The Iglesia Ni Cristo takes pride in claiming to be the true name of the church where people can only be saved. This is not understanding that the name iglesia refers to a group of believers who have been saved through Jesus Christ. Despite the fact that many Greek manuscripts have church of God in Acts 20:28, Iglesia Ni Cristo ministers prefer the Lamsa Version because it uses the phrase church of Christ, which strengthens their allegation about the name of their church organization.¹ Another huge blow for the leaders of the Iglesia Ni Cristo is the plural rather than singular reference to the Greek word εκκλησιαι in Romans 16:16. I remember one random member of the Iglesia Ni Cristo even explained that if there is a religious assembly, such is connected to a religion. However, this is not how the Bible defines a group of believers. The term “religious assembly” refers to a group of people who belong to a specific religious group, whether Christian or non-Christian. The Lord Jesus Christ described a group of believers as a church who were called out of darkness and into God’s marvelous light. This group is never referred to as a religious organization in the Bible. They were referred to as the church in a variety of ways.² The term church refers to people who believe in Jesus Christ. This word was derived from the Greek word εκκλησια, which was derived from a compound word that means “called out ones” in the feminine plural sense.³ Once a person place his allegiance on Jesus by believing on Him as Lord God and Savior then he is spiritually added immediately to the church.⁴

The Iglesia Ni Cristo is not a Christian church but a religious organization that continues to attack Christianity’s fundamentals, most notably the divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ and salvation doctrine. They presented themselves as biblical language “scholars” and “experts,” despite the fact that they lacked their own Hebrew and Greek Bible experts. They are accustomed to “refuting” Christian Trinitarian scholars as if they possess expert knowledge than the latter.

Surprisingly, their Pasugo publication contains numerous quotations from Trinitarian theologians and scholars. Frequently, their goal is to appropriate them as authorities to support their preconceive theologies leading to twisting the many scholars’ explanations to fit their Arian worldview interpretation. This is merely to warn you that in this lengthy article, I will demonstrate how the Iglesia Ni Cristo misrepresents numerous passages and why they are incorrect in their understanding of soteriology.

In one article posted by an Iglesia Ni Cristo member titled “Religion Is No Longer Required, Only Relationships, Is That Correct?” they accused both Evangelical Protestant and Pentecostal believers of asserting that “religion is the source of division.”⁵ Is this true? As expected, they have not even provided references to substantiate their claim. This is not the reason why evangelical believers assert that religion is unnecessary; rather, they emphasize the importance of relationship. Rather than that, Christian believers wanted to point out that religion is not essential for salvation. Many misinformed believers in the ranks of evangelicalism, I realize, underestimate the value of religion, as if this no longer plays a role in a believer’s life. This, however, is not the case. In the life of a saved believer, religion is still practiced. The Greek word for religion is θρησκεια, which refers to Jewish people’s external ceremonial observances such as visiting orphans and widows in their distress and keeping oneself clean from the world.⁶ People in the Iglesia Ni Cristo will undoubtedly be surprised to learn that religion plays a part in a Christian’s life after he or she has been saved in Christ.⁷ But let me be clear that practicing religion or performing these external good works can never save anyone.

The Iglesia Ni Cristo is still confused by the New Testament’s definition of religion. They wrongly believe that people must join religion in order to be saved, and that being water baptized in a local church entails adopting a specific religion. True, some Christian churches inform their followers that they must be water baptized before they can be a member. This is probably their primary way of knowing if someone is a part of their local church. This church preference, surely, would not go so far as to say that membership in their local church will save them. In fact, water baptism was historically used by Jews to express their faith in Yahweh, citing Deuteronomy 6:4’s shema. Since the time of John the Baptist, when Jesus began his ministry, this has been adopted by New Testament believers.

Plainly, when Jesus came, he did not establish a religion; instead, he led mankind in establishing a connection with God through Him. “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me,” Jesus stated.⁸ This is in stark contrast to what many religion founders have declared, in which they have guided people to God or given religious instructions to follow in order to achieve enlightenment. Instead, He draws the world’s attention to Himself as the only way, the only truth, and the only life. And He alone, not anybody else in the world, is the way to the Father.

