receiving the Holy
Spirit”.
Conclusion:
The New Apostolic Church teaches that salvation is granted
to those who follow Christ’s teachings through His ordained apostles.
These teachings are of infant baptism and later, Holy Sealing by a New
Apostolic Apostle. Then one must strive to be worthy and that would include
following and belief in the New Apostolic Church creed. Only through the New
Apostolic Church can these requirements be met because they alone have the
true apostles and thus the true church. the New
Apostolic church teaches that they are God’s mouthpiece on earth today.
The Bible is not considered infallible and inerrant and the Bible they use
includes the Apocrypha and the books of Ezra III and Ezra IV. The Bible is
correctly interpreted only through the living apostles that make this
otherwise dead historical book alive. God may make changes or ordinations
that differ with the Bible through His apostles. It is common within this
group to have generations of followers and one is often “born”
into the church in a sense.
The following is a recent quote from New Apostolic
District Apostle Latorcai who assisted the Chief
Apostle Richard Fehr in a service recently held in New York on December 15,
2002.
District Apostle Latorcai:
“Here the absolute truth, Godly truth, is spoken at the altar of our
heavenly Father. There’s NOWHERE else in this world or heaven or
anywhere else where this altar is established and this absolute Godly truth
is spoken to us, and when we accept this Godly truth, it will make us
free.”
Further District Apostle Latorcai
says:
“I have thought, maybe I shouldn’t say it, but
I’m going to say it. If the truth cannot be spoken anymore, brothers
and sisters, from this altar, and not accepted by us as God’s children
in this wonderful family…maybe I shouldn’t make this statement
but I’m going to make it anyway… then it is no longer God’s
word. It might as well be anywhere else. That is Godly truth. Yes, sometimes
it hurts, but, when we accept it, then it shall make us free.”
R E T R I B U T I O
N
The Bible
§
The wages of sin is death (Romans
6:23).
§
Those who sleep in the dust . . .
shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame, and everlasting
contempt (Daniel 12:2).
§
And as it is appointed unto men
once to die, but after this the judgment (Hebrews 9:27).
§
And I saw the dead, small and
great, stand before God. . . . And the dead were judged out of those things .
. .written in the books, according to their works
(Revelation 20:12).
§
The Lord Jesus shall be revealed
from heaven . . . in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God,
and that obey not the gospel. . . ; who shall be punished with everlasting
destruction (2 Thessalonians 1:7-10).
§
If your foot offend you, cut it
off; it is better for you to enter lame into life than, having two feet, to be
cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched (Mark 9:45).
New Apostolic Church
The New Apostolic Church’s teaching on retribution is not very clear
though they believe all are sinners and in need of continual forgiveness and that
even those that die in their sins without accepting Christ will be given
another opportunity. Retribution oftentimes within the New Apostolic church
is spoken of in terms of retribution for not being faithful to the New
Apostolic church and its Apostles. In fact in the booklet Questions and
Answers Concerning the New Apostolic Faith(1995)
question number 225 regarding leaving the New Apostolic Church
is “the falling away from the living faith”. This being the
greatest of all sins and some have taught in the past that this sin
cannot be forgiven in this world or the one to come. Though not as common
today, some New Apostolic youth are warned about the retribution that occurs
from God, to those that skip the “Divine Services’. Stories
of car accidents or tragedy have been said to surely await those that missed
the services without good reason.
These are words of retribution and New Apostolic church control by NAC District Apostle Krausin a
letter to every New Apostolic family in the United States and Canadian
3-22-1989. An excerpt:
“
Why do we in the New Apostolic Church have forgiveness of
sin,“ the celebration of the Holy Communion, and the participation in
the coming of Christ? - In order that we be cleansed, forgiven, reconciled
and that the inherited characteristics from our ancestors will be tamed and
disengaged. Our heavenly Father certified this fact with the beautiful
words… And their sins shall be remembered no more… If our
heavenly Father is willing to act nobly toward us, then He expects the same
of each and every one of us, His children, who are called for this Royal
Highness and for this nobility. He, who does not do this and goes to
Holy Communion, participates in his own judgment, which is a very, very
serious matter. If this is taken lightly and not followed, the Lord Jesus
said… It would be better if they have never been born… What led
the betrayer to a self-accusing end to the point that the committed suicide?
He judged the man of God, Jesus, and had no right to do so.
A new Apostolic member, a so-called scholar for the Royal Highness that waits
for him, has only one thing to fulfill and that is: TO DO WHAT HE IS TOLD. HE
HAS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO SAY.
If God would permit His children, for whom the highest price is paid, to
intervene with their own ideas, then the first step would be mass confusion,
as we have it in this world today. We pray: Thy Will be
done on earth as it is in Heaven. So all those in heaven have nothing to say:
Only the Spirit of God decides what is to be done. The opposite of Democracy,
which brought a mass confusion in our time it, is Autocracy. We looked it up
in the dictionary and there the word Autocracy is described as the divine
will This divine will reigns in the godly undertaking in our Church, and is protected
by our Chief Apostle to the highest degree, which we support with all our
life. The will of man is poison toward the will of God, and we have no room
for poison in our Church.
To those who do not agree with the above, I can only say that the Lord Jesus
congregated them into a group by themselves and he gave them a special name:
He called them FOOLS.”
The Apostle Kraus had much more to say but the entire letter was a warning
and a call to remain faithful to Jesus through the only way possible, through
complete unquestioning obedience to the New Apostolic Church and its
leadership.
A
brief statement of Faith from the New Apostolic Church
in Sydney states the following
The New Apostolic Church
believes:
- in the omnipotent God, who created the world and rules
in eternity
- that the soul is immortal that
mankind possesses a free will, permitting them to decide for or
against God
- that God has made the means of
salvation available to all mankind in the divine plan of redemption, which
aims at saving fallen mankind
- in God's incarnation in Jesus Christ,
His Son
- in the sacrificial death of the Son
of God upon the cross, which enabled man to be reconciled with God
- in Christ's resurrection and
ascension and the mission on which He sent His Apostles, to preach the Gospel
to all nations
- that it is necessary to be endowed
with the Holy Spirit by an Apostle in order to have fellowship with God, the
Father and His Son
- in the Second Coming of Christ at the
First Resurrection, when He will take unto Himself & (John 14: 3) all
those who have accepted His teaching that Jesus Christ will set up the
Millennium, during which period the evil one will have no power over mankind,
that all human beings on earth and in the beyond will be offered grace and
redemption in the Last Judgment, at which those who did not have part in the
First Resurrection will be judged according to their works and that the
redeemed will enjoy everlasting fellowship with God.
Quotations
are from standard writings and leading teachers of the sects. Initials in
parentheses are
abbreviations
of aforementioned book and magazine titles. Scripture quotations are from the
New Scofield Reference Bible(New
York: Oxford University Press, 1967). Outline and statement summaries are a
compilation from various reference works and authors.
Please see suggested readings.
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