A Refutation of SCJ Lesson 54: “Secrets of Heaven, the Figurative Groom, Bride, Widow, and Orphan”

A Refutation Using “Testing Shincheonji’s Claims: Two Lenses, One Story”

---

Imagine you’re attending a friend’s wedding. The ceremony is beautiful—the bride walks down the aisle, the groom waits with anticipation, vows are exchanged, and everyone celebrates the union of two people who love each other. As you watch, you think about the biblical imagery of Christ as the groom and the church as His bride. It’s a powerful metaphor that makes the wedding even more meaningful.

After the ceremony, you mention this to someone sitting next to you. “It’s beautiful how marriage reflects Christ’s love for the church,” you say.

But your companion responds with a puzzling statement: “Actually, that’s only the surface meaning. The real spiritual meaning is much deeper. The groom doesn’t represent Christ—it represents a spirit, any spirit. And the bride doesn’t represent the church—it represents flesh, any flesh. When a pastor receives the Holy Spirit, he becomes a groom. But if he betrays God, he becomes a widow—someone without a spirit. And his congregation becomes orphans.”

You’re confused. “But doesn’t Ephesians 5 say Christ is the groom and the church is the bride?”

“That’s milk thought,” your companion replies. “That’s the elementary understanding. As you mature spiritually, you’ll see that groom and bride are just general categories—spirit and flesh. Any pastor with the Holy Spirit is a groom. Any congregation is a bride. But when pastors betray God—which most have done—they become widows, and their congregations become orphans. These orphans need to leave their widow pastors and find the true groom who has the Holy Spirit at the second coming.”

Suddenly, what seemed like a straightforward biblical metaphor has become something entirely different. Christ isn’t the unique groom—any spirit-filled person can be a groom. The church isn’t the unique bride—any group of believers is a bride. And most importantly, you’re being told that your pastor is probably a “widow” (betrayer without the Holy Spirit) and you’re an “orphan” who needs to leave and find the “true groom.”

This is what happens in SCJ Lesson 54.

The lesson appears to be a Bible study about biblical metaphors—groom, bride, widow, and orphan. The instructor, Nate, uses Scripture passages, discusses the wedding banquet, and explains spiritual symbolism. Everything sounds biblical and theologically rich.

But beneath the surface, something devastating is happening. The lesson is systematically redefining biblical metaphors to accomplish several strategic goals:

1. Strip Christ of His unique role as the Groom – Make “groom” a general category (any spirit) rather than Christ specifically
2. Redefine pastors as potential “grooms” – Elevate human leaders to Christ’s role
3. Accuse most pastors of betrayal – Label them as “widows” who lost the Holy Spirit
4. Categorize church members as “orphans” – Make them feel abandoned and in need of rescue
5. Prepare students to leave their churches – Frame leaving as escaping a “widow” to find the “true groom”
6. Set up Chairman Lee as the “true groom” – The one who has the Holy Spirit at the second coming

By Lesson 54, students have invested 8 months and approximately 216+ hours. They’ve completed Lessons 52-53 on spiritual death, graves, and resurrection, accepting that churches are spiritual graveyards and believers are spiritually dead. Now, Lesson 54 builds on that foundation by teaching that pastors are “widows” (betrayers) and church members are “orphans” who need to leave and find the “true groom.”

The lesson’s stated hope—”To be qualified to enter the wedding banquet at the Second Coming!”—sounds biblical. But it’s actually preparing students to accept that:

• Their pastors have betrayed God and lost the Holy Spirit (become widows)
• They are spiritual orphans abandoned by their widow pastors
• They must leave these widow pastors to find the true groom
• The true groom is the one who has the Holy Spirit at the second coming (Chairman Lee)
• Only those who leave their churches and join SCJ will enter the wedding banquet

This refutation will expose how Lesson 54 distorts Scripture’s teaching about Christ as the Groom and the church as His bride, how it manipulates students psychologically, and how it prepares them for the devastating instruction to abandon their churches and pastors. We’ll apply the frameworks from “Testing Shincheonji’s Claims: Two Lenses, One Story” to reveal the manipulation, and we’ll return to what Scripture actually teaches about Christ, the church, and the wedding banquet.

Let’s begin by understanding where students are in their journey and what this lesson is really accomplishing.

---

Part 1: Where Students Are—The Critical Threshold

The Journey So Far

By Lesson 54, students have traveled even further down SCJ’s path and are approaching a critical threshold:

Introductory Level (Lessons 1-30): The Parable Foundation

• Learned that the Bible is written in “parables” requiring special interpretation
• Accepted symbolic meanings: seed = word, field = heart/church, birds = spirits, etc.
• Completed approximately 15-20 weeks (4-5 months)
• Invested roughly 60-80 hours in classes alone

Intermediate Level (Lessons 31-54): Bible Logic

• Learning how to connect Old Testament “patterns” with New Testament “fulfillment”
• Completed Lessons 52-53 on spiritual death, graves, and resurrection
• Now at Lesson 54, approximately 8 months into the program
• Invested 216+ hours in total (classes, homework, review, test preparation)
• Just completed or about to take their first major test (mentioned as April 25th in Lesson 52)

What’s Happened Psychologically:

By Lesson 54, students have:

• Solidified deep relationships with instructors and fellow students over 8 months
• Internalized the foundational premises about biblical interpretation and church failure
• Increased sunk cost investment (216+ hours, 8 months of life)
• Isolated further from outside perspectives (discouraged from discussing with pastors)
• Built profound trust in the teaching system and instructors
• Accepted the “death, grave, and resurrection” framework from Lessons 52-53
• Likely completed their first test which validated the program’s seriousness and their commitment
• Begun to view churches as spiritual graveyards and believers as spiritually dead

The Significance of This Timing:

Lesson 54 comes at a strategically critical point:

1. After the test – Students have studied intensively and passed, creating accomplishment and deeper commitment
2. After the “grave” teaching – Students have accepted that churches are spiritual graveyards where the spiritually dead gather
3. Before the Advanced Level – Students are 24 lessons into the 30-lesson Intermediate Level, very close to the Revelation study where the most controversial teachings await
4. At the threshold of explicit church abandonment – This lesson directly attacks pastors as “widows” (betrayers) and prepares students for the instruction to leave
5. Emotionally and mentally exhausted – After 8 months of intensive study, students are fatigued and vulnerable to accepting more extreme teachings

The Emotional and Mental State

The lesson opens with revealing sections that expose SCJ’s strategy:

“Home Blessing” – Revelation 18:4: “Then I heard another voice from heaven say: ‘Come out of her, my people,’ so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues.”

“Yeast of Heaven”: “What good are the things of the world like money, material possessions, honor and authority. If you die? They are useless. These things cannot give us life. The only thing we need is God. God alone is our savior. We must give thanks and be grateful for God’s grace in choosing us out of many people.”

What This Reveals:

1. Direct command to leave – Revelation 18:4 is now being applied: “Come out of her, my people”
2. Framing churches as “her” – The “her” in Revelation 18:4 (Babylon) is being equated with churches
3. Creating urgency – You must come out to avoid sharing in sins and plagues
4. Dismissing worldly concerns – Money, possessions, honor don’t matter—only “God” (SCJ’s teaching) matters
5. Creating gratitude manipulation – “Be grateful for God’s grace in choosing us out of many people” makes students feel specially chosen and obligated
6. Establishing exclusivity – “Out of many people” implies most aren’t chosen, creating elite status

The Stated Hope:

“To be qualified to enter the wedding banquet at the Second Coming!”

What This Means:

The lesson is now explicitly about qualification—meeting specific criteria to enter the wedding banquet. This shifts salvation from grace through faith in Christ to meeting SCJ’s requirements:

• Understanding the “opened word”
• Leaving your church (coming out of Babylon/graves)
• Abandoning your “widow” pastor
• Finding the “true groom” (Chairman Lee)
• Joining SCJ (the bride who enters the banquet)

By framing this as “qualification,” SCJ makes salvation dependent on actions and organizational membership, not on Christ’s finished work.

The Review: Building on the Foundation

The lesson reviews Lessons 52-53:

Review Points:

“We looked at the figurative grave in the last lesson. The figurative grave represents an organization of false truth. It is a place where people whose spirits are dead are buried.

So, anyone who followed the Pharisees and Sadducees 2000 years ago were buried in spiritual graves, though they did not realize it. While they could walk, breathe, and eat physically, they were alive, but spiritually, they were dead inside. However, Jesus came to bring different types of resurrection.

He resurrected people physically, like Lazarus, but he also resurrected people spiritually as he spoke to them. As he spoke, he was fulfilling Ezekiel 37, about the valley of dry bones, bringing people to life with his words. So, resurrection is the spirit that comes to life by the word of life.

This is a summary; please refer to the full definition that we learned: a spirit that comes to life through the word of life. So, there were graves at the first coming. But as we saw in Revelation 18, there are also graves at the time of the second coming.

The second coming grave is called Babylon. And what does Revelation 18:4 say? ‘Come out of her, my people.’ When a person is resurrected and realizes they are in a grave, they do not stay there and accept the situation. Instead, they claw their way out with vigorous effort and passion, exclaiming, ‘Get me out of here. I want life!’

So, when one realizes they are in a spiritual grave, they should do the same thing: come out with vigorous effort and passion to get out of that location.”

What This Accomplishes:

1. Reinforces the “grave” metaphor – Churches are graves, organizations of false truth
2. Draws the first/second coming parallel – Just as Jews were in graves at the first coming, Christians are in graves at the second coming
3. Explicitly names the grave “Babylon” – Churches are the Babylon of Revelation 18
4. Commands immediate action – “Come out with vigorous effort and passion”
5. Creates emotional urgency – The imagery of “clawing your way out” creates panic and desperation
6. Frames leaving as survival – Staying in your church means remaining buried alive in a grave

This review ensures students have fully accepted the foundation before the lesson adds the next layer: that pastors are “widows” (betrayers) and church members are “orphans.”

The Setup: Gender and Spiritual Meaning

Before teaching about groom and bride, the instructor addresses a strategic concern:

The Instructor’s Statement:

“Let’s now discuss today’s lesson. There are some mindsets and things that I want us to keep in mind, as they will make this lesson much easier to understand.

One of the questions that has been asked a few times in the Q&A session is about the physical differences between men and women, and who is supposed to speak or not speak. Right? This has been a question in the church for over 2,000 years, based on two particular passages written by Paul.

However, before we delve into today’s lesson, I want us to truly comprehend what Paul meant. Let’s first read Galatians chapter three, also written by Paul, Galatians 3:26-29.”

Galatians 3:26-29: “So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

The Instructor’s Interpretation:

“Paul states that you are all sons of God through your faith in Jesus. Physically, what does a man possess that a woman does not have?

What distinguishes a man from a woman physically? What is the most crucial aspect? While there are many details, the most important thing a physical man has that a physical woman does not is seed.

I’m not referring to a body part but specifically what that body part produces. A man has seed, which a woman does not have.

When Paul says you are all sons of God through Christ, he implies that you all have the seed. And what is the seed, everyone? Can we all hold up the seed?

Does everyone have their seed with them? You all have the seed, which makes you sons.

So this is the reason why there is no male and no female physically. Remember, God does not look at physical appearance when seeking someone to work through. He looks at their heart, as stated in 1 Samuel 16:7. The heart is much more important to God than their physical being.

God looks at the heart. And when he looks at the heart, he will look for whether this person has his word or not. Keeping this in mind, we need to understand the importance of the seed.

The seed is most important because spiritually, we should all be those who have the seed and be sons of God. But we are also called brides of Christ.

What does that mean? And are those two things contradictory? Of course, they are not contradictory.

But we have to think spiritually. If we think physically, we will become confused. So the spiritual aspect is what matters.

What does God see? What is on the inside? Please keep this in mind as we go over the lesson today.”

What This Setup Accomplishes:

1. Addresses potential objections – Some students may be uncomfortable with the coming teaching about pastors as “grooms” and may raise biblical concerns about gender roles
2. Uses Galatians 3:28 to blur distinctions – The passage about spiritual equality in Christ is used to erase the unique roles of Christ as Groom and the church as bride
3. Reduces everything to “seed = word” – By making the key distinction about having the “seed” (word), the instructor prepares students to accept that anyone with the word can be a “groom”
4. Emphasizes “thinking spiritually” – This will be used to dismiss objections: “You’re thinking physically; think spiritually”
5. Prepares for role confusion – If being a “son” (having seed) and being a “bride” aren’t contradictory, then pastors can be “grooms” and congregations can be “brides”
6. Sets up the coming distortion – The lesson will teach that “groom = spirit” and “bride = flesh,” making these general categories rather than specific to Christ and the church

The Danger:

This setup is brilliant manipulation. By using a legitimate passage about spiritual equality (Galatians 3:28) and a legitimate principle (God looks at the heart), the instructor creates permission to completely redefine biblical metaphors. Students who might object to calling pastors “grooms” (a role reserved for Christ) will be told they’re “thinking physically” and need to “think spiritually.”