Religion is all about love and service. If one will truly practice religiosity then he should watch his character and serve humanity. This should be the practice of the Jewish leaders at that time. But unfortunately, the Lord Jesus sees them as hypocrite, a white wash tomb.⁹ Love for God must be demonstrated by love for one’s neighbor. The Mosaic Law revolves around the concept of love. The two greatest commandments are summarized by the Lord Jesus Christ, who says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”¹⁰ To put it another way, if you love God, you will worship him in the way he desires.¹¹ You must love Him in order to find true rest. You should respect and honor your parents if you love God. If you love God, you should respect your neighbor’s life, marriage, property, and reputation. But it is difficult to do these things apart from Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself said, “apart from me you can do nothing.”¹² He did not say, “apart from church membership, you can do nothing,” but rather, “apart from me,” referring to establishing a relationship with Him.

I recall an Iglesia Ni Cristo student who is studying to be a minister explaining how to be saved. He explained that in order to be saved, one must be a member of the Iglesia Ni Cristo. After much explanation from him, I inquired as to what the word “church” meant in the original language. He paused for a moment to reflect before remarking that they had not yet studied that word. I was surprised because it’s a very basic word that anyone studying the term “iglesia” or “church” should know. To avoid knowing the truth, I believe their people are not taught the true meaning of the term. Despite citing the Strong’s concordance to admit that the term truly refers to believers, they continue to insist that this term εκκλησια refers to a religious organization foreign to Jesus and the apostles. I believe they must hold this deceptive doctrinal teaching in place in order for their members to see the church as an entity to which one must belong in order to be saved, rather than a description of already saved believers in Christ. They even quote Ephesians 5:22-23, 32-33, which explain that Christ is the head of the church and that the mystery is profound. Have they not understood Paul’s analogy about Christ and the church being in the context of a marriage between a husband and a wife? This relationship is truly a mystery. As Paul writes in Ephesians 5:22-33,

²² Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. ²³ For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. ²⁴ Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. ²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, ²⁶ that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, ²⁷ so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. ²⁸ In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹ For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, ³⁰ because we are members of his body. ³¹ “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” ³² This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. ³³ However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

I can’t see any religious membership here but a relationship between Jesus and the church. According to Jesus Christ Himself, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness” Matt. 7:21-23. The Lord Jesus Christ said “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” The word “knew” in the Greek refers to relationship or intimacy between two persons, especially, a husband and a wife.¹³ It is true that members of the Iglesia Ni Cristo cannot enter the kingdom of heaven unless they have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Unless an Iglesia Ni Cristo member exercises his freedom to read and interpret Scripture with the power of the Holy Spirit, he or she would be bound to this religious cult, which continues to monopolize Scripture interpretation based on the worldview and lens of their founder, Felix Ysagun Manalo.

Footnotes:

¹ The Iglesia Ni Cristo always quotes Acts 20:28 from the Lamsa Version, which states, “Take heed therefore to yourselves and to all the flock over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you overseers, to feed the church of Christ which he has purchased with his blood.” However, George Lamsa’s version is unreliable because he did not adhere to the original Greek manuscripts thereby changing a number of passages such as Matt. 27:46; Jn. 1:14, 18; 1 Tim. 3:16, and many more. Are the Iglesia Ni Cristo ministers willing to accept George Lamsa’s translation of Isaiah 9:6 depicting Jesus as the “Everlasting God” when it says, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder: and his name is called Wonderful Counsellor, The Mighty One, The Everlasting God, The Prince of Peace”? After all, they wanted to keep Lamsa’s allegedly scholarly works.

² “the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15). “the Way” (Acts 9:2). “assembly of the firstborn” (Heb. 12:23). “church of God” (1 Cor. 10:32).

³ See Theological Dictionary of the New Testament under εκκλησια.

⁴ Acts 2:41,47

⁵ Hindi Na Daw Kailangan ang Relihiyon Sa Kaligtasan Kundi Relasyon Lang Kay Cristo, Totoo Kaya Ito?

⁶ Jam. 1:27

⁷ Many cults, such as Eliseo F. Soriano’s Members Church of God International (MCGI), define religion by employing the Latin verb religare, which means “to bind.” This could be its modern interpretation, in which it “binds” the faithful to their Creator. However, this is still a far cry from the Greek word’s original meaning, which refers to an external ceremony.

⁸ Jn. 14:6

⁹ Matt. 23:27-29

¹⁰ Matt. 22:36-40

¹¹ The Iglesia Ni Cristo does indeed worship Jesus Christ. However, they do not worship Him in the manner in which God intended Christ to be worshiped. This is because they worship a creature they call “Jesus,” not the Jesus of Scripture who claimed to be the Creator (cf Jn. 8:24).

¹² Jn. 15:5

¹³ The Hebrew ידע and Greek γινώσκω refers to knowing each other or intimacy between a husband and a wife (see Gen. 4:1, Matt 1:25). It is no wonder that Jesus is referred to as a groom while the church is the bride.