The New Apostolic Church (NAC) is a religious group that perverts Christian doctrine, teaches the existence of modern apostles and prophets, and promotes works-based salvation.
Like Mormonism, the New Apostolic Church was founded in the 19th century on the claim that all other Christian denominations were wrong. Also like the Mormons, the New Apostolic Church claims to base its doctrines on the Scriptures, but twists them to suit its own heresies. In fact, they have very good teachings on church history, the trinity, and other major Christian doctrines: Mixing truth and error is a satanic tactic that makes error harder to detect (see Matthew 4:5–6). ).
The New Apostolic Church infuses its “apostles” with a cult-like authority, teaching that no one has access to God’s forgiveness, the sacraments or salvation except through them. The New Apostolic Church began as a branch of the Catholic Apostolic Church, founded in England in the 1830s as a result of a prophecy that “restored” apostolic succession, making its founders the first apostles called by God since the death of the Apostle. apostle John. This is an amazing statement considering that they also believe that God’s grace does not operate apart from God’s apostles. According to the Eighth Article of Faith of the Catechism of the New Apostolic Church, “those baptized with water must, through an Apostle, receive the gift of the Holy Spirit in order to attain childhood in God.” So, apparently, God forgot to bring anyone into his kingdom for eighteen centuries until the New Apostolic Church appeared. The New Apostolic Church has some ten million members in 60,000 locations worldwide, primarily in Europe, with perhaps 250 congregations in the US.
Other errors of the New Apostolic Church include these teachings: 1) water baptism is necessary for the forgiveness of sins; 2) Baptism is only the first of several steps to becoming a “child of God”; 3) legitimate Christian baptism can only be administered by an apostle (ie an apostle of the New Apostolic Church, as they do not recognize apostles of other denominations); 4) the gift of the Holy Spirit is received only through an apostle of the New Apostolic Church, and only after water baptism; 5) it is through the apostles of the New Apostolic Church that God forgives sins; and 6) prayers and sacramental rites for the dead are effective for the salvation of the dead.
These teachings make the New Apostolic Church a worship based on works. They require works that clearly imply a life of obedience to the teachings and leadership of the New Apostolic Church in order to reach the highest spiritual levels. Here also from The Eighth Article of Faith:
“’Childhood in God’ is that condition of the human being before God that is characterized by receiving all the sacraments and directing one’s life towards the return of Christ, in accordance with the proclamation of the gospel itself. The future effect of receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost is to attain the status of firstborn. However, the sealed believer has not yet acquired the status of the firstborn, but through the baptism of the Spirit, he has received the prerequisite to achieve it. If the believer strives for the day of Christ, he may belong to the bridal congregation, or to the ‘community of saints’. Sealed believers have been assigned the task of continually following Christ and allowing themselves to be prepared for the return of Jesus Christ through word and sacrament.”
As with many Christian-based heretical groups, the New Apostolic Church requires a multi-step hierarchy of actions, all of which must be performed correctly under the continuing guidance and authority of the cult, in the vague hope of eventually, perhaps, achieve the objective. highest level, in this case, the “community of saints.” We also note his use of obscure terms like firstborn that are not found in Scripture.
He contrasts the requirement of the sacraments with the clear promises of the gospel: “To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” ( John 1:12 ). “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has passed away, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). “Those whom God foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined, these he also called; whom he called, he also justified; whom he justified, them he also glorified” (Romans 8:29–30). “See what great love the Father has given us, so that we may be called children of God! And that is what we are!” ( 1 John 3:1 ).
One of the false doctrines of the New Apostolic Church is baptismal regeneration. Regarding baptism, the New Apostolic Church teaches: “Holy baptism with water is the first step for the renewal of the human being in the Holy Spirit, and that the baptized person is adopted into the communion of those who believe in Jesus Christ and profess. as the Lord of him.” Furthermore, “original sin is washed away through Holy Baptism with water and that the baptized are now incorporated into the church of Christ. In this way he becomes a Christian” (Catechism of the New Apostolic Church, Sixth Article of Faith).
In contrast, water baptism in the Bible always comes after saving faith in Christ. Baptism for believers is a public and symbolic expression of their acceptance by faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Romans 3:23–25). For example, the evangelist Philip explained the gospel to the Ethiopian eunuch, who believed and was baptized (Acts 8:34–38). The apostle Peter was called by God to go to the house of a Gentile and preach the gospel to that house. As Peter preached, they believed and received the Holy Spirit. So Peter said, “Can anyone prevent these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have” ( Acts 10:44–47 ). The order in the Scriptures could not be clearer: become a Christian by faith first, be baptized second.
The members of the New Apostolic Church need to be delivered from a false gospel taught by false prophets. Freedom is found in the simple message of saving grace contained in the true gospel of Jesus Christ ( John 3:16 ; Acts 4:12 ; 1 Corinthians 2:2 ; Galatians 1:6–9 ).