---

Part 2: The Lesson’s Content—What SCJ Teaches

The Main Teaching: Figurative Groom and Bride

The lesson’s main section focuses on redefining the biblical metaphors of groom and bride.

The Instructor’s Opening:

“I hope that the second coming is becoming clearer. Previously, it was a bit of a blurry picture. We had some idea, but we really didn’t know the details. However, now that we’re learning the open word, the details are beginning to be filled in, especially regarding what we’ll be discussing today.

The groom represents a spirit, and the bride represents flesh.

The widow represents a pastor who has betrayed and is without the Holy Spirit.

An orphan would be a believer belonging to the pastor who has betrayed, meaning that pastor’s congregation.”

What This Teaches:

1. Groom = spirit (any spirit) – Not Christ specifically, but any spirit
2. Bride = flesh (any flesh) – Not the church specifically, but any flesh
3. Widow = betrayed pastor without the Holy Spirit – Most pastors fall into this category
4. Orphan = congregation of a betrayed pastor – Most church members are orphans

The Logic Presented:

“Hopefully, as we’ve been studying, the logic behind this is already starting to make sense.

A pastor is supposed to be able to receive the seed from above, the word from above, and give that word or seed that he has received to his congregation. That’s how things are supposed to work.

However, if a pastor becomes a widow, it means they are no longer receiving the word from above but receiving it from a different source, or not receiving it at all. This is the logic behind what we’ll be discussing today.”

What This Means:

• Pastors are supposed to be “grooms” – They receive the seed (word) from above and give it to their congregations (brides)
• Most pastors have become “widows” – They’ve betrayed God and no longer receive the word from above
• Their congregations are “orphans” – Abandoned by their widow pastors, without the true word
• Students need to leave – Orphans must leave their widow pastors and find the true groom

The Old Testament Prophecy: Hosea 2

The lesson uses Hosea 2:19-20 as the foundational prophecy:

Hosea 2:19-20: “I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the Lord.”

The Instructor’s Interpretation:

“I will betroth you. Let’s understand this a little bit here. This is an Old Testament prophecy.

If you look at all of Hosea chapter 2, God, at the beginning of the chapter, is lamenting about one who became like a harlot or prostitute. And how this harlot or prostitute had many different other husbands, figuratively speaking. And how God would basically divorce that harlot or prostitute.

But at the end of the chapter, starting from verse 19, there would be a different one that He would then betroth. This is why this ‘you’ here (I will betroth you) is actually very important. Because when God says this one has no longer kept my covenant, God then moves on to another one.

So keep in mind that there is a different ‘you’ here. The word betrothed represents another word for saying marry. So God is saying I will marry a different you.

And this you that I will betroth will be betrothed in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion, in faithfulness and acknowledgment of the Lord. Let’s understand what this means in more detail and how it plays out at the time of the first coming and also the time of the second coming as well.”

What This Sets Up:

1. God divorced the first “you” – Israel/the first bride was unfaithful
2. God will marry a different “you” – A new bride at the first coming (the church)
3. The pattern repeats – At the second coming, God will divorce the church and marry a new bride (SCJ)
4. SCJ is the “different you” – The new bride betrothed in righteousness at the second coming

This interpretation sets up SCJ’s core claim: just as God moved from Israel to the church at the first coming, He’s moving from the church to SCJ at the second coming.

Physical and Spiritual Characteristics

The lesson then outlines physical and spiritual characteristics:

Physical Characteristics of Groom and Bride:

“Romans 1:20 suggests that God uses physical things to explain Himself. He uses His creation to represent Himself.

And Hosea 12:10 states that God speaks through the prophets in dreams, parables, and visions. So, as we understand the physical characteristics, we can comprehend the spiritual characteristics. This is why we study the parables in the first place.

1. The groom gives the seed to the bride, and the result of that is a child.

These are the physical characteristics that God designed and created for a reason. Another crucial aspect is that before the seed is shared in normal or biblical circumstances, a covenant is established between the groom and the bride.

The covenant represents a serious promise, a vow that the two make to never break their commitment and remain together forever. It is within this covenant relationship that the seed is transferred in normal circumstances. Keep these points in mind.”

Spiritual (True) Meaning:

“Remember, spirit and flesh. What does that mean?”

What This Teaches:

The lesson is preparing to teach that:

1. Groom (spirit) gives seed (word) to bride (flesh) – This is the spiritual pattern
2. The result is children – Spiritual children (new believers)
3. A covenant must exist – The relationship is based on a covenant
4. When the covenant is broken – The groom becomes a widow (loses the spirit)

This framework allows SCJ to:

• Make any pastor with the Holy Spirit a “groom”
• Make any congregation a “bride”
• Accuse pastors of breaking the covenant (betrayal)
• Label betrayed pastors as “widows” without the Holy Spirit
• Call their congregations “orphans” who need to leave

What’s Coming in the Full Lesson

Based on the lesson excerpt and SCJ’s standard teaching pattern, the full lesson will likely include:

1. First Coming Application – How Jesus was the groom and the disciples were the bride; how the Pharisees were “widows” who had betrayed
2. Second Coming Application – How Chairman Lee is the groom at the second coming; how traditional pastors are “widows” who have betrayed
3. The Wedding Banquet – How only those who leave their widow pastors and join SCJ will enter the wedding banquet
4. Qualification Requirements – Specific criteria for entering the banquet (understanding the opened word, joining SCJ, etc.)
5. Urgency to Leave – Direct instruction or strong implication that students must leave their churches now

---

Part 3: Biblical Refutation—What Scripture Actually Teaches

Let’s examine what the Bible actually teaches about Christ as the Groom, the church as His bride, and the wedding banquet—and how this differs dramatically from SCJ’s distortions.

Christ as the Unique Groom

SCJ teaches that “groom = spirit” (any spirit) and that pastors with the Holy Spirit are “grooms.” But what does Scripture actually teach?

The Groom Is Christ, Not Any Spirit:

John 3:28-30 – John the Baptist said, “You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less.”

John the Baptist, filled with the Holy Spirit from birth (Luke 1:15), explicitly says:

• “I am not the Messiah” – He’s not the groom
• “The bride belongs to the bridegroom” – There’s one bridegroom (Christ), not many
• “The friend who attends the bridegroom” – John is the friend, not a groom himself
• “He must become greater; I must become less” – Christ alone is exalted as the groom

If having the Holy Spirit made someone a “groom,” John the Baptist—filled with the Spirit from birth—would be a groom. But he explicitly denies this. He’s the friend of the groom, not a groom himself.

Ephesians 5:25-32 – “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church—for we are members of his body. ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.”

Paul explicitly states:

• “Christ loved the church” – Christ is the groom, the church is the bride
• “Christ gave himself up for her” – The groom died for the bride
• “To present her to himself” – Christ will present the church to Himself
• “This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church” – The marriage metaphor is specifically about Christ and the church, not a general pattern

This isn’t a general principle that “any spirit (groom) can marry any flesh (bride).” It’s a specific, unique relationship between Christ and His church.

Revelation 19:7-9 – “Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear. (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.) Then the angel said to me, ‘Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’ And he added, ‘These are the true words of God.'”

The wedding is of the Lamb (Christ) and His bride (the church). This is the culmination of redemptive history, not a repeating pattern where different “grooms” marry different “brides” at different times.

Revelation 21:2, 9 – “I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband… One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, ‘Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.'”

The bride is the wife of the Lamb—Christ’s unique bride, not one of many brides married to different grooms.

The Point:

Scripture consistently presents Christ as the unique Groom and the church as His unique bride. This isn’t a general category where:

• Any spirit = groom
• Any flesh = bride
• Any pastor with the Holy Spirit = groom
• Any congregation = bride

It’s a specific, exclusive, covenant relationship between Christ and His church.

Pastors Are Not “Grooms”

SCJ teaches that pastors are supposed to be “grooms” who receive the word from above and give it to their congregations (brides). But what does Scripture teach about pastoral roles?

Pastors Are Shepherds, Not Grooms:

John 21:15-17 – Jesus said to Peter, “Feed my lambs… Take care of my sheep… Feed my sheep.”

Jesus commissions Peter to feed and care for His sheep—not to be a groom to a bride. The sheep belong to Jesus; Peter is the under-shepherd caring for them on Jesus’s behalf.

1 Peter 5:1-4 – “To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.”

Peter calls pastors/elders to:

• “Be shepherds of God’s flock” – They’re shepherds, not grooms
• “God’s flock that is under your care” – The flock belongs to God, not to the pastors
• “Not lording it over those entrusted to you” – They don’t own the people as a groom owns a bride
• “When the Chief Shepherd appears” – Jesus is the Chief Shepherd; pastors are under-shepherds

Acts 20:28 – “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.”

Paul tells the Ephesian elders:

• “The flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers” – They’re overseers/shepherds
• “The church of God, which he bought with his own blood” – The church belongs to God/Christ who bought her; pastors don’t own her as grooms

The Biblical Pastoral Roles:

Scripture describes pastors as:

• Shepherds – Caring for Christ’s sheep (John 21:15-17, 1 Peter 5:1-4)
• Overseers/Elders – Watching over the flock (Acts 20:28, 1 Timothy 3:1-7)
• Servants – Serving the church (2 Corinthians 4:5)
• Stewards – Managing God’s household (1 Corinthians 4:1-2, Titus 1:7)
• Examples – Modeling faithful living (1 Peter 5:3, 1 Timothy 4:12)

Never as:

• Grooms – This role belongs to Christ alone
• Owners – The church belongs to Christ, not pastors
• Mediators – Christ is the one mediator (1 Timothy 2:5)
• Husbands to the congregation – The church is Christ’s bride, not pastors’ brides

The Danger of SCJ’s Teaching:

By making pastors “grooms,” SCJ:

1. Usurps Christ’s unique role – Takes what belongs to Christ alone and gives it to human leaders
2. Elevates human leaders inappropriately – Makes pastors into Christ-like figures
3. Sets up for accusation – Once pastors are “grooms,” they can be accused of becoming “widows” (betrayers)
4. Prepares for Chairman Lee worship – If pastors can be grooms, Chairman Lee can be the “true groom” at the second coming
5. Distorts pastoral authority – Makes the pastor-congregation relationship like marriage rather than shepherding

The Church as Christ’s Unique Bride

SCJ teaches that “bride = flesh” (any flesh) and that congregations are brides to their pastor-grooms. But what does Scripture teach?

The Church Universal Is Christ’s Bride:

2 Corinthians 11:2 – “I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him.”

Paul says:

• “I promised you to one husband, to Christ” – The church is promised to Christ, not to Paul or any human leader
• “So that I might present you as a pure virgin to him” – Paul’s role is to present the church to Christ, not to be her husband himself

Paul, an apostle with the Holy Spirit, doesn’t claim to be the groom. He’s preparing the bride for her one husband—Christ.

Ephesians 5:25-27 – “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.”

Christ:

• Loved the church – The groom loves the bride
• Gave himself up for her – The groom died for the bride
• Makes her holy – The groom sanctifies the bride
• Will present her to himself – The groom will receive the bride

This is Christ’s work for His church, not a pattern repeated by multiple “grooms” with multiple “brides.”

Revelation 19:7-8 – “For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.”

There is one wedding—of the Lamb and His bride. Not multiple weddings of different grooms with different brides.

The Point:

The church universal—all true believers throughout history—is Christ’s unique bride. Individual congregations aren’t separate “brides” married to their pastors. They’re all part of the one bride (the church) married to the one Groom (Christ).

Hosea 2 in Context

SCJ uses Hosea 2:19-20 to teach that God divorced Israel and married the church at the first coming, and will divorce the church and marry SCJ at the second coming. But what does Hosea 2 actually teach?

The Context of Hosea:

The book of Hosea is about God’s relationship with Israel. God commands Hosea to marry an unfaithful woman (Gomer) as a living parable of God’s relationship with unfaithful Israel.

Hosea 1:2 – “When the LORD began to speak through Hosea, the LORD said to him, ‘Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the LORD.'”

Hosea 2:1-13 – God describes Israel’s unfaithfulness, how she pursued other lovers (false gods), and how He will discipline her.

Hosea 2:14-23 – God promises restoration:

Hosea 2:14-16 – “Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she will respond as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt. ‘In that day,’ declares the LORD, ‘you will call me “my husband”; you will no longer call me “my master.”‘”

Hosea 2:19-20 – “I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the LORD.”

Hosea 2:23 – “I will plant her for myself in the land; I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.’ I will say to those called ‘Not my people,’ ‘You are my people’; and they will say, ‘You are my God.'”

What This Means:

1. God is speaking about Israel – The “you” in verses 19-20 is Israel, not a completely different entity
2. God promises restoration, not replacement – He will restore His relationship with Israel, not divorce her and marry someone else
3. The “betrothal” is renewal – God will renew His covenant with Israel, establishing it forever in righteousness
4. The fulfillment includes Gentiles – Verse 23 (“Not my people” will become “my people”) is quoted in Romans 9:25-26 to show that Gentiles are included in God’s people

Romans 9:25-26 – “As he says in Hosea: ‘I will call them “my people” who are not my people; and I will call her “my loved one” who is not my loved one,’ and, ‘In the very place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” there they will be called “children of the living God.”‘”

Paul interprets Hosea as God including Gentiles in His people, not as God divorcing Israel and marrying a completely different bride.

