THE IGLESIA NI CRISTO DOCTRINES EXPOSED,PART 22 (1 OF 3)

This is continuation of the series.

Q. What is Gospel of Manalo Doctrine Lesson No.22 and what are its fallacies?
A. The following is an excerpt of Gospel of Manalo Doctrine Lesson No. 22:

"LESSON NO.22 - ON BAPTISM
Theme: Baptism is necessary for one to become a disciple of Christ.
Summary: The Church of Christ believes that baptism is necessary for one to become a disciple of Christ and for the attainment of eternal salvation. But this should be done in accordance with the teachings of the Bible."
(Fundamental Beliefs of the Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ),Erano G. Manalo,1989,p.89)

Fallacies of this Gospel of Manalo Doctrine No.22 -

Manalo says baptism is necessary for one to become a disciple of Christ. Based on this representation by him, we can safely say that Felix Y. Manalo is therefore not a disciple of Christ. Why? Because Felix Y. Manalo was never baptized in the Iglesia ni Cristo. If he was, why could not his son provide the evidence as to name of baptizer, date and time of baptism, and document of the baptism?

If Felix Manalo is not a disciple of Christ, whose disciple is he? Since he is the messenger of god of this world, he is a disciple of the devil, the god of this world (2 Cor.4:4). The other effect of not being baptized is non attainment of salvation. It is just right that a messenger of the devil will suffer, too. Felix Y. Manalo can not be greater than his devil master. What about the believers of Manalo? Will they suffer for their belief of Manalo? Of course they will if they continue to believe Felix Y. Manalo. They cannot be greater than their Manalo leader.

Teacher Jesus Christ who taught baptism was Himself baptized in the Jordan River (Mk.1:9). But here comes Felix Manalo, leader of the Iglesia ni Cristo cult, who is teaching the necessity of baptism, but, he is afraid of water. If he is not afraid of water, why didn't he allowed somebody to baptize him?

Manalo's baptism teachings is of different gospel as it is the result of additions and subtractions from what are written in the Bible. In fact, Manalo's baptism and his reference materials were stolen from another older cult. We will examine all these fallacies and deceptions of Manalo.

MEANING OF BAPTISM

"The words "baptize" and "baptism" are simply Greek words transferred into English. This was necessarily done by the translators of the Scriptures, for no literal translation could properly express all that is implied in them. The mode of baptism can in no way be determined from the Greek word rendered "baptize." Baptists say that it means "to dip", and nothing else. That is an incorrect view of the meaning of the world. It means both
(1) to dip a thing into an element or liquid, and
(2) to put an element or liquid over or on it. Nothing therefore as to the mode of baptism can be concluded from the mere word used. The word has a wide latitude of meaning, not only in the New Testament, but also in the LXX Version of the Old Testament, where it is used of the ablutions and baptisms required by the Mosaic law. These were effected by immersion, and by affusion and sprinkling; and the same word, "washings" (Heb.9:10,13,19,21) or "baptisms", designates them all." (Easton Bible Dictionary)

Therefore, baptism is done not exclusively by immersion, but was done also by affusion and sprinkling. The nearest equivalent of the Greek word "baptizo" is washings and the major element of it is water.

WHY WATER IS THE COMMON DENOMINATOR OF ALL BAPTISMS

1) Noah and family baptized through flood water...1 Pet.3:20;
2) Moses was baptized in cloud and sea water...1 Cor.10:2;
3) John the Baptist baptizes with water...Jn.1:26;
4) Christ's washing of water by the word...Eph.5:26;
5. Baptism by fire thru sufferings in the lake of fire... Rev.20:15.

THE OLD AND NEW BAPTISM

There are two baptisms: the old and the new. Which are these two baptisms?

"I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." -Mt.3:11 NKJV

Therefore, the old baptism is the baptism by John the Baptist called baptism with water unto repentance and the new baptism is baptism by Jesus Christ called baptism with the Holy Spirit and fire. Whereas John the Baptist baptizes with literal water, Jesus Christ baptizes with His words which are living waters (Jn.4:10). The old washing or baptism is only symbolical for the baptism or washing of sins to come through the blood of Jesus Christ (Heb.9:9-12).

HOW BAPTISM IS A COMBINED WORK OF THE TRINITY -

The Father calls His people whom He likes to save (Rom.9:15). He gives them to Jesus Christ (Jn.17:2). Jesus Christ baptizes them with the Holy Spirit upon believing Jesus Christ (Acts 19:2). The Holy Spirit gives them the Father's seal that they are God's children (Eph.1:13). This completes the saving of God's people.

