Name: World Mission Society Church of God

Alternate name(s): The Church of God, WMSCOG, COGWMS, The Church of Ahnsahnghong, Elohists

Leader(s): Zang Gil-Jah aka “the Heavenly Mother,” or “Mother Jerusalem” and Rev. Kim Joo-Cheol, “Chief Pastor”

Founder(s): Ahn Sahng-hong aka “our heavenly Father Christ Ahnsahnghong” (1918 -1985)

Established: 1964, Korea

Websites: http://english.watv.org, http://www.wmschurchofgod.org, http://proclaimahnsahnghong.com, http://www.mygodahnsahnghong.com/

Related Organizations: Church of God History Museum, Messiah Orchestra

Membership: The World Mission Society of God is present in many countries. One official site states that there are 1.7 million members in about 150 countries worldwide (see: http://usa.watv.org/intro/introduction.asp, accessed 11-11-14.).

Beliefs:

• God:
  • While using the word “Trinity”, the WMSCOG actually puts forward a form of modalism, claiming that “God plays three different roles with three different names. In the age of the Father, God plays the role of the Father. In the age of the Son, God plays the role of the Son. In the age of the Holy Spirit, God plays the role of the Holy Spirit.”¹https://www.wmschurchofgod.org/christ-ahnsahnghong/ahnsahnghong-is-the-new-name-of-second-coming-jesus/  (Accessed 8/5/16)
• Heavenly Mother:
  • They assert, “More than one God was involved in the creation,”²https://www.wmschurchofgod.org/heavenly-mother/god-the-mother/ (Accessed 8/15/16) and explain that “We know God the Father exists (Matthew 6:9), but since the term used to describe God is plural—more than one—there has to be another God present. The term “father” is used only among family. So if we look into the family system, we can understand who is missing.”³https://www.wmschurchofgod.org/heavenly-mother/elohim-god/ (Accessed 8/15/16)
  • They claim, therefore, that there is also a “God the Mother,” a second God without whom there could be no life and no hope of salvation. “Adam was created in the male image of God. Eve was created in the female image of God. Because Adam and Eve were made in God’s image, biblically, they represent God the Father and God the Mother… In the book of Genesis, we see God give Adam the power to do everything. However, the one thing Adam could not do was give life. This is why he named his wife Eve, which means “life,” and called her “the mother of all who live” since life only comes from a mother. Prophetically, God lets us know that even though God the Father exists, God the Mother is necessary for spiritual life—eternal life.”⁴https://www.wmschurchofgod.org/heavenly-mother/god-the-mother/ (Accessed 8/15/16)
  • God the Mother is believed to be the “Heavenly Jerusalem” and the “Bride of Christ.”
  • They further believe that she is now incarnate on the earth in human form and that this is in fulfillment of prophecy.⁵ibid
  • They claim that belief in her is necessary for salvation, stating “God grants us the promised eternal life only after we know and believe in God the Mother.”⁶ibid
• Second Coming:
  • They believe that Jesus’ second coming is actually an incarnation of the Holy Spirit and not a return of the Son. “He made it clear that when He comes again, He would have a new name. He referred to Himself as the Spirit, which means He’s appearing as the Holy Spirit, not as the Son.”⁷https://www.wmschurchofgod.org/christ-ahnsahnghong/ahnsahnghong-is-the-new-name-of-second-coming-jesus/  (Accessed 8/15/16)
  • They believe that the Second Coming must include a restoration of the Passover and must come from a nation east of Israel. “The New Covenant Passover is the sign of salvation that lets us recognize the Savior who comes from the east.”⁸https://www.wmschurchofgod.org/christ-ahnsahnghong/second-coming-christ-ahnsahnghong-came-from-south-korea/ (Accessed 8/15/16)
  • They believe that this coming was fulfilled in their church’s founder, Ahnsahnghong. “Christ Ahnsahnghong restored the holy feast of the Passover, the sign of salvation. This sign allows us to recognize Christ Ahnsahnghong and understand that He is God who has come in the human form a second time and brought salvation from the east—South Korea.”⁹ibid
  • Because they believe that God takes different roles in different ages and is, in this age, the Holy Spirit who came as Ahnsahnghong, they teach that we are to pray, preach in his name and use the name Ahnsahnhong as the personal name of God. “We pray and preach in the name of Ahnsahnghong. We should do these things because the Bible testifies about Ahnsahnghong. With further study, you can have full assurance in the Savior’s new name and receive salvation through Him.”¹⁰https://www.wmschurchofgod.org/christ-ahnsahnghong/ahnsahnghong-is-the-new-name-of-second-coming-jesus/  (Accessed 8/15/16)
• The Passover:
  • The WMSCOG teaches that the Passover feast is to be celebrated annually on the date prescribed in the Law of Moses.
  • The Passover is considered to be the central point of all revelation. It is the source of forgiveness, the means of acquiring eternal life, and the avenue to blessings and protection from God. “The Passover is the core of the Bible and it has tremendous value for those who want to follow God. Through the Passover, God grants many blessings, including protection from disasters, the forgiveness of sins and eternal life.”¹¹https://www.wmschurchofgod.org/beliefs/passover/ (Accessed 8/15/16)