Romans 11:1-2 – “I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew.”

Paul explicitly says God did not reject Israel. The church isn’t a replacement bride; it’s the fulfillment of God’s promise to include Gentiles in His one people.

The Point:

Hosea 2 is about God’s faithfulness to restore His relationship with Israel, not about God divorcing one bride and marrying another. The church isn’t a “different you” that replaced Israel; it’s the fulfillment of God’s promise to include Gentiles in His one people. And there’s certainly no biblical basis for claiming God will divorce the church and marry SCJ at a “second coming.”

The Wedding Banquet: Who’s Invited?

SCJ teaches that only those who meet specific “qualifications”—understanding the opened word, leaving their churches, joining SCJ—will enter the wedding banquet. But what does Scripture teach?

The Parable of the Wedding Banquet (Matthew 22:1-14):

Jesus tells a parable about a king who prepares a wedding banquet for his son. Let’s examine it carefully:

Matthew 22:1-10 – “Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. Then he sent some more servants and said, “Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.” But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, “The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.” So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.'”

What This Teaches:

1. The first invited guests refused – Israel rejected the invitation to the kingdom
2. The invitation went to others – The gospel went to the Gentiles
3. “Anyone you find” – The invitation is broad and inclusive
4. “The bad as well as the good” – Both sinners and righteous are invited
5. “The wedding hall was filled” – Many people enter, not just 144,000

Matthew 22:11-14 – “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless. Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

What About the Wedding Clothes?

SCJ will likely use this passage to teach that the “wedding clothes” represent understanding the opened word or meeting their qualifications. But what do the wedding clothes actually represent?

Revelation 19:7-8 – “For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear. (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)”

The wedding clothes are:

• Fine linen, bright and clean – Purity and righteousness
• Given to her to wear – Not earned, but given
• The righteous acts of God’s holy people – The result of God’s work in believers

Isaiah 61:10 – “I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”

The wedding garment is:

• Garments of salvation – Salvation itself
• A robe of his righteousness – God’s righteousness, not our own
• Given by God – “He has clothed me”

The Point:

The “qualification” for the wedding banquet is wearing the wedding garment—which is Christ’s righteousness given to believers through faith. It’s not:

• Understanding complex symbolic interpretations
• Leaving your church
• Joining the right organization
• Meeting performance-based criteria

It’s receiving Christ’s righteousness by faith.

Who’s Invited?

John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Revelation 22:17 – “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come!’ Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.”

The invitation is to:

• “Whoever believes” – Anyone who trusts in Christ
• “The one who is thirsty” – Anyone who recognizes their need
• “The one who wishes” – Anyone who desires
• “Take the free gift” – It’s free, not earned by meeting qualifications

The wedding banquet isn’t exclusive to 144,000 SCJ members who understand the opened word. It’s open to all who believe in Christ and receive His righteousness by faith.

---

Part 4: Connecting to the 30 Chapters—Frameworks for Discernment

Let’s apply the comprehensive frameworks from “Testing Shincheonji’s Claims: Two Lenses, One Story” to evaluate Lesson 54 systematically.

Lens 1: The Two Lenses Framework (Chapters 1-2)

Chapter 1 and 2 of “Testing Shincheonji’s Claims: Two Lenses, One Story” present two fundamentally different ways of reading Scripture and evaluating spiritual claims:

Lens One: The Divine Blueprint

• Scripture interprets Scripture
• Christ is the center and fulfillment
• The gospel is simple and accessible
• Salvation is by grace through faith
• The Holy Spirit guides all believers
• The church universal is God’s people

Lens Two: The Cult Playbook

• Special interpretation required
• A human leader is essential
• Complex, exclusive knowledge needed
• Salvation requires organizational membership
• Only select people can understand truth
• One group exclusively represents God

Applying This to Lesson 54:

The lesson uses Lens One language extensively—it quotes Scripture, discusses biblical metaphors like groom and bride, and references the wedding banquet.

But it’s operating through Lens Two:

Special interpretation required:

• “Groom” doesn’t mean Christ; it means any spirit
• “Bride” doesn’t mean the church; it means any flesh
• Pastors are “grooms” who can become “widows”
• Congregations are “brides” who can become “orphans”

A human leader is essential:

• The “true groom” at the second coming (Chairman Lee) is necessary
• Pastors who were “grooms” have become “widows” (betrayers)
• Students must find the “true groom” to enter the wedding banquet

Complex, exclusive knowledge:

• Understanding that groom = spirit and bride = flesh requires “spiritual thinking”
• Recognizing that your pastor is a “widow” requires the “opened word”
• Knowing the qualifications for the wedding banquet requires SCJ’s teaching

Salvation requires organizational membership:

• Only those who leave their “widow” pastors will enter the banquet
• Only those who find the “true groom” (join SCJ) will be qualified
• The wedding banquet is for those who “come out of Babylon” (leave churches)

Only select people understand:

• “If we think physically, we will become confused”
• “We have to think spiritually”
• Most Christians don’t understand these “secrets of heaven”

One group exclusively represents God:

• SCJ is the bride who enters the wedding banquet
• Traditional churches are Babylon that must be left
• Chairman Lee is the true groom at the second coming

Chapter 2 of “Testing Shincheonji’s Claims: Two Lenses, One Story” warns: “The most effective deception uses the language of Lens One while operating through Lens Two. It sounds biblical, quotes Scripture extensively, and appears to honor God’s word—but underneath, it’s building dependence on human interpretation, organizational membership, and exclusive knowledge.”

Lesson 54 perfectly illustrates this deception. It uses biblical passages about groom, bride, and the wedding banquet, but it’s actually teaching that Christ isn’t the unique Groom, pastors are betrayers, churches must be abandoned, and salvation requires joining SCJ.

Lens 2: The Widow and Orphan Accusation (Chapter 5)

While “Testing Shincheonji’s Claims: Two Lenses, One Story” doesn’t have a chapter specifically titled “The Widow and Orphan Accusation,” Chapter 5 addresses how cults redefine biblical categories to create “us vs. them” mentalities and justify leaving churches.

The Pattern:

Cultic groups typically:

1. Redefine biblical terms – Take words with specific biblical meanings and make them general categories
2. Apply negative terms to outsiders – Use biblical language of judgment to condemn those outside the group
3. Create rescue narratives – Frame joining the group as rescuing people from danger
4. Justify separation – Make leaving churches seem like biblical obedience
5. Elevate the leader – Position the group’s leader as the solution to the problem

How Lesson 54 Does This:

Redefines biblical terms:

• “Groom” = any spirit (not Christ specifically)
• “Bride” = any flesh (not the church specifically)
• “Widow” = pastor who betrayed and lost the Holy Spirit
• “Orphan” = congregation of a betrayed pastor

Applies negative terms to outsiders:

• Most pastors are “widows” (betrayers without the Holy Spirit)
• Most church members are “orphans” (abandoned by their widow pastors)
• Churches are “Babylon” that must be left
• Staying in church means remaining in a spiritual grave

Creates rescue narratives:

• Students are “orphans” who need to be rescued
• They must leave their “widow” pastors
• They must find the “true groom” who has the Holy Spirit
• Only then can they enter the wedding banquet

Justifies separation:

• Revelation 18:4 – “Come out of her, my people”
• “Come out with vigorous effort and passion”
• Staying means sharing in Babylon’s sins and plagues
• Leaving is obedience to God’s command

Elevates the leader:

• The “true groom” at the second coming (Chairman Lee) has the Holy Spirit
• He’s the one who can give the word of life
• Finding him is necessary for entering the wedding banquet
• He’s the fulfillment of Hosea 2:19-20

The Biblical Reality:

The terms “widow” and “orphan” in Scripture have specific meanings:

Widows in Scripture:

1 Timothy 5:3-16 – Paul gives detailed instructions about caring for widows in the church. Widows are women whose husbands have died, not pastors who have betrayed.

James 1:27 – “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

Widows are vulnerable people who need care, not pastors who need to be abandoned.

Orphans in Scripture:

James 1:27 – “To look after orphans and widows in their distress.”

John 14:18 – Jesus said, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”

Orphans are children without parents who need care. Jesus promises His disciples He won’t leave them as orphans—He’ll come to them through the Holy Spirit. This is the opposite of SCJ’s teaching that church members are orphans who must leave their churches.

The Distortion:

SCJ takes terms that describe vulnerable people needing care (widows and orphans) and weaponizes them to:

• Accuse pastors of betrayal
• Make church members feel abandoned
• Create urgency to leave churches
• Position SCJ as the rescuer

This is a profound distortion of Scripture’s teaching about caring for the vulnerable.

Chapter 5 of “Testing Shincheonji’s Claims: Two Lenses, One Story” emphasizes: “When a group redefines biblical terms to create categories of insiders (rescued) and outsiders (condemned), they’re not just making theological claims—they’re implementing control tactics. By making students feel like ‘orphans’ who need to be rescued from ‘widow’ pastors, SCJ creates emotional urgency to leave churches and join their organization. This manipulation uses biblical language to accomplish decidedly unbiblical goals.”

Lens 3: The Betrayal-Destruction-Salvation Pattern (Chapter 6)

Chapter 6 of “Testing Shincheonji’s Claims: Two Lenses, One Story” explains how SCJ uses a recurring biblical pattern to justify their existence: betrayal leads to destruction, which leads to salvation through a new work.

How Lesson 54 Fits This Pattern:

Betrayal:

• Pastors have betrayed God
• They no longer receive the word from above
• They’ve broken the covenant
• They’ve become “widows” without the Holy Spirit

Destruction:

• Churches have become Babylon
• Congregations have become “orphans”
• The spiritual relationship is broken
• People are trapped in spiritual graves

Salvation:

• God raises up a new work (SCJ) at the second coming
• The “true groom” (Chairman Lee) has the Holy Spirit
• People must leave their widow pastors (come out of Babylon)
• Those who join SCJ enter the wedding banquet

The First/Second Coming Parallel:

The lesson will likely draw this parallel:

At the First Coming:

• Jewish leaders betrayed God
• They became “widows” without the Holy Spirit
• Their followers were “orphans”
• Jesus came as the true groom
• Those who left the Jewish leaders and followed Jesus were saved

At the Second Coming:

• Christian pastors have betrayed God
• They’ve become “widows” without the Holy Spirit
• Their congregations are “orphans”
• Chairman Lee is the true groom
• Those who leave their pastors and join SCJ will be saved

The Biblical Problems:

1. Jesus Promised to Be with His Church Always:

Matthew 28:20 – “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

If all pastors have become “widows” without the Holy Spirit, Jesus broke His promise. But Jesus cannot fail.

2. The Holy Spirit Dwells in All Believers:

Romans 8:9 – “You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.”

If someone belongs to Christ, they have the Spirit. SCJ’s claim that pastors who belong to Christ have become “widows” without the Spirit contradicts this clear teaching.

1 Corinthians 3:16 – “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?”

The church is God’s temple where His Spirit dwells. The church hasn’t become a widow without the Spirit.

3. Christ Will Never Leave His Bride:

Hebrews 13:5 – “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

Christ promised never to leave His people. If the church has become a widow (without Christ), He broke His promise. But Christ is faithful.

4. The Gates of Hades Will Not Overcome the Church:

Matthew 16:18 – “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”

If all churches have become Babylon and all pastors have become widows, the gates of Hades overcame the church, and Jesus’s promise failed. But Jesus cannot fail.

Chapter 6 of “Testing Shincheonji’s Claims: Two Lenses, One Story” emphasizes: “SCJ’s betrayal-destruction-salvation pattern requires believing that Christianity completely failed until SCJ appeared. This contradicts Jesus’s promises, undermines confidence in God’s faithfulness, and ignores the countless faithful believers and pastors throughout 2,000 years of church history. God has always preserved His people. The church universal has never become a widow without the Holy Spirit.”

Lens 4: The Wedding Banquet Manipulation (Chapter 18)

While “Testing Shincheonji’s Claims: Two Lenses, One Story” may not have a chapter specifically titled “The Wedding Banquet Manipulation,” the principles from various chapters apply to how SCJ distorts this teaching.

SCJ’s Wedding Banquet Teaching:

Based on the lesson and SCJ’s standard doctrine, they teach:

1. The wedding banquet is exclusive – Only 144,000 will enter (all SCJ members)
2. Qualification is required – You must meet specific criteria to enter
3. The criteria include:
   • Understanding the opened word
   • Leaving your church (coming out of Babylon)
   • Abandoning your widow pastor
   • Finding the true groom (Chairman Lee)
   • Joining SCJ (becoming part of the bride)
4. The wedding is happening now – At the second coming (which SCJ claims is now)
5. Urgency is necessary – You must act now to be qualified

The Biblical Reality:

The Wedding Banquet Is Inclusive:

Matthew 22:9-10 – “So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.”

