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 Christian School Essay
SOTERIOLOGY
~The Unification Church believes that God has given his believers grace. However, Moon holds a different view on grace than orthodox Christians do. He believes that God did most of the work in giving us grace, but that man still has a duty remaining to accept this grace. This duty is that of good works. Rev. Moon has said that God has done ninety-five percent of the work, and that man must do 5% in return. By this he means, as stated in the Divine Principle, “Five percent is only to say that man’s responsibility is extremely small compared to God’s.” Young Oon Kim, a Unification Church leader, describes it this way: “We atone for our sins through specific acts of penance.” A Unification Church teacher by the name of Kwang-Yol Yoo says that by following the Divine Principle, “man’s perfection must be accomplished finally by his own effort without God’s help.” Thus, the Unification Church believes that in order for man to receive grace, it is up to him – he must do it himself.
This is not so, as seen in orthodox Christian theology. Christian beliefs hold that God has given us grace unconditionally; our good works will do nothing for our salvation. God’s grace is that Jesus Christ died on our behalf and atoned for our sins so that we might know God’s forgiveness. Also, God’s grace cannot be earned, as seen in Romans 3:28: “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law….” Christianity holds the belief that a believer gains grace by simply having faith in Christ as the Messiah – not through accomplishing good works. Though good works come as a product of faith in Christ (Ephesians 2:10; Colossians 3:12; Romans 11:33-36), good works do not earn a person grace. This can be seen in Ephesians 2:8-9, which states: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” Titus 3:5-7 also refutes this claim of the Unification Church, stating:
“…he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.”
Romans 6:14 assures us of our acceptance of grace, as the apostle Paul writes to the Christian church in Rome: “For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.” It is important to understand that in this context, the law does not refer to an “ordinance,” but rather to the Old Testament Law given to Moses by God Himself. This Law was given to Moses as a means of salvation – if anyone could uphold the Law perfectly, then he was found righteous in God’s eyes. However, this was impossible, for no one is perfect due to the sinful nature inherited by Adam and Eve. The Law was simply an attempt at salvation through good works. II Corinthians 3:6-13 tells us that we are no longer under the Law:
“He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant – not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, fading though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? If the ministry that condemns men is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. And if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts! Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away.”
~Therefore, this passage in Romans 6:14 means that we are not under the law, that is we are not required to perform good works to attain salvation, but rather we have salvation through Christ’s atoning work on the cross – His grace alone is sufficient to save, so long as we have faith.
Sun Myung Moon claims that Christ only provided for spiritual salvation. He claims that Jesus Christ failed to accomplish the original Will of God in attaining both spiritual and physical salvation for all, and thus in bringing about the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. As the Lord of the Second Advent, Moon is to provide the world of physical salvation, the task failed by Jesus Christ, by uniting with the perfect woman and together becoming the True Parents of Humankind. This action would supposedly parallel them to the original Adam and Eve, making them the third Adam and the third Eve, and thus equating them with God in the newly formed trinity of God, Rev. Moon, and Mrs. Moon. This newly formed trinity leads Unification Church members to follow Moon wholeheartedly, symbolized in their prayers in which they end in the name of the True Parents rather than the name of Jesus. Spirit ancestors supposedly help Unification Church members, allowing the spirits to progress to another level in the spirit world by assisting others. The eventual goal of Unification Church members is to become divine, like God, for this is Moon’s promise for the highest level of Heaven.
~While it is true that Christ did provide us with spiritual salvation, he also provided us with physical salvation. As read before in the section on Christology, Jesus did not fail to accomplish the original Will of God, for that was not God’s Will for Jesus to wed the perfect woman and spawn. Instead, God’s Will was for his son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross to cover our sins with his blood, and hence atone for our sins. Believers are commanded to believe, “They replied, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved – you and your household” (Acts 16:31). Therefore, we are cleared of our sins and given grace, so long as we have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
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 Christian School Essay
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