BAPTISM WORK BY THE TRINITY SUMMARIZED BY APOSTLE JOHN

"And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one." -1 Jn.5:8 NKJV

The water that gives eternal life symbolizes the Father who gives this water. The blood that redeemed God's people symbolizes the Lord Jesus Christ whose blood was spilled when He offered His body once for all. The Spirit poured to God's people is the Holy Spirit who sealed the children of God.

HOW THE TRINITY OF THE DEVIL BAPTIZES THE DEVIL'S CHILDREN -

The god of this world devil devours his easy preys (1 Pet.5:8). The devil gives his victims to the beast (Rev.13:4). The beast baptizes them in the name of the false prophet (Rev.13:16). The false prophet marks them with the devil's seal that they are the Devil's children (Rev.19:20). In the end, the trinity of the devil (Satan, beast, and false prophet) will be thrown into the lake of fire (Rev.20:10).

Illustration: The devil devours Iglesia members through deceptions. The devoured victims are given to Felix Manalo (the beast) for imprisonment. Felix Manalo in turn baptizes them with the false prophet. The false prophet gives them the devil's mark or seal that they are the children of the devil.

Q. What are the deceptions of Manalo incorporated in this Gospel of Manalo doctrine?
A. The following is an introductory excerpt and his doctrines in questions and answers format:

1) "Introduction:
Although many of those who become members of the Church of Christ have been baptized already in their former religions, they should realize that the baptism they received is not the kind commanded by our Lord Jesus Christ because those who administered it have no right to preach and to baptize and those baptized by them cannot receive the blessings associated with the baptism commanded by Christ."
(Fundamental Beliefs of the Iglesia ni Cristo...,p.89)

Manalo is preaching another gospel here. No such statement introduced by Manalo is found in the Scripture. In this Manalo introduction, Manalo teaches baptism that were not administered in his cult is worthless, therefore, everyone joining his Iglesia cult must be rebaptized (except of course himself because he has a phobia of water or he is sick of hydrophobia). Freak Manalo wants to be known that he is the only one in the entire world who can administer baptisms. What an arrogant self exaltation. Here we can see that he is a man of the devil who gives glory to himself instead of giving glory to God (Jn.7:18).

CONTINUING MANALO'S DECEPTIONS -

2) "Q. What should be done to those who are being made disciples, according to Christ's command?
A. Baptize them...Mt.28:19 RSV
Note: For one to be disciple of Christ, he cannot avoid being baptized.
3) Q. What other blessing is given by the true baptism?
A. Forgiveness of sins...Acts 2:38
4) Q. What did Christ assure those who receive the true baptism?
A. Salvation...Mk.16:16-16
Conclusion: Therefore, it is vital that we receive the true baptism so that not only will we become disciples of Christ but also have our sins forgiven and attain salvation."
(Fundamental Beliefs of the Iglesia ni Cristo..,p.89-90)

EXPLANATION OF MANALO'S DECEPTIONS -

2. On Matthew 28:19 RSV

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit," -Mt.28:19 RSV

Manalo is not following this command of Christ. Baptism should be in the name of the Trinity, which according to the verse is "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Baptism should be in the name of the Trinity as ordered by Christ. You cannot be a disciple if you are not baptized in the name of the Trinity. It is about right that Manalo and his cult members are not disciples of Christ because they don't recognize or subscribe to the Trinity. To them, the Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit do not belong to the Trinity. If Manalo insists there is no Trinity, then, he has to find another Bible version that says "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father only."

If Manalo cuts out Jesus Christ from the Trinity, what do you think will the Lord Jesus Christ do to him knowing of the scissorman's penchant for cutting out the words of God?And what do you think will the Holy Spirit do to Felix Y. Manalo for snipping Him out of the Trinity? For sure, it will be troubles for Manalo. If Felix Y. Manalo's name is also snipped out by Christ and Manalo's snipping habit sins are will no longer be forgiven by the Holy Spirit, don't you think Manalo will be facing hellish troubles?

3) On Acts 2:38 -

"Then Peter said to them, "Repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." -Acts 2:38 NKJV

It seems Apostle Peter had changed which name should people be baptized from the Trinity name to Jesus Christ's name. There is no change here. What Apostle Peter was referring to here is the name of the baptizer ("let every one of you BE BAPTIZED"). The baptizer's name is Jesus Christ (Jn.1:33). Therefore, if the disciple of Christ is the baptizer, it should be in the name of the Trinity. If the baptizer is Jesus Christ, it is in the name of Jesus Christ. Supposing the baptizer is the devil, to what name do you think the baptized is in name of? Common sense, he or she is in the name of the devil, the baptizer.