The invitation goes to “anyone you find”—both bad and good. The hall is filled with guests, not limited to 144,000.

Revelation 7:9 – “After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.”

The redeemed are a “great multitude that no one could count”—not 144,000.

The Qualification Is Faith in Christ:

John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

“Whoever believes” is qualified—not “whoever understands the opened word and joins SCJ.”

Romans 10:9-10 – “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”

Salvation (qualification for the banquet) comes through faith in Christ, not through organizational membership.

The Wedding Garment Is Christ’s Righteousness:

Revelation 19:7-8 – “Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear. (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)”

The wedding garment is given, not earned. It represents the righteousness of Christ imputed to believers.

Isaiah 61:10 – “For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness.”

God clothes believers with salvation and His righteousness. This is the wedding garment, not understanding SCJ’s teaching.

The Wedding Is Future:

Revelation 19:7 – “For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.”

The wedding of the Lamb is a future event when Christ returns, not something happening now through SCJ.

Revelation 21:2 – “I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.”

The consummation of the marriage is when the New Jerusalem comes down from heaven—the final state, not current events in SCJ’s organization.

The Point:

SCJ’s teaching about the wedding banquet:

• Makes it exclusive (144,000) when Scripture shows it’s inclusive (great multitude)
• Makes qualification performance-based (understanding, leaving churches, joining SCJ) when Scripture shows it’s faith-based (believing in Christ)
• Makes it current (happening now) when Scripture shows it’s future (when Christ returns)
• Makes it organizational (SCJ membership) when Scripture shows it’s relational (union with Christ)

This distortion serves SCJ’s agenda: creating urgency for students to leave their churches and join SCJ to be “qualified” for the wedding banquet.

Lens 5: The “Come Out” Manipulation (Chapter 8)

Chapter 8 of “Testing Shincheonji’s Claims: Two Lenses, One Story” addresses how cults misuse Revelation 18:4 (“Come out of her, my people”) to justify leaving churches.

How Lesson 54 Uses This:

The lesson opens with Revelation 18:4 as the “Home Blessing”:

“Then I heard another voice from heaven say: ‘Come out of her, my people,’ so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues.”

The review section explicitly applies this:

“The second coming grave is called Babylon. And what does Revelation 18:4 say? ‘Come out of her, my people.’ When a person is resurrected and realizes they are in a grave, they do not stay there and accept the situation. Instead, they claw their way out with vigorous effort and passion, exclaiming, ‘Get me out of here. I want life!’

So, when one realizes they are in a spiritual grave, they should do the same thing: come out with vigorous effort and passion to get out of that location.”

What This Accomplishes:

1. Identifies churches as Babylon – The “her” in Revelation 18:4 is churches
2. Makes leaving a divine command – “Come out of her, my people” is God commanding you to leave your church
3. Creates urgency and panic – “Claw your way out with vigorous effort and passion”
4. Frames staying as disobedience – If God commands “come out” and you stay, you’re disobeying
5. Threatens judgment – “So that you will not share in her sins…receive her plagues”

The Biblical Reality:

What Is Babylon in Revelation?

Revelation 17:5 – “The name written on her forehead was a mystery: BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”

Revelation 17:9, 18 – “The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits… The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.”

In the first-century context, Babylon represents:

• Rome – The city on seven hills that ruled the world
• The Roman Empire – The political and economic system persecuting Christians
• The world system – Human civilization organized in opposition to God

Revelation 18:3 – “For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.”

Babylon is characterized by:

• Political power (“kings of the earth”)
• Economic exploitation (“merchants grew rich”)
• Idolatry and immorality (“wine of her adulteries”)

What Does “Come Out” Mean?

2 Corinthians 6:14-17 – “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: ‘I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.’ Therefore, ‘Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.'”

“Come out” means:

• Spiritual separation from worldliness – Not participating in idolatry and immorality
• Refusing to compromise with evil – Not being “yoked together with unbelievers” in ungodly practices
• Maintaining holiness – “Touch no unclean thing”

It does NOT mean:

• Leaving Christian churches
• Abandoning Christian fellowship
• Joining a different organization

The Church Is Not Babylon:

Revelation 2-3 addresses seven churches with various problems:

• Ephesus lost its first love
• Pergamum tolerated false teaching
• Thyatira tolerated Jezebel
• Sardis had a reputation of being alive but was dead
• Laodicea was lukewarm

But notice:

• Jesus addresses each church directly with correction and encouragement
• He never calls any of them “Babylon”
• He never tells believers to leave and join a different organization
• He calls them to repent and return to faithfulness
• Even the “dead” church (Sardis) has faithful believers (Revelation 3:4)

If churches were Babylon, Jesus would have said, “Come out of these churches.” Instead, He says, “Repent and return to your first love” (Ephesians), “Hold on to what you have” (Thyatira), “Wake up and strengthen what remains” (Sardis).

The Contrast:

Revelation 18:4 – “Come out of her, my people” (referring to Rome/the world system)

Hebrews 10:25 – “Not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Scripture commands us to come out of the world system (Babylon) but NOT to give up meeting together with believers (the church). These are opposite commands for different entities.

Chapter 8 of “Testing Shincheonji’s Claims: Two Lenses, One Story” warns: “When a group uses Revelation 18:4 to tell you to leave your church, they’re misapplying Scripture. Babylon in Revelation is the world system opposed to God, not the church Christ died for. The command to ‘come out’ is about spiritual separation from worldliness, not about abandoning Christian fellowship. Any teaching that uses this verse to justify leaving churches contradicts the clear biblical command not to forsake assembling together with believers.”

Lens 6: The Galatians 3:28 Distortion (Chapter 14)

While “Testing Shincheonji’s Claims: Two Lenses, One Story” may not have a chapter specifically addressing Galatians 3:28, the principles about how cults misuse Scripture to blur important distinctions apply here.

How Lesson 54 Uses Galatians 3:28:

The instructor quotes Galatians 3:26-29 to set up the lesson:

“So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

The Instructor’s Interpretation:

“Paul states that you are all sons of God through your faith in Jesus. Physically, what does a man possess that a woman does not have? What distinguishes a man from a woman physically? What is the most crucial aspect? While there are many details, the most important thing a physical man has that a physical woman does not is seed…

When Paul says you are all sons of God through Christ, he implies that you all have the seed. And what is the seed, everyone? Can we all hold up the seed? Does everyone have their seed with them? You all have the seed, which makes you sons.

So this is the reason why there is no male and no female physically. Remember, God does not look at physical appearance when seeking someone to work through. He looks at their heart, as stated in 1 Samuel 16:7…

But we have to think spiritually. If we think physically, we will become confused. So the spiritual aspect is what matters.”

What This Accomplishes:

1. Blurs the unique Christ-church relationship – If “male and female” distinctions don’t matter spiritually, then Christ as Groom and church as bride can be generalized
2. Justifies calling pastors “grooms” – If anyone with the “seed” (word) can be a “son,” then anyone with the word can be a “groom”
3. Prepares for role confusion – Students are primed to accept that pastors are “grooms,” congregations are “brides,” and Chairman Lee is the “true groom”
4. Dismisses objections – Anyone who objects can be told they’re “thinking physically” rather than “spiritually”

The Biblical Reality:

What Does Galatians 3:28 Actually Mean?

The Context (Galatians 3:23-29):

Paul is addressing the question of who inherits God’s promises to Abraham. The answer: all who have faith in Christ, regardless of ethnic background (Jew/Gentile), social status (slave/free), or gender (male/female).

Galatians 3:26-29 – “So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

What Paul Is Teaching:

1. Spiritual equality – All believers have equal standing before God through faith in Christ
2. Equal inheritance – All believers are heirs of God’s promises, regardless of ethnicity, social status, or gender
3. Unity in Christ – All believers are one in Christ, breaking down barriers that divided humanity

What Paul Is NOT Teaching:

1. That distinctions don’t exist – Jews and Gentiles still exist; slaves and free still exist; males and females still exist
2. That roles are erased – Paul elsewhere addresses different roles in marriage (Ephesians 5), church leadership (1 Timothy 2-3), and society
3. That metaphors are meaningless – The Christ-church relationship as Groom-bride remains meaningful and specific

The Specific Christ-Church Metaphor:

Ephesians 5:31-32 – “‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.”

Paul explicitly says the marriage metaphor is about Christ and the church specifically. It’s not a general pattern where any spirit (groom) can marry any flesh (bride).

The Point:

Galatians 3:28 teaches spiritual equality—that all believers have equal standing before God regardless of ethnicity, social status, or gender. It does NOT teach that:

• The Christ-church relationship can be generalized
• Pastors can be “grooms” to their congregations
• The unique Groom-bride metaphor is just a flexible pattern
• Anyone with the word can take Christ’s role as Groom

SCJ uses this passage to blur crucial distinctions and justify their teaching that pastors are “grooms” who can become “widows,” preparing students to view Chairman Lee as the “true groom” at the second coming.

---

Part 5: The Psychological Manipulation—How Lesson 54 Works on the Mind

Beyond theological distortions, Lesson 54 employs sophisticated psychological techniques to deepen students’ commitment and prepare them for church abandonment.

Creating Identity Crisis: “You’re an Orphan”

The Technique:

The lesson teaches that church members whose pastors have “betrayed” are “orphans”—spiritual children abandoned by their spiritual parents.

The Instructor’s Statement:

“An orphan would be a believer belonging to the pastor who has betrayed, meaning that pastor’s congregation.”

What This Does:

1. Creates identity crisis – Students who thought they were beloved children of God are told they’re orphans
2. Generates feelings of abandonment – “Your pastor has betrayed you and left you spiritually orphaned”
3. Produces vulnerability – Orphans need rescue, protection, and a new family
4. Justifies leaving – Orphans should leave their abandoning parents and find a true family
5. Creates gratitude toward SCJ – SCJ becomes the rescuer who takes in orphans

The Emotional Impact:

Being told you’re an “orphan” triggers deep emotional responses:

Abandonment anxiety:

• “My pastor abandoned me?”
• “I’ve been spiritually orphaned this whole time?”
• “I thought I was cared for, but I was actually abandoned?”

Identity confusion:

• “I thought I was a child of God, but I’m actually an orphan?”
• “What does it mean to be an orphan?”
• “How do I stop being an orphan?”

Rescue fantasy:

• “I need to find a true spiritual parent”
• “I need to be adopted into the right family”
• “SCJ can rescue me from being an orphan”

Anger toward pastors:

• “My pastor betrayed me”
• “He became a widow and abandoned us”
• “He left me as an orphan”

The Biblical Reality:

Believers Are Not Orphans:

John 14:18 – Jesus said, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”

Jesus explicitly promises He will NOT leave His disciples as orphans. He comes to them through the Holy Spirit.

Romans 8:15-17 – “The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.”

Believers are:

• Adopted as sons – Not orphans, but children with full inheritance rights
• Given the Spirit – Who testifies that we are God’s children
• Heirs of God – Co-heirs with Christ

Galatians 4:4-7 – “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’ So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are a child, God has made you also an heir.”

Believers are:

• Redeemed – Bought back from slavery
• Adopted as sons – Given full family status
• Given the Spirit – Who enables us to call God “Father”
• Heirs – With full inheritance rights

1 John 3:1 – “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”

We ARE children of God—not orphans, not abandoned, not waiting to be adopted by SCJ.

The Danger:

By calling students “orphans,” SCJ:

1. Undermines their identity in Christ – Makes them question their status as God’s children
2. Creates emotional vulnerability – Orphans feel abandoned and need rescue
3. Justifies leaving churches – Orphans should leave their abandoning parents
4. Positions SCJ as rescuer – SCJ becomes the family that adopts orphans
5. Generates false gratitude – Students feel grateful to SCJ for “rescuing” them from being orphans

This is emotional manipulation using biblical terminology to accomplish unbiblical goals.

Demonizing Pastors: “Your Pastor Is a Widow”

The Technique:

The lesson teaches that pastors who have “betrayed” God are “widows”—people who once had the Holy Spirit but lost it through betrayal.

The Instructor’s Statement:

“The widow represents a pastor who has betrayed and is without the Holy Spirit…

A pastor is supposed to be able to receive the seed from above, the word from above, and give that word or seed that he has received to his congregation. That’s how things are supposed to work.

However, if a pastor becomes a widow, it means they are no longer receiving the word from above but receiving it from a different source, or not receiving it at all.”

What This Accomplishes:

1. Accuses pastors of betrayal – Your pastor has betrayed God
2. Claims pastors lost the Holy Spirit – They’re “widows” without the Spirit
3. Undermines pastoral authority – Why listen to a betrayer without the Spirit?
4. Creates suspicion – Is my pastor a widow? How can I tell?
5. Justifies leaving – You should leave a widow pastor who has betrayed

The Progression:

Students are led through a progression of thoughts:

Stage 1: Pastors are supposed to be grooms

• “A pastor receives the word from above and gives it to his congregation”
• “That’s how things are supposed to work”
• This sounds reasonable and biblical

Stage 2: Most pastors have betrayed

• “However, if a pastor becomes a widow…”
• The “if” implies this has happened to many pastors
• Students begin to suspect their pastors

Stage 3: Your pastor is probably a widow

• “They are no longer receiving the word from above”
• “Or receiving it from a different source”
• Students apply this to their own pastors

Stage 4: You must leave your widow pastor

• “Come out of her, my people”
• “Come out with vigorous effort and passion”
• Leaving becomes necessary for spiritual survival

The Emotional Impact:

Being told your pastor is a “widow” triggers:

Betrayal feelings:

• “My pastor betrayed God?”
• “He’s been lying to us?”
• “Everything he taught was false?”