  • The celebration of the Passover feast each year is declared to be the only way to eternal life. It is the only means by which we can reach heaven. “The importance of the Passover goes beyond the forgiveness of sins. It is the only way to receive eternal life in order to enter heaven.” ¹²ibid
  • The Passover does not merely point to or symbolize the gospel. The Passover literally is the gospel. Any message about Christ that does not include the requirement of the Passover is not the gospel. “The gospel of the kingdom, which Jesus preached to set us free from sins, is the Passover of the new covenant. So, the church that preaches the gospel must have the truth of the Passover.” ¹³http://english.watv.org/truth/qna/content.asp?idx=2873&page=1 (Accessed 8/5/16)
• Baptism:
  • The WMSCOG teaches that God saves us through baptism. “the goal of having faith in God, attending Church, and studying the Bible is for our soul to receive eternal life. And God promises this through baptism” ¹⁴https://www.wmschurchofgod.org/beliefs/baptism/ (Accessed 8/5/2016)
  • Baptism is said to happen when we become children of God and to be a means of forgiveness. “Through baptism, God authenticates His promise to give us eternal life by making us children of God and giving us the forgiveness of sins so we may enter the kingdom of heaven.”¹⁵ibid
  • Baptism should be conducted the very moment that one accepts the WMSCOG gospel because to delay Baptism is to delay salvation itself. “Biblically, baptism should not be delayed but conducted immediately after understanding the good news of Christ. God’s teaching in the Old Testament and the New Testament is that we should receive salvation today and not postpone until tomorrow since we do not know what the future holds.”¹⁶ibid
  • For baptism to be valid and effective for one’s salvation, it must be done in the names of Jehovah (the Father), Jesus (the Son), and Ahnsahnghong (the Holy Spirit). “Now, in the age of the Holy Spirit, baptism that is in accordance with the teachings of the Bible must be conducted in the name of the Father, Jehovah, and in the name of the Son, Jesus, and in the name of the Holy Spirit, Christ Ahnsahnghong. This is the baptism that saves.”¹⁷ibid
• Other works required for Salvation:
  • The WMSCOG teaches that you must worship on Saturday as the Sabbath and keep the seven feasts of the Mosaic Law. For example, of the Feast of Firstfruits they write, “Since Christ resurrected and ascended to heaven, Christians who participate in the Feast of Firstfruits also have hope for the resurrection and to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”¹⁸https://www.wmschurchofgod.org/beliefs/resurrection-day-feast-of-firstfruits/ (Accessed 8/5/16) and of the Feast of Trumpets and Day of Atonement they write, “Members keep worship service and offer a prayer of repentance for ten days starting on the Feast of Trumpets and culminating on the Day of Atonement when all the sins are forgiven.”¹⁹https://www.wmschurchofgod.org/beliefs/day-of-atonement/ (Accessed 8/5/16)
  • Women must wear veils in worship and men must have their heads uncovered. This is not merely considered right and proper but is actually necessary to enter the kingdom. “Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to a wedding banquet. Just as there are proper “wedding clothes” for a wedding, there are also proper clothes to enter the kingdom of heaven. In other words, there are certain regulations we must follow when we worship God so that our worship may be acceptable to God.”²⁰https://www.wmschurchofgod.org/beliefs/womans-veil/ (Accessed 8/5/2016)
  • We also have to call God by the name of Ahnsahnhong to receive salvation. “By taking a close look at God’s work of salvation, we can have insight as to why it’s important to know the name of the Savior. In order to grant us salvation, God created three ages—the age of the Father, the age of the Son, and the age of the Holy Spirit. In each of these ages, God appears as the Savior using a different name. In this age, salvation depends on knowing the Savior now; we cannot simply call on the general title of God”²¹https://www.wmschurchofgod.org/christ-ahnsahnghong/ahnsahnghong-is-the-new-name-of-second-coming-jesus/  (Accessed 8/5/16)
• Nature of Man
  • The WMSCOG teaches that our body is not our true nature. It is merely the present dwelling place of our true self, which is our soul. “Our True Essence is our Soul and not our Body.”²²https://www.wmschurchofgod.org/beliefs/the-soul-exists/ (Accessed 8/5/16)
  • They also teach that our souls pre-existed this earthly life and are originally from heaven. “Before being on this earth, our spirit already existed in heaven”²³ibid
  • Bodily life on earth is a form of exile or punishment for sins we already committed in heaven before our birth. “We are born sinners not because our bodies committed sin, but because our spirit sinned in the kingdom of heaven prior to our lives on earth. Since we committed sin in heaven, we were expelled to the earth.”²⁴ibid
  • It is also a probationary period during which we must seek forgiveness. “The life we live on this earth is an opportunity from God for our souls to return to heaven after receiving forgiveness of sins.”²⁵ibid
• One True Church
  • The WMSCOG teaches that they are the one and only true church on the earth today. “Our church is the only true church which God has established on this earth”²⁶http://english.watv.org/intro/greetings.asp (Accessed 8/5/16)

