The goal of this brief post is to debunk Mr. Eliseo Soriano’s arguments in response to a woman’s enquiry about the Christian church’s doctrinal stance. I’m sure you seen the viral video on social media about a woman who claimed to be a “born again” Christian but left her local church for unknown reason.1 She did not reveal the true reason for her leaving, but she claimed to have been a member of that particular local church for five years in a row and to have also been a leader of a small group. She dialed up Eliseo Soriano’s Ang Dating Daan (The Old Path) television show to ask some questions to the founder of Members Church of God International (MCGI), Eliseo Soriano. Her inquiries are as follows:
What makes your church different from born again Christian churches like Victory and CCF especially about the teaching of personal relationship for Christ following His commands. How can you convince me that MCGI is the true church. Yun lang po!
Since Mr. Soriano is not familiar with the religious groups that this lady mentioned, he tried to the best of his knowledge to respond by saying, “Ah, yan bang Victory na iyan yan ba yung pinapamahalaan ni Morris Cerullo?”
Obviously, he got it wrong. So the woman responded by further explaining below,
“Ahm… Hindi po eh. Ano po siya eh. Ah, American po siya na galing Philippines. Bale ang focus niya ay mga students. So bago po sila nag-start dito sa Pilipinas, nag minister muna sila sa mga estudyante sa Ubelt. Tapos doon po sila nagtatag muna ng mga people, especially youth ang kanilang mga focus. Hanggang sa lumaki-laki yung church. Actually, Murrell po ang name nung church na iyon. Pastor Murrell. Siya po ay American pastor. And hanggang sa lumaki yung congregation and dumami na po sila around Philippines and naging international churches na po sila. Meron silang mother church na Every Nation. Ewan ko lang po kung na-heard niyo po iyon. Kaya po ako nagtatanong kasi marami po ako sa mga kapuwa leaders ko and then mga kaibigan ko na umalis sa church, it saddens me na bumalik sila sa dati nilang buhay, that’s why I am asking this question po.”
Obviously, some of the informations she gave were incorrect like “American po siya na galing sa Philippines.” At ang isa pa ay, “Actually, Murrell po ang name nung church na iyon.” And another one which she says, “Meron silang mother church na Every Nation.” First of all, Steve Murrell did not came from the Philippines because he is an American. Second, the name of the church is Victory not “Murrell.” And third Every Nation is never a mother church but a leadership hub for all Every Nation churches all around the globe.
Mr. Soriano begins his argument by reading Galatians 1:10-11, which states, “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.” In truth, this is a very subjective text to apply because anyone other than Mr. Soriano can quote it and argue that he is not seeking man’s approval or wishing to please man, but rather God. Following that, he made his first argument against having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as a way of salvation. Mr. Soriano added, “There is no such thing in the Bible as personal relationship. After all, we cannot talk and we cannot deal, or we cannot follow Christ personally in our times. Gone are the days where you can talk to Him personally, you can feel Him personally. Those days are gone.”
He also attempted to refute the idea that a personal relationship with Christ is not required for salvation because believers cannot physically see, feel, or touch Him by citing Matthew 25:32-40. He is openly attacking Jesus Christ’s omnipresence when he says in Matthew 18:20,
“For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
The Lord Jesus can do this because He is God by nature, equal in divinity to His Father and the Holy Spirit. It is irrational for Jesus to say this if He does not have the attribute of God being everywhere. Mr. Soriano’s conception of God’s omnipresence is distorted because it stems from a misunderstanding of who God truly is.2 According to Mr. Soriano,
I will just repeat the last verse kapatid na Kira no. Nagtanong kasi yung mga inaanyayahan niyang pumasok sa kingdom sa langit. Manahin niyo ang kaharian inihanda sa inyo bago itinatag ang sanglibutan. Tapos sabi ng mga tao, sapagka’t ako ang wika, sabi ni Kristo, nagutom ako, pinakain niyo ako. Nauhaw ako, pinainom niyo ako, etc. Tapos, sasagot ngayon ang mga matutuwid na inaanyayahan Niyang pumasok sa kaharian ng Diyos. Panginoon, kailan ka namin nakitang nagutom, pinakain ka, nauhaw, pinainom, nabilanggo, pinuntahan, kelan iyon? Taga-Pilipinas kami. Ah, ang sabi ni Kristo, yamang ginawa ninyo dito sa isa sa aking mga kapatid, kahit sa pinakamaliit na ito ay sa akin ninyo ginawa. This verses we have read nagpapaliwanag na you do not have to have a personal relationship with Christ to be save. Ewan ko kung makukuha mo yung logic ano kapatid. Eh kasi, halimbawa nakita kita nagugutom o nakita mo ako nagugutom pinakain mo ako. Nauuhaw ako pinainom mo ako, eh nagkataon alagad pala ako ni Cristo. Pagdating ng araw, ang Kaniyang tatawagin kang magmana ng kaharian ng Diyos kasi pinakain mo siya. Anong ibig sabihin niyon personally? No! Wala namang Kristong nakarating sa Pilipinas personally eh. Pero yung mga alagad Niya, mga kapatid Niya, mga taong matutuwid napakain mo, kinikilala niya iyon na utang na loob Niya sa iyo. Not in a personal manner kasi, hindi nga nakarating si Kristo sa iba-ibang bansa eh. Pero pagka-napakain mo yung isa sa Kaniyang pinakamaliit na alagad, sa akin ninyo ginawa. Ang sabi sa Ingles doon sa beinte singko kuwarenta,
“the King shall answer and say unto them, verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
Is that personal relationship with Christ? In His absence you cannot have personal relationship with Him. But it can be attained by loving, caring, and being compassionate to a fellow believer in Christ. Ang punto ko kapatid na Kira, yun kahangalan yun eh. Sabihin mo tanggapin mo si Kristo as your personal Savior. Mali eh. You have not met Him personally. You have not talk to Him personally. How can you have a personal relationship with Him? There are many relationships we have to have with Christ. Yun lang hindi siguro itinuturo sa iyo yun eh. I am not speaking to insult anybody. Pero sinasabi ko, ang relationship with Christ is the relationship between a master and a servant. Christ should be our Master and we must be His servants. And a servant obeys His Lord without question. Let us read 13:16 of the book of John.