Loss of trust:

• “Can I trust anything he said?”
• “How do I know what’s true?”
• “Who can I trust now?”

Anger:

• “He abandoned us”
• “He became a widow and left us as orphans”
• “He’s leading people astray”

Fear:

• “If I stay, I’ll share in his judgment”
• “I need to get out before it’s too late”
• “I’m in danger by staying”

The Biblical Reality:

Pastors Don’t Lose the Holy Spirit Through “Betrayal”:

Romans 8:9 – “You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.”

If someone belongs to Christ, they have the Spirit. The Spirit doesn’t leave believers when they sin or make mistakes.

John 10:28-29 – Jesus said, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.”

Believers are secure in Christ’s hand. Even if a pastor sins, the Holy Spirit doesn’t abandon him, making him a “widow.”

Ephesians 1:13-14 – “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.”

The Holy Spirit is a seal and deposit, guaranteeing our inheritance. He doesn’t leave believers, turning them into “widows.”

Can Pastors Sin and Need Correction?

Yes, absolutely. Scripture addresses this:

1 Timothy 5:19-20 – “Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses. But those elders who are sinning you are to reprove before everyone, so that the others may take warning.”

When pastors sin, there’s a biblical process:

• Accusations require witnesses
• Sinning elders are reproved publicly
• This serves as a warning to others

But this is different from claiming pastors have become “widows” without the Holy Spirit who must be abandoned.

Galatians 6:1 – “Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.”

When believers (including pastors) sin, the response is gentle restoration, not abandonment and accusation of being “widows.”

The Point:

While pastors can sin and need correction (like all believers), SCJ’s teaching that pastors are “widows” who have lost the Holy Spirit and must be abandoned:

1. Contradicts the security of believers – The Spirit doesn’t leave believers who sin
2. Misuses biblical terminology – “Widow” doesn’t mean a pastor who betrayed
3. Undermines legitimate pastoral ministry – Makes all pastors suspect
4. Violates biblical processes – Scripture calls for restoration, not abandonment
5. Serves SCJ’s agenda – Makes students willing to leave their pastors and churches

The “Vigorous Effort and Passion” Urgency

The Technique:

The lesson uses vivid, emotional imagery to create urgency about leaving churches:

The Instructor’s Statement:

“When a person is resurrected and realizes they are in a grave, they do not stay there and accept the situation. Instead, they claw their way out with vigorous effort and passion, exclaiming, ‘Get me out of here. I want life!’

So, when one realizes they are in a spiritual grave, they should do the same thing: come out with vigorous effort and passion to get out of that location.”

What This Does:

1. Creates panic – The imagery of being buried alive and clawing your way out is terrifying
2. Demands immediate action – “Vigorous effort and passion” means act now, don’t wait
3. Frames staying as death – If you stay in the grave, you’ll remain dead
4. Justifies extreme measures – When you’re buried alive, any action to escape is justified
5. Prevents careful consideration – Panic short-circuits rational thinking

The Emotional Manipulation:

The imagery is deliberately chosen to trigger:

Claustrophobia:

• Being trapped in a grave
• Unable to breathe
• Buried alive
• Desperate to escape

Survival instinct:

• “Get me out of here!”
• “I want life!”
• Fight or flight response
• Do whatever it takes to survive

Urgency:

• “Vigorous effort”
• “Passion”
• Don’t think, just act
• Every moment counts

The Biblical Reality:

God Calls for Careful Consideration, Not Panic:

Proverbs 19:2 – “Desire without knowledge is not good—how much more will hasty feet miss the way!”

Hasty decisions without knowledge lead to error. God values careful consideration.

Proverbs 14:15 – “The simple believe anything, but the prudent give thought to their steps.”

Wisdom means carefully evaluating decisions, not acting in panic.

Acts 17:11 – “Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”

The Bereans were commended for taking time to examine teaching carefully, not for acting with “vigorous effort and passion” based on emotion.

1 Thessalonians 5:21 – “Test everything; hold fast what is good.”

Testing takes time and careful thought. It’s the opposite of panicked action.

The Danger:

By creating panic and urgency, SCJ:

1. Prevents careful evaluation – Students don’t take time to test the teaching
2. Exploits emotional vulnerability – Panic overrides rational thinking
3. Facilitates rash decisions – Students leave churches without proper consideration
4. Creates regret – Hasty decisions often lead to regret, but by then students are isolated
5. Serves the organization – Quick action prevents students from discovering the truth about SCJ

The “Qualification” Framework

The Technique:

The lesson frames entering the wedding banquet as requiring “qualification”—meeting specific criteria.

The Stated Hope:

“To be qualified to enter the wedding banquet at the Second Coming!”

The Instructor’s Statement:

“Our hope for today is to be qualified to enter the wedding banquet at the second coming.

What does it mean to be qualified? Qualification means that you meet specific criteria for something.

God doesn’t allow just anyone to stay at the wedding banquet. One must meet specific qualifications, and we’ll understand what those qualifications are today.”

What This Does:

1. Makes salvation performance-based – You must meet criteria, not just believe
2. Creates anxiety – “Am I qualified? Do I meet the criteria?”
3. Shifts focus from Christ to self – From what Christ did to what I must do
4. Justifies requirements – Understanding the opened word, leaving churches, joining SCJ become “qualifications”
5. Produces works-righteousness – Salvation depends on meeting SCJ’s criteria

The Progression:

Students are led through a progression:

Stage 1: Salvation requires qualification

• “God doesn’t allow just anyone”
• “One must meet specific qualifications”
• This creates anxiety and focus on performance

Stage 2: The qualifications are specific

• “We’ll understand what those qualifications are today”
• Students eagerly await learning what they must do

Stage 3: The qualifications include SCJ’s requirements

• Understanding the opened word
• Leaving your church (coming out of Babylon)
• Abandoning your widow pastor
• Finding the true groom (Chairman Lee)
• Joining SCJ (becoming part of the bride)

Stage 4: Students must meet the qualifications

• “To be qualified to enter the wedding banquet”
• Students work to meet the requirements
• Salvation becomes dependent on performance

The Biblical Reality:

Salvation Is by Grace Through Faith, Not by Meeting Qualifications:

Ephesians 2:8-9 – “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”

Salvation is:

• By grace – God’s unmerited favor
• Through faith – Trusting in Christ
• Not from yourselves – Not by meeting qualifications
• The gift of God – Free, not earned
• Not by works – Not by performance

Romans 3:23-24 – “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

We’re justified (declared righteous):

• Freely – Without cost or qualification
• By his grace – God’s unmerited favor
• Through the redemption in Christ – Based on what Christ did, not what we do

Titus 3:5-7 – “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.”

Salvation is:

• Not because of righteous things we had done – Not by meeting qualifications
• Because of his mercy – God’s compassion, not our performance
• Through the washing of rebirth – The Holy Spirit’s work, not our work
• Justified by his grace – Declared righteous by grace, not by meeting criteria

The Only “Qualification” Is Faith in Christ:

John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

The “qualification” is believing in Christ—not understanding the opened word, not leaving churches, not joining SCJ.

Acts 16:30-31 – “He then brought them out and asked, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They replied, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.'”

When the Philippian jailer asked what he must do to be saved, Paul didn’t give him a list of qualifications. He said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus.”

The Danger:

By framing salvation as requiring “qualification,” SCJ:

1. Undermines the gospel of grace – Makes salvation dependent on performance
2. Creates perpetual anxiety – “Have I met all the qualifications?”
3. Shifts focus from Christ to self – From trusting Christ to evaluating your performance
4. Enables control – The organization determines who is “qualified”
5. Produces bondage – Students live under the burden of meeting requirements

This is the opposite of the gospel, which offers free salvation by grace through faith in Christ.

---

Part 6: Where This Leads—The Coming Devastation

Students at Lesson 54 are being directly prepared for the explicit instruction to leave their churches. Let’s examine what’s coming and how this lesson sets the stage.

The Explicit Instruction to Leave

What’s Coming:

In the remaining Intermediate Level lessons and the Advanced Level (Revelation), students will be explicitly told:

1. Your pastor is a widow – He has betrayed God and lost the Holy Spirit
2. You are an orphan – Abandoned by your widow pastor
3. Your church is Babylon – It’s the spiritual grave/Babylon that must be left
4. You must leave immediately – “Come out of her, my people” with vigorous effort and passion
5. Chairman Lee is the true groom – The one who has the Holy Spirit at the second coming
6. SCJ is the bride – The only group qualified to enter the wedding banquet
7. Leaving is obedience – Staying means sharing in Babylon’s sins and plagues

How Lesson 54 Prepares:

By teaching that:

• Pastors are supposed to be “grooms” but most have become “widows”
• Church members are “orphans” abandoned by their widow pastors
• Churches are Babylon/spiritual graves that must be left
• Students must “come out with vigorous effort and passion”
• Only those who are “qualified” will enter the wedding banquet

The lesson creates the framework where leaving churches seems like the logical, biblical, urgent response.

The Devastation:

When students leave their churches, they lose:

Spiritual Support:

• Pastoral guidance and accountability
• Biblical teaching from trained pastors
• Connection to historic Christian faith
• Spiritual roots and heritage
• Weekly worship and communion
• Prayer support from the body

Community:

• Long-term friendships built over years
• Support networks in times of need
• Mentors and role models
• Sense of belonging to a family
• Shared experiences and memories
• Community service opportunities

Family Relationships:

• Shared faith with family members
• Family church traditions and history
• Spiritual connection with loved ones
• Family trust and harmony
• Attendance at family church events
• Spiritual discussions with family

Discernment and Protection:

• Outside perspectives on SCJ’s teaching
• Warning voices about cultic involvement
• Access to orthodox Christian resources
• Accountability to mature believers
• Protection from deception
• Balanced spiritual input

The Emotional Toll:

Leaving one’s church causes:

Grief:

• Loss of community and relationships
• Loss of spiritual home
• Loss of familiar worship and traditions
• Loss of identity as a member

Guilt:

• “Am I doing the right thing?”
• “Am I betraying people who love me?”
• “What will my family think?”
• “Am I being ungrateful?”

Confusion:

• “Why does this feel so wrong if it’s right?”
• “Why am I losing so much if I’m gaining truth?”
• “Why does everyone think I’m being deceived?”
• “Why am I so isolated now?”

Anxiety:

• “What if I made a mistake?”
• “What if SCJ is wrong?”
• “How do I go back if I need to?”
• “What have I done?”

The Biblical Response:

Hebrews 10:24-25 – “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

We’re commanded not to give up meeting together with believers. While we can change churches if necessary for legitimate reasons, we shouldn’t abandon Christian fellowship.

1 Corinthians 12:12-27 – The entire passage describes the church as one body with many members. We need each other. Verse 21 says, “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!'”

Leaving the body of Christ to join an exclusive organization violates this biblical principle of interdependence.

Acts 2:42-47 – The early church “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer… All the believers were together and had everything in common… Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.”

This is the biblical picture of church—not a graveyard to escape, but a community to belong to.

Chairman Lee as the “True Groom”

What’s Coming:

In the Advanced Level, students will learn:

1. Chairman Lee Man-hee is the promised pastor – The one who overcomes in Revelation 2-3
2. He witnessed Revelation’s fulfillment – He personally saw the prophecies fulfilled in the 1980s
3. He has the Holy Spirit – Unlike the “widow” pastors who lost it
4. He is the “true groom” at the second coming – Parallel to Jesus at the first coming
5. He gives the word of life – The “seed” that makes people spiritually alive
6. Following him is following God – Accepting his teaching is accepting God’s word

How Lesson 54 Prepares:

By teaching that:

• “Groom” represents any spirit (not Christ specifically)
• Pastors with the Holy Spirit are “grooms”
• Most pastors have become “widows” (lost the Spirit)
• Students must find the “true groom” who has the Spirit at the second coming
• The true groom gives the word of life (seed) to the bride (flesh)

The lesson prepares students to view Chairman Lee not as a human leader but as the “true groom”—the one with the Holy Spirit who gives the word of life at the second coming.

The Biblical Reality:

There Is One Groom—Christ:

John 3:29 – John the Baptist said, “The bride belongs to the bridegroom.”

There is one bridegroom—Christ. Not Jesus at the first coming and Chairman Lee at the second coming, but Christ alone.

2 Corinthians 11:2 – “I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him.”

The church is promised to one husband—Christ. Not to different “grooms” at different times.

Revelation 19:7 – “For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.”

The wedding is of the Lamb (Christ) and His bride. Not of Chairman Lee and SCJ.

