Shincheonji lesson 80: the word in the beginning and being born again

Where SCJ’s reading conflicts with the Bible

This lesson rightly says the word in the beginning is God and Jesus, and that anyone who wants life and light “must come to Jesus. Must.” But it explains 1 John’s “Word of life” as “Prophecy and fulfilment,” says, “The spirit and the word are one. They are one and the same,” and teaches that the harvested are “the ones who, at the end times, will be born of the word.” It says, “Unfortunately, Nicodemus never fully committed to Jesus,” and “He went back to being a Pharisee.” It reads Revelation’s nations as churches, so “Christians need to be evangelized more,” and it tells students, “Satan is desperate to stop you, so make use of your resources, which are your evangelists.” SCJ’s The Creation of Heaven and Earth (pp. 446–447) says, “Therefore, believers must find the promised pastor, who receives the opened book from the angel and teaches its content (Rv 10:1-11). This is how we can be born again through the words of the new gospel.” John’s own writings answer each of these.

1. 1. The “word of life” is a person John touched

   The notes explain the “Word of life” in 1 John 1:1 as “Prophecy and fulfilment.”

   • Read the passage: “This is what we proclaim to you: what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and our hands have touched (concerning the word of life … and we have seen and testify and announce to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us)” (1 John 1:1-2).
   • John is describing Jesus himself, whom he heard, saw and touched.
   • “Now the Word became flesh and took up residence among us” (John 1:14). The Word is a person, not a concept of prophecy and fulfillment.

   The lesson is right that we “must come to Jesus.” The rest of the lesson redirects that to a promised pastor.

2. 2. Only God declares the end from the beginning

   The notes say only God can prophesy and fulfill, then add, “The people that God is with will also have the same ability too.”

   • God says, “I am God, and there is none like me, who announces the end from the beginning” (Isaiah 46:9-10).
   • Prophets speak God’s word, but the power to bring it to pass is God’s alone. Claiming that ability for the people “that God is with” puts a group in God’s place.

3. 3. The Spirit is a person, not just the word

   The notes say, “The spirit and the word are one. They are one and the same. There isn’t a distinction between the spirit and the word.”

   • Jesus speaks of the Spirit as someone who acts: “the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and will cause you to remember everything I said to you” (John 14:26). The Spirit reminds them of Jesus’ words, so he isn’t the same as those words.
   • “when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth … but will speak whatever he hears” (16:13).
   • The Spirit speaks (Acts 13:2), can be grieved (Ephesians 4:30) and intercedes for us (Romans 8:26).
   • The word is “the sword of the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:17). The sword belongs to the Spirit. It isn’t the Spirit.
   • SCJ’s own book distinguishes them: “The holy spirit enters and lives in the heart of a person whose heart has been cleansed with God’s word” (The Creation of Heaven and Earth, p. 446). (See Lesson 23.)

4. 4. Born again: Already, by believing in Jesus

   The notes say the harvested “at the end times, will be born of the word.” SCJ’s book says believers must find the promised pastor to be born again “through the words of the new gospel.”

   • “You have been born anew, not from perishable but from imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God” (1 Peter 1:23). Peter’s readers already were.
   • “to all who have received him—those who believe in his name—he has given the right to become God’s children” (John 1:12).
   • “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been fathered by God” (1 John 5:1).
   • A new gospel through a promised pastor is what Paul warned against: “even if we (or an angel from heaven) should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be condemned to hell!” (Galatians 1:8). (See Lesson 64.)

5. 5. John 3: Jesus explained the new birth plainly

   The lesson says Jesus spoke to Nicodemus in parables.

   • Jesus used the image of wind (John 3:8), then said it plainly: “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life” (3:14-15).
   • “For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life” (3:16).
   • The water and Spirit echo God’s promise: “I will sprinkle you with pure water … I will put a new spirit within you” (Ezekiel 36:25-26). Paul speaks of “the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5). (See Lesson 33.)

6. 6. Nicodemus didn’t “go back”

   The notes say, “Unfortunately, Nicodemus never fully committed to Jesus,” and “He went back to being a Pharisee.”

   • Nicodemus defended Jesus before the Pharisees: “Our law doesn’t condemn a man unless it first hears from him and learns what he is doing, does it?” (John 7:50-51).
   • After the crucifixion, he came with Joseph of Arimathea, “carrying a mixture of myrrh and aloes weighing about 75 pounds,” and they buried Jesus (19:39-40). That was a public act of devotion when the disciples had fled.
   • Using Nicodemus as a warning about not committing reverses what John records.

7. 7. Light and darkness

   The lesson says the shepherd with the open word is light, and the sealed word is darkness.

   • John 3:19, which the lesson cites, says “the light has come into the world” (John 3:19). The light is Jesus: “I am the light of the world!” (John 8:12).
   • Paul tells the whole church, “you, brothers and sisters, are not in the darkness … For you all are sons of the light and sons of the day” (1 Thessalonians 5:4-5). Believers in Christ are already children of light. (See Lesson 26.)

8. 8. “Christians need to be evangelized more”

   The lesson says Revelation’s “peoples, nations, languages, and kings” “ultimately represent the churches,” so Christians are the mission field.

   • Jesus sent his followers to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19), meaning the peoples of the world.
   • Revelation 5:9 says the Lamb’s blood purchased people “from every tribe, language, people, and nation” (Revelation 5:9). The phrase means all humanity. (See Lesson 79.)
   • Treating fellow believers as people who need converting is how the course recruits from churches.

9. 9. Saying “the Bible taught incorrectly cannot give life”

   • It’s true that false teaching harms. But Scripture itself is able “to give you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15). John’s Gospel was written “so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31). Life comes from believing Jesus, not from one group’s interpretation.

10. 10. Health and Proverbs 18:14

    The notes tell students with health issues, “When you focus on your spirit, you will be amazed at how remarkable its effects are on the body as well.”

    • Proverbs 18:14 says, “A person’s spirit sustains him through sickness” (Proverbs 18:14). It’s about endurance, not a promise of physical healing through a course.
    • Students with health concerns should be encouraged to get proper medical care. Paul’s companions included “Luke the physician” (Colossians 4:14).

11. 11. “Satan is desperate to stop you”

    • This frames any obstacle to the course, including family concern, as Satan’s work, and points students to their evangelists. (See Lessons 12, 49 and 64.)
    • Scripture’s resource is God himself: “casting all your cares on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).