Biblical Response: The Bible is clear and unequivocal that there is one and only one true God, and that He was alone in creation and brought all things into existence by Himself. For example, Isaiah 45:5 states:

“I am the Lord [Jehovah], and there is no other; besides Me there is no God.”

Isaiah 44:24 reads:

“Thus says the Lord [Jehovah], your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb, “I, the Lord [Jehovah], am the maker of all things, stretching out the heavens by Myself and spreading out the earth all alone.”

And in Isaiah 45:12, Jehovah explains:

“It is I who made the earth, and created man upon it. I stretched out the heavens with My hands And I ordained all their host.”

Since even the WMSCOG admits that the personal name “Jehovah” applies to the one God who is Father, Son, and Spirit, it is clear that this God alone made all things and did not have a second God with Him. The Bible is clearly opposed to the idea of a “mother god” whom Jehovah needed to create life. There is one and only one God, and He needed no one else to create all that exists. It is also interesting to note here that God claims to have formed us in the womb. He does not claim to have formed our tents, our bodies, or our temporary earthly dwelling places. He doesn’t claim to have formed fleshly houses for our souls. He claims to have formed us in the womb. So even in these same few verses, we also see a refutation of the heavenly pre-existence that WMSCOG asserts.

The Bible is also clear that, while Jesus is indeed the one true God, He is not merely the Father playing a different role. He is sent by the Father, prays to the Father, and returns to sit at the right hand of the Father. The voice of the Father is heard from Heaven while the Son is on earth. There is only one true God, and the Father and the Son are both that God. They are distinct persons, however, and are coequal and coeternal. The same can be shown of the Holy Spirit. This is what the word “Trinity” actually means. The one and only being that is God eternally exists in three distinct persons. WMSCOG misunderstands this completely, and much of their false teaching flows out from this misunderstanding.

Further, the Bible never equates the gospel with obedience to a list of rituals and rites to obtain eternal life and forgiveness of sins. Rather, the Bible is clear that:

“…. by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast,” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

And specifically on the matter of feasts and Sabbaths, the Bible teaches:

“Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day— things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ” (Colossians 2:16-17).

“But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again? You observe days and months and seasons and years. I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain” (Galatians 4:9-11).

The gospel is not a call to celebrate feast days and Sabbaths in order to obtain salvation. Anyone who tells you that such things are necessary for salvation is not only wrong; they are creating a different gospel. The Apostle Paul feared for Christians who were swayed by such false teachings. WMSCOG is plainly not a restoration of the one true church, but is a false church seeking to lead men away in grave and deadly error. It obviously goes without saying that their founder is plainly not the incarnation of the Holy Spirit and that Ahnsahnhong is not the name of God by which we must be saved. WMSCOG is a cult whose teachings must be avoided and whose members are in desperate need of the true gospel to deliver them from their idolatry and worship of a man and to bring them into fellowship with the true and living God through the real, biblical Jesus Christ.

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