There Is One Mediator—Christ:

1 Timothy 2:5 – “For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus.”

There is one mediator—Christ. Not Chairman Lee, not any human leader.

Acts 4:12 – “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

Salvation is in Christ’s name alone. Not in understanding Chairman Lee’s testimony or joining his organization.

The Danger:

By preparing students to view Chairman Lee as the “true groom,” SCJ:

1. Usurps Christ’s unique role – Takes what belongs to Christ and gives it to a human leader
2. Creates leader worship – Chairman Lee becomes the object of devotion
3. Makes salvation dependent on a human – Following Chairman Lee becomes necessary for salvation
4. Violates the first commandment – “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3)
5. Fulfills the definition of a cult – Elevating a human leader to divine or semi-divine status

This is not biblical Christianity—it’s idolatry dressed in biblical language.

The 144,000 and Limited Salvation

What’s Coming:

In the Advanced Level, students will learn:

1. The 144,000 is literal – It’s not symbolic but an exact number
2. Only 144,000 will be saved – These are the only people who will reign with Christ
3. The 144,000 are SCJ members – Specifically, those who complete the program and are “sealed”
4. The great multitude are second-class – They’re saved but don’t reign; they serve the 144,000
5. Salvation is limited – There’s urgency because spots are filling up
6. Only those “qualified” enter the banquet – The 144,000 who met SCJ’s requirements

How Lesson 54 Prepares:

By teaching that:

• Only those who are “qualified” enter the wedding banquet
• God doesn’t allow “just anyone” to stay at the banquet
• Students must meet “specific criteria”
• Only those who leave Babylon (churches) will be saved
• Only those who find the true groom (Chairman Lee) will enter

The lesson creates a framework of limited, exclusive salvation that will later be applied to the 144,000 doctrine.

The Biblical Reality:

The Great Multitude Is Innumerable:

Revelation 7:9 – “After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.”

The redeemed are:

• A great multitude – Not limited to 144,000
• That no one could count – Innumerable, not a fixed number
• From every nation, tribe, people and language – Universal, not one organization

Revelation 7:13-14 – “Then one of the elders asked me, ‘These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?’ I answered, ‘Sir, you know.’ And he said, ‘These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.'”

The great multitude:

• Washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb – Saved by Christ’s sacrifice
• Made them white – Purified by Christ’s blood
• Standing before the throne – In God’s presence, clearly saved

There’s no indication they’re second-class citizens or servants of the 144,000.

Salvation Is for “Whoever Believes”:

John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

“Whoever believes”—not “the first 144,000 who join the right organization.”

Romans 10:13 – “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

“Everyone”—not a limited number, not an exclusive group.

Revelation 22:17 – “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come!’ Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.”

The invitation is open:

• “Let the one who is thirsty come” – Anyone who recognizes their need
• “The one who wishes” – Anyone who desires
• “Take the free gift” – It’s free, not limited to 144,000

The Point:

Scripture teaches that salvation is available to all who believe in Christ, not limited to 144,000 members of one organization. The great multitude is innumerable, standing before God’s throne, saved by the blood of the Lamb.

SCJ’s teaching that only 144,000 will be saved contradicts Scripture’s clear teaching about the breadth of God’s salvation.

---

Part 7: For Students Currently Taking This Lesson

If you’re currently taking Lesson 54 or have recently completed it, here’s what you need to know and consider.

Where You Are in the Journey

By Lesson 54, you’ve invested significantly:

Time Investment:

• 8 months of study
• 216+ hours in classes, homework, and review
• Test preparation and completion
• Social activities with the group

Emotional Investment:

• Deep relationships with instructors and fellow students over 8 months
• Identity as someone learning special truth
• Satisfaction of understanding “secrets of heaven”
• Sense of being specially chosen “out of many people”

Intellectual Investment:

• Accepted that churches are spiritual graveyards (Babylon)
• Believe that most pastors are “widows” (betrayers without the Holy Spirit)
• Trust that you’re an “orphan” who needs to be rescued
• Internalized the groom/bride framework

Spiritual Investment:

• Believe you’re learning truth others miss
• Feel you must “come out” of your church with “vigorous effort and passion”
• Trust you need to be “qualified” to enter the wedding banquet
• Hope you’re finding the “true groom” at the second coming

The Critical Moment:

You’re at a critical decision point. The next lessons will explicitly instruct you to leave your church. Once you do, recovery becomes much more difficult because you’ll lose:

• Your Christian community and support system
• Your pastor’s guidance and accountability
• Outside perspectives that could help you see the deception
• The relationships that could help you exit SCJ

Before you take that devastating step, please consider the following.

Critical Questions to Ask Yourself

About the Teaching:

1. Does the Bible teach that pastors are “grooms” who can become “widows,” or does it teach that Christ alone is the Groom and pastors are shepherds?

Look up: John 3:28-30 (John the Baptist says he’s not the groom), Ephesians 5:25-32 (Christ is the groom, the church is the bride), 1 Peter 5:1-4 (pastors are shepherds, not grooms)

2. Does the Bible call believers “orphans,” or does it say believers are adopted as God’s children?

Look up: John 14:18 (Jesus won’t leave us as orphans), Romans 8:15-17 (we’re adopted as sons), 1 John 3:1 (we ARE children of God)

3. Does Revelation 18:4 (“Come out of her”) refer to leaving churches, or to separating from the world system?

Read Revelation 17-18 in context. Notice that Babylon is described as a city ruling over kings, involved in commerce and idolatry—characteristics of Rome, not the church.

4. Does the Bible teach that salvation requires meeting “qualifications,” or that it’s by grace through faith in Christ?

Look up: Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 3:23-24, Titus 3:5-7, John 3:16

5. Does Galatians 3:28 (“no male and female”) mean that Christ’s unique role as Groom can be generalized to any pastor, or does it mean spiritual equality among believers?

Read Galatians 3 in context and compare with Ephesians 5:31-32 where Paul explicitly says the marriage metaphor is about Christ and the church.

About the Methods:

6. Why does the teaching use panic-inducing imagery (“claw your way out with vigorous effort and passion”) rather than encouraging careful evaluation?
7. Why are you being told your pastor is a “widow” (betrayer) and you’re an “orphan” (abandoned)? What purpose does this emotional manipulation serve?
8. Why is the organization still hiding its identity if this is truth? Why haven’t you been told you’re studying Shincheonji?
9. Why are you discouraged from discussing this with your pastor? If the teaching is true, wouldn’t it stand up to scrutiny?
10. Why does the teaching create urgency (“come out NOW”) rather than allowing time for prayer and consideration?

About the Effects:

11. Has this teaching made you feel closer to Jesus or more dependent on the organization’s teaching?
12. Are you becoming more loving toward your pastor and church or more suspicious and judgmental?
13. Do you feel more confident in God’s grace or more anxious about meeting “qualifications”?
14. Is this teaching producing peace and joy or anxiety and urgency?
15. How would you feel if you were told to leave your church? Does that seem biblical and right?

What You Need to Know About What’s Coming

If you continue, you will be told to:

1. Leave your church immediately – It’s Babylon, a spiritual grave you must escape
2. Abandon your pastor – He’s a widow (betrayer) who has lost the Holy Spirit
3. Join SCJ – It’s the only bride qualified to enter the wedding banquet
4. Accept Chairman Lee as the promised pastor – He’s the “true groom” at the second coming
5. Believe only 144,000 will be saved – All SCJ members who complete the program
6. Recruit others using deceptive methods – Hide SCJ’s identity and present it as Bible study
7. Make salvation dependent on organizational membership – Understanding SCJ’s teaching is necessary for eternal life

Is this what you signed up for?

When you started, you probably thought you were:

• Learning to understand the Bible better
• Growing spiritually
• Discovering truth

You probably didn’t expect you’d be asked to:

• View your pastor as a betrayer without the Holy Spirit
• See yourself as an abandoned orphan
• Leave your church and Christian community
• Accept a Korean man as the “true groom” at the second coming
• Believe salvation requires organizational membership

Now that you know where this leads, do you want to continue?

What to Do If You Have Doubts

1. Don’t Suppress Your Doubts

Your discomfort with calling your pastor a “widow” and yourself an “orphan” isn’t spiritual immaturity—it’s your conscience alerting you that something is wrong.

1 Thessalonians 5:21 – “Test everything; hold fast what is good.”

2. Research Independently

Despite being discouraged, you need to know what you’re involved in:

• Search online for “Shincheonji” or “SCJ”
• Read testimonies from former members
• Visit https://closerlookinitiative.com/shincheonji-examination
• Look up SCJ’s actual teachings about the 144,000, Chairman Lee, and salvation

3. Talk to Your Pastor

Schedule a meeting with your pastor:

• Show them the materials you’ve been studying
• Tell them you’re being taught he’s a “widow” (betrayer) and you’re an “orphan”
• Ask them to evaluate the teaching biblically
• Listen to their concerns with an open mind
• Don’t assume they “just don’t understand”

4. Pray for Discernment

James 1:5 – “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”

Ask God to show you if this teaching is true or false. Pray that if it’s deception, He would open your eyes.

5. Take a Break

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, take a break from the study. Tell your instructor you need time to process and pray.

A legitimate Christian ministry will respect your need for space. If there’s pressure to continue without thinking, that’s a red flag.

6. Reach Out for Help

Contact:

• Former member support groups
• Cult awareness organizations
• Churches with experience helping people leave SCJ
• Family members or friends who have expressed concerns

The Choice Before You

Option 1: Continue the Study

• Complete the remaining 54 lessons (another year+)
• Accept increasingly extreme teachings
• Leave your church and abandon your pastor
• Join SCJ and accept Chairman Lee as the “true groom”
• Recruit others using deceptive methods
• Live with anxiety about maintaining “qualification”

Option 2: Leave Now

• Stop attending classes immediately
• Research SCJ independently
• Reconnect with your church and pastor
• Return to the simple gospel of grace
• Help others avoid this deception
• Experience freedom in Christ

The Cost of Each Choice:

Continuing will cost you:

• Another year+ of time
• Your church community and pastoral care
• Relationships with family and friends
• Your spiritual freedom and assurance
• Your integrity (when asked to deceive in recruitment)
• Potentially your salvation (if you replace faith in Christ with organizational membership)

Leaving will cost you:

• Relationships with instructors and students (though real friends will remain)
• The sense of having special knowledge
• The feeling of being specially chosen
• The time already invested (sunk cost)
• Admitting you were deceived (which takes humility)

But leaving will gain you:

• Freedom in Christ
• Return to biblical truth
• Restored relationships with church and family
• Peace and assurance in the gospel
• Integrity and honesty
• Opportunity to help others

The Biblical Call:

Galatians 5:1 – “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

2 Corinthians 11:3 – “But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.”

Don’t let your mind be led astray from sincere and pure devotion to Christ. SCJ’s teaching about grooms, widows, orphans, and qualifications is leading you away from Christ, not toward Him.

Return to Christ—the true and only Groom.

---

Part 8: For Friends and Family—How to Help

If someone you care about is taking Lesson 54, they’re at a critical and dangerous juncture. They’re being directly told to leave their church. Here’s how you can help.

Understanding the Urgency

By Lesson 54, your friend or family member is:

• Being told their pastor is a “widow” (betrayer without the Holy Spirit)
• Learning they’re an “orphan” (abandoned by their pastor)
• Hearing they must “come out” of their church with “vigorous effort and passion”
• Feeling urgency to leave immediately to avoid judgment
• Preparing to abandon their church and Christian community
• Very close to the Advanced Level where they’ll learn about Chairman Lee and the 144,000

Time is absolutely critical. Once they leave their church, they lose their primary Christian community, pastoral guidance, and outside perspectives. Recovery becomes much more difficult.

What TO DO

1. Express Urgent, Specific Concerns

Share your concerns about the specific teaching:

Use “I” statements:

• “I’m very concerned that you’re being taught your pastor is a ‘widow’ who betrayed God”
• “I’m worried that you’re being told you’re an ‘orphan’ who’s been abandoned”
• “I’m alarmed that you’re being pressured to leave your church immediately”

Ask direct questions:

• “Does the Bible teach that pastors are ‘grooms’ who can become ‘widows,’ or that Christ alone is the Groom?”
• “Does Scripture call believers ‘orphans,’ or does it say we’re adopted as God’s children?”
• “Are you being told to leave your church? How do you feel about that?”
• “Why the urgency? Why ‘vigorous effort and passion’ instead of careful prayer and consideration?”