In this Matthean chapter, there are a few points to keep in mind. The backdrop is about the final judgment, in which Jesus will separate the people as a shepherd divides sheep from goats to the right and left. The Lord invites the righteous into His kingdom by describing how they ministered Him while on this earth. And He added that by feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, and clothing the naked, these righteous ones are ministering to Him.3 Take note that they are righteous since they have already been saved. They are unaware, as righteous believers, that when they minister to the least of their brethren, they are essentially serving the Lord Himself. This is only possible because of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Mr. Soriano felt compelled to stress the works because he believes that a person is saved via his good works. However, this is far from the truth of the passage’s message.
His skepticism of Jesus’ divine omnipresence caused him to doubt Jesus’ power to be in different places. Jesus demonstrated His omnipresence in John 1:48 where it states, “Nathanael said to him, ‘How do you know me?’ Jesus answered him, ‘Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.’” We can see other instances of how Jesus communicated and was seen by the apostles in different places. The former persecutor of the church namely Paul had an encounter with Jesus Himself on His way to Damascus when the latter responded saying, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”4 Stephen saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God in which before he died he said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”5 If Jesus is indeed omnipresent, as the Bible claims, then He can communicate with anybody in any part of the world. Yes, Jesus did not personally visit the Philippines, and we cannot touch, feel, or see Him, but we can communicate with Him. In terms of how we should fellowship with the three distinct divine Persons, the Lord Jesus Christ places Himself on par with the Father and the Holy Spirit.6 The term “fellowship” in Greek also implies “intercourse,” “communion,” and “intimacy.” It’s no surprise that Jesus also stated that if we don’t have a personal relationship with Him, we shall be condemned. The Lord Jesus said in Matthew 7:21-23,
21 “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. 22 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?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”
In the context of the passage, the Father’s will is to know the Son, not to do good works. Many people believe that performing things for the Lord automatically makes them right with God. Many of them would claim that they prophesy in His name, cast out demons in His name, and do several miraculous works in His name. Surprisingly, the Lord Jesus nevertheless told them flatly, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” Intriguingly, the Greek and Hebrew words for “know” both relate to an intimate relationship between a husband and a wife. Jesus said, “I never [have been intimate with you or had a relationship with] you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” It’s one thing to be intimate with our spouse, but it’s quite another to be intimate with God to the point that we know Him personally. In this instance, the term “know” means “to fully know Him in the element of relationship,” not only “to have knowledge about the person.” It’s no surprise when God declares in Jeremiah 9:24,
“but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.”
If a person wants to know God, he or she must establish a personal relationship with Jesus Christ by grace through faith in Him, which can only be done by the power of the Holy Spirit. Mr. Soriano argues that it should not be personal because the Bible makes no mention of Jesus being a personal Lord and Savior to anyone. Mr. Soriano may have forgotten that after Jesus allowed Thomas to touch His side wounds, Thomas said, “My Lord and My God.” Indeed, the literal Greek translation of this passage reads, “The Lord of me and the God of me.” Thomas is clearly declaring Jesus to be his personal Lord and God, as well as his Savior.
It’s also funny to note that his refutation of a believer’s relationship with Christ is self-defeating in terms of personal relationship when he says it’s like a master-servant relationship. Whether the relationship is between a master and a servant, the reality remains that it is a relationship. Having said all of this, Mr. Soriano’s interpretation and understanding of salvation and a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is definitely incorrect.
Footnotes:
1 “Isang member ng Victory Church nagtanong kay Brad Eli” (Access Sept. 4, 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SePmt20oZH4)
2 God is not omnipresent, according to Mr. Soriano’s teachings, because He asked Adam, “Where are you?” (Gen. 3:9) This ignores the fact that the writer sometimes employs anthropomorphic terms to help the readers comprehend what God says and does.
3 See Matt. 25:44
4 See Acts 9:5
5 See Acts 7:59
6 See 1 Jn. 1:3; 2 Cor. 13:14.
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