Interesting Questions-08
"Not the majority"
Letter to the Editor:
GOD'S MESSAGE, July 2005, p.3
I AGREE WITH YOU that it is the Church built by
Christ which He sill save (Matt. 16:18). But what makes you think
that it is your Church which does not comprise the majority of the
people in the world that is going to be saved?
Vener Cheng
Kowloon, Hong Kong
Editor's reply:
The true Church does not need to be composed of
the majority for it to be saved by Christ. A church's being composed
of the majority does not translate to being its elected or chosen to
attain salvation. Of ancient Israel which was the first nation of
God, the Holy Scriptures says:
"The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose
you because you were more in number than any other people, for you
were the least of all peoples" (Deut. 7:7, New King James Version)
Bible history proves that God has chosen His own
people since the beginning. God elected Noah and his family; by
virtue of their election, only eight of them were saved while the
rest perished from the great flood (II Peter 2:5). In the first
verse we have quoted, it is explicitly stated that God elected His
people the ancient Israelites who were few in number, a small
nation. There were millions of people who lived during the biblical
times, but only few were elected according to God's will. The right
to serve God and to attain salvation therefore is not determined by
the size of a religious organization but by the election or setting
apart by our Lord God (Ps.4:3).
Regarding the election of the Church where we
belong, the Church of Christ that emerged in the Philippines, Christ
has this prophecy:
"And other sheep I have which are not of this
fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear my voice; and there
will be one flock and one shepherd." (John 10:16, NKJV)
Christ "other sheep" which were not yet in the
fold or flock when Christ was still on earth, or the people (Ezek.
34:31) who were not yet called in the Church of Christ (Acts 20:28,
Lamsa Translation), would come from "distant times" and "afar off"
place (Acts 2:39, Rieu and NKJV).
We believe that the phrase "distant times" refers
to the "ends of the earth" mentioned in Isaiah 43:5-6 which is the
period of time when the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is near, the
beginning of which is signaled by a world war (Matt. 24:3, 33, 6-7;
Isa. 34:1-2). On July 27, 1914, the First World War broke out
(Story of the Great War, Vol II, p.291; The nations at war, p.8)
indicating the beginning od the period "ends of the earth." It is on
this very date when this Church of Christ was registered with the
Philippine government.
We believe that the "afar off" place in the
prophecy refers to the "far country" mentioned in Isaiah 46:11 which
is found in the "Far East" (Isa. 43:5, Moffatt), the fulfillment of
which is the Philippines, a country which is found in the Far East
(Asia and the Philippines, p.169) and from where the Church of
Christ in "distant times" emerged. □
___________________