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. □

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