2. Provide Biblical Clarity

Share key Scriptures that directly contradict the lesson:

On Christ as the unique Groom:

• John 3:28-30 – John the Baptist says he’s not the groom; the bride belongs to the bridegroom (Christ)
• Ephesians 5:25-32 – Christ is the groom, the church is the bride
• 2 Corinthians 11:2 – The church is promised to one husband—Christ

On believers not being orphans:

• John 14:18 – Jesus said, “I will not leave you as orphans”
• Romans 8:15-17 – We’re adopted as sons, not orphans
• 1 John 3:1 – “We should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”

On pastors as shepherds, not grooms:

• John 21:15-17 – Jesus tells Peter to feed His sheep
• 1 Peter 5:1-4 – Pastors are shepherds of God’s flock
• Acts 20:28 – Pastors shepherd the church of God

On salvation by grace, not qualification:

• Ephesians 2:8-9 – Saved by grace through faith, not by works
• John 3:16 – Whoever believes in Him has eternal life
• Titus 3:5 – Not by righteous things we had done, but by His mercy

3. Warn About What’s Coming

Let them know what they’ll be told in the next lessons:

“I’ve researched where this teaching leads. You’ll be explicitly told to leave your church immediately because it’s ‘Babylon.’ You’ll be taught that Chairman Lee Man-hee is the ‘true groom’ at the second coming. You’ll learn that only 144,000 SCJ members will be saved. You’ll be expected to recruit others while hiding the organization’s identity. Is this what you want?”

4. Involve the Pastor Immediately

If your friend is still attending church, their pastor needs to know urgently:

• Share that they’re being taught the pastor is a “widow” (betrayer)
• Explain they’re being told to leave the church immediately
• Ask the pastor to reach out pastorally and urgently
• Request that the pastor address relevant topics in sermons
• See if the pastor can arrange an immediate meeting

5. Provide Resources

Give them specific resources:

• “Testing Shincheonji’s Claims: Two Lenses, One Story” (especially Chapters 5, 6, 8, 14, 18)
• Direct them to https://closerlookinitiative.com/shincheonji-examination
• Former member testimonies about leaving churches and the devastation it caused
• Articles on SCJ’s teaching about Chairman Lee as the “true groom”
• Information about the 144,000 doctrine

6. Offer to Attend Church With Them

If they’re wavering about leaving their church:

• Offer to attend with them this Sunday
• Remind them of positive experiences they’ve had there
• Help them reconnect with church friends
• Encourage them to talk to their pastor before making any decision

7. Pray Intensely and Specifically

This is spiritual warfare. Pray for:

• Their eyes to be opened before they leave their church
• The Holy Spirit to convict them that this teaching is false
• Courage to leave SCJ despite the investment
• Protection from the manipulation and pressure
• Their pastor to have wisdom, compassion, and urgency
• God to intervene dramatically if necessary

What NOT to Do

1. Don’t Wait

If you wait until they’ve left their church, it may be too late. Act now with urgency.

2. Don’t Assume They Know Where This Leads

They likely don’t realize they’re being prepared to view Chairman Lee as the “true groom” or that only 144,000 will be saved. Make it explicit.

3. Don’t Accept the “Spiritual Thinking” Dismissal

If they say you’re “thinking physically” and need to “think spiritually,” respond:

“The Bible is clear that Christ is the unique Groom and the church is His bride. This isn’t ‘physical thinking’—it’s biblical truth. Calling pastors ‘grooms’ who can become ‘widows’ contradicts Scripture’s clear teaching.”

4. Don’t Let Them Leave Their Church

If they announce they’re leaving their church, intervene immediately:

• Ask them to wait and pray for at least two weeks
• Arrange a meeting with their pastor
• Show them resources about SCJ
• Help them see this is a cult tactic, not biblical obedience

Signs They’re About to Leave Their Church

Watch for these urgent warning signs:

• ✓ Talking about their pastor as a “widow” or betrayer
• ✓ Referring to themselves as an “orphan”
• ✓ Using language about “coming out” or escaping
• ✓ Expressing urgency about leaving immediately
• ✓ Talking about needing to be “qualified” for the wedding banquet
• ✓ Defending the idea that pastors can lose the Holy Spirit
• ✓ Missing church services or arriving late/leaving early
• ✓ Withdrawing from church activities and relationships
• ✓ Asking questions about whether it’s okay to leave a church
• ✓ Increased time with SCJ and decreased time with church friends

If you notice these signs, intervene immediately. They’re on the verge of leaving.

If They’ve Already Left Their Church

If they’ve already left, it’s not too late, but it’s more difficult:

1. Don’t Give Up

Many people who leave their churches eventually leave SCJ. Continue to:

• Maintain the relationship
• Pray consistently
• Provide information
• Be ready for when they’re ready to exit

2. Document the Consequences

Help them see what they’ve lost:

• “You’ve lost your church community and pastoral care”
• “Your relationship with [pastor/friends] has been damaged”
• “You’re isolated from other Christians”
• “You’re dependent on one organization for all spiritual input”
• “You’re being told you need to be ‘qualified’ rather than resting in Christ’s finished work”

3. Ask About Their Experience

“Are you finding the spiritual life you were promised? Do you feel more like a beloved child of God or more like you’re trying to meet qualifications? Is this what you expected?”

4. Provide an Exit Path

Let them know:

• Their church would welcome them back
• Their pastor would be happy to talk
• You’ll support them if they leave SCJ
• It’s not too late to return
• Many others have left SCJ and recovered

5. Connect Them with Former Members

Former SCJ members who left after abandoning their churches can provide powerful testimony about:

• The regret of leaving their church
• The difficulty of being isolated from Christian community
• The manipulation they experienced
• The relief of returning to biblical faith
• The process of recovery and restoration

---

Part 9: The Real Biblical Teaching—Christ, the Church, and the Wedding

Let’s return to what Scripture actually teaches about these crucial concepts, free from SCJ’s distortions.

Christ: The Unique and Only Groom

The Biblical Teaching:

Scripture consistently presents Christ as the unique, exclusive Groom of the church. This isn’t a general category where any spirit-filled person can be a “groom”—it’s a specific, covenant relationship between Christ and His people.

Old Testament Preparation:

Isaiah 54:5 – “For your Maker is your husband—the LORD Almighty is his name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth.”

God is Israel’s husband. This is a unique relationship, not a pattern repeated with multiple “grooms.”

Jeremiah 31:31-32 – “The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD.”

God was a husband to Israel. He promises a new covenant—not a different husband, but a renewed relationship.

Hosea 2:16, 19-20 – “‘In that day,’ declares the LORD, ‘you will call me “my husband”; you will no longer call me “my master.”‘… I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the LORD.”

God promises to betroth Israel to Himself forever. This is restoration and renewal, not replacement with a different bride.

New Testament Fulfillment:

John 3:28-30 – John the Baptist said, “You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less.”

John the Baptist, filled with the Holy Spirit from birth:

• Explicitly denies being the Messiah/groom
• Identifies himself as the friend of the groom
• Points to Christ as the bridegroom
• Says Christ must become greater

If having the Holy Spirit made someone a “groom,” John would be a groom. But he explicitly denies this and points to Christ alone.

2 Corinthians 11:2 – “I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him.”

Paul, an apostle with the Holy Spirit:

• Doesn’t claim to be the groom
• Promises the church to one husband—Christ
• His role is to present the bride to Christ, not to be her husband

Ephesians 5:25-32 – “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless… ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.”

Paul explicitly states:

• Christ loved the church (the groom loves the bride)
• Christ gave himself up for her (the groom died for the bride)
• Christ will present her to himself (the groom receives the bride)
• “This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church”

This isn’t a general pattern—it’s specifically about Christ and the church.

Revelation 19:7-9 – “Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear. (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.) Then the angel said to me, ‘Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’ And he added, ‘These are the true words of God.'”

The wedding is of the Lamb (Christ) and His bride. This is the culmination of redemptive history—not a repeating pattern with different grooms at different times.

Revelation 21:2, 9 – “I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband… One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, ‘Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.'”

The bride is the wife of the Lamb—Christ’s unique bride, not one of many brides married to different grooms.

The Point:

From Genesis to Revelation, Scripture presents one consistent picture: Christ is the unique Groom, and the church is His unique bride. This isn’t a general category or repeating pattern. It’s the central love story of the Bible.

The Church: Christ’s Beloved Bride

The Biblical Teaching:

The church universal—all true believers throughout history—is Christ’s bride. Individual congregations aren’t separate “brides” married to their pastors. They’re all part of the one bride married to the one Groom.

The Church’s Identity:

Ephesians 1:22-23 – “And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”

The church is:

• Christ’s body
• The fullness of Him who fills everything

Can Christ’s body be a graveyard? Can His fullness be spiritually dead? Impossible.

Ephesians 5:25-27 – “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.”

Christ:

• Loved the church (past tense—He already loved her)
• Gave himself up for her (past tense—He already died for her)
• Makes her holy (ongoing—He’s sanctifying her now)
• Will present her to himself (future—He’ll receive her as His bride)

This is Christ’s work for His church. It cannot fail.

1 Corinthians 3:16-17 – “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.”

The church is:

• God’s temple
• The dwelling place of God’s Spirit
• Sacred to God

Can God’s temple be Babylon? Can the Spirit’s dwelling place be a graveyard? No.

1 Timothy 3:15 – “If I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.”

The church is:

• God’s household
• The pillar and foundation of truth

If all churches are Babylon, there is no pillar of truth. But God has preserved His truth through His church for 2,000 years.

Christ’s Promise:

Matthew 16:18 – Jesus said, “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”

Jesus promised:

• “I will build my church” – It’s His church, His work
• “The gates of Hades will not overcome it” – Death will not defeat it

If all churches have become Babylon and all pastors have become widows, the gates of Hades overcame the church, and Jesus’s promise failed. But Jesus cannot fail.

The Reality:

While individual churches can have problems (Revelation 2-3 addresses seven churches with various issues), the church universal—all true believers—has never been overcome. Christ’s bride is being prepared for the wedding, not abandoned in a graveyard.

Pastors: Shepherds, Not Grooms

The Biblical Teaching:

Scripture consistently presents pastors as shepherds who care for Christ’s flock, not as “grooms” who marry congregations.

Jesus’s Commission:

John 21:15-17 – After breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.”

Jesus commissions Peter to:

• Feed my lambs – Care for Christ’s people
• Take care of my sheep – Shepherd Christ’s flock
• Feed my sheep – Provide spiritual nourishment

Notice: The sheep belong to Jesus (“my sheep”), not to Peter. Peter’s role is to care for them on Jesus’s behalf, not to be their groom.

Peter’s Instructions to Pastors:

1 Peter 5:1-4 – “To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.”

Peter calls pastors to:

• Be shepherds of God’s flock – They’re shepherds, not grooms
• God’s flock that is under your care – The flock belongs to God, not to the pastors
• Not lording it over those entrusted to you – They don’t own the people as a groom owns a bride
• When the Chief Shepherd appears – Jesus is the Chief Shepherd; pastors are under-shepherds

Paul’s Instructions:

Acts 20:28 – “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you over seers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.”

Paul tells the Ephesian elders:

• “The flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers” – They’re overseers/shepherds
• “The church of God, which he bought with his own blood” – The church belongs to God/Christ who bought her; pastors don’t own her as grooms

The Pastoral Roles in Scripture:

Scripture describes pastors as:

• Shepherds – Caring for Christ’s sheep (John 21:15-17, 1 Peter 5:1-4)
• Overseers/Elders – Watching over the flock (Acts 20:28, 1 Timothy 3:1-7)
• Servants – Serving the church (2 Corinthians 4:5, Mark 10:43-45)
• Stewards – Managing God’s household (1 Corinthians 4:1-2, Titus 1:7)
• Examples – Modeling faithful living (1 Peter 5:3, 1 Timothy 4:12)
• Teachers – Instructing in sound doctrine (1 Timothy 3:2, 2 Timothy 2:24)

Never as:

• Grooms – This role belongs to Christ alone
• Owners – The church belongs to Christ, not pastors
• Mediators – Christ is the one mediator (1 Timothy 2:5)
• Husbands to the congregation – The church is Christ’s bride, not pastors’ brides

The Point:

Pastors are under-shepherds who care for Christ’s flock on His behalf. They’re not “grooms” who can become “widows.” This entire framework is a distortion designed to undermine pastoral authority and prepare students to leave their churches.

The Wedding Banquet: Open to All Who Believe

The Biblical Teaching:

The wedding banquet is the celebration of Christ’s union with His bride, the church. It’s open to all who believe in Christ, not limited to 144,000 members of one organization.

The Parable of the Wedding Banquet:

Matthew 22:1-14 – Jesus tells a parable about a king who prepares a wedding banquet for his son. The invited guests refuse to come, so the king sends servants to invite anyone they can find. The hall is filled with guests, both bad and good.

Key points:

• “Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find” (v. 9) – The invitation is broad and inclusive
• “The bad as well as the good” (v. 10) – Both sinners and righteous are invited
• “The wedding hall was filled with guests” (v. 10) – Many people enter, not just 144,000

The Wedding Garment:

One guest is thrown out for not wearing wedding clothes (Matthew 22:11-14). What does this mean?

Revelation 19:7-8 – “Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear. (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)”

The wedding clothes are:

• Fine linen, bright and clean – Purity and righteousness
• Given to her to wear – Not earned, but given as a gift
• The righteous acts of God’s holy people – The result of God’s work in believers

Isaiah 61:10 – “I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”

The wedding garment is:

• Garments of salvation – Salvation itself
• A robe of his righteousness – God’s righteousness, not our own
• Given by God – “He has clothed me”

The “Qualification”:

The only “qualification” for the wedding banquet is receiving Christ’s righteousness by faith. It’s not:

• Understanding complex symbolic interpretations
• Leaving your church
• Joining the right organization
• Meeting performance-based criteria
• Being one of 144,000 specially chosen people

It’s simply receiving Christ’s righteousness as a gift through faith.

The Invitation:

Revelation 22:17 – “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come!’ Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.”

The invitation is to:

• “The one who is thirsty” – Anyone who recognizes their need
• “The one who wishes” – Anyone who desires
• “Take the free gift” – It’s free, not earned by meeting qualifications

John 6:37 – Jesus said, “All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.”

Jesus promises:

• “Whoever comes to me” – The invitation is open
• “I will never drive away” – Those who come are secure

The Great Multitude:

Revelation 7:9-10 – “After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.'”

The redeemed are:

• A great multitude – Not limited to 144,000
• That no one could count – Innumerable, not a fixed number
• From every nation, tribe, people and language – Universal, not one organization
• Standing before the throne – In God’s presence, clearly saved
• Wearing white robes – Clothed in righteousness

Revelation 7:13-14 – “Then one of the elders asked me, ‘These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?’ I answered, ‘Sir, you know.’ And he said, ‘These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.'”

The great multitude:

• Washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb – Saved by Christ’s sacrifice
• Made them white – Purified by Christ’s blood

There’s no indication they’re second-class citizens or servants of the 144,000. They’re standing before God’s throne, saved by the Lamb’s blood.

The Point:

The wedding banquet is open to all who believe in Christ and receive His righteousness by faith. It’s not exclusive to 144,000 SCJ members who meet organizational requirements. The great multitude is innumerable, from every nation, saved by the blood of the Lamb.

---

Part 10: The Simple Gospel vs. SCJ’s Complex System

Let’s contrast the simple, beautiful gospel of grace with SCJ’s complex, burdensome system.

The Simple Gospel

The Problem:

Romans 3:23 – “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

Romans 6:23 – “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

We’re all sinners deserving death. This is the human condition.

God’s Solution:

Romans 5:8 – “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

God loved us and sent Jesus to die in our place. This is the gospel.

Our Response:

Ephesians 2:8-9 – “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”

Romans 10:9-10 – “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”

We’re saved by grace through faith in Christ. We believe and confess that Jesus is Lord.

The Result:

1 John 5:11-13 – “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

If you have Christ through faith, you have eternal life. You can know this with certainty.

This is the gospel:

• Simple enough for a child to understand
• Free—not earned by works or understanding
• Secure—based on Christ’s finished work, not our performance
• Certain—we can know we have eternal life
• Joyful—it produces peace, assurance, and gratitude

SCJ’s Complex System

The Problem (According to SCJ):

• All churches have become Babylon (spiritual graves)
• All pastors have become widows (betrayers without the Holy Spirit)
• All church members are orphans (abandoned by their widow pastors)
• The Bible was sealed and incomprehensible until Chairman Lee
• Believers in Christ are spiritually dead without SCJ’s teaching

SCJ’s Solution:

• God raised up Chairman Lee as the promised pastor at the second coming
• Chairman Lee witnessed Revelation’s fulfillment in the 1980s
• He can now reveal the “opened word” (correct interpretation)
• He is the “true groom” who has the Holy Spirit
• SCJ is the bride who will enter the wedding banquet

Your Required Response:

• Study 108 lessons over 1.5-2 years
• Understand 100% of the symbolic interpretations
• Leave your church (come out of Babylon)
• Abandon your pastor (the widow who betrayed)
• Join SCJ (become part of the bride)
• Accept Chairman Lee as the promised pastor
• Recruit others using deceptive methods
• Maintain correct understanding to stay saved

The Result:

• Only 144,000 will be saved (all SCJ members)
• You must be “qualified” by meeting specific criteria
• Salvation depends on understanding and organizational membership
• You can never be certain you’re saved (what if you don’t understand 100%?)
• You live with anxiety about maintaining qualification

This is SCJ’s system:

• Complex—requires 108 lessons and years of study
• Expensive—costs time, relationships, and integrity
• Insecure—based on your understanding and performance
• Uncertain—you can never be sure you’re qualified
• Burdensome—produces anxiety, fear, and works-righteousness

The Contrast

The Question:

Which sounds like good news? Which sounds like the gospel Jesus preached?

Luke 4:18-19 – Jesus said, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Jesus came to proclaim good news and freedom.

SCJ’s system is not good news—it’s burdensome requirements. It’s not freedom—it’s bondage to organizational membership and performance-based salvation.

Galatians 1:6-9 – “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!”

Paul warns against “a different gospel—which is really no gospel at all.” SCJ’s system is a different gospel:

• Different savior (Chairman Lee as the “true groom”)
• Different basis (understanding and membership, not faith in Christ)
• Different result (anxiety and performance, not peace and assurance)

Return to the simple gospel of grace.

---

Conclusion: The True Groom and His Beloved Bride

Lesson 54 on “Secrets of Heaven, the Figurative Groom, Bride, Widow, and Orphan” appears to be a Bible study about biblical metaphors. The instructor uses Scripture, discusses the wedding banquet, and explains spiritual symbolism.

But beneath the surface, the lesson is accomplishing something devastating:

It’s redefining biblical metaphors to:

• Strip Christ of His unique role as the Groom
• Make pastors “grooms” who can become “widows”
• Accuse most pastors of betrayal
• Make church members feel like “orphans”
• Prepare students to leave their churches
• Set up Chairman Lee as the “true groom”
• Make salvation dependent on organizational membership

By Lesson 54, students have invested 8 months and 216+ hours. The psychological barriers to leaving are immense. But the cost of continuing is far greater:

Continuing will lead to:

• Leaving your church and losing your Christian community
• Abandoning your pastor based on false accusations
• Viewing yourself as an “orphan” instead of God’s beloved child
• Accepting Chairman Lee as the “true groom” (a role that belongs to Christ alone)
• Living with anxiety about meeting “qualifications”
• Replacing the simple gospel with a complex, burdensome system

The lesson’s core deception is this: It takes the beautiful biblical picture of Christ as the Groom and the church as His bride, and twists it to serve SCJ’s agenda. Christ becomes just one of many possible “grooms.” Pastors become “widows.” Church members become “orphans.” And SCJ becomes the solution.

But this contradicts everything Scripture teaches:

The Bible says:

• Christ is the unique Groom; the church is His unique bride
• Pastors are shepherds, not grooms who can become widows
• Believers are God’s adopted children, not orphans
• The wedding banquet is open to all who believe in Christ
• Salvation is by grace through faith, not by meeting qualifications

SCJ says:

• Groom = any spirit; bride = any flesh
• Pastors are grooms who have become widows (betrayers)
• Church members are orphans who need to be rescued
• Only 144,000 qualified SCJ members will enter the banquet
• Salvation requires understanding, leaving churches, and joining SCJ

These cannot both be true.

The Choice Before You

If you’re taking Lesson 54, you’re at the most critical decision point yet. The next lessons will explicitly instruct you to leave your church. Once you do, recovery becomes much more difficult.

You must choose:

Option 1: Continue and Accept That:

• Your pastor is a widow (betrayer without the Holy Spirit)
• You’re an orphan (abandoned by your pastor)
• You must leave your church immediately
• Chairman Lee is the true groom at the second coming
• Only 144,000 SCJ members will be saved
• You must meet qualifications to enter the wedding banquet

Option 2: Leave Now and Return To:

• Christ as the unique and only Groom
• The church as His beloved bride
• Your pastor as a shepherd caring for Christ’s flock
• Your identity as God’s adopted child
• Salvation by grace through faith in Christ
• Peace and assurance in the gospel

The Biblical Call:

2 Corinthians 11:2-3 – “I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.”

Don’t let your mind be led astray from sincere and pure devotion to Christ. SCJ’s teaching about grooms, widows, orphans, and qualifications is leading you away from Christ, not toward Him.

Ephesians 5:25-27 – “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.”

Christ loved the church—not Babylon, not a graveyard, but His beloved bride. He gave Himself up for her. He’s making her holy. He will present her to Himself as radiant and blameless.

You are part of that bride if you belong to Christ through faith. You’re not an orphan. You’re not in Babylon. You’re not spiritually dead. You’re a beloved child of God, part of Christ’s cherished bride, secure in His love.

Don’t trade this beautiful reality for SCJ’s distorted system.

The Real Hope

The lesson’s stated hope is: “To be qualified to enter the wedding banquet at the Second Coming!”

But this hope is false. It’s based on:

• A distorted view of pastors as widows
• A false identity as orphans
• Performance-based qualifications
• Organizational membership requirements
• Chairman Lee as the “true groom”

The real hope is found in Christ alone:

Colossians 1:27 – “To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

Christ in you is the hope of glory—not SCJ’s teaching, not Chairman Lee’s testimony, not organizational membership. Christ Himself.

Titus 2:13-14 – “While we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”

The blessed hope is:

• The appearing of Jesus Christ – Not Chairman Lee, but Jesus Himself
• Who gave himself for us – Christ died for us
• To redeem us – Christ saved us
• To purify for himself a people – We’re His people, His bride

Revelation 19:7-9 – “Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear. (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.) Then the angel said to me, ‘Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’ And he added, ‘These are the true words of God.'”

This is the real wedding:

• The wedding of the Lamb – Christ the Groom
• His bride has made herself ready – The church, made ready by Christ’s work
• Fine linen was given her to wear – Righteousness given as a gift
• Blessed are those who are invited – All who believe are invited
• These are the true words of God – This is God’s truth, not SCJ’s distortion

This is the hope that will not disappoint:

Romans 5:5 – “And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”

This hope—hope in Christ, hope in His finished work, hope in the wedding of the Lamb—will not disappoint. It’s grounded in God’s love poured out through the Holy Spirit.

SCJ’s hope will disappoint because it’s grounded in:

• Human interpretation
• Organizational claims
• Leader worship
• Performance-based salvation
• Limited, exclusive membership

But hope in Christ will never disappoint because it’s grounded in:

• God’s unchanging character
• Christ’s finished work
• The Spirit’s indwelling presence
• Scripture’s reliable promises
• Grace, not works

The Final Word

You are not an orphan. You are not abandoned. You are not in Babylon.

If you belong to Christ through faith:

You are God’s beloved child – “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1)

You are part of Christ’s bride – “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25)

You are secure in Christ’s love – “Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39)

You are invited to the wedding banquet – “Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” (Revelation 19:9)

You don’t need to leave your church to find the true Groom. Christ is already yours through faith.

You don’t need to meet qualifications to enter the banquet. Christ’s righteousness is already yours by grace.

You don’t need Chairman Lee’s testimony to have life. Christ Himself is your life.

This is the gospel. This is the hope. This is the truth that sets you free.

---

For more information and resources:

• Visit https://closerlookinitiative.com/shincheonji-examination for comprehensive examination of Shincheonji’s teachings
• Read “Testing Shincheonji’s Claims: Two Lenses, One Story” for detailed biblical refutation
• Contact former member support groups for help leaving SCJ
• Speak with your pastor or a trusted Christian leader
• Research SCJ independently online to learn what you haven’t been told

Remember: Truth welcomes examination. Deception fears it. If SCJ’s teaching is true, research will confirm it. If it’s false, you need to know before you leave your church and lose your Christian community.

The choice is yours. Choose wisely. Choose freedom. Choose Christ—the true and only Groom.

---

“I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him.” – 2 Corinthians 11:2

You are promised to one husband—Christ.

Not to Chairman Lee. Not to an organization. To Christ alone.

And He will never leave you. He will never become a widow. He will never abandon you as an orphan.

He is faithful. He is true. He is your Groom forever.

---

A Final Prayer

Heavenly Father,

We pray for everyone involved in Shincheonji’s study program, especially those taking Lesson 54 who are being told to leave their churches.

Open their eyes to see that Christ alone is the Groom, and the church is His beloved bride. Help them recognize that they’re not orphans but Your adopted children. Show them that their pastors are shepherds, not widows who have betrayed.

Give them courage to leave SCJ despite the time invested. Protect them from the manipulation and pressure to abandon their churches. Bring them back to the simple gospel of grace.

We pray for pastors whose sheep are being targeted. Give them wisdom to recognize the deception and courage to speak truth. Help them shepherd their flocks with love and vigilance.

We pray for friends and family watching loved ones being deceived. Give them wisdom, patience, and effective words. Help them intervene before their loved ones leave their churches.

We pray for former members recovering from SCJ involvement. Heal their wounds, restore their relationships, renew their faith in the true Groom—Christ.

We pray for SCJ leaders and members. Convict them of the truth. Show them that they’re teaching a false gospel. Bring them to genuine repentance and faith in Christ alone.

Above all, we pray that Your church would stand firm in the truth. Protect believers from deception. Help us all to know and love Christ as our true and only Groom.

We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, the Bridegroom of the church, the one mediator between God and humanity.

Amen.