From YM’s teachings about Jesus we may discern two notable errors. The first is with regards to faith in Jesus Christ as the basis of salvation and the second pertains to the nature of the incarnation.
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1. Denies Faith in Jesus Christ as the Basis of Salvation
In a quest for the ultimate universal law, YM came to the conclusion that whether a person walks in the light will determine where he stands with God. Referring to 1 John, which teaches that God is light and that we ought to walk in the light, YM posited that God will ultimately judge everyone based on whether he walks in the light. He goes as far as removing the central tenet of the Christian faith that belief in the Lord Jesus is the way of salvation, being incredulous that God would judge a person based on whether he believes in Christ.
YM has clearly abolished the message of the cross in the name of living in the light. John’s exhortations to the believers in his epistle are by no means opposed to faith in Jesus Christ. Walking in the light presupposes having our sins washed by the blood of our Lord Jesus (1 Jn 1:1-2:2). There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). To claim that one’s salvation is based on his conduct is to render the death of our Lord Jesus meaningless (cf. Gal 2:21). Such a serious departure from the gospel of our Lord Jesus and from our common faith must be rejected. [Back to top]
YM alleges that the belief of the True Jesus Church is wrong in claiming that our Lord Jesus Christ came in a flesh that shares the same substance as our flesh. He propounds that the flesh Jesus came in was only similar to our flesh. He cites passages in the Bible that speak of Jesus’ divinity and heavenly origin to prove that Jesus’ flesh was different from ours. He claims that Jesus took on a different human nature from the rest of humanity.
Many in the history of the Christian church have grappled with the question of how God could take on the flesh of sinful man. Heresies such as Docetism and Gnosticism were all attempts to preserve God’s holiness. They regarded the flesh as something inherently evil and denied that Jesus was in the flesh. But by stating that Jesus did not truly come in the flesh, they have contradicted the teaching of the Bible.
YM does not deny that Jesus has come in the flesh. But his teaching that Jesus took on what appeared as flesh has essentially denied our basic belief that Jesus Christ is the Word who became flesh. The Bible clearly tells us that the Word “became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory” (Jn 1:14) and that “God appeared in the flesh” (1 Tim 3:16). John reminds the believers in his letter, “For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist” (2 Jn 7). The fact that Jesus Christ came in the flesh was central to the faith proclaimed by the apostles, and until now has been a measure by which believers can discern the antichrist.
The Bible uses the same word “flesh” (σάρξ, sarx) for both Jesus’ flesh and ours. It makes no distinction between two kinds of flesh. In fact, the Bible underscores the sameness of Jesus’ flesh and blood with ours: “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Heb 2:14, emphasis added). That is to say, our Lord Jesus shared in “the same” flesh and blood as God’s children. It is crucial that the Redeemer of mankind shares the same flesh and blood with those whom He had come to redeem. By suffering the same temptations and trials as us and dying in our place, Christ could destroy the devil and save those who are tempted and tried.
The Bible also does not teach that Jesus’ humanity is different from ours. Twice Paul uses the term “man” or “human being” (ἄνθρωπος, anthrōpos) when alluding to our Savior: “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim 2:5); “For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many” (Rom 5:15). In both passages, the fact that Jesus Christ was a human being is central to His grace of salvation. There is no indication that Jesus’ humanity was different. Jesus’ divinity does not contradict at all the truth that Jesus was in fact a real human being.
When exhorting believers to imitate the humility of Christ Jesus, Paul says that Jesus “emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (Phil 2:7, ESV). The form of a servant and the likeness of men do not mean that Jesus disguised Himself with an outward appearance of a servant or of a man. In the same sentence, we are told that Christ is in the form of God (Phil 2:6). This does not suggest in any way that Christ merely has the appearance of God and is not actually God. Thus, taking the form of a servant and being born in the likeness of men describe the way in which Christ emptied Himself. While being the very image of God, Christ humbled Himself by taking on the lowly status of man and servant.
When the Bible tells us that Jesus was in the flesh, we are not to misinterpret “flesh” as inherently sinful. Romans introduces the Lord Jesus Christ by saying that He was “born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead” (Rom 1:3-4). From the standpoint of humanity, Jesus descended from David. But from a spiritual perspective, He was declared to be the Son of God. “Flesh” here refers to humanity without any implication of sin. Similarly, Hebrew speaks of Jesus’ prayers and supplications “in the days of His flesh” (Heb 5:7). There is no suggestion of sin in the term “flesh”. Rather, Jesus had to learn obedience as a Son through prayers and supplications because He was in the flesh and shared in our humanity.
The author of Hebrews tells us, “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses” (Heb 4:15a). YM argues that God does not need to take on our humanity to sympathize with our weaknesses. But “sympathy” in the context of Hebrews has everything to do with the fact that Jesus was in the flesh (Heb 2:17-18; 5:7-10). Sympathy is not merely a feeling of compassion. The word is literally “suffer together with”. By taking on the same flesh as we are, Jesus was able to suffer with us the same weaknesses that we experience.
What sets Jesus apart from us is not that He had a different flesh, but the fact that He was “in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Heb 4:15b, emphasis added). He overcame the weakness of the flesh and obeyed God unto death. Paul writes, “For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin” (Rom 8:3a). “The likeness of sinful flesh” here should not be mistaken for the “likeness of flesh”, or merely the appearance of flesh. Rather, it means that, like sinful men, Jesus was also in the flesh. The latter part of the verse confirms that Jesus was in fact in the flesh because “He condemned sin in the flesh” (Rom 8:3b).
Being sinless, Jesus was as a lamb without blemish or spot (1 Pet 1:19; cf. Heb 9:14). He offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for sin by bearing our sins in His body (1 Pet 2:24; Heb 9:28; 10:10). For our sake God made Him who knew no sin to be sin, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor 5:21). Christ suffered once for all, the just for the unjust that He might bring us to God. He was put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit (1 Pet 3:18). Because He bore our sins, He suffered death and tasted death for everyone (Heb 2:9). Yet God did not abandon His soul in Hades nor allow His Holy One see corruption but raised Him from the dead (Acts 2:27, 31; 13:30–37). The fact that Jesus did not see corruption was not because He was born incorruptible, but because God raised Him from the dead. If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to our mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in us (Rom 8:11). [Back to top]