What is the difference between being baptized by Jesus Christ and those baptized by the devil (through his adjunct men Felix and Erano)? The first difference is in sufferings. Children of God suffer for Christ's sake while children of the devil suffer for the devil's sake,i.e., for the Iglesia ni Cristo's sake. Iglesia members suffer too much for their INC idol. Imagine alone the sufferings of being imprisoned in the Iglesia chapels nightly and whole days on Saturdays and Sundays. The second difference is on yoke and burden. Children of God have easy yoke and light burdens while the children of the devil have very difficult yoke and too much heavy burdens. Imagine alone the money thanksgiving deposits to Manalo being paid to him weekly without an end and there is no withdrawals. Imagine the sufferings of compulsory worship attendance twice a week that if you missed one, your deacon/deaconess will appear at your door, or, the sufferings of entertaining and giving snacks to your deacon/deaconess weekly when he/she visits your home to spy on you and to impart to you Erano's hush-hush private messages?

PEOPLE BAPTIZED IN THE NAME OF CHRIST-

Who are the people who are baptized in the name of Christ? If we will continue reading the next verse, it applies only to those who are called by God. Those who are called by God are only of two groups namely, Jews and Gentiles. Let's read the verse:

"For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call." -Acts 2:39 NKJV

The first group described as "to you and to your children," are the Jews (Jn.4:22) and their half Jews Samaritan children (Acts 8:12,25). The second group described as "to all who are afar off," are the Gentiles (Acts 13:47).

Where is the third group of Manalo? It is not mentioned. A third group that is not mentioned, do you think they are called by God, too? For example, there are only two winners to a contest and the names of the two winners are published in the newspapers and your name is not included, do you think you are also a winner? No! Therefore, since Manalo's cult is not one of the two groups called by God and published in Acts 2:39, their sins were never remitted nor did they received the Holy Spirit. What they received, actually, is the evil spirit because Manalo is a messenger of the evil spirit.

Manalo cannot split the two groups into three groups because that would be tampering the testament of God. If you will tamper the last will and testament of somebody here on earth to include your name as one of the heirs, you will be caught because the document itself will show the alterations. To tamper the verse, which is, to make the two groups into three, Manalo will place a comma after "to you", and also make erasures of the words "afar off" replacing it with Far East Philippines. The Manalo tampered verse will now appear as follows:

"For the promise is to you,and to your children, and to all who are xxx xxx Far East Philippines."

Is it not visible the Manalo tamperings? Of course, the tamperings are ultra visible. The placed comma has no more space while the crossed out words are eye sores. If you didn't see the tamperings, you already had been bitten by the snake.

4) On Mark 16:15-16 -

"And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned." -Mk.16:15-16 NKJV

Does Felix Y. Manalo meet the requirements of the verse in order to be saved? What are the requirements?

Requirement #1 - Go into all the world -

FYM did not meet this requirement. Why? Did Christ ever ordered "Go into all the Iglesia chapels to preach the gospel"? No! The order is to go into all the world. The world is not the Iglesia chapels.

Requirement #2 - and preach the gospel -

Which gospel is this? If we will read Rom.1:16-17, the gospel is gospel of Christ. What about Manalo? What gospel does he preach? He can not claim he is also preaching the gospel of Christ because if he will do that, he will need to garbage his gospel of Manalo book called "Fundamental Beliefs of the Iglesia ni Cristo". Can any minister of the Iglesia preach the gospel without the Gospel of Manalo book touching his elbow? No! He can't do that. He has nothing to preach if he don't have that book! Therefore, Manalo does not meet this second requirement of preaching the gospel of Christ because he is preaching another gospel---his own gospel.

Requirement #3 - He who believes -

Whom should we believe here? In John 14:1, the Lord Jesus taught to believe in Him and His Father. What is one that we should believe in Jesus Christ? We should believe that He is God's last days messenger (Heb.1:1-2). What about in the Iglesia ni Cristo? Who is their last days messenger of God? They believe in their heart it is Felix Y. Manalo. Even if they doze off somewhere else, if you wake them up, you will be frightened with their loose tongue---"Felix Y. Manalo is the last days messenger of God!" Now that Felix is dead, his son Erano became their second last days messenger of God. There could not be two or three messengers of God. Let's read the verse if there are two or three last days messengers of God:

"God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds." Heb.1:1-2 NKJV

How many last days messengers of God are there? The verse says, "has in these LAST DAYS spoken to us by His Son.." Therefore, there is only one last days messenger of God---His Son. The verse did not say, "His Sons," to make more than one last days messengers of God. If Jesus Christ is the only last days messenger of God, naturally, Felix Y. Manalo and his son Erano, are fakes.

What is the conclusion here now that we know that the Iglesia ni Cristo does not meet any of the requirements of the command of the Lord Jesus Christ on baptism? The conclusion is that the Iglesia cult is not of Christ. If not of Christ, the cult is of the devil. Manalo's commissionship to bring darkness by spreading the Gospel of Manalo, is from the devil. Is there salvation if you are of the devil? Absolutely not!

TO BE